Have Horror Games Lost Their Touch?

Horror games seems to be lacking that umph! that it use to have back when I was a child. I remember when playing a horror game actually meant something where it leaves you with a lasting impression of being frightened, scared, horrified of what lies ahead of you, but we just don't get that anymore in today's gaming industry and it sucks.

[KiwiViper85]

Your first sentence sums it up perfectly. "when I was a child"

You've become desensitized to horror. We all have.

[TFJWM]

Let me play Until Dawn, then I'll have a better response to this article.

Thou P.T. was one of the most horrifying "games" I've played

[Pozzle]

Not only that, but nostalgia does tend to warp peoples' memories a bit. The 90s and early 2000s had some great horror series like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, Alone in the Dark, Clocktower, etc.....but there was a lot of crap too like Darkseed 2, D, Illbleed, Deep Fear, The Ring: Terror's Realm, and Night Trap (the latter was a fine example of the countless awful FMV horror games that came out back then).

People tend to forget that times haven't changed much. Even during the "golden era" of horror games, there were still a lot of crappy horrors being released.

[Shazz]

maybe we got spoiled back in the 90s with likes of resident evil, silent hills etc. i personally loved dead space 1 and 2 and evil within, oh and shoutout for original condemned also

[SuperbVillain]

yes they have lost their touch...dead space was cool,but there hasnt been a real significant horror game in a while. PT looked like it was going to be the one,but then,well,konami

[Officialxandr]

Definitely making a comeback. Ps4 is killing it with horror.

[DLConspiracy]

Imagination is a huge catalyst to fear. Our imaginations can concoct all sorts of horrors. Perhaps some of the fear is lost when we can rationalize our way out of a situation or know exactly what we are dealing with. I notice when games/movies reveal the creatures or monsters out so blatantly (like in the open or in the light) it's less scary. If they mask it and leave it in the shadows where your imagination can run wild it's much more scary.

I'm an avid horror fan. I feel that immersion and atmosphere are key to scaring someone. The music or score can creep into you as well to work with them. Jump scares are quick and cheap. While setting a mood or a pace invests the viewer/gamer into chaos and mystery. It immerses you into the horror. A lot of games/movies don't get that part right and instead just throw everything out at you for fear of people losing interest. Which doesn't creep into your imagination or sit in you long after the game or movie is done.

It takes a lot of talent to weave those things in. That's why to me some of the scariest movies/games don't reveal why it's happening at all. Plot sometimes ruins the mystery left to our imaginations.

[TheColbertinator]

Evil Within had some good ideas going. Although I really miss the original Dead Space too.

Fatal Frame V is about to come out and I hope its really good

[ShaunCameron]

It's not so much they lost their touch. It's just that you can be scared for only so long.