There's one reason why not many people seem to be into horror games...

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lucky_sharm

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Aug 27, 2009
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For one thing, not being able to sleep at night isn't a very good selling point, unless you're into that sort of thing.

There's no doubt that horror can tell good stories, case in point Silent Hill 2. But still...the horror might be what sort of pushes people away from such great games. Bioshock managed to be suspenseful but not TOO nightmarish.
 

TriggerHappyAngel

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Feb 17, 2010
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So horror games are scary, isn't that the point?
Also, Bioshock is not a game that comes to my mind when I think of horror games.
 

suxturdman

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Jun 19, 2011
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That is one aspect of it, although since when is horror games not that popular? Even though they are less popular than say FPS-games, basically all my friends are into them.

I don't play horror games, alone at least, because I'm a kinda jumpy person and can't push myself to really play the game. Instead I just rush through the levels so that kinda makes it pointless for me. Haven't had a nightmare in forever though.
 

Valagetti

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Aug 20, 2010
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TriggerHappyAngel said:
So horror games are scary, isn't that the point?
Also, Bioshock is not a game that comes to my mind when I think of horror games.
Bioshock isn't a true horror game, very true! It has horror elements like environmental, but not classfied. Finally someone who agrees with me. Amnesnia is as horror as you can get, watch Yahtzees review on it and you'll see why.

Personally I don't like most horror games because some of the most recent ones aren't really true horror. Its a shooter that happens to have scary things to shoot at, instead or whatever. There are exceptions and I'm hoping the new Silent Hill will be one.
 

Ninjat_126

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Nov 19, 2010
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I loved Afraid of Monsters... until the flickering nightmare faces showed up. That was a bit too much for me.
 

Daggedawg

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Dec 8, 2010
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I think the biggest reason people would have to dislike horror games are that they usually have really bad and sluggish controls, and dull combat. Me, I like most horror games as long as they're either scary or have a really good story.
Take Rule of Rose for example. I really liked that game, but I sure hated playing it sometimes, because of the crap controls and the combat with its awful hit detection. But I liked it, because it was such a beautiful game, story-wise. And the music was simply wonderful.

But yeah, most horror games have crappy controls, and I think that might put some people off.
 

EdwardOrchard

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Jan 12, 2011
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I don't play horror games. They scare the crap out of me so I just avoid them. I picked up Dead Space in a $5 Steam sale but I don't know if I'll ever actually play it. I played the first FEAR but didn't finish. The 'horror level' of most normal games (the zombie level in Half Life 2, the sewers in Riddick, etc) I pretty much just blindly run through... I hate playing horror games.

HOWEVER...

I LOVE watching horror Let's Plays. They're almost the only Let's Plays that I actually watch the whole way through. For some reason, watching a horror game but with somebody's commentary (comedic or serious) is just so entertaining to me.

In fact... I'm going to go watch a horror Let's Play right now... any suggestions?
 

Aeshi

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Dec 22, 2009
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I think the problem with Horror games is that "Shock" horror games stop getting scary after a while and "Psychological" Horror games rely on the player to make themselves scared, at which point they are basically making their own entertainment and the game has failed them.


EdwardOrchard said:
I don't play horror games. They scare the crap out of me so I just avoid them. I picked up Dead Space in a $5 Steam sale but I don't know if I'll ever actually play it. I played the first FEAR but didn't finish. The 'horror level' of most normal games (the zombie level in Half Life 2, the sewers in Riddick, etc) I pretty much just blindly run through... I hate playing horror games.

HOWEVER...

I LOVE watching horror Let's Plays. They're almost the only Let's Plays that I actually watch the whole way through. For some reason, watching a horror game but with somebody's commentary (comedic or serious) is just so entertaining to me.

In fact... I'm going to go watch a horror Let's Play right now... any suggestions?
Helloween4545 on Youtube is an LPer who more or less specializes in horror games.
 

Phlakes

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Mar 25, 2010
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Ninjat_126 said:
I loved Afraid of Monsters... until the flickering nightmare faces showed up. That was a bit too much for me.
The first time I saw one of them I almost fell out of my chair, and it was the first time I ever screamed out loud from a game.

Also, the guy who made that mod is a dick for making you shut off the power in the hospital.
 

