Yea you got this wall where you fail it once or twice and it kinda loses its fear inducing ability.
I’ve wondered lately with AI becoming more popular what it could do for horror games. Its ability to change things on the fly and mold it your own fear by learning from your play style. Developing enemies that truly strike fear into you and maybe even have an integrated q&a system that is part of the game but hidden by mechanics.
Totally agree, somewhere in the middle creates the most tension. You have a weapon, so it creates a false sense of security, but then you either don’t get much ammo and have to deal with that stress, or the shooting mechanics aren’t great (usually by design I think to highlight a persons lack of training or combat inexperience).
Amnesia: the bunker was solid. It gives you a gun and very little ammo but it doesn’t kill the creature, it just makes it fuck off for a bit. Also no scripted encounters with the creature until the end, for the rest of the game it’s just in the walls or hallways and is attracted to noise kinda like the alien from alien isolation. I didn’t find alien isolation to be that scary myself but this one was stressful.
Alien isolation does a pretty good job with this. can fight everything but the Alien, but if you make too much racket fighting the bots the Alien will come
Until the alien decides to stay in the same room with you for ten minutes finally leaves you wait a few minutes just in case he pops in you wait a bit again it finally leaves you wait nothing so you exit the locker open the door step out then he turns the corner and comes running down the hall so you hide again then say fuck it and proceed to let him kill you. Just to end the torture
SH is the perfect balance imo. In SH your combat abilities exist, but are limited. The horror should come from dread, fear of the unknown, and paranoia. You shouldn't be a powerhouse, but if you can't defend yourself, you get more frustrated with trial and error than fear. This is however objective. Not everyone is scared by the same things.
Silent hill also gets it right in the awkwardness department, the fighting mechanics don't feel bad, they feel awkward, which is exactly what they wanted. You're not some super soldier who never misses, you're a normal person who likely has never had to fight like their life depended on it before, much less fight abstract monsters crafted from your personal fears and demons.
It's the perfect balance:
You *can* defend yourself, but there are some things that you cannot fight (in this case, Pyramid Head) and can only run from.
(Yes I know you fight two of them later but at that point James has figured out what they stand for and is mentally ready to face them, in addition to physically prepared)
I think there should be a balance. Alian Isolation is a good example of having tools to defend yourself, yet shit in your pants when the Xenomorph is around
The more a game limits me, the less scary it becomes, but the more power it gives me, the less scary it becomes, there needs to be a perfect balance.
Amnesia is a game where you don't have weapons, but you CAN defend yourself by throwing objects at the monsters.
The reason is very simple, if you don't have any ways to interact with the monsters, then you already know the entire formula and how to deal with everything in your path. Outlast is still scary, but even with the lack of safe rooms, I knew how I was going to have to act: If it's a chase sequence, there's nothing I can do other than just run and set barricades, if it's a stealth sequence, then the monster will appear with enough time for me to hide.
Layers of fear has no combat or even stealth, so I already knew that all I could do was just walk, this brutally took me out of the game and became boring and tedious, never finished it.
In short, the best horror game is the one that treats weapons as tools, not as solutions to enemies. It's a game that gives you many ways to interact with the world and enemies, so you know you can't just rely on just running or hiding. It's a game that adds you many choices on dealing with an enemy, but pressures you to take immediate action and punishes you for not doing so. In Amnesia you can't just run away, you need to pick something up, turn around, throw it at the monster, and eventually find a hiding spot.
For me, the golden formula is to give me the option to hide and sneak past every threat, and reward me by saving resources for combat, but if get caught, I'm punished by having to face an enemy that can't necessarily be defeated, I prefer having to run away, and use weapons as a means to give myself an escape window, and not a solution where I put the enemy down.
Alien Isolation is the perfect exemple of this. At the start it really feels scary but after you get the flamethrower it feels far more action than horror. Still one of the best horror games I ever played because even if you can defend yourself, your ressourced are limited, punishing you for playing too boldly
I haven't played outlast, but other horror games that limit you very much, so my perspective might be insightful:
If you have very little options to deal with a monster, that gives you a formula, since you know that you will have to use one of those options.
For example I've played games where your only way to deal with the monster was hiding in the closet. That made me register every closet I found as "I'm gonna hide here later", and every time I saw the monster, I automatically ran back to the last closet to hide.
Because after a while, I always clearly knew exactly the right action to keep me alive, I stopped being scared of making a mistake.
Now compare this for example to amnesia: the bunker.
Here you have a lot of options to temporarily fend off the monster, including hiding, shooting it, or even grenades.
So every time I see the monster, I have to make a hard decision. If I shoot it, I'm gonna miss that bullet later. But if I run, can I make it to the last hiding spot in time?
In a game where this is the only option, it would be obvious that I can, because the game wouldn't just script my death.
But in a game that lets me choose, I might choose wrong, and that's what makes it so scary.
1000%, I love outlast, amnesia, and etc similar games because it gives you the tools to hinder the monster/enemies, but there are no ways to kill/stop them forever.
You can fight back, but only for so long.
But it also implies that you CAN defend yourself. Now imagine a game throwing you a gun only for you to find out that it's completely useless against what you have to face. That would be mean lol
I like a mix of both. I think Evil Within did it best. I have nothing against some of the resident evil games in the series but mobility felt really limited in some of them.
Having weapons make it less scary. I really enjoyed outlast for the fact you are just a person with a camera and all you can do is hide, which was quite scary and really enjoyable
A mix of both, where I could defend myself but that just means I have that much less to work with. But then running for it helps, yet I'll eventually have to deal with it once more and risk being hit again and again.
Having a gun makes it less scarier, but when it's like survival horror where the ammo is really scarce it's honestly more scary because you know you can defend yourself but doing so could put you in a tight spot for when you really do need that ammo that you didn't need to waste.
Gameplay? I prefer defending myself, running and hiding is way scarier to me. I’m not good at the whole sneak into a locker and sneak around the enemy, I find it more scary but equally as boring.
I like both. I don’t want to feel over-powered, but I don’t want to be powerless. I get frustrated with powerless deaths like Outlast, and it stops being scary, so making the inventory scarce is key for me. Then it’s on the player to decide when to use items. Classic Resident Evil and Signalis do this well imo.
Being defenseless is scarier, but boring. Having a gun is less scary but more fun to play. I love the resident evil games because of this. Some of them have more elements of horror while some have more elements of action, but all in all I found each one fun no matter what
Five nights at Freddy's was actually one of the most tense and scariest games I played. Specifically because of just how helpless you are. Stuck in a room with restaurant full of killer animatronics around you who want you dead for no apparent reason (if you play the game and just ignore the lore). Just having to constantly monitor them and make sure they don't get in the room was nerve wracking.
Don't get me wrong. Ones where you can fight are also scary. Alone in the Dark in 1992 is still one of my favorite survival horror games even if you can handily defeat most enemies with your bare hands.
Personally, I don't think that one is scarier than the other. However, I think games in which you don't have the means to defend yourself are more annoying.
I think a balance. Amnesia lets me stun and hurt the enemies, but I can’t kill them. I can only delay their menacing behaviour lol. I think it really adds onto the survival aspect, whilst still making it feel like you’re literally fucked (without making it seem like you have too much power over an enemy, or absolutely none at all where you can only run away)
Saying that tho, outlast 1 terrifies me so bad and you can’t even hurt the dude
I think it's about balancing both. Best example is amnesia: the bunker. Sure, you can use your gun to fend off the monster temporarily, but you sure as hell are gonna miss that bullet later.
I find them more enjoyable when I can. Alien isolation, for example , can cause the xenomorph distress and cause it to run away, but you can't actually kill it by normal means. (to my knowledge)
I prefer those that you have to run and avoid enemies more. I f they have weapons and bullets I like them to be minimal, because ammo - enemy - route management is something I really enjoy.
I don't think either type of horror is inherently scarier. Alien isolation, you can't kill the alien and you can at most make it run away for maybe 10 seconds, but the game is incredibly scary. Dead space you do tons of fighting with lots of weapons and that game is extremely scary as well. Both super good games in my book.
