Don't look now

On the weekend, I was talking to someone who turned out to be something of connoisseur when it came to horror games. He spoke highly of Outlast, was aware of Slender: The Eight Pages and showed me Eyes upon his ipad. The latter was of particular note: It was claimed it was done by the same people who made Slender and, through a demonstration, Eyes revealed itself to be following the same formula of ‘run from a freaky creature with murderous intent’.

I myself am not into horror games – I myself play games to relax and it’s hard to relax when your Player Character is being chased by a psychotic with murderous intent. However I can see something of a formula begin to emerge through the games mentioned above.  Tell me if the following doesn’t sound familiar: Trapped in a confined space with limited lighting? Threats in the form of antagonists that are of a mysterious nature? Constant danger that is practically relentless? The only action a player can do is running? Little to no chance of victory? Indeed, once one realizes there seems to be a formula to the recent wave of horror games it now becomes impossible to ignore.

I suppose the source of this wave can be traced back to Amnesia: the Dark Descent. Whilst it is kinda nice that that game was a success (for an indy game) and showed up the posers of the survival horror genre, one gets the sense that everyone else has since been looking over Amnesia: the Dark Descent’s shoulder and copying their answers. It would be nice to think that an indy game has become the benchmark for other horror games to follow but I think it more a race to see who can freak out players the most.
But suppose Amnesia: the Dark Descent is the new benchmark. It raises a question: Where can we go from here? Gaming history is littered with games becoming big hits only to inspire clones in their wake. – two such examples being Street Fighter 2 and Final Fantasy 7. Both are regarded as the finest of their genre and nothing that has followed has really matched it (although Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur may have a solid claim against Street Fighter 2). So if everyone seems intent on replicating Amnesia: the Dark Descent, does this mean the horror genre has nothing left to say?

Personally I think horror games work best when they sneak up from behind, pull the rug from underneath the player and gradually break the player’s will. Isn’t that right Eversion?