A Good Scare | |
Wow, that was, insightful, thoughout and interesting enough to make me read about a game genre I don't play. | |
I always feel like recent horror games fall into very simple traps like 'familiarity breeds contempt' It's a great article I enjoyed reading it. | |
Same here. I have RE:N but never got round to playing it. Got the demo of 'Limbo' and that really tested my nerves. Should play more horror games | |
Very good read. I've had some similar thoughts recently. I think the cardinal sin committed by the folks behind some of these games is thinking that if something is scary to the character, that automatically means it will scare the player... but that's just not how it works. Game mechanics can be used behind the scenes to create the right emotional state in the player. The artwork and story can only reinforce that, not create it. | |
Very solid article.. but I found everything it said rather obvious. Rather than giving any new insight, it was sort of just a roadmap to all of the things most horror games do wrong these days. | |
I really enjoyed reading this article. I have a feeling though that we will be seeing more horror games coming out from indie developers since they can do things like these and not have to worry about some of the problems that the bigger developers have to face. Then again, horror has always been a niche genre and when a horror game does get made it always feels like they're trying too hard to please everybody. | |
Article was way too short! Good stuff though. I agree with it all. | |
May I ask for the source of the image? I want it as my wallpaper or avatar or something. | |
The only thing I could think about at all is that there's apparently this incredibly/heart-stopping freaky Korean comic circling on 9gag. I'm scared shitless of it just from the stories. Never going to touch it.... EVER | |
I haven't read the article because I've seen this tossed around all over the place before, what with "Resident Evil did it right in the old days, Resident Evil 4 and 5 did it bad" "Dead Space isn't scary, its just jump scares!" blah blah. There is no such thing as real terror in REAL entertainment: that goes for films as well as video games. You do NOT want to play a game to feel real terror. You want to feel apprehension and caution, and you want to be on the edge of your seat... but when you look at the whole picture, you're not ACTUALLY afraid for your REAL LIFE. You're afraid of losing your time and having to restart from a continue or a saved game 15 minutes ago... Now... does that REALLY instill true terror into you? If so, seek help. o_o We go to these medies to be primarily entertained - and while we use the terms "fear" "afraid" "scared" and "scare" the truth is, we don't want that - we want a thrill, and in reality, the only "scares" in films and games ARE jump scares and creepy atmospheres. Nothing more. Ever watch a youtube video and a scary face jumps out and screams at 100% volume and your heart practically jumps out of your mouth? That's real terror and that doesn't exist in games. If you want that, be my guest... but I would throw away any game that did that to me because fear isn't fun. Much like pain. You've got to understand that words are not just face value. For example: I'm afraid that if I buy this orange juice, I won't have enough money for bread. I'm afraid, I saw a dark figure outside of my window and it looked my way. These two sentences use the word afraid completely differently, much like gamers need to realize that they aren't afraid of the games they play (yes even Amnesia) they're afraid of two things: 1) Jumping at a video game and getting embarrassed (if playing in public with family/friends, etc.) and 2) of losing time and having to replay areas of the game. At no point is real terror present. The fun is in the fact that it can trigger a simulated thrill and get your heart beating. This is what makes in my opinion, games like Dead Space, just as good as games like Amnesia. They both instill a thrill, just in different ways and both in my opinion are fun games. | |
This idea that there's only one sort of fear is silly. I can personally say that (as a horror fan) I've been frightened by different works. Deeply frightened, frightened after I put down the book frightened. Not just thrilled. In fact, the hallmark of good horror is the ability to frighten. Obviously it's different than being frightened by real life dangers, that's the whole point of horror. To allow us to explore these emotions in safe, non-threatening ways. Take Eraserhead, not a typical horror movie, and it didn't exactly "thrill" me. I can't even say that I enjoy it in the traditional sense (I rarely 'enjoy' good horror), but I appreciate it. Part of that is the profound sense of unease it left me with after watching it the first time. Feel free to keep on drawing these needless distinctions, but fear is fear, weather it's from a real threat or an imaginary place. | |
GOOD GOD NO, NOT THAT. OT: Isn't this pretty much what we've been saying for the past however long over and over? We know what the issue is, we just don't know what anyone's going to do about it. | |
A Good Scare
Horror games are starting to lose their touch.
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