Has The Horror Genre Moved From Mainstream To Indie?

GamingUnion.net:

A conversation with a couple of friends recently brought up the topic of the horror genre in the video games industry, a genre that's become a bit of a personal joke, to say the least. We discussed how it feels like nothing new has been done in the last few years, and even the most visceral of experiences can easily be boiled down to a carnival ride: a few turns, some semi-predictable 'boo!' moments, and a lot of things jumping out at you. At the very worst, we have a series like Resident Evil, which has become an absolute far cry from what it used to be - even then, that wasn't very scary - and at best, we have the remnants of the Silent Hill series that is desperately attempting to relive its psychological glory days. Somewhere in between lay titles like Dead Space. It does a good job in promoting a few scares while at the same time staying close to the 'action shooter' genre that has taken an iron grip over the industry in the past few years. So where do fans of the horror genre have to go to get a decent scare? Apparently, like most things these days, the answer is the online Indie scene.

[mephman]

It's nice to know there are still some indie developers out there that are trying to keep this genre alive.

[ShawnCollier]

Yeah, there haven't been too many of them lately.

[EVILDEAD360]

The author of the title clearly hasnt played most of these game..

Fatal Frame was absolutely one of the scariest games last gen..unfortunately the future of the series is stuck in Japan on the Wii..I would have loved to have seen a FF make the 360 & the PS3.

Dead Space was the biggest suprise this gen and the sequel is getting plenty of love. The author also missed F.E.A.R. which had a great port onto the 360. Although the sequel didn't match the creepiness of the first, the 3rd title os enlisting John Carpenter to ratchet up the scares.

Props goes to Remedy for Alan Wake, which I hope gets a proper sequel in the future. Resident Evil is definately moved away from it's original horror roots, but no one can blame them for providing one of the best games of ANY gen in RE4.

I still have yet to play Deadly Premonition but it's clear that the title is a cult fave amongst horror heads.

It's tough to say that the genre is on a downward skid, but it's obviously hard for developers to greenlight titles when they arent selling a much as other popular genres this gen.

Only time will tell, but Dead Space 2 charted well in February so there is hope at the end of the tunnel

Evil

[jeeves86]

Deadly Premonition is a favourite because apparently it's so bad that it's good. I doubt if that does anything positive for the genre.

[Hardedge]

Dead Space was fun the first time, got some scares out of it. But after that it just became another third person shooter in really tight corridors with butt ugly enemies to shoot at.

[mephman]

It's kinda the same with Doom 3. It was pretty scary initially, but then it just becomes another first-person shooter.

[DangerTick]

Horror Games no longer exist. They just turn into action games like shooters.

[fozzness]

Truth... I hate how the Silent Hill games have turned out. Nothing within it even represents anything anymore.. it's all just fan service thus none of it is really frightning

[im-12-years-old]

Sounds exactly like RE5. Man was I disappointed in that game.

[Eternus]

Nowadays mainstream horror game's rely, in my opinion, too much on jump scares, as opposed to really engaging the player on a psychological level and exploiting kind of real fear's that people have.

We are given too much freedom, too much control of what we can often fight back with in these games. A big part of fear is feeling vulnerable and feeling desperate.

Hopefully some developer will realize this and revive what classic horror games used to do.

[bobrea]

Amnesia is a beacon of hope! Support those developers! I pirated the game before it came out and loved it and then as soon as I saw it for sale on Steam, I bought it. I highly recommend that game (along with the Penumbra series, made by the same developers) to anyone who is looking for a seriously scary game. But I agree with this story in the sense that most 'horror' games just turn into regular shooters eventually.

[Mista T]

you guys need to play the source mod Nightmare House 2, it's great

[Lirky]

Silent hills could make a comeback someday... Like if a newer story stands out.

[Wolf873]

The last good horror game I played was Amnesia, so I guess it is true that Indie devs are keeping it alive. The big guns are trying to reach to masses.

[Vinushka]

It's a shame that Dead Space has been deemed horror king by all of these sites yet it isn't a horror game, just a boring action game.

Shoot this monster, now this one, and this one, and oh, here is some gore. Ya scared yet?

That's all these "horror" games have become.

Indie developers have taken over, I just hope they don't make an action game an call it a horror.

While I'm at it, I'll just say that I think Dead Space 2 sucks, a lot. I had to turn the game off simply because I was sick and tired of monsters jumping out at me every 2 seconds. It's idiotic and childish.

[BlueEye]

Amnesia is the ultimate horror game! I can't get trough one hour! My dad can't stand 20 minutes!

[Shmotz]

I think gamers nowadays are used to the horror games now. Plus so many of them throw ammo out the wazoo at you it really isnt scary anymore. My biggest gripe with Dead Space is how its more of a pop out at you scare opposed to the original Silent Hills or Resident Evil that kept supplies low and the tension through the roof. Amnesia did a fantastic of messing with the players minds.

[Inception]

Amnesia really-really-surprised me!
the concept are simple and executed really good by the developer

maybe Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, or EA can learn from Amnesia dev

[DigitalAnalog]

Japanese devs have no problem whatsoever when it comes to horror games. Problem is, the people that made these games went independent like Shinji Mikami and they're more focused in making "different" types of games.

-End statement1

[jeeves86]

Silent Hill: Homecoming had a pretty decent storyline - if they would have done away with the excess characters. I think the fact that the game could glitch up and you'd die or lose your progress was what scared me the most though :P