 |
| Video games |
|---|
Related |
Ahorror game is avideo game genre centered onhorror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. The term may also be used to describetabletop games with horror fiction elements.
Unlike most other video game genres, which are classified by theirgameplay, horror games are nearly always based on narrative or visual presentation, and use a variety of gameplay types.[1][2]
Historically, the classification of video games into genres ignores the narrative themes, which would includescience fiction orfantasy 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.[1] This broad association to the narrative theme of horror games leads to the lack of well-defined subgenres of horror games. Many gameplay-defined genres have numerous games with horror themes, notably theCastlevaniaplatform 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.
Action horror games useaction game elements fromfirst person andthird-person shooter games alongside the survival horror themes, making them more fast-paced than survival horror games. These grew in popularity following the release ofResident Evil 4 in 2005 and which persisted in the next two titles,Resident Evil 5 andResident Evil 6, with gameplay that focused more on action-oriented combat than puzzles and problem-solving from previous titles (Resident Evil 7 returned to the series' survival horror roots).[4][5] Examples of action horror games includeThe House of the Dead series, theDead Space series, theLeft 4 Dead series,The Last of Us series and the originalAlan Wake.
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 anaction game oraction-adventure game.[6] A common theme of these games is escape or survival from the equivalent of azombie apocalypse, with weapons, ammunition, and armor limited. TheResident Evil series coined the term and serves as the prime example of such games, though key conventions of the subgenre preceded theResident Evil series. Other notable survival horror series includeAlone in the Dark,Clock Tower,Parasite Eve,Silent Hill, andFatal Frame.
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 isnot seen, rather than what is".[7] These games commonly rely on the player-character's unreliable perceptions or questionable sanity in order to develop the story. Through the use ofunreliable narrators, such games may explore the fear of losing one's capacity to think rationally or even to recognize one's own identity.[7] Psychological horror games may not depend as much on action compared with survival horror games, instead giving time for the player to explore and witness events.[7] TheSilent Hill series, which is also based on survival horror elements, is considered one of the defining psychological horror games.[8] Frictional Games'Penumbra andAmnesia series and their standalone gameSOMA explore ethical and philosophical questions, and the psychology, motivations and fallible sides of their largely defenseless protagonists, subjected to mysterious events largely beyond their control. Games with an emphasis on psychological horror may also take advantage of the video game medium tobreak the fourth wall and appear to affect the player's computer or console directly, such as withOMORI,Eternal Darkness andDoki Doki Literature Club![9][10] Psychological horror games may still be tied to action-based genres;Spec Ops: The Line is athird-person shooter but with a psychological horror narrative inspired by works likeHeart of Darkness andApocalypse Now.[11]
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 includeDino Crisis,Outlast andPoppy Playtime.
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 orvillain. 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 includeCarrion and the asymmetric multiplayer modes inDead by Daylight andFriday the 13th: The Game, in which one player controls the monster or the killer that is chasing the other players.
The incorporation of general horror genre themes into video games came early on in the medium, inspired byhorror fiction and especiallyhorror films. The earliest rudimentary attempt at a horror video game dates back to as early as 1972, when aHaunted House overlay was included with the firstvideo game console, theMagnavox Odyssey, inspired byhaunted house fiction.[14]Taito's classicarcade video gameSpace Invaders (1978) has