One Monster or Many?

[D-Class 198482]

Do you prefer one monster in horror games, or many of them?
I don't mean one type - I mean a single monster that hunts you through the whole game.
I personally prefer a single monster, as it makes you feel like you are being truly hunted, and whatever it is trying to kill you is really out to get you, instead of having multiple monsters that are just there, and attack you because you are there. Most of the monsters in Resident Evil attack you because they know you're there - if another person was there, they'd be doing the same thing. In games with singular monsters, you can tell the other killings are just a means to get to you. They kill things because they are in the way of them getting to you.
But anyways, what's your opinions?

 

[TehCookie]

Many, because everything trying to kill you is scarier than one thing trying to kill you. You can run away from one thing and that's all you have to pay attention to. If you have many things you have to constantly be alert.

In non horror games one enemy is better because you can focus on it, learn it's attacks and how to counter. When I see a ton of enemies I end up getting hit by one I wasn't paying attention to >.<

 

[krazykidd]

Remember in prince of persia the warrior within ( that's the second one right?) with that one monster chasing you throuhout the whole game ? I liked that . Man that was an awsome game , even the plot twist half way through was good .

 

[Keoul]

One enemy has always been scarier for me.
As a kid playing Metroid Fusion the Sa-X scared the crap outta me, whenever the music started playing I'd end up hiding in a corner till it went away. Having multiple enemies could work too but I guess it depends on the mood and how the developers play it out.

 

[tilmoph]

Depends on the game. For survival, one type in some numbers works well for me. For straight horror, one monster. One unknowable, evil force stalking and screwing with the player is more scary in more grounded settings. Multiple monster types just seems more appropriate to some kind of fantasy setting.

 

[Smeggs]

It has to be done correctly.

Like the invincible Ubermorph in Dead Space. Without all of the cannon fodder thrown in your path, it was already scary enough as it was.

Actually...if the single monster is invincible, then it's much scarier in my opinion than many that you can kill.

I was always a bit nervous in Dark Arisen whenever I entered a large area because Death could spawn at any moment while I was there. Far less afraid of running into Cursed Dragons or multiple Wogrens.

Unless we're not talking about only horror. If it isn't horror then there has to be multiple enemies, I'd get increasingly bored cutting through the same thing over and over.

 

[Bonk4licious]

Resident Evil 3 was pretty tense to me because of Nemesis, and while there were a lot of smaller enemies keeping the pressure on you, the fact that he was always kind of looming there made it freakier. I find enemies are scarier when you're forced to run from them. There was a lower amount of enemies in Amnesia, all of which you had to run from, and while one monster would have sufficed, the fact that there were multiple kept you on your toes throughout kept you on your toes. It really depends on how the game is designed, and what the ultimate objective is. Also, how hard the enemies are to kill keeps it going. Survival blends best with horror, so if you can't honestly kill a group of enemies that you see just because you want to, I find it's a lot more tense trying to find a new way to deal with the threat.