Outlast

[GiggleBlizzard]

Amnesia is barely all jump scares. You can go through a whole level, shitscared because you've heard a monster spawning(which may cause a jump scare) or just because the envoriment is so scary, yet you never actually encounter the monster. Sometimes you'll know the monster is around a corner and you'll look, you'll be scared to death but it's not a jump scare.

Jump scares aren't bad or cheap by definition. They're bound to happen in a horror game, but in a game like Amnesia they don't get old after a time and there is a lot more creeping you out.

[Ghieri]

I always characterized jump-scares by the sudden, drastic change in the player's perceptual aspect of his environment designed to cause momentary shock.

Most encounters in Amnesia are more subtle than the Iron maiden scene, so I don't count those as jump-scares.

[Bridge]

That is not the definition of a jump scare Bridge, a jump scare is simply a scare that comes by surprise. The cheap bit is an opinion. And yes, Amnesia's encounters are nearly all jumpscares, only ones that are not are ones where the monster is not actually present. I pick an item up, walk out of the door, grunt, Kitchen, I go in there do my thing, grunt, morgue, I do my thing, go to door BANG, brute, etc. That's all of amnesias encounters basically. Penumbras first encounter is a jumpscare yes, but afterwards they are all introduced well, whilst it is the reverse for amnesia. There is a lot of foreshadowing, yes, but that does not mean it is a jump scare. Most of amnesias encounters have no fore shadowing.

Fine, I will grant that. The cheapness is indeed something that one has come to associate with jump scares, so much so that the two are basically synonymous (most definitions of "jump scare" I can find online are of a cheap scare). However, I think we need to talk about what exactly constitutes a jump scare. To me, jump scares are scares that startle you (cause you to jump). Cheap jump scares are for a temporary effect and good jump scares are a way to release tension that is built up. Can we agree on that? If so, great.

Then I want to ask how picking up an object and hearing a voice from afar is a jump scare. If your definition of a startling event is a stable environment disrupted in some way by an influencer, then all encounters are jump scares. After all, there is no such thing as an NPC existing independently of the game world, and having NPCs spawned in a place where they are not visible or audible is impractical programming. The encounter in the morgue is certainly a jump scare (I never said Amnesia/Penumbra were devoid of them), but to say that all of the encounters (or even most) is a big stretch.

EDIT: I don't even think the first encounter in the prison is a jump scare, even though it is tricky to circumvent on first playthrough. The grunt's whispered growl is not intended to startle people, it's intended to make them nervous. Since there is no orchestral sting or usually any visual confirmation of the monster's presence, I simply cannot call the encounters jump scares. The game makes it clear that there is something in the vicinity, and that's what's scary. Not the fact that they pop up.

[zaggnut]

Amnesia forum > Outlast forum
War is at our doorsteps!

Attitude such as this shall see that there will not be progress, nor cooperation that is vital for the indie development that we all hold with love.

Competition is fine, hate is not.

it was suppose to be humorous >.>

the scenario of 2 separate fan base forums waging war somehow not funny?

[palistov]

Looked actually pretty interesting until the weird beasties. I think it'd be nice to see more horror or thriller games that don't rely on the supernatural for their effect. Human conflict and such. Or even something like the movie The Grey. That movie was intense.

[Wooderson]

Looked actually pretty interesting until the weird beasties. I think it'd be nice to see more horror or thriller games that don't rely on the supernatural for their effect. Human conflict and such. Or even something like the movie The Grey. That movie was intense.

Yeah great film.

[felixmole]

Except the encounters you described as jump scares are the vast majority. I've frequently in the prisons picked an item up and boom, monster outside door. Which the guest room encounter at its most basic level is - its basically the brute encounter with slightly different changes eg, you opened the door to get in instead of already being in the room.

I would say the BEGINNING of Amnesia is full of jump-scares (until you finish the archives). The rest /isn't/, the atmosphere is extremely dreadful, my heart keeps pumping all my journey through the level. The encounters are part of that atmosphere. I have to admit that you can still have a few jump-scares past that point (morgue when you are done with the vaccine, inner-sanctum when you are being ambushed, and probably a few others), but it's wrong to say it is full of jump-scares.

[rtjhbfvsrry]

Hrm, there are actually a lot of scares in Amnesia that double both as atmosphere building and jump scares. A lot of "sudden roar, screen freaks out" moments double as a way to show you there's a monster on the loose to build up your fear level but will also make you jump.

Then there's the more obvious ones such as the Iron Maiden and the exploding torch thing in the Storage. Honestly, Frictional knows exactly what jump scares are good for and I love that. They're always in context and they will both terrify you and give you short moments of relief when the tension breaks. Keeping up a good tension arc requires breaking the tension occassionally, and they did a great job of that. Honestly laughing at myself after that exploding torch thing is the only reason I was able to continue through the storage area because that atmosphere was seriously stressing me out so much I wanted to quit. It may have briefly broken the immersion but contrary to popular belief, immersion isn't everything there is to an experience.

[GiggleBlizzard]

Looked actually pretty interesting until the weird beasties. I think it'd be nice to see more horror or thriller games that don't rely on the supernatural for their effect. Human conflict and such. Or even something like the movie The Grey. That movie was intense.

Personally I prefer supernatural stuff cause I just think something unkown and foreign is much more scary. I suppose Condemned: Criminal Origins is a pretty good nonsupernatural horror game.

[rtjhbfvsrry]

I like both, as long as something presented as supernatural does not turn out to be mundane. The most disappointing part in classic literature is when the trees turn out to be disguised people in the Scottish play. It reminded me of watching Scooby Doo as a kid. We would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for that meddling King!

EDIT: Someone posted while I was typing this message! That was in response to GigBliz.