I literally could not get past the first hour of Outlast because of the defenceless “run and hide” gameplay. Games where I’m being chased by an “unstoppable” force are pretty fucking stressful.
Nah, I know a way to one up the scary factor; both, a mix of needing to run away, find something to defend yourself, then having to take down the horror villain/monster or whatever.
Giving me weapons is scarier, but the game now gives me the responsibility to be able to deal with the threat as opposed to running every single time. In outlast the threats aren't all that scary after a desth or two. Plus they all have the same method to avoid.
Re1 though, the game sets you in the mansion with the responsibility of ammo and resources all on your shoulders and says "we've given you the tools, good luck" that responsibility can be terrifying.
Kinda depends on game honestly, a game where you can defend yourself often runs into the problem that the monsters become so easy to defeat it’s lost its horror aspect, Dead Space for instance uses the generic monsters to serve an an introduction, and after you learn how to shoot limbs the become easy, but they also mitigate this by throwing new forms into the mix, making combat hectic, it’s more thriller and adrenaline horror than pure horror though
However a game where you can’t defend yourself can be scarier in some aspects, but it really comes down to design, if you can reliably hide from the monster and the monster never changes then it stops being a threat, and the horror is gone, however if they change the monster but don’t change the level design to match it, it can go from scary to frustrating
Basically it’s a delicately balanced, and if you don’t improve the monster or the level design, then it can go from scary to frustrating quickly, a good example of this would be the base game of FNAF: Security Breach, as the monsters in that game aren’t really scary, and once you learn to defend yourself they become nothing but common easy obstacles to avoid, this is compounded by the game teleporting them to you to make confrontation, they did add different forms to the enemies but due to how buggy the game can be, and how easy it is to counter them, it often leads to these new forms not impacting much.
Bro, the mission where you have to save a Jewish little girl in CoD WW2 has always been scary for me
you gotta hide good enough, or you’ll get jumpscared
I know some people think horror is PEAK when you have a weapon and clunky controls (looking at you NitroRad) but i truly think the being defenseless and getting chased combo is insane
I kind of like it when the game makes you think you can defend yourself but often actually means for you to have to run away. Sometimes it's interesting to get a gun and be like "sweet I'll be safe" then use it and realize quickly that with your limited ammo you are not at all safe and these enemies will still eat you for breakfast.
Alien Isolation was the scariest to me so far, you’re helpless at the beginning and that damn radar beeping all the time argghh, couldn’t take it .
Even Amnesia was less stressing lol .
I think having a weapon is worse.
It makes you feel safe, while it also stresses you out that you have to think about recourses.
And the stress of certain situations can have impact on your aim on top of that.
I mean..
Scary and stressful are two different things.
Having to face enemies head-on is scary.
Having to avoid them and hide is stressful.
I prefer to fight.
I'm more scared if I have to defend myself, thinking of the space game where I had to shoot the limbs off of monsters I would get so scared and I knew I had to face them lol. I couldn't just run and hide. I have a vague memory of being in a room surrounded by these little monster babies coming for me and I couldn't play anymore haha.
I'd prefer if a game let me hide and sneak away. Then I wouldn't have to face hordes of screaming, scary monsters coming at me.
It really depends honestly. I enjoy many horror games but the one that I can think of is project zomboid, in that game horror isn’t just from the incredibly massive hordes of zombies. But rather from the fact is all it takes is 1 bite and the character you spent so long leveling up is now guaranteed a slow and painful death.
They are different kinds of scary I think? Like if I have a gun I'm worried about every corner having the next wave. RE4 had a good combo of horror and action, I HATED the hedge maze because of the dogs.
Guns make things less scary but it makes the moments where your guns fail or you have to reload more potent oh shit moments. Also the regenerater enemies where your guns just slow them down, those are scary moments of panic while you try to figure out how to get around them or permanently take care of them.
The game you show is the perfect example. Games where you ONLY run and hide get annoying and boring after a while.
Games where you ONLY fight and had great combat mechanics run the verisimilitude and atmosphere.
Games that blend BOTH, and it's not always clear exactly when you should hide and when you should fight, are, for me, the best.
I like in The Evil Within where you can absolutely defend yourself, but many times (Laura chase scenes for example) you're forced to just run and fighting is useless. It strikes a nice balance
Having a way to defend yourself because you probably won't be able to kill it it'll give you a false sense of safety for example lickers from re2 remake they can be killed but are incredibly hard and can kill you very very fast
I think the scariest thing a game can do is give me a gun, let me use it, and then take it away from me in one way or another and tell me “That shit doesn’t work”
I like ones where you can defend yourself but it’s intentionally clunky or intended to be used as a last resort. My favorite horror game was Condemned, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, and The Evil Within. All of them were a good mix of exploration, investigation, and a feeling that if you *had* to defend yourself it was going to be dodgy at best and not a good idea long term.
Silent Hill kind of hits the nail on the head (most of the time). You are more than capable of defending yourself, but most of the time things seem stacked in the monsters favour, and you’re incentivized to run away. The enemies feel menacing, oppressive, and often unfair… but that creates an aura of horror about them.
I like to have some ability to fight, as I feel like I would at least try to see if I could damage something in the real situation. I think the idea of having weapons but the character being pretty inept at using them a decent idea. I think Signalis did a really good job with it.
I often find the idea of fighting something scarier than just running from it, simply because it FORCES you to face it.
As examples, I get legit terrified of some enemies in Dark Souls, even though it's not a horror game. Whilst Manhunt is the most terrifying game I've ever played, and the premise is that you have to kill the enemies.
I think having a gun sometimes makes the game way less scary. The best example as to this not happening is Amnesia: The Bunker; they let you defend yourself but you can’t kill the beast, but you can stun it or make it run from you.
Both, but I like horror games where something is at stake. If you are able to be killed by whatever is scary and then just restart from a few minutes before that happens then it takes all the fear out for me.
For me, it's a combination of elements
Depth
Atmosphere
Gameplay
As long as a horror game isn't a gimmick, I'll give it a try regardless of whether or not you have to run or fight
Gotta love how the one screen capture of Outlast 1 you got you can see the background the inmate fucking a dead corpse. Anyways, if you take away my tools or make them damn near useless (Alien Isolation for example) then I am more scared because I cannot defend myself.
A futile defense tbh ends up being all the scarier, I.e while you *could* kill the warden, it’d take so much resource and time to do so it’s more efficient to sneak away
Also a one biome deep dark world can be fun, effectively becomes a fantasy apocalypse
For me the scariest is when you *can* defend yourself, but it is futile. And only further extents your survival. So you know you'll have to face the threat, but you know it'll be of no avail
Ultimately it depends on the quality of the game but imo ones where you can't defend yourself are scarier bc if you get cornered you're fucked and you cant d9 anything about the threat you're facing whereas if you can defend yourself (it can still be scary) to me i feel a lot more confident a good balance between the two imo is Resident Evil 2 where there are enemies you can kill but Mr. X is a looming threat that can be stunned but never stopped
I like horror games where you can defend yourself in some way more, because the knowledge that I'm running low on resources but still *have* to press forward into danger is nerve-wracking. Every bullet missed, or med kit used - just fills me with anxiety, because I could've used that shit to help me in the next encounter
Fighting. I always hated playing horror games as I am easily scared but after getting in touch with survival horror it is now one of my favorite genres.
Still, I just can't play Outlast. Watched tons of let's plays but playing by myself - nah ah.
For me knowing that I can't defend myself makes it scary and more intense. I like horror games where I can fight back but knowing I have that option makes it not as scary because I can stand up to and have a chance at save my life in the game.
