The Horror Survey

[Dario D.]

I'm just wondering how people see a few things in horror games...

 

[thecrafter]

Not a fan of the "BOO!" type of scares. Sanitarium is my favorite horror game of all time (point & click adventure game). Best atmosphere ever, and just something about the whole world it was in really drew me in. Could very well be that's because I played it as a kid, though, instead of as an adult

 

[DeathPrincess]

Jump scenes only work the first time. It's kind of cheap and wears thin if you use it to much.

Like in the biohazard/resident evil games. First time it probably makes you jump and the world is an onslaught of crazy things happening. The next time the world is just a fixed rigid set of scripted events you are entirely in control of.

 

[Derangel]

I vastly prefer psychological horror. I don't view "jump scares" as real scares just trickery by a director or designer. A good horror game needs to get it's atmosphere perfect and constantly make the player feel nervous and wondering what might be around the next corner. I think Silent Hill 2 to this day is still the perfect example of how to do a horror game. RE1 and 2 relied a little too much on jump scares at times, but they both did good in the atmosphere department. I haven't played a really good horror game in years.

 

[limitedaccess]

For me with jump scenes they are more "startling" than scary. Basically you get surprised and you need quick reactions to avoid "losing" (for instance dieing, getting damaged) that encounter. For me I get this same exact experience even playing games like say BF3 if I round a corner not expecting someone but these are for sure not games you'd classify as "scary." This is why I liked the original FEAR as it was focused more on atmosphere. For the vast majority of the game you basically encounter what are basically regular "soldiers" like you would with a game like BF, CoD, etc. and it did not rely on having monsters jumping out at you. Whereas the series later started to add more of the monster jump scenes.

Similarly I actually like "jump scenes" that are basically rather "innocent" and harmless as those add to the atmosphere. For instance a light suddenly flickering (atmosphere) vs. something suddenly exploding (startling).

 

[Hornet]

I'm a fan of psychological/other horror, such as those employed in Silent Hill 1-4 for example.

 

[Skizzy]

I prefer psychological/thriller. Kind of like the movie Rear Window. I also prefer FEAR due to the atmosphere.

 

[michael.pa2]

I also think creating an atmosphere works better than jump scenes. Sometimes leaving a player's imagination create the tension can be more effective than graphic horror. I watched a lot of the classic horror films as a kid,and the one movie that can still give me chills was the original "The Haunting". No gore,no monsters,you never really saw the ghosts inhabiting Hill House,but the filmmakers did such a great job creating a tense,dark atmosphere it didn't need them to scare you.

 

[J W]

The #1 thing that scares me in video games/movies is the cutting off of appendages. That's about the only thing to get a reaction out of me.

Even still, I generally enjoy horror.

 

[Tudz]

It has to be a good mix. Personally, without the "jump" startles a "phychological" scare isn't really possible. I could be walking through a dark corridor with scratching sounds under the floor and blood stains on the walls and without the fear of something jumping out at me, it's really not that scary. But then on the flip side you could be wandering through a field of flowers and a fluffy bunny suddenly jumps on your face and it might startle you and making you flinch, but it probably won't actually "scare" you.

That said, I'm not a big horror fan. I don't like paying money to get scared. On the flip side certain things just don't scare me at all, Dead Space for example I didn't find scary at all. It was very atmospheric, and the audio in Dead Space through my HD650s was great, you hear the little things the developers put in that you might not notice on a cheaper set of headphones... but for some reason just not scary for me.

If there's a game that does scare me though, I probably won't want to play it I only like horror games that don't actually scare me, which is probably why I like zombies.

 

[Derangel]

I also think creating an atmosphere works better than jump scenes. Sometimes leaving a player's imagination create the tension can be more effective than graphic horror. I watched a lot of the classic horror films as a kid,and the one movie that can still give me chills was the original "The Haunting". No gore,no monsters,you never really saw the ghosts inhabiting Hill House,but the filmmakers did such a great job creating a tense,dark atmosphere it didn't need them to scare you.

And the remake serves as a good example of why one does not remake horror movies.

 

[J W]

And the remake serves as a good example of why one does not remake horror movies.

Werner Herzog's Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht was great.

 

[HeavensCloud]

Fatal Frame is the only game I couldn't play because it was too scary. I don't even remember what kind of horror it was. Fear wasn't scary one bit I didn't think. Resident Evil was creepy due to atmosphere and limited as hell ammo.