Horror game

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Not to be confused with Survival horror.
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A horror game is a video game genre centered on horror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. The term may also be used to describe tabletop games with horror fiction elements.

Unlike most other video game genres, which are classified by their gameplay, horror games are nearly always based on narrative or visual presentation, and use a variety of gameplay types.[1][2]

Sub-genres

Historically, the classification of video games into genres ignores the narrative themes, which would include science fiction or fantasy games, instead preferring systems based on the style of gameplay or at times, types of game modes or by platform. Horror games is the only narrative-based classification that has generally not followed this pattern, with the narrative genre label used broadly for games designed to scare players.

platform game series uses monsters and creatures borrowed from numerous horror mythos. In such cases, these games are still categorized by their original gameplay genre, the horror aspect considered a literary aspect of the game.[3]
However, there are some specific areas in the broad horror game classification that have been identified as unique subgenres in horror.

Survival horror

Main article: Survival horror

One of the best-defined and most common types of horror games are survival horror games. These games tend to focus on the survival of the player-character in a horror setting with limited resources, and thus tend to be more geared as an action game or action-adventure game.[4] A common theme of these games is escape or survival from the equivalent of a zombie apocalypse, with weapons, ammunition, and armor limited. The Resident Evil series coined the term and serves as the prime example of such games, though key conventions of the subgenre preceded the Resident Evil series. Other notable survival horror series include Alone in the Dark, Clock Tower, Fatal Frame and Parasite Eve.

Action horror

Action horror games use

Left 4 Dead series, and The Last of Us
.

Psychological horror

See also: Psychological horror

Psychological horror games are meant to scare the player through emotional, mental, or psychological states rather than through monsters or other scares. The fear comes from "what is not seen, rather than what is".

OMORI, Eternal Darkness and Doki Doki Literature Club![9][10] Psychological horror games may still be tied to action-based genres; Spec Ops: The Line is a third-person shooter but with a psychological horror narrative inspired by works like Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now.[11]

Jump scare horror

See also: Jump scare

Jump scare horror games are designed around moments aimed to immediately surprise or shock the player when they do not expect it, as well as creating a sense of dread while anticipating the next jump scare. While jump scares may be elements in other horror games along with other gameplay aspects, jump scare horror games are generally limited to this type of gameplay mechanism. They are often aimed towards generating reactions from players, which have proven popular to watch over streaming playthroughs of games. Five Nights at Freddy's is one example of this style of game.[12] Some other examples of jump scare horror games include Dino Crisis, Outlast, Poppy Playtime, and Resident Evil.

Reverse horror

Reverse horror games involve the player scaring others, rather than the player being scared.[13] Compared to a horror game, the player is instead what would be considered the antagonist. Reverse horror games generally involve assuming the role of a monster or villain. In comparison to the victim, the main character has some sort of advantage over the others, such as enhanced vision, greater strength, or supernatural abilities. Reverse horror games may also derive from an original horror game, developed as a sequel or prequel to the original, intended to display the perspective of the titular antagonist. Examples of reverse horror games include Carrion and the asymmetric multiplayer modes in Dead by Daylight and Friday the 13th: The Game, in which one player controls the monster or the killer that is chasing the other players.

History

Further information: Survival horror § History

The incorporation of general horror genre themes into video games came early on in the medium, inspired by

adventure games Mystery House (1980) and The Lurking Horror (1987) incorporated horror elements through their textual descriptions of rooms.[3]

Sinclair ZX81, while not containing images tied with horror games, was one of the first games to induce the feeling of suspense and mystery typically associated with the genre.[20]

With more graphical capabilities, games should start to include horror-related imagery, often present in the licensed games based on horror films in the 1980s and 1990s such as

cutscenes rather than the animated sprites used in the action-based gameplay as to give the fidelity to the details of the horror scene.[3]

LucasArts.[14] Sweet Home (1989) was a survival horror role-playing video game based on the Japanese horror film of the same name. It was Capcom's first survival horror title, directed by Tokuro Fujiwara, who had earlier designed Ghosts 'n Goblins and later went on to produce Resident Evil, which was originally intended to be a remake of Sweet Home.[26] Phantasmagoria (1995) by Roberta Williams was one of the earliest psychological horror games.[3]

zombies who could run, jump and swim,[28] whereas Konami's Silent Hill (1999) defined and popularized psychological horror games.[8]

While horror games were inspired by horror films up until the 1990s, horror games were later influencing horror films by the 2000s.[14] The success of Resident Evil and House of the Dead sparked a renewed interest in zombie films by the 2000s,[29][30] influencing hit zombie films such as 28 Days Later (2002), the Resident Evil film series, Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Shaun of the Dead (2004).[31][32][33] The Resident Evil and House of the Dead games influenced zombie films to move towards a more action-oriented approach with scientific themes and fast-running zombies.[28][34]

Horror games also benefited from

breaking the fourth wall.[37][38]

See also

References

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    S2CID 17373114. Archived from the original
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  2. Gamasutra
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  4. ^ Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2006). Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall.
  5. US Gamer
    . Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  6. ^ Jessey, Ben (February 19, 2020). "Resident Evil 4: 5 Reasons Why It's Survival Horror (& 5 It's Not)". The Gamer. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
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  8. ^ a b c d e f Fahs, Travis (30 October 2009). "IGN Presents the History of Survival Horror". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. p. 5. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
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  10. ^ Rose, Victoria (October 22, 2017). "Doki Doki Literature Club is an uncontrollably horrific visual novel". Polygon. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
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  13. ^ "Review: We want more reverse horror games like Carrion". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  14. ^ a b c d Garcia, Chris (31 October 2012). "The Haunted House". Computer History Museum. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
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  20. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (October 17, 2020). "3D Monster Maze Was The Very First Horror Game". Kotaku. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  21. ^ "Monster Bash". The A.V. Club. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  22. ^ "Frank, Drac & Pico! Monster Bash". Computer and Video Games. No. 14 (December 1982). 16 November 1982. p. 31.
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  24. ^ Martens, Todd (23 February 2021). "Review: 'Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection' updates everything but the sexist tropes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  25. ^ Lambie, Ryan (14 October 2019). "Splatterhouse: The Cult Horror Arcade Game of 1988". Den of Geek. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  26. ^ a b Reeves, Ben (31 October 2016). "Place Of Residing Evil: Looking Back At Capcom's Original Survival Horror". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016.
  27. ^ "15 Most Influential Video Games of All Time". GameSpot. April 14, 2010. Archived from the original on April 14, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  28. ^ a b Levin, Josh (2007-12-19). "How did movie zombies get so fast?". Slate.com. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
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  30. ^ Weedon, Paul (17 July 2017). "George A. Romero (interview)". Paul Weedon. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  31. ^ Barber, Nicholas (21 October 2014). "Why are zombies still so popular?". BBC. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  32. Huffington Post
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  33. ^ "How '28 Days Later' Changed the Horror Genre". The Hollywood Reporter. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
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  35. ^ Kelly, Andy (June 30, 2021). "AAA publishers failed the horror genre, but that's fine: it belongs to the indies now". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  36. ^ Zhang, Sarah (May 6, 2020). "How Indie Horror Games Have Evolved Over 20 Years". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  37. ^ Chatziioannou, Alexander (October 29, 2021). "A New Wave Of Lo-fi Games Is Reshaping Horror". The Verge. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  38. ^ Kuhnke, Oisin (October 27, 2021). "The resurgence of the PS1 horror game". NME. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
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