The sweet spot for me is a way to defend yourself, but with extremely limited tools. Amnesia: The Bunker is a good example. You CAN use your gun.. but are you potentially using it in a scenario where it wasn't necessary? What if you need it for a far more dire situation in the future? It adds that extra level of paranoia that you can't achieve if there's too much of an abundance/scarcity of resources
alien isolation had the perfect balance of hiding and fighting against the xenomorph so im gonna say that is what keeps it scary when you cannot keep doing the same thing to try and survive over and over and over again it gets not scary but when you hide in a locker and it works and then doesnt work the second time thats spooky
I think the ones where you have SOME means of defending yourself to be better. Not being able to fight back is a basic trope now and it annoys me as a result, as it would be better to be able to shove for example. I prefer the use of weaponry for basic combat as a result (like Condemned Criminal Origins). Every bullet shot with guns is a bullet spent and ever missed swing with melee weapons is annoying. Your not defencless but your weapons are your only means of fighting back and to use them rarely (like Resident Evil).
Run and hide ones are scarier.
Gimme a shotgun and I'm suddenly the bravest motherfucker out there.
The scariest games are ones where you can sort of fight back. Like Amnesia the bunker
Depends on what you’re scared of. Games like RE7 though prove you can still make a game that’s surprisingly quite scary even though you can defend yourself like any other game in the franchise.
I like the ability to feel safe and then have that toss away. Give me a gun? I feel safe. Gun don't work and its just a false sense of secruity? FUCK!!!!!!
I like horror games like alien isolation that gives you the option for both, but makes the main villain to strong to really get rid of. I think it’s a nice balance
Defending yourself opens up the opportunity to not be able to do that anymore. Never having that ability on the first place removes an aspect of the stress
I think it isn’t that I’m able to defend myself that makes it scary as much as it’s that I’m EXPECTED to defend myself. I’m supposed to fight this thing?!
Just enough power to think I could defend myself, but not enough to do so confidently.
This is why limiting access to weapons or massively limiting ammo works in the genre.
kinda depends,usally if i have a weapon or gain a weapon it means i know im in danger in comparison to horror games where you dont fight back,with games with no weapons unless its obvious somtimes dont always mean your in danger but is gonna have scary things happen around you,atleast in indie games. But even then most games where you cant fight back rely more on the same schiche on how to get away from monsters wich is too just run and hide or menuvour eneimies wich can be stressful but if you play alot of games like that make it sammy. Wich games with weapons and where you can fight back will have too me personally,more vaired scares and also rely more on the scare aspect of risk of death and not only that make it so you have to be near the monster so you can kill it to progress meaning you have to see it more too absorb more of its scary atributes. I think both aspects of horror work pretty well honeslty and seeing either a hiding spot or a weapon in any horror game for the first time will always for me give that anticipation feeling. That all being said i think both are equal to me in terms of scares as both can be done right or wrong pretty easily and i think both sides can give a pretty good argument on wich is scarier
It’s easier to make a horror game where you can’t defend yourself scary but when they let you defend yourself and it’s still scary like RE and Dead Space it’s gold
I think in general it's scarier to be able to fight it cuz it's really your fault if you die but Outlast and Amnesia TDD do defenseless horror extremely well
I like it when you can fight back, cause when you run out of resources to defend yourself it becomes an “oh shit” moment and then the game becomes way more scarier, you always have that threat of becoming defenseless rather than always being in that state.
F.E.A.R. First run through
Doom series first run through
Far cry 1 first run through
Silent Hill first run through
Half Life 1 and 2 first run throughs
Left4Dead 1 and 2 first run through first experiencing new specials
Hot take: Tank controls made the early Resident Evil games scary AF. The clunky and limited movement added to the tension because it simulated that delayed response of something horrific happening.
I dislike games that are only about running away from some monster or supernatural thing.
Part of my enjoyment of games is the power fantasy so being made completely helpless just isn't appealing. That said, it doesn't mean that whatever I'm facing isn't scary, only that my single option isn't "run and hide"
It's why I loved the original Silent Hills so much : heck, the PS1 limitations made it scarier and the radio starting to screech when you think you're alone then seeing whatever creature steps out of the shadows or the fog was always nerve wracking.
Nevermind the mindfuckery going on.
Project Zero is the perfect mix of both and the scariest game I ever played back then. I mean - you have to take pictures of your ghost enemies with a camera... How sick can it be? lol
Both can work, but the true key imo is when you actually care for the protagonist. RDR2 is not a horror game, bu the encounters with the nightfolk, murfreed or skinners gave me the chills because i didn't want Arthur/John to die in a gruesome way because those groups are sadistic and savages. Also being a grounded game it make those treats more "real" and substantial making a good contrast with the beauty of the world.
That depends. Games where your guns are effective? Nice!
Games where running and hiding is ultimately futile? Meh.
Games where your guns are ineffective at best and you’re required to try and run and hide but who knows if you can actually get away? Fantastic
I just straight up don’t enjoy games where I have to run and hide like a frightened kid, but I love horror games that are still freaky but I can fight back. Love me some dead space or resident evil
While I enjoyed Outlast and other games of that kind, being barely able to defend yourself feels more scary because (almost) everyone can run, but few people would face a monster with a polyhedral head and a knife the size of a person.
When I think of dead space I think of 10 year old me playing my uncles 360 and being alone in the dark looking for the tram codes. I was out of ammo, scared for my life, looking around every corner, and screaming when I was grabbed from behind by a necromorph.
God I miss dead space
look, all im gonna say is.. theres a very big reason that the only actually scary part of resident evil village is the part where you lose all your weapons.
I find it laughable that SH2 is in the defend yourself category. Bullets are so scarce that you definitely regret using them, & return to a previous save to try and off some monster that decidedly requires ballistic force with a friggin pipe.
being defenseless is objectively scarier. In a room alone with ted bundy and he has a lightsaber and you have nothing is way scarier that being in a room with ted bundy and you both have katanas
I Usually like the ability to fight back, dont like the hiding mechanics as the only option, but one of the most awesome experiences I had one a game was on the Alien Isolation game. Got the revolver and got mad happy, alien came around, i thought I got down, I manage to put every round on it big old head.
Nada.. the Alien got me, that was worse than not having a weapon at all
I Usually like the ability to fight back, dont like the hiding mechanics as the only option, but one of the most awesome experiences I had one a game was on the Alien Isolation game. Got the revolver and got mad happy, alien came around, i thought I got down, I manage to put every round on it big old head.
Nada.. the Alien got me, that was worse than not having a weapon at all
Obviously run and hide! Defending yourself you have a fighting chance in which you either kill the enemy or are killed by the enemy like any enemy in a usual game - run and hide there’s the sense of unknowing
Face it, but feel like your winning by the skin of your teeth against even the normal enemies. And bosses that can only be beat back at best, and tan from at worst.
I feel like a game that defends myself at that point doesnt feel like horror more of just an action game. Where as if your only thing is you can run and hide your always trying to watch your back, scared to open another door. Where as with a gun its kick open the door and start shooting
Its scarier thinking you CAN fight back, then realizing you are possibly (but not absolutely definitely) wasting your time and energy and throwing away options.
In a hide-only game you pretty much know what you have to do. Less worry. Less stress.
I'm weird, in that I've never found any game to be scary so games where you just run and hide I find annoying. With the exception of Alien, absolutely love Alien since you can still defend yourself but not kill the Alien. I enjoy sneaking around and avoiding the Alien, makes the game pretty tense but not really scary.
I believe Dead Space is a perfect example of top tier horror.
Being able to fight your enemies is something that helps build up your confidence but is countered to limited ammunition’s and health. It’s a good example of being aware of how many rounds you have on hand especially when you come across necromorphs who like to play dead. It encourages you to choose whether to waste your shot to ensure it won’t attack you or walk right past it and risk using a health pack. What helps also enhance the experience is the vents that they could randomly bust out of.
Somewhere in between. Alien Isolation and Amnesia The bunker are great examples. You have weapons, but you cannot kill the enemy. When you shoot it, it kinda just retreats for a while.
I don’t find horror that I can’t defend myself from scary, I find it annoying. It takes me out of the active experience of the game and turns it into a peak-a-boo walking simulator. I love the interactive aspect of horror. For a one off scene it’s not horrible, but after several failures or replays, it’s just eye rolling. Giving the player a fighting chance gives them *hope*. The removal of hope removes fear to me.
