Thirith on 16/5/2011 at 11:58
Some of the scariest bits in the Cradle weren't dark - they created a deep feeling of unease with animation, sounds, writing. I'd love to see a scary game that didn't rely on the old clichés of something jumping out at you from the dark... These tricks are effective, but they're also predictable and samey.
lost_soul on 16/5/2011 at 19:10
Well I for one like games where the monsters can chase me. They should be pretty tough to evade and very hard or impossible to destroy. Penumbra did this pretty well on the hard difficulty, but they generally give up and just stand there, how unrealistic!
I imagine being chased by a monster into a room and hiding behind a crate or something, only to have the monster start searching the well-lit room. I can hear him from behind the crate, but do I dare peek out to see if it is safe to run for the door? He might see me in the light. Then, I throw a bottle across the room or something, to create a diversion. When I hear him run across to search, I quietly leave, knowing that he will eventually give up and resume patrolling the hall ways (I may run into him again).
That is how it should be done. AI needs to advance before games can become scarier without the aid of darkness.
Also notice that Thief fits closely to my description above. I always loved haunts. They were very dangerous, being able to chase me if I let them see me. I've never been a huge fan of zombies. Ho-hum *shamble shamble* "excuse me Mr. Zombie... I'll just run past you and not have to worry about you catching up to me!" The only thing that made the Thief zombies disturbing at all were the sounds they made.
Other enemies that I found scary were Protozoid Slimers and Headcrabs. One can move across the ceiling and attack from there, the other likes to charge at the player without warning.
Nameless Voice on 16/5/2011 at 19:18
I think the Dahaka from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within was a very interesting take on a "horror", and it was often met in fairly well-lit areas, too.
Its primary points were that it was an unstoppable force of nature which could kill you instantly if it caught you, could not be injured, was a little slower than you but still reasonably fast and agile, and could smash through terrain and other obstacles to come after you, leaving you with no choice but to make a mad dash to get away from it. The downside was that all of its appearances were heavily scripted.
It also had an interesting effect of making the world turn more and more greyscale the closer it came to you, and letting colour return as you gained some distance from it.
gunsmoke on 17/5/2011 at 10:35
Siren managed to use some pretty well-lit missions to good effect. Man, that game was tense.
I agree with the setting being unfamiliar and difficult to put into familiar terms makes it scary no matter the lighting.
heywood on 17/5/2011 at 12:09
The feeling of being hunted. Especially by a singular, intelligent, inhuman AI.
Hallucinations or hallucinogenic settings.
Mind control, someone inside your head.
The game subtlety breaking the 4th wall to fuck with your head.
Blurring the lines between the real world and the subconscious or dream state.
Environments where normal rules don't apply or environments that change/adapt to your actions.
Inanimate objects that behave as though alive.
Being betrayed, ambushed, trapped.
Tense, atmospheric, unpredictable, and/or atonal music scores.
Limited but well timed use of shock and gore.
doctorfrog on 17/5/2011 at 18:17
Hm, this thread has given me an idea: a Shock sequel, or Shock-like game, set upon a ship or flotilla of ships, tumbling slowly toward a sun. Blinding flashes of light through the windows, and such. You've got a time limit, with worsening conditions and rising temperatures, running around trying to get shit fixed, while being hunted by creatures, some of them merely hallucinations.
Nameless Voice on 17/5/2011 at 19:47
So, vaguely like Sunshine but hopefully a lot less ridiculously stupid?
gunsmoke on 18/5/2011 at 01:52
Jesus though, the 'haunted ship' idea has been run into the ground.
PigLick on 18/5/2011 at 03:16
what about ZOMBIE TITANIC
They not only raised the titanic, they also RAISED THE DEAD
