![]() Kojima’s Silent Hills Playable Teaser, PT, was only a demo and is still one of the greatest horror games of the generation thanks to a looping and repetitive experimental structure that made you question yourself as much as the story.īut while we’ll likely, frustratingly, never see where Kojima could have taken horror, that, along with things we’re starting to see in games like Layers of Fear or Man of Medan, suggest developers are starting to look beyond the big screen for ideas. Games aren’t bound by boring real life constraints like coherent geometry or chronological time and they should embrace that fully. Horror games should try to take that potential even further, though, and investigate ways to scare that aren’t just derived from the screen. They let you safely chase that heart-in-your-mouth gasp of terror that in real life would probably leave little more than an unlaced shoe in a bush and some posters with your face on. It’s YOU walking down the spooky corridor, opening the bad door and coming face to face with your own bad decisions. Even using exactly the same ideas as cinema they are inherently more terrifying to play than watch because it’s interactive. Horror games are obviously already scary. So how does that play out in a six player game where only one person gets to hold the machete. Everyone thinks they’re the hero, not the victim. Putting people physically in the position of having to make the fight or flight decisions they see on screen completely subverts the experience. Where the film categorises the killer and victims into clear tropes, a multiplayer experience creates an equal chance that a player could be Jason Voorhees, or a potential victim. The Friday the 13th game (opens in new tab) takes that multiplayer idea that one step further by making all the usual characters in the traditional horror movie set up playable. It’s one thing to shout at film because you don’t like what someone’s doing, but what about when it’s your friend and you have no idea why they’re opening that door. ![]() It’s a brilliant idea because one player will often see and know things the other doesn’t and, without realising, make different decisions in the same situation as a result. Sometimes you play together, relying on each other to stay alive, but you can also split up, experiencing events differently. SuperMassive’s choose-your-own-adventure ghost story lets two people play a single player story. You can both experience and change the story at the same time.Īnother great example of progressing the horror experience though gameplay is Man of Medan (opens in new tab). It’s a fascinating mechanic because it takes what you know and understand about the franchise and adds a new dimension that only a game could do. So, for example, if you can’t get through a door you can watch a tape and find a point where someone opened it, and see that reflected in the real world. In the game however you can use those tapes to change the narrative - by rewinding and fast forwarding videos you find in the forest you can change things around you. The Blair Witch legend is obviously built from a found footage narrative, watching the tapes left behind by the missing victims tell its story. ![]() There are hints of Layers of Fear’s ability to make things disappear and move just out of sight, for example, but one of the most interesting ideas is how it uses the video tapes at the heart of the story. It’s also by Layers of Fear’s developer, Bloober Team and a perfect chance to demonstrate a fusion of movie inspirations and gaming progression - building on the film’s scares and mythology, using techniques and ideas that can only be explored through gameplay. Which makes something like the Blair Witch game (opens in new tab) exciting. Layers of Fear’s ability to reach through the screen and make you doubt yourself is the perfect example of how to push beyond the traditional horror film ideas. They can confuse and surprise you, but it’s a passive experience. It’s also terrifying because of the way it changes the space around you - making walls and doors disappear, or move when you’re not looking, and creating such a sense of unease and distrust with your own mental state that it affects you in the real world, not just character you are playing. Look at something like Layers of Fear (opens in new tab), a horror game with no obvious monster and that largely involves wandering an empty house getting a bit lost. A good jump scare is a thing of horrible beauty but games can do so much more. Now I get it: horror movies provide a clear template - those on-screen warning signs are as much a guide and promise to the viewer as they are a threat of danger to the characters.
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