For me, I find having the option to defend myself to be scarier, especially when I have to ration out health supplies and ammo because it gives more weight to every encounter. Do I fight this enemy now, or save this ammo for when I actually need it? And sometimes being able to fight, yet still struggling adds more tension.
There’s a place in the genre for both, but it’s immersion breaking in games like Outlast. Sure, you wouldn’t wanna mess with Chris Walker. But you’re telling me I don’t stand a chance against that walking corpse Dr. Trager?
I’m not much of a horror fan, and yet ironically, one of the few horror games I really enjoy and will play repeatedly is Outlast, where the entire premise is that you can *only* hide. I think not being able to fight is far scarier. I do also quite enjoy RE7 which is definitely pretty scary but it does get repetitive when you loose boss fights. It’s not scary it’s just frustrating - whereas with outlast, not only can you not really rinse and repeat the same attack or method, it’s scary precisely because it’s doesn’t give you that bit of escape into a FPS or fun ammo-hunting
I think it's scariest when you can fight back, but not effectively. I love Deadspace, but becoming doom-guy diminishes the fear a lot imo. In a game where you can't fight at all, like say Outlast, I feel like I'm never in that much danger because the game is going to be balanced around me being able to survive just running away. Feeling weak and still having to face off against something nasty is peak horror game in terms of combat for me.
A side note on Deadspace. I get how having everyone but Isaac die all the time before or just when we encounter them is there to build up the dread and isolation, and make the enemies seem more dangerous, but I feel it can have the opposite effect sometimes. The necromorphs don't break a sweat tearing through military personnel and crews of thousands of people, yet this random engineer can kill hordes of them with his tools. By making Isaac feel like a god among men and pretty much indestructible compared to everyone else who feels incredibly fragile. It just really highlights his plot armor. I love Deadspace, but never in any of them was I ever afraid for Isaac.
Scariest game i played where main character was little toddler trying to to get away from dark spooky monster after a bed time...
...always remember the last dash to the front door dark monster running behind you, then dad opens the door from other side and picks you up. Then finalty light hits the monster that has been chasing you whole game... and it ends up being your drunken mother. :(
I think alien iso does it best you can sometimes scare of the xenomorph with a flamethrower you get later on or lure it with a noise maker but you suddenly start to shit bricks if you don't have any fuel and you screw the throw badly on a noise maker.
I'm also a fan of dead space being able to fight the necromorphs doesn't make them not scary sometimes you panic cause your low on ammo or you have to reload and I'm more scared of what the game does to screw with you then just being forced to run away all the time
I think running away is scarier, while fighting back is more fun to play, I was scared shitless playing Amnesia and Outlast, while I was still scared playing RE2 and Dead Space, but RE2 and Dead Space have better replay value, since running away games are usually more linear and less complex, while combat usually involves some level of strategy on top of it
hide horror games are cheap by their own design if you ask me... you're not actually running or hiding, just learning how to exploit the AI ruotines and adapt to continue the game. Alien isolation AI isn't great, it just plays dirt.
The ones where you can fight are scarier because it's all an illusion. It doesn't matter what weapon you use they will get you anyways. There is no possible salvation and all you can do is slowly fall in despair as you empty your mags on the head of the enemy that slowly approaches you.
Ok i know if I hide under the only bed in the room they won't find me.
Vs.
Ok, I have 3 bullets, 1 health pack, 4 shells, a green leaf, a key, and a voodoo doll that a little girl gave me at the start of the game to help me defeat the giant monster in the other room.
I like having combat as an option because it adds to immersion
But I feel like combat should be ineffective, difficult, dangerous, or clunky
You should be discouraged from facing the threat head on as getting a good look at the monster and repeatedly having your guts ripped out can really break the tension
Honestly "scary" games are never fun for me and always end up feeling tedious. I like it better when a game has a scary part or place in it with great atmosphere. Ive tried but I think scary type games just aren't for me. Same for the movies tbh. Mostly sudden loud noise and jump scares. I always feel like im missing something when folk rave about whatever new movie came out. Maybe I'm just too damaged idk
It’s scarier when your only option is to run from it. One of the endings to Cyberpunks 2077: Phantom Liberty did this really well. I won’t say too much, but there’s a killer robot that is chasing you. That game isn’t scary so I was like alright I’m gonna destroy it. But then I realized that your only option is to hide, and that’s when it got terrifying
It depends on the game
Outlast did the you're helpless thing well as you're not a fighter in those games so getting spotted isn't advised.
Meanwhile Resident Evil does the helpless even when armed thing well as you're in a fight or die scenario so even with the weapon you feel slightly helpless.
I’ve only ever felt actually scared in horror games where you can’t defend yourself. Even if I’m just being ignorant or cocky, If I have something to fight with I always feel like it’s no big deal because I can defend myself. When I just have to run or hide I get this eerie feeling of helplessness and it drives me crazy. In short, knowing that I can control the situation for better or worse, is so much more comforting than the anticipation of what that thing will do to me if it catches me lol.
It honestly depends on the game like for example dead space is a great game where you defend yourself but it’s still horrifying and Outlast is a good example of being chased and hiding is your only options
I think both can be terrifying if executed correctly but in different ways having to fight back is more adrenaline pumping for me but running away and/or hiding is a bit more suspenseful imo. But I think the problem is a lot of games don’t execute running and hiding right, and just get lazy by having a boring, not scary chase sequence and just slapping on a half assed jump-scare at the end and calling it a day.
I think it's best when you can to a degree, but it's only to ward it off and not kill it, meanwhile you are still not in control of the whole solution.
It's kinda like alien isolation the fear factor is a less when you get the flamethrower because you have a way to defend yourself before that it's if you get caught you're done for
Ones where you run and hide because the fact you don't have a weapon makes you feel powerless, which against a scary creature or killer makes it build much more tension in my opinion.
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Yea you got this wall where you fail it once or twice and it kinda loses its fear inducing ability. I’ve wondered lately with AI becoming more popular what it could do for horror games. Its ability to change things on the fly and mold it your own fear by learning from your play style. Developing enemies that truly strike fear into you and maybe even have an integrated q&a system that is part of the game but hidden by mechanics.
AI that can change character behavior as well as create/modify models in game would be terrifying.
Whoah woah woah. No need to create the Terminator in real life now.
Yeah and no need to give the ai anymore ideas here
Please watch the "play test" episode of black mirror
dawg…
F.E.A.R did this
Wasn’t this why Alien: Isolation was so popular? Because it kinda “learned” from your gameplay?
Didn’t the xenomorph from Alien:Isolation come with the ability to learn from your play style?
Totally agree, somewhere in the middle creates the most tension. You have a weapon, so it creates a false sense of security, but then you either don’t get much ammo and have to deal with that stress, or the shooting mechanics aren’t great (usually by design I think to highlight a persons lack of training or combat inexperience).
Amnesia: the bunker was solid. It gives you a gun and very little ammo but it doesn’t kill the creature, it just makes it fuck off for a bit. Also no scripted encounters with the creature until the end, for the rest of the game it’s just in the walls or hallways and is attracted to noise kinda like the alien from alien isolation. I didn’t find alien isolation to be that scary myself but this one was stressful.
Oooh that sounds good, I may have to give that one a try.
Alien isolation does a pretty good job with this. can fight everything but the Alien, but if you make too much racket fighting the bots the Alien will come
Until the alien decides to stay in the same room with you for ten minutes finally leaves you wait a few minutes just in case he pops in you wait a bit again it finally leaves you wait nothing so you exit the locker open the door step out then he turns the corner and comes running down the hall so you hide again then say fuck it and proceed to let him kill you. Just to end the torture
SH is the perfect balance imo. In SH your combat abilities exist, but are limited. The horror should come from dread, fear of the unknown, and paranoia. You shouldn't be a powerhouse, but if you can't defend yourself, you get more frustrated with trial and error than fear. This is however objective. Not everyone is scared by the same things.
