Amnesia killed the horror genre

**dph314** · 04-25-2011, 08:25 PM

touché

.........................................

**benvereen** · 04-26-2011, 03:33 AM

Goo! So much ego in this thread! :p

My 2 cents on all the arguing...

Dead Space isn't scary. It made me jump a few times, but so did Metal Gear Solid. I'm not saying it isn't fun. I played my first play-through on Zealot to increase the scare-factor, but was ultimately disappointed with the game's horror element. Gore doesn't equal scary. Having said that, I did enjoy the game enough to beat it a few times, but I eventually sold it. It's not a bad game, but I wouldn't call it a great game. There are a lot of things about it that I personally find lame. (the story, the failed scariness, the push-over difficulty, the reliance on gore, the dreadfully distasteful ad-campaign, the EA logo on the box :p) The only way I could recommend Dead Space to anyone is if they loved the new RE mechanics and wanted to play a decent rip-off.

And on the topic of Silent Hill! The only real Silent Hill games are the ones created by Team Silent. I love Silent Hill and tried to like the post-Team Silent titles, I really did. But the new ones just don't taste the same. That distinct Silent Hill-creepiness is gone and isn't coming back I'm afraid.

You couldn't play a Led Zeppelin cover band for me and convince me that it's really Led Zeppelin.

**Tanshaydar** · 04-26-2011, 04:25 AM

I'm sick of it. I can't take it anymore, yet everywhere is full of it.

**evertuy** · 04-26-2011, 06:27 AM

Anyone feel the creepiness and somewhat scary parts in Stalker SOC or COP? The atmosphere, I think, was better in Amnesia because of the setting and how it actually happened.

**Hunter of Shadows** · 04-26-2011, 06:47 AM

(11-30-2010, 04:53 AM)thiz Wrote: I dont know about you guys, but for me, Amnesia killed the Horror Genre. What that means? Before i was playing Amnesia, i got pretty much scared from every horror game, now after Amnesia, i'm never scared in any games of the genre.

Why is that? Well i think that Amnesia raised the bar of scary games that high, that i know how it is to feel the horror in a that much high level, that everything besides Amnesia is just not scary at all.

Horror movies? Dont care anymore. Other horror games like Penumbra, Doom 3 (well... kinda), Silent Hill or you name it? Dont care anymore. Its just games with good dark atmosphere now but not scary anymore.

So good job Frictional Games, you ruined the genre! (Ironic) Am I the only one feeling like that? What do you guys think? (Of course this is a positive comment, i like the way how Amnesia is freaking scarier then anything else)

that would be, because, the other horror games are not that scary...

**gandalf91** · 04-26-2011, 03:01 PM

^ It's all a matter of opinion and relativity, but I would agree with him. I started playing F.E.A.R. and Amnesia around the same time. And upon playing Amnesia F.E.A.R. was a soothing experience by comparison. lol

**Duskofdead** · 04-26-2011, 06:24 PM

(12-01-2010, 02:08 PM)Arvuti Wrote: Nope, main stream industry killed the horror genre years ago.

Name one truly scary game other than penumbra series and amnesia the dark descent and what was released in atleast 2005-2010

Very true. I remember how many things Valve slipped and admitted they changed, reworked, removed, or made easier while developing the Left 4 Dead games because of playtesters finding things 'too scary' or 'too hard' or 'too depressing.' The first game, for example, apparently lost more story and cut scenes because most of these involved the survivors somehow dying or being overwhelmed or having their vehicle crash and the playtesters found that 'too much of a downer.'

If they were trying to make a horror game, why the heck were they playtesting for people who clearly dislike horror?

Of course the real answer was, they were never really making a horror game. They were making an action game with horror decorations that they wanted to mass sell to the mainstream gamer market primarily on consoles. So everything is easy, forgiving, and you're wildly overpowered compared to pretty much everything you run into in the game.

So kudos to Frictional for making a real horror game, a truly immersive experience, and doing it for PC instead of turning it into AMNESIA: RELOADED... DANIEL'S BACK WITH A VENGEANCE, AND THIS TIME HE'S ARMED for PC-xbox crossplatform. Which you guys know would be exactly what we'd get if they tried to make a game like Amnesia but simultaneously had to make it marketable for xbox, lol.

(04-26-2011, 06:47 AM)Hunter of Shadows Wrote: that would be, because, the other horror games are not that scary...

That's because, imho, most of the market thinks horror = blood and sudden spooks. And not psychologically created tension and immersion. No one but Amnesia's team seems to have "gotten" that it's entirely about the 2nd. Amnesia makes you afraid when absolutely nothing is around threatening you... constantly.

**vergilmaycry** · 04-26-2011, 11:17 PM

(04-26-2011, 06:27 AM)evertuy Wrote: Anyone feel the creepiness and somewhat scary parts in Stalker SOC or COP? The atmosphere, I think, was better in Amnesia because of the setting and how it actually happened.

I might be totally off here, but I got the same vibe from half life 2 as I did from the stalker games and amnesia. Perhaps one of the key things in maintaining atmosphere is deliberately-made environments? As much as many of us liked Dead Space, a bug chunk of it was copy/pasteable ship interiors, while I remember a valve interview from years ago saying that they went out of their way to keep each piece of the environment unique and memorable. Amnesia does this too, I think, since I can recall most of the ingame map from memory (70%+) without having played the game in weeks.

**Cobra007** · 04-26-2011, 11:39 PM

I can't agree more that amnesia is really the top scary game so far. But, has anyone played scratches yet? I saw that it was released in steam and I'm wondering if it's scarier than amnesia. (To tell the truth, the scratches trailer does really have a scary background music)

**dph314** · 04-27-2011, 12:31 AM

(04-26-2011, 11:39 PM)Cobra007 Wrote: I can't agree more that amnesia is really the top scary game so far. But, has anyone played scratches yet? I saw that it was released in steam and I'm wondering if it's scarier than amnesia. (To tell the truth, the scratches trailer does really have a scary background music)

Scratches! I haven't heard that game mentioned in years. I had it years ago when it came out, and I found it 2 years ago in an 'old' drawer and played it through again. Scratches is NO Amnesia, but it is pretty clever and definately worth a playthrough.
And the Director's Cut has an extended ending. If you don't have the Director's Cut version you can watch the full ending on YouTube, like I had to.