Why can't I find a Scary game anymore?

[MGG=REVIEWS]

Now With the resent releases of horror game i thought it was time that i went off the RTS genre for a while and went back into Survival horror!

My first game i tryed was Dead Space, i had heard a few good rumours about this game and that it had alot of "O s*** moments" now playing through the game i wasn't scared at all the only thing that did scare me was getting to the last checkpoint withought dying due to the amount of enemys it was throwing at me

The second game was the very famous RE5 which i played all the Resident evil series and they all (if only at one point) scared me..s***less...But i was met with bosses i knew should be scary but they weren't and a story that was ruined due to the 32 trailers on Gametrailers.com

Now these two game were recomened to be the scariest! and i was met with failure..could someone recomend a good horror game and tell me why these game have been hyped up to be scary but they aren't?

 

[similar.squirrel]

You've desensitized yourself, maybe?

 

[Yooz]

You're maybe what they call in the business, "mature"?

 

[DoctorNick]

Because most 'scary' games these days just rely on things jumping out and gore which really isn't all that scary and have abandoned the true art of mystery and tension.

 

[Mask of 1000 Faces]

You're maybe what they call in the business, "mature"?

I hope this is my case.

The last "scary" game I played was Resident Evil 3. For whatever reason, Nemesis scared the bejesus out of me every single time.

Since then nothing has seemed dangerous. Guns fix all the problems these days.

 

[Biek]

Im afraid youve gone into the genre too late. Its going downhill at increasing speeds.

But if your still interested try the earlier resident evils, Silent hill 1 to 4 (shut up, 4 may not be canon but its a scary game by its own right), fatal frame 1-3 (a.k.a. project zero)

Other noteworthy mentions are Comdemned: Criminal Origins (PC) and F.E.A.R. (despite being generic shooter #13 in a dozen it still has good mindfuckery)

Theres more out there but I didnt name the ones I havent played yet myself.

 

[IsoNeko]

You're maybe what they call in the business, "mature"?

I hope this is my case.

The last "scary" game I played was Resident Evil 3. For whatever reason, Nemesis scared the bejesus out of me every single time.

Since then nothing has seemed dangerous. Guns fix all the problems these days.

QFT. Especially the Resi 3 part.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

If you haven't already, I recommend the Silent Hill games, no jumpy outy moments, just pure EVIL HORROR.

 

[Japo-guy]

You're maybe what they call in the business, "mature"?

I hope this is my case.

The last "scary" game I played was Resident Evil 3. For whatever reason, Nemesis scared the bejesus out of me every single time.

Since then nothing has seemed dangerous. Guns fix all the problems these days.

Thats why you should find a game where you aint equipped with guns and then get scared senseless, like fatal frame/project Zero nothing better than wandering around in a house with a camera and the house is filled with scary ghost that would make the Grudge WII its pants

 

[Gamegeneral]

Go play Yume Nikki. Retrieve pants from ceiling.
Look at older games, they still have plenty of value for scaring you shitless. I Agree with Japo-guy. Fatal frame=horror. Early silent hill=Horror.
N64 game Nightmare creatures= Sheer brick shitting horror.
Man, if that game got a technical upgrade, I might never sleep again.

 

[Incredible Bullshitting Man]

I agree with Biek. Games like Silent Hill and Project Zero, both considered by many as the scariest in survival horror genre (correct me, if I´m wrong), have become old and too familiar. Horror elements used in those two work most effectively when experienced for the first time, but after that they become, well, familiar. Game developers should come up with new ways of inducing fright, if they want to keep the genre fresh.

I was just thinking, is there any game that uses hallucinations, insomnia, madness etc. as a core part of both narration and mechanics. If you´re acquinted with table-top RPGs, something like Don´t Rest Your Head or Unknown Armies could make quite an interesting video game.

 

[Biek]

I agree with Biek. Games like Silent Hill and Project Zero, both considered by many as the scariest in survival horror genre (correct me, if I´m wrong), have become old and too familiar. Horror elements used in those two work most effectively when experienced for the first time, but after that they become, well, familiar. Game developers should come up with new ways of inducing fright, if they want to keep the genre fresh.

I was just thinking, is there any game that uses hallucinations, insomnia, madness etc. as a core part of both narration and mechanics. If you´re acquinted with table-top RPGs, something like Don´t Rest Your Head or Unknown Armies could make quite an interesting video game.

There is, you should give Eternal Darkness: Sanity's requiem a go. This game messes with your head by making it look like the volume of your tv is going down or theres a fly on your monitor and stuff.

 

[lava_lamp]

Because most 'scary' games these days just rely on things jumping out and gore which really isn't all that scary and have abandoned the true art of mystery and tension.

what he said

 

[Kajt]

They turned all scary games into shooters with lots of gore and enemies jumping around corners.

 

[Hexadecimal16]

I miss this too. No games have ever scared me except for the Silent Hill series (not including 4, that was kind of meh) and Fatal Frame II. I love this type of horror, it's like a feeling of dread wherever you go, not "OH SHIT SOMETHING JUMPED OUT AT ME" which gets old quickly.

 

[Incredible Bullshitting Man]

I was just thinking, is there any game that uses hallucinations, insomnia, madness etc. as a core part of both narration and mechanics. If you´re acquinted with table-top RPGs, something like Don´t Rest Your Head or Unknown Armies could make quite an interesting video game.

There is, you should give Eternal Darkness: Sanity's requiem a go. This game messes with your head by making it look like the volume of your tv is going down or theres a fly on your monitor and stuff.

Ooh, that sounds intriguing. I have heard about Eternal Darkness (mostly good things), but haven´t tried it out myself. Seems like now I have to. Thanks for recommending, Biek.

 

[Xerosch]

If you're scared of psychological horror you should definately check out Silent Hill 1-3 (PS2/Xbox) or Fatal Frame 1-3 (PS2/Xbox) and DEFINATELY the first Condemned (Xbox 360/PC). It's an exceptionably well made descent into madness. At first seems like an average brawler/FPS, but just wait until the first two levels are over. And if you're not afraid of older games try 'System Shock 2' (PC)

And if you like graphic horror... well, nowadays it's not hard to find games with jumping moments like 'F.E.A.R.' or 'BioShock', both created very well. For a mixture of both horror types try the 'Resident Evil 1 Remake' for the GameCube. It's very moody and features Zombies that are able to open doors when you least expect it...



Honorable mentions go to 'Vampire - Bloodlines' and 'Thief - Deadly Shadows'. Both aren't exactly horror games, but feature some of the scariest levels I've seen in games.

 

[aleczm]

I happen to own a copy of Resident Evil (1) on gamecube, and it is by far the scariest/ hardest game i've played. throughout almost the whole game you can't see anything in front of you. it also really, REALLY makes you think. I don't even like to compare 4 and 5 to the first three games. (although 4 wasn't bad and 5 was....eh)

 

[implodingMan]

The last thing in a game that I actually dreaded was that damn spider hand thing in OOT that grabbed you and took you back to the start of the level. Every encounter was a pants wettingly tense scene of visceral violence as I dispatched the most dreaded enemy I had ever faced.

Now I've become desensitized to everything, so games like Bioshock and Condemned don't bother me on a psychological level. Any enemy encounter is simply "oh, more people to murder". Something that brought this to the forefront is when I was playing and my mom was watching for a few moments because I had been rambling about how good it was. She left after I beat a man to death in full HD with a wrench, his bloody corpse spiraling the side as I gave him one last whack to the head. She found it immensely disturbing and unsettling, I was more or less apathetic to this instance of cranial destruction.

So, there you go. Nothing is scary anymore because videogames have desenstitised us to violence. Oh well.