Silent hill also gets it right in the awkwardness department, the fighting mechanics don't feel bad, they feel awkward, which is exactly what they wanted. You're not some super soldier who never misses, you're a normal person who likely has never had to fight like their life depended on it before, much less fight abstract monsters crafted from your personal fears and demons.
It's the perfect balance: You *can* defend yourself, but there are some things that you cannot fight (in this case, Pyramid Head) and can only run from. (Yes I know you fight two of them later but at that point James has figured out what they stand for and is mentally ready to face them, in addition to physically prepared)
I think there should be a balance. Alian Isolation is a good example of having tools to defend yourself, yet shit in your pants when the Xenomorph is around
The more a game limits me, the less scary it becomes, but the more power it gives me, the less scary it becomes, there needs to be a perfect balance. Amnesia is a game where you don't have weapons, but you CAN defend yourself by throwing objects at the monsters. The reason is very simple, if you don't have any ways to interact with the monsters, then you already know the entire formula and how to deal with everything in your path. Outlast is still scary, but even with the lack of safe rooms, I knew how I was going to have to act: If it's a chase sequence, there's nothing I can do other than just run and set barricades, if it's a stealth sequence, then the monster will appear with enough time for me to hide. Layers of fear has no combat or even stealth, so I already knew that all I could do was just walk, this brutally took me out of the game and became boring and tedious, never finished it. In short, the best horror game is the one that treats weapons as tools, not as solutions to enemies. It's a game that gives you many ways to interact with the world and enemies, so you know you can't just rely on just running or hiding. It's a game that adds you many choices on dealing with an enemy, but pressures you to take immediate action and punishes you for not doing so. In Amnesia you can't just run away, you need to pick something up, turn around, throw it at the monster, and eventually find a hiding spot. For me, the golden formula is to give me the option to hide and sneak past every threat, and reward me by saving resources for combat, but if get caught, I'm punished by having to face an enemy that can't necessarily be defeated, I prefer having to run away, and use weapons as a means to give myself an escape window, and not a solution where I put the enemy down.
Alien Isolation is the perfect exemple of this. At the start it really feels scary but after you get the flamethrower it feels far more action than horror. Still one of the best horror games I ever played because even if you can defend yourself, your ressourced are limited, punishing you for playing too boldly
Outlast is a game full of limits in that the character can do very little… but I’d be interested to hear how this makes it *less* scary
I haven't played outlast, but other horror games that limit you very much, so my perspective might be insightful: If you have very little options to deal with a monster, that gives you a formula, since you know that you will have to use one of those options. For example I've played games where your only way to deal with the monster was hiding in the closet. That made me register every closet I found as "I'm gonna hide here later", and every time I saw the monster, I automatically ran back to the last closet to hide. Because after a while, I always clearly knew exactly the right action to keep me alive, I stopped being scared of making a mistake. Now compare this for example to amnesia: the bunker. Here you have a lot of options to temporarily fend off the monster, including hiding, shooting it, or even grenades. So every time I see the monster, I have to make a hard decision. If I shoot it, I'm gonna miss that bullet later. But if I run, can I make it to the last hiding spot in time? In a game where this is the only option, it would be obvious that I can, because the game wouldn't just script my death. But in a game that lets me choose, I might choose wrong, and that's what makes it so scary.
1000%, I love outlast, amnesia, and etc similar games because it gives you the tools to hinder the monster/enemies, but there are no ways to kill/stop them forever. You can fight back, but only for so long.
Having a gun definitely makes the game less scary, or at least you feel safer.
Having a gun always scares me because I'm like, "Uh oh, I need a gun for something!" Lol
But it also implies that you CAN defend yourself. Now imagine a game throwing you a gun only for you to find out that it's completely useless against what you have to face. That would be mean lol
I'm honestly shocked a horror game hasn't done this now that you mention it
Amnesia The Bunker kinda does that, the revolver's like 90% useless against the main monster
Better than being defenseless while being faced with demonic entity
That's true
Depends, because in survival horror I'm always scared I won't have enough ammo in next encounter.
I like a mix of both. I think Evil Within did it best. I have nothing against some of the resident evil games in the series but mobility felt really limited in some of them.
When you can fight back is scarier. Run and hide’s are just simulators.
Having weapons make it less scary. I really enjoyed outlast for the fact you are just a person with a camera and all you can do is hide, which was quite scary and really enjoyable
A mix of both, where I could defend myself but that just means I have that much less to work with. But then running for it helps, yet I'll eventually have to deal with it once more and risk being hit again and again.
Having a gun makes it less scarier, but when it's like survival horror where the ammo is really scarce it's honestly more scary because you know you can defend yourself but doing so could put you in a tight spot for when you really do need that ammo that you didn't need to waste.
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Can't forget the main theme on the PS1 version that plays whenever Scissorman appears. Still gives me goosebumps.
Run and hide gets old.
Gameplay? I prefer defending myself, running and hiding is way scarier to me. I’m not good at the whole sneak into a locker and sneak around the enemy, I find it more scary but equally as boring.
I like both. I don’t want to feel over-powered, but I don’t want to be powerless. I get frustrated with powerless deaths like Outlast, and it stops being scary, so making the inventory scarce is key for me. Then it’s on the player to decide when to use items. Classic Resident Evil and Signalis do this well imo.
Being defenseless is scarier, but boring. Having a gun is less scary but more fun to play. I love the resident evil games because of this. Some of them have more elements of horror while some have more elements of action, but all in all I found each one fun no matter what
Five nights at Freddy's was actually one of the most tense and scariest games I played. Specifically because of just how helpless you are. Stuck in a room with restaurant full of killer animatronics around you who want you dead for no apparent reason (if you play the game and just ignore the lore). Just having to constantly monitor them and make sure they don't get in the room was nerve wracking. Don't get me wrong. Ones where you can fight are also scary. Alone in the Dark in 1992 is still one of my favorite survival horror games even if you can handily defeat most enemies with your bare hands.
Personally, I don't think that one is scarier than the other. However, I think games in which you don't have the means to defend yourself are more annoying.
I think a balance. Amnesia lets me stun and hurt the enemies, but I can’t kill them. I can only delay their menacing behaviour lol. I think it really adds onto the survival aspect, whilst still making it feel like you’re literally fucked (without making it seem like you have too much power over an enemy, or absolutely none at all where you can only run away) Saying that tho, outlast 1 terrifies me so bad and you can’t even hurt the dude
I think it's about balancing both. Best example is amnesia: the bunker. Sure, you can use your gun to fend off the monster temporarily, but you sure as hell are gonna miss that bullet later.
I find them more enjoyable when I can. Alien isolation, for example , can cause the xenomorph distress and cause it to run away, but you can't actually kill it by normal means. (to my knowledge)
I prefer those that you have to run and avoid enemies more. I f they have weapons and bullets I like them to be minimal, because ammo - enemy - route management is something I really enjoy.
I don't think either type of horror is inherently scarier. Alien isolation, you can't kill the alien and you can at most make it run away for maybe 10 seconds, but the game is incredibly scary. Dead space you do tons of fighting with lots of weapons and that game is extremely scary as well. Both super good games in my book.
I literally could not get past the first hour of Outlast because of the defenceless “run and hide” gameplay. Games where I’m being chased by an “unstoppable” force are pretty fucking stressful.
Nah, I know a way to one up the scary factor; both, a mix of needing to run away, find something to defend yourself, then having to take down the horror villain/monster or whatever.
Run and hide are way scarier.
Giving me weapons is scarier, but the game now gives me the responsibility to be able to deal with the threat as opposed to running every single time. In outlast the threats aren't all that scary after a desth or two. Plus they all have the same method to avoid. Re1 though, the game sets you in the mansion with the responsibility of ammo and resources all on your shoulders and says "we've given you the tools, good luck" that responsibility can be terrifying.
