- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
- Messages
- 465
Alright horror games. There aren't really many that are out there. The most recent one that I've played was Fear 2. It had its great frightening moments I will say. Lots of starts and sudden scares. They enemies did get repetitive over time by the ghosts were pretty interesting at first. Anyways if you haven't played it I would have to recommend at least renting it.
Any who, most of the other horror games on the market aren't really all that scary. If you are at least a minor horror critic and are able to watch most horror movies without being afraid to step outside afterwords than you should notice many of the horror clichés that have jumped from movies to games. The things like music usage. You get the low music that sets the mood but then will stop when something is obviously going to happen, then either nothing happens kuz the makers think their being sneaky or the sudden loud shrill sound goes off along side the event. It doesn't work -.-. I mean its fine every now and again but it is overly used for most horror movies and games already. Music is an absolutely necessary when it comes to horror as it sets the mood in unimaginable ways. Without the music it would be kind of bland.
The music should be used in different ways though. Instead of matching the sudden jolting sound with the event have it occur with the game itself.
Fear 2 reference.
Say you are playing Fear 2 and your walking through say the school. It had that warm atmosphere that a ruined school can have. Say your walking outside where its bright and nothing is really going on, the music is playing along with the ambient sound. Why not have sudden jolts of sound in random places. This would keep you on your toes. I can seriously say once Alma was appearing with the noise and appearing behind me I didn't want to turn around. With these random noises you would be spinning in circles freaking out thinking there was something coming after you. It would surely keep you on your toes.
Something games are really starting to tackle well is the lighting. The immediate option to turn the lighting down is great. Now if your one of the pussies that turn your brightness way up as to not piss you pants than this is obviously not your genre of games. With most horror games I tend to play on the hardest difficulty with the light way way down. I can say I jumped a few times on Bioshock and yes bout shit myself on Fear 2 but hey it made for great midnight gameplay. I think the game makers should surely focus on lighting from now on in games as it is a key focus in them. The game makers should also start to mess with the players head. When you play and you have the light way up, during certain missions or areas the light should slowly begin to dim. I don't mean dim just because you in a cave as your brightness should stay the same but I mean lower the light level automatically forcing you to open the menu like the girl you are and turn it back up (not ment to be a sexist comment ladies)
Something I'd also like to see more of is the use of sudden npc appearances. Well not necessarily npcs. Example. In Condemned Bloodshot the mannequin scene. (check youtube)
In Fear 2 Alma.
In the Fatal Frame Series the sudden appearance of ghosts.
Bioshock
Was playing Bioshock at a friends around 1 in the morning. Full darkness and hardest difficulty, ya the big daddies were fun. Well was standing under a lamp that hung from a chair. I was facing the chair which stood in the corner of the room and was looking at something on the wall. My friend was tellin me about a big daddy up ahead. As I turned around, about an inch from my face stood one of the splicers wearing his doctor outfit (the chair in front of me being a dentists chair) Needless to say yes I bout shit myself. Nothing had been happening up to that point other than the random splicer. I had no idea that one would stand behind you and wait for you to turn around.
Fear 2:
Alma has to be the freakiest little girl to ever be thought up. The best part I had with her on here had to be as I was exiting an air duct. The ambient sound was going crazy and I was freaked to shit. As I left the duct there was a wall ahead of me and a gap though it. The wall stood out separating one hall from another. As I exited the duct Alma was walking from one side of the gap to the other in a very slow fashion, her head hung down, her figure completely messing with your nerves, and the fact that unloading on here did no good...........
In no way am I trying to bash the horror genre for games. There are many entries that are good, but this genre just isn't full realized. A game isn't a great horror games by just putting horrid gore in it, you need a truly terrifying story, music that chills your blood, and events that keep your nerves on end. You want to be having nightmares even if you are one avid horror critic. I hope to see many more great horror games come out soon that realize the potential that games can hold for the horror genre in general and can some day possibly become much more entertaining than even the best of horror movies.
Any who, most of the other horror games on the market aren't really all that scary. If you are at least a minor horror critic and are able to watch most horror movies without being afraid to step outside afterwords than you should notice many of the horror clichés that have jumped from movies to games. The things like music usage. You get the low music that sets the mood but then will stop when something is obviously going to happen, then either nothing happens kuz the makers think their being sneaky or the sudden loud shrill sound goes off along side the event. It doesn't work -.-. I mean its fine every now and again but it is overly used for most horror movies and games already. Music is an absolutely necessary when it comes to horror as it sets the mood in unimaginable ways. Without the music it would be kind of bland.
The music should be used in different ways though. Instead of matching the sudden jolting sound with the event have it occur with the game itself.
Fear 2 reference.
Say you are playing Fear 2 and your walking through say the school. It had that warm atmosphere that a ruined school can have. Say your walking outside where its bright and nothing is really going on, the music is playing along with the ambient sound. Why not have sudden jolts of sound in random places. This would keep you on your toes. I can seriously say once Alma was appearing with the noise and appearing behind me I didn't want to turn around. With these random noises you would be spinning in circles freaking out thinking there was something coming after you. It would surely keep you on your toes.
Something games are really starting to tackle well is the lighting. The immediate option to turn the lighting down is great. Now if your one of the pussies that turn your brightness way up as to not piss you pants than this is obviously not your genre of games. With most horror games I tend to play on the hardest difficulty with the light way way down. I can say I jumped a few times on Bioshock and yes bout shit myself on Fear 2 but hey it made for great midnight gameplay. I think the game makers should surely focus on lighting from now on in games as it is a key focus in them. The game makers should also start to mess with the players head. When you play and you have the light way up, during certain missions or areas the light should slowly begin to dim. I don't mean dim just because you in a cave as your brightness should stay the same but I mean lower the light level automatically forcing you to open the menu like the girl you are and turn it back up (not ment to be a sexist comment ladies)
Something I'd also like to see more of is the use of sudden npc appearances. Well not necessarily npcs. Example. In Condemned Bloodshot the mannequin scene. (check youtube)
In Fear 2 Alma.
In the Fatal Frame Series the sudden appearance of ghosts.
Bioshock
Was playing Bioshock at a friends around 1 in the morning. Full darkness and hardest difficulty, ya the big daddies were fun. Well was standing under a lamp that hung from a chair. I was facing the chair which stood in the corner of the room and was looking at something on the wall. My friend was tellin me about a big daddy up ahead. As I turned around, about an inch from my face stood one of the splicers wearing his doctor outfit (the chair in front of me being a dentists chair) Needless to say yes I bout shit myself. Nothing had been happening up to that point other than the random splicer. I had no idea that one would stand behind you and wait for you to turn around.
Fear 2:
Alma has to be the freakiest little girl to ever be thought up. The best part I had with her on here had to be as I was exiting an air duct. The ambient sound was going crazy and I was freaked to shit. As I left the duct there was a wall ahead of me and a gap though it. The wall stood out separating one hall from another. As I exited the duct Alma was walking from one side of the gap to the other in a very slow fashion, her head hung down, her figure completely messing with your nerves, and the fact that unloading on here did no good...........
In no way am I trying to bash the horror genre for games. There are many entries that are good, but this genre just isn't full realized. A game isn't a great horror games by just putting horrid gore in it, you need a truly terrifying story, music that chills your blood, and events that keep your nerves on end. You want to be having nightmares even if you are one avid horror critic. I hope to see many more great horror games come out soon that realize the potential that games can hold for the horror genre in general and can some day possibly become much more entertaining than even the best of horror movies.
