Horror Games On Steam Are Now Over-Overused

[McJobless]

this too, like literally in horror games i always see like a loving pipe on the floor why cant i pick that up and beat myself with it the monster with it

Because good horror is about removing choices and restricting freedom. The player has to feel like they're on the very edge of death or whatever. If you give them a tool to beat down the monster with, they suddenly will think "Oh hey, this must mean I can take down that angry thing".

This is why F.E.A.R., while it has a great story, characters and gunplay, is not very scary. You can take all your threats down, so there's never a moment of "Oh stuff I'm forgeted".

I might be wrong, but I get the feeling that's at least one part of the problem. Horror needs to be more than just some spooky lights and monsters. We need to start adding interesting game mechanics (potentially non-violent) that play up the horror.

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[Donro98]

 I don't think it should be effective to throw stuff at the monster, it should just slow him down, disable him.

Every encounter should be like a huge boss fight except you run instead of fighting.

[McJobless]

That'd work a lot better than most games. That said, does it have to be a monster? I tend to think seeing real things act in a really creepy way is more scary...

[Donro98]

It's just a general term, "enemy" "flying chair with 8 chainsaws" etc.

[McJobless]

Ahh. Fair enough.

I think the most a game has ever made me scared and actually forced me out of my chair was a scene involving a needle and an eye in the final DLC for Bioshock Infinite. There's something about messing with the player's immersion that's too damn powerful.

Kind of like driving a car, people who play games will make the controller an extension of their self. That's why I think horror games that put you in much more realistic circumstances, like The Taxidermist DLC (more thriller, but that said) are far better than games like Amnesia and Slender.

Anyways, I'm just babbling on now. To each his own.

[Doom Mantis]

Because good horror is about removing choices and restricting freedom. The player has to feel like they're on the very edge of death or whatever. If you give them a tool to beat down the monster with, they suddenly will think "Oh hey, this must mean I can take down that angry thing".

This is why F.E.A.R., while it has a great story, characters and gunplay, is not very scary. You can take all your threats down, so there's never a moment of "Oh stuff I'm forgeted".

I might be wrong, but I get the feeling that's at least one part of the problem. Horror needs to be more than just some spooky lights and monsters. We need to start adding interesting game mechanics (potentially non-violent) that play up the horror.

Perhaps you can have weapons, but they aren't very effective for whatever reason.

[phflack]

funny thing is though, the necrodancer game can be described by a lot of this and yet is very unlike a horror game
whole thing of puzzles to defeat the captor, and restricting choices

[Bisjac]

Because good horror is about removing choices and restricting freedom. The player has to feel like they're on the very edge of death or whatever. If you give them a tool to beat down the monster with, they suddenly will think "Oh hey, this must mean I can take down that angry thing".

This is why F.E.A.R., while it has a great story, characters and gunplay, is not very scary. You can take all your threats down, so there's never a moment of "Oh stuff I'm forgeted".

I might be wrong, but I get the feeling that's at least one part of the problem. Horror needs to be more than just some spooky lights and monsters. We need to start adding interesting game mechanics (potentially non-violent) that play up the horror.

thats pretty much why any resident evil after 3 was complete crap.
they removed all the exploration and puzzle solving and backtracking open area buildings to item juggle, character juggle, and pick up things you had to leave behind earlier.
and there was so little ammo and guns. half the time you just avoided walking near enemies.

4,5,6 they just put tons of weapons in your hand and let you spray bullets till the end of game. linear walkthroughs. blegh

[Hatty Hattington]

._.

[Landmineman4000²]

I honestly want a horror game to exist in which it keeps you paranoid and scares you trough the entire thing.
And then you get to the final part of the game AND YOU GET A loving SHOTGUN
SHOOT THE stuff OUT OF THOSE SPOOKY forgetS
THAT'LL TEACH YA

[Crystalwarrior]

I would love to see a fully fleshed out horror game with Receiver-like gun mechanics.

[Tudoreleu]

I would love to see a fully fleshed out horror game with Receiver-like gun mechanics.

to be fair receiver is a bit more scary than most horror games
you never know if one of those loving one-hit-kill tazer drones is looming just around the corner

[HellHound]

I'd love to see a survival-horror game that takes place in the Ural Mountains or Antarctica. An interesting mechanic would be staying warm, vs encountering baddies. The baddies are in the warm places (research outposts, cabins, etc.), but in order to survive you have to be in the warm places. And out in the cold you have to avoid the super deadly arctic wildlife (grizzly bears/polar bears)/

[McJobless]

I'd love to see a survival-horror game that takes place in the Ural Mountains or Antarctica. An interesting mechanic would be staying warm, vs encountering baddies. The baddies are in the warm places (research outposts, cabins, etc.), but in order to survive you have to be in the warm places. And out in the cold you have to avoid the super deadly arctic wildlife (grizzly bears/polar bears)/

That's not bad, actually. What if there was also a day/night-cycle, with the night obviously being far more dangerous?

[snot2]

dying will make you spawn as a new survivor and you can find your old characters body and choose to eat him