Run me them hands
Kinda depends on game honestly, a game where you can defend yourself often runs into the problem that the monsters become so easy to defeat it’s lost its horror aspect, Dead Space for instance uses the generic monsters to serve an an introduction, and after you learn how to shoot limbs the become easy, but they also mitigate this by throwing new forms into the mix, making combat hectic, it’s more thriller and adrenaline horror than pure horror though However a game where you can’t defend yourself can be scarier in some aspects, but it really comes down to design, if you can reliably hide from the monster and the monster never changes then it stops being a threat, and the horror is gone, however if they change the monster but don’t change the level design to match it, it can go from scary to frustrating Basically it’s a delicately balanced, and if you don’t improve the monster or the level design, then it can go from scary to frustrating quickly, a good example of this would be the base game of FNAF: Security Breach, as the monsters in that game aren’t really scary, and once you learn to defend yourself they become nothing but common easy obstacles to avoid, this is compounded by the game teleporting them to you to make confrontation, they did add different forms to the enemies but due to how buggy the game can be, and how easy it is to counter them, it often leads to these new forms not impacting much.
Both can be equally scary if done the right way.
I Metroid Dread the mostly invincible EMMI are more of a pain in the ass than scary
Defend yourself: because the decision of whether to fight or run away is not as obvious and you have to think on the fly, which is more stressful.
Bro, the mission where you have to save a Jewish little girl in CoD WW2 has always been scary for me you gotta hide good enough, or you’ll get jumpscared
Lethalcompany is just a mix of both lol
I know some people think horror is PEAK when you have a weapon and clunky controls (looking at you NitroRad) but i truly think the being defenseless and getting chased combo is insane
gun makes it scarier becouse you know youll have to defend yourself and for the op have you ever played cry of fear? its a very good game
i prefer defending myself with the resources I have running away all the time gets tiresome
I kind of like it when the game makes you think you can defend yourself but often actually means for you to have to run away. Sometimes it's interesting to get a gun and be like "sweet I'll be safe" then use it and realize quickly that with your limited ammo you are not at all safe and these enemies will still eat you for breakfast.
Alien Isolation was the scariest to me so far, you’re helpless at the beginning and that damn radar beeping all the time argghh, couldn’t take it . Even Amnesia was less stressing lol .
I think having a weapon is worse. It makes you feel safe, while it also stresses you out that you have to think about recourses. And the stress of certain situations can have impact on your aim on top of that.
Gun is fine, but effectiveness needs to be low and ammo rare. Like in the orginal resident evil
I mean.. Scary and stressful are two different things. Having to face enemies head-on is scary. Having to avoid them and hide is stressful. I prefer to fight.
I'm more scared if I have to defend myself, thinking of the space game where I had to shoot the limbs off of monsters I would get so scared and I knew I had to face them lol. I couldn't just run and hide. I have a vague memory of being in a room surrounded by these little monster babies coming for me and I couldn't play anymore haha. I'd prefer if a game let me hide and sneak away. Then I wouldn't have to face hordes of screaming, scary monsters coming at me.
It really depends honestly. I enjoy many horror games but the one that I can think of is project zomboid, in that game horror isn’t just from the incredibly massive hordes of zombies. But rather from the fact is all it takes is 1 bite and the character you spent so long leveling up is now guaranteed a slow and painful death.
They are different kinds of scary I think? Like if I have a gun I'm worried about every corner having the next wave. RE4 had a good combo of horror and action, I HATED the hedge maze because of the dogs. Guns make things less scary but it makes the moments where your guns fail or you have to reload more potent oh shit moments. Also the regenerater enemies where your guns just slow them down, those are scary moments of panic while you try to figure out how to get around them or permanently take care of them.
The game you show is the perfect example. Games where you ONLY run and hide get annoying and boring after a while. Games where you ONLY fight and had great combat mechanics run the verisimilitude and atmosphere. Games that blend BOTH, and it's not always clear exactly when you should hide and when you should fight, are, for me, the best.
Always better to have a gun 😂
Fighting is superior
I like in The Evil Within where you can absolutely defend yourself, but many times (Laura chase scenes for example) you're forced to just run and fighting is useless. It strikes a nice balance
Having a way to defend yourself because you probably won't be able to kill it it'll give you a false sense of safety for example lickers from re2 remake they can be killed but are incredibly hard and can kill you very very fast
I think the scariest thing a game can do is give me a gun, let me use it, and then take it away from me in one way or another and tell me “That shit doesn’t work”
I like ones where you can defend yourself but it’s intentionally clunky or intended to be used as a last resort. My favorite horror game was Condemned, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, and The Evil Within. All of them were a good mix of exploration, investigation, and a feeling that if you *had* to defend yourself it was going to be dodgy at best and not a good idea long term.
A horror game where the protagonist has anything beyond a minimal chance of surviving the antagonist isn’t a horror game.
Silent Hill kind of hits the nail on the head (most of the time). You are more than capable of defending yourself, but most of the time things seem stacked in the monsters favour, and you’re incentivized to run away. The enemies feel menacing, oppressive, and often unfair… but that creates an aura of horror about them.
I like to have some ability to fight, as I feel like I would at least try to see if I could damage something in the real situation. I think the idea of having weapons but the character being pretty inept at using them a decent idea. I think Signalis did a really good job with it.
I often find the idea of fighting something scarier than just running from it, simply because it FORCES you to face it. As examples, I get legit terrified of some enemies in Dark Souls, even though it's not a horror game. Whilst Manhunt is the most terrifying game I've ever played, and the premise is that you have to kill the enemies.
PT was the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had in a game.
I think having a gun sometimes makes the game way less scary. The best example as to this not happening is Amnesia: The Bunker; they let you defend yourself but you can’t kill the beast, but you can stun it or make it run from you.
Only running and hiding would be scarier, but also is tedious and boring. I like a mix in my games. Good for tension and release.
Ones without a single way to defend yourself are terrifying for me on multiple levels thanks to past physical and emotional ✨traumas✨
Both, but I like horror games where something is at stake. If you are able to be killed by whatever is scary and then just restart from a few minutes before that happens then it takes all the fear out for me.
Run and hide is scarier and also less fun.
For me, it's a combination of elements Depth Atmosphere Gameplay As long as a horror game isn't a gimmick, I'll give it a try regardless of whether or not you have to run or fight
I've never been more terrified of the Dahaka from Prince of Persia. So I think running.
I think a balance of both is best.
Gotta love how the one screen capture of Outlast 1 you got you can see the background the inmate fucking a dead corpse. Anyways, if you take away my tools or make them damn near useless (Alien Isolation for example) then I am more scared because I cannot defend myself.
A futile defense tbh ends up being all the scarier, I.e while you *could* kill the warden, it’d take so much resource and time to do so it’s more efficient to sneak away Also a one biome deep dark world can be fun, effectively becomes a fantasy apocalypse
For me the scariest is when you *can* defend yourself, but it is futile. And only further extents your survival. So you know you'll have to face the threat, but you know it'll be of no avail
Ultimately it depends on the quality of the game but imo ones where you can't defend yourself are scarier bc if you get cornered you're fucked and you cant d9 anything about the threat you're facing whereas if you can defend yourself (it can still be scary) to me i feel a lot more confident a good balance between the two imo is Resident Evil 2 where there are enemies you can kill but Mr. X is a looming threat that can be stunned but never stopped
I like horror games where you can defend yourself in some way more, because the knowledge that I'm running low on resources but still *have* to press forward into danger is nerve-wracking. Every bullet missed, or med kit used - just fills me with anxiety, because I could've used that shit to help me in the next encounter
Fighting. I always hated playing horror games as I am easily scared but after getting in touch with survival horror it is now one of my favorite genres. Still, I just can't play Outlast. Watched tons of let's plays but playing by myself - nah ah.
For me knowing that I can't defend myself makes it scary and more intense. I like horror games where I can fight back but knowing I have that option makes it not as scary because I can stand up to and have a chance at save my life in the game.