Spambot 3000

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Aug 8, 2011
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Just as long as it focuses on gameplay as well as trying to scare everyone, I'll play any horror games. I mean, if a horror game just has a plot of moving from Point A to Point B, I don't care how many skinless, flesh-eating, baby zombies jump out of the shadows, it won't make it any more fun for me.
 

Shoggoth2588

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Aug 31, 2009
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I would play more horror games if more horror games took the Texas Chainsaw Massacre route of gameplay. For those of you who don't know, Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released on the Atari back in 1983 and let you play as Leatherface himself. It was a simple game but I like the idea that you get to play as a serial killer.

The ideal horror game for me would essentially be a mix of Arkham Asylum, Naughty Bear, Manhunt and, Dark Corners of the Earth. You play as a serial killer in either rural, small-town or, the suburbs (or a mall/ shopping center...or a hospital...well, any setting really) and you precede to kill everyone. You're immortal so you can just rush up to people and murder them outright. If you get shot you do the Micheal Myers thing: lay there until everyone turns their back then return to the shadows.

I say add in Dark Corners of the Earth because I think a sanity gauge would be an excellent thing to give to NPCs. Imagine, creatively killing a bunch of NPCs and leaving their bodies in various places. NPC A would find them and slowly go insane until they finally pick up a kitchen knife to defend themselves. You then do the unthinkable: call the police and hide. The police come to find NPC A muttering to him/herself in the closet, covered in blood (assuming you were able to get an earlier victim to fall onto or, bleed on the survivor) and wielding a bloody knife (assuming you used the knife yourself on another NPC). You get away and NPC A gets hauled off unless their sanity has dropped to 0 or lower. That would be when they attack the police and end up getting shot dead.

Shit, I need to add this entire thing to that thread about games you wish they'd make...
 

Nopodop

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Jan 2, 2011
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The only reason I don't find horror games fun is that there usually a bit to slow paced for me.
Bioshock is more startling than scary by the way.
 

Moonlight Butterfly

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Mar 16, 2011
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Bioshock is more unintentional nightmare fuel than horror (see bees in your hand) People like being scared that's why Rollercoasters and horror films make a lot of money :p

Most games use horror as a tool to sell games. Due to sex and death being our two main controllers in life.
 

Moonlight Butterfly

Be the Leaf
Mar 16, 2011
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Caramel Frappe said:
Games of today, like Fear 3- focus on the gameplay of action packing while Dead Space sort of tries to hard to startle you with a usual cycle of 'Boo' functions. What I am trying to say is that games of today lost touch and we need to get back into the spirit by adding the good elements I have described before hand.
Yeah, very rarely do you see they creepy haunted house vibe that brought us Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Project Zero (Fatal Frame)

It annoyed me greatly that the RE film spent about five minutes in the house when it is central in the game.

It had a kind of scooby doo effect in that you are intensely creeped out by the possibility of it being supernatural but then you slowly come to realise that it's actually science that has done this. It's why the later games just didn't work as well, the mystery was gone. With the exception of 4 that managed to recapture that 'what the hell is going on?' vibe.
 

Stavros Dimou

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Mar 15, 2011
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I think kinda the opposite.
That there are many fans of horror,but that horror games aren't horryfying enough.
 

Rawne1980

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Jul 29, 2011
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So people don't like horror games because of the horror?

Let us remove the horror and what are we left with....

Hello Kitty.
 

Rawne1980

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Elcarsh said:
Rawne1980 said:
So people don't like horror games because of the horror?

Let us remove the horror and what are we left with....

Hello Kitty.
I thought you said REMOVE the horror...

Wouldn't you be scared shitless if you found a Hello Kitty-doll in Silent Hill 2?
When you put it like that it does sound quite creepy.
 

imnot

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Apr 23, 2010
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EdwardOrchard said:
I don't play horror games. They scare the crap out of me so I just avoid them. I picked up Dead Space in a $5 Steam sale but I don't know if I'll ever actually play it. I played the first FEAR but didn't finish. The 'horror level' of most normal games (the zombie level in Half Life 2, the sewers in Riddick, etc) I pretty much just blindly run through... I hate playing horror games.

HOWEVER...

I LOVE watching horror Let's Plays. They're almost the only Let's Plays that I actually watch the whole way through. For some reason, watching a horror game but with somebody's commentary (comedic or serious) is just so entertaining to me.

In fact... I'm going to go watch a horror Let's Play right now... any suggestions?
Tobuscus, Ammnesia, you will not regret it!!!!