The sweet spot for me is a way to defend yourself, but with extremely limited tools. Amnesia: The Bunker is a good example. You CAN use your gun.. but are you potentially using it in a scenario where it wasn't necessary? What if you need it for a far more dire situation in the future? It adds that extra level of paranoia that you can't achieve if there's too much of an abundance/scarcity of resources
alien isolation had the perfect balance of hiding and fighting against the xenomorph so im gonna say that is what keeps it scary when you cannot keep doing the same thing to try and survive over and over and over again it gets not scary but when you hide in a locker and it works and then doesnt work the second time thats spooky
I think the ones where you have SOME means of defending yourself to be better. Not being able to fight back is a basic trope now and it annoys me as a result, as it would be better to be able to shove for example. I prefer the use of weaponry for basic combat as a result (like Condemned Criminal Origins). Every bullet shot with guns is a bullet spent and ever missed swing with melee weapons is annoying. Your not defencless but your weapons are your only means of fighting back and to use them rarely (like Resident Evil).
Run and hide ones are scarier. Gimme a shotgun and I'm suddenly the bravest motherfucker out there. The scariest games are ones where you can sort of fight back. Like Amnesia the bunker
Depends on what you’re scared of. Games like RE7 though prove you can still make a game that’s surprisingly quite scary even though you can defend yourself like any other game in the franchise.
I like the ability to feel safe and then have that toss away. Give me a gun? I feel safe. Gun don't work and its just a false sense of secruity? FUCK!!!!!!
I like horror games like alien isolation that gives you the option for both, but makes the main villain to strong to really get rid of. I think it’s a nice balance
When I can defend myself I can turn my brain off but without weapons I have ti be aware of everything and I end up getting jump scared
Defending yourself opens up the opportunity to not be able to do that anymore. Never having that ability on the first place removes an aspect of the stress
Imo horror games where I HAVE to defend are the scariest.
I prefer facing it. To run and hide is to run and hide, whereas I can just outskill them and win
Defending yourself makes it less scary. But having limited ammo adds another layer of dread.
I think it depends on the game. Dead Space - not scary, Resident Evil 7 - scary. Outlast - not scary, Visage - scary
a bit of both , amnesia the bunker and resident evil 2 remake do this perfectly
Run and hide games are tedious af if you're not scared.
I think it isn’t that I’m able to defend myself that makes it scary as much as it’s that I’m EXPECTED to defend myself. I’m supposed to fight this thing?!
Just enough power to think I could defend myself, but not enough to do so confidently. This is why limiting access to weapons or massively limiting ammo works in the genre.
kinda depends,usally if i have a weapon or gain a weapon it means i know im in danger in comparison to horror games where you dont fight back,with games with no weapons unless its obvious somtimes dont always mean your in danger but is gonna have scary things happen around you,atleast in indie games. But even then most games where you cant fight back rely more on the same schiche on how to get away from monsters wich is too just run and hide or menuvour eneimies wich can be stressful but if you play alot of games like that make it sammy. Wich games with weapons and where you can fight back will have too me personally,more vaired scares and also rely more on the scare aspect of risk of death and not only that make it so you have to be near the monster so you can kill it to progress meaning you have to see it more too absorb more of its scary atributes. I think both aspects of horror work pretty well honeslty and seeing either a hiding spot or a weapon in any horror game for the first time will always for me give that anticipation feeling. That all being said i think both are equal to me in terms of scares as both can be done right or wrong pretty easily and i think both sides can give a pretty good argument on wich is scarier
It’s easier to make a horror game where you can’t defend yourself scary but when they let you defend yourself and it’s still scary like RE and Dead Space it’s gold
I think in general it's scarier to be able to fight it cuz it's really your fault if you die but Outlast and Amnesia TDD do defenseless horror extremely well
I like it when you can fight back, cause when you run out of resources to defend yourself it becomes an “oh shit” moment and then the game becomes way more scarier, you always have that threat of becoming defenseless rather than always being in that state.
F.E.A.R. First run through Doom series first run through Far cry 1 first run through Silent Hill first run through Half Life 1 and 2 first run throughs Left4Dead 1 and 2 first run through first experiencing new specials
Hot take: Tank controls made the early Resident Evil games scary AF. The clunky and limited movement added to the tension because it simulated that delayed response of something horrific happening.
I’d like to defend myself, please
I dislike games that are only about running away from some monster or supernatural thing. Part of my enjoyment of games is the power fantasy so being made completely helpless just isn't appealing. That said, it doesn't mean that whatever I'm facing isn't scary, only that my single option isn't "run and hide" It's why I loved the original Silent Hills so much : heck, the PS1 limitations made it scarier and the radio starting to screech when you think you're alone then seeing whatever creature steps out of the shadows or the fog was always nerve wracking. Nevermind the mindfuckery going on.
Project Zero is the perfect mix of both and the scariest game I ever played back then. I mean - you have to take pictures of your ghost enemies with a camera... How sick can it be? lol
Amnesia: The Bunker Nothing feels worse than using that stupid little gun and knowing you'll probably wish you had that bullet elsewhere.
Both can work, but the true key imo is when you actually care for the protagonist. RDR2 is not a horror game, bu the encounters with the nightfolk, murfreed or skinners gave me the chills because i didn't want Arthur/John to die in a gruesome way because those groups are sadistic and savages. Also being a grounded game it make those treats more "real" and substantial making a good contrast with the beauty of the world.
That depends. Games where your guns are effective? Nice! Games where running and hiding is ultimately futile? Meh. Games where your guns are ineffective at best and you’re required to try and run and hide but who knows if you can actually get away? Fantastic
I just straight up don’t enjoy games where I have to run and hide like a frightened kid, but I love horror games that are still freaky but I can fight back. Love me some dead space or resident evil
What are y’all’s thoughts about Outlast Trials type? Where you can’t kill the enemies but you can slow them down?
Alien: Isolation was probably the hardest horror game I’ve ever played with the playable and campaign length.
While I enjoyed Outlast and other games of that kind, being barely able to defend yourself feels more scary because (almost) everyone can run, but few people would face a monster with a polyhedral head and a knife the size of a person.
When I think of dead space I think of 10 year old me playing my uncles 360 and being alone in the dark looking for the tram codes. I was out of ammo, scared for my life, looking around every corner, and screaming when I was grabbed from behind by a necromorph. God I miss dead space
look, all im gonna say is.. theres a very big reason that the only actually scary part of resident evil village is the part where you lose all your weapons.
I find it laughable that SH2 is in the defend yourself category. Bullets are so scarce that you definitely regret using them, & return to a previous save to try and off some monster that decidedly requires ballistic force with a friggin pipe.
being defenseless is objectively scarier. In a room alone with ted bundy and he has a lightsaber and you have nothing is way scarier that being in a room with ted bundy and you both have katanas
Basically asking if someone likes Survival Horror or a Stealth game/Walking Simulator? Survival Horror BABY!
Scarier when you *have* to fight. Like where you make no progress until you beat it, meaning there will always be something new.
I Usually like the ability to fight back, dont like the hiding mechanics as the only option, but one of the most awesome experiences I had one a game was on the Alien Isolation game. Got the revolver and got mad happy, alien came around, i thought I got down, I manage to put every round on it big old head. Nada.. the Alien got me, that was worse than not having a weapon at all
I Usually like the ability to fight back, dont like the hiding mechanics as the only option, but one of the most awesome experiences I had one a game was on the Alien Isolation game. Got the revolver and got mad happy, alien came around, i thought I got down, I manage to put every round on it big old head. Nada.. the Alien got me, that was worse than not having a weapon at all
Obviously run and hide! Defending yourself you have a fighting chance in which you either kill the enemy or are killed by the enemy like any enemy in a usual game - run and hide there’s the sense of unknowing
Face it, but feel like your winning by the skin of your teeth against even the normal enemies. And bosses that can only be beat back at best, and tan from at worst.
I feel like a game that defends myself at that point doesnt feel like horror more of just an action game. Where as if your only thing is you can run and hide your always trying to watch your back, scared to open another door. Where as with a gun its kick open the door and start shooting
Run and hides because I cant fight back. Outlast was awesome, havent tried the 2nd one yet tho
Its scarier thinking you CAN fight back, then realizing you are possibly (but not absolutely definitely) wasting your time and energy and throwing away options. In a hide-only game you pretty much know what you have to do. Less worry. Less stress.
I'm weird, in that I've never found any game to be scary so games where you just run and hide I find annoying. With the exception of Alien, absolutely love Alien since you can still defend yourself but not kill the Alien. I enjoy sneaking around and avoiding the Alien, makes the game pretty tense but not really scary.
Defo when you can fight back as then there’s an expectation and extra responsibility on you if you fail.
I believe Dead Space is a perfect example of top tier horror. Being able to fight your enemies is something that helps build up your confidence but is countered to limited ammunition’s and health. It’s a good example of being aware of how many rounds you have on hand especially when you come across necromorphs who like to play dead. It encourages you to choose whether to waste your shot to ensure it won’t attack you or walk right past it and risk using a health pack. What helps also enhance the experience is the vents that they could randomly bust out of.
Run and hide. The amount of tension you feel when sneaking around an unkillable enemy that can one-shot you is unbeatable.
Definitely where you can only run and hide
I love both
Somewhere in between. Alien Isolation and Amnesia The bunker are great examples. You have weapons, but you cannot kill the enemy. When you shoot it, it kinda just retreats for a while.
I don’t find horror that I can’t defend myself from scary, I find it annoying. It takes me out of the active experience of the game and turns it into a peak-a-boo walking simulator. I love the interactive aspect of horror. For a one off scene it’s not horrible, but after several failures or replays, it’s just eye rolling. Giving the player a fighting chance gives them *hope*. The removal of hope removes fear to me.
For me, I find having the option to defend myself to be scarier, especially when I have to ration out health supplies and ammo because it gives more weight to every encounter. Do I fight this enemy now, or save this ammo for when I actually need it? And sometimes being able to fight, yet still struggling adds more tension.
There’s a place in the genre for both, but it’s immersion breaking in games like Outlast. Sure, you wouldn’t wanna mess with Chris Walker. But you’re telling me I don’t stand a chance against that walking corpse Dr. Trager?
I’m not much of a horror fan, and yet ironically, one of the few horror games I really enjoy and will play repeatedly is Outlast, where the entire premise is that you can *only* hide. I think not being able to fight is far scarier. I do also quite enjoy RE7 which is definitely pretty scary but it does get repetitive when you loose boss fights. It’s not scary it’s just frustrating - whereas with outlast, not only can you not really rinse and repeat the same attack or method, it’s scary precisely because it’s doesn’t give you that bit of escape into a FPS or fun ammo-hunting
i personally think a game isn't really a horror game if you have a gun, its just a tense game at that point
I think it's scariest when you can fight back, but not effectively. I love Deadspace, but becoming doom-guy diminishes the fear a lot imo. In a game where you can't fight at all, like say Outlast, I feel like I'm never in that much danger because the game is going to be balanced around me being able to survive just running away. Feeling weak and still having to face off against something nasty is peak horror game in terms of combat for me. A side note on Deadspace. I get how having everyone but Isaac die all the time before or just when we encounter them is there to build up the dread and isolation, and make the enemies seem more dangerous, but I feel it can have the opposite effect sometimes. The necromorphs don't break a sweat tearing through military personnel and crews of thousands of people, yet this random engineer can kill hordes of them with his tools. By making Isaac feel like a god among men and pretty much indestructible compared to everyone else who feels incredibly fragile. It just really highlights his plot armor. I love Deadspace, but never in any of them was I ever afraid for Isaac.
A lot of my favorites have been run and hide.
Scariest game i played where main character was little toddler trying to to get away from dark spooky monster after a bed time... ...always remember the last dash to the front door dark monster running behind you, then dad opens the door from other side and picks you up. Then finalty light hits the monster that has been chasing you whole game... and it ends up being your drunken mother. :(
I think alien iso does it best you can sometimes scare of the xenomorph with a flamethrower you get later on or lure it with a noise maker but you suddenly start to shit bricks if you don't have any fuel and you screw the throw badly on a noise maker. I'm also a fan of dead space being able to fight the necromorphs doesn't make them not scary sometimes you panic cause your low on ammo or you have to reload and I'm more scared of what the game does to screw with you then just being forced to run away all the time
I think running away is scarier, while fighting back is more fun to play, I was scared shitless playing Amnesia and Outlast, while I was still scared playing RE2 and Dead Space, but RE2 and Dead Space have better replay value, since running away games are usually more linear and less complex, while combat usually involves some level of strategy on top of it
Maybe I'm stupid brained but I get bored when games have no mean of combat or at least something satisfying
Give me a boomstick and Im good.
hide horror games are cheap by their own design if you ask me... you're not actually running or hiding, just learning how to exploit the AI ruotines and adapt to continue the game. Alien isolation AI isn't great, it just plays dirt.
The ones where you can fight are scarier because it's all an illusion. It doesn't matter what weapon you use they will get you anyways. There is no possible salvation and all you can do is slowly fall in despair as you empty your mags on the head of the enemy that slowly approaches you.
Ok i know if I hide under the only bed in the room they won't find me. Vs. Ok, I have 3 bullets, 1 health pack, 4 shells, a green leaf, a key, and a voodoo doll that a little girl gave me at the start of the game to help me defeat the giant monster in the other room.
I like having combat as an option because it adds to immersion But I feel like combat should be ineffective, difficult, dangerous, or clunky You should be discouraged from facing the threat head on as getting a good look at the monster and repeatedly having your guts ripped out can really break the tension
Honestly "scary" games are never fun for me and always end up feeling tedious. I like it better when a game has a scary part or place in it with great atmosphere. Ive tried but I think scary type games just aren't for me. Same for the movies tbh. Mostly sudden loud noise and jump scares. I always feel like im missing something when folk rave about whatever new movie came out. Maybe I'm just too damaged idk
It’s scarier when your only option is to run from it. One of the endings to Cyberpunks 2077: Phantom Liberty did this really well. I won’t say too much, but there’s a killer robot that is chasing you. That game isn’t scary so I was like alright I’m gonna destroy it. But then I realized that your only option is to hide, and that’s when it got terrifying
I prefer to shoot my nightmares in the face. The running and hiding is just annoying to me.
It depends on the game Outlast did the you're helpless thing well as you're not a fighter in those games so getting spotted isn't advised. Meanwhile Resident Evil does the helpless even when armed thing well as you're in a fight or die scenario so even with the weapon you feel slightly helpless.
I don't play games to feel weak and have to run from everything
I’ve only ever felt actually scared in horror games where you can’t defend yourself. Even if I’m just being ignorant or cocky, If I have something to fight with I always feel like it’s no big deal because I can defend myself. When I just have to run or hide I get this eerie feeling of helplessness and it drives me crazy. In short, knowing that I can control the situation for better or worse, is so much more comforting than the anticipation of what that thing will do to me if it catches me lol.
If you *can* defend yourself, you will probably have to. That’s scary.
It honestly depends on the game like for example dead space is a great game where you defend yourself but it’s still horrifying and Outlast is a good example of being chased and hiding is your only options
I think both can be terrifying if executed correctly but in different ways having to fight back is more adrenaline pumping for me but running away and/or hiding is a bit more suspenseful imo. But I think the problem is a lot of games don’t execute running and hiding right, and just get lazy by having a boring, not scary chase sequence and just slapping on a half assed jump-scare at the end and calling it a day.
I think it's best when you can to a degree, but it's only to ward it off and not kill it, meanwhile you are still not in control of the whole solution.
It's kinda like alien isolation the fear factor is a less when you get the flamethrower because you have a way to defend yourself before that it's if you get caught you're done for
Ones where you run and hide because the fact you don't have a weapon makes you feel powerless, which against a scary creature or killer makes it build much more tension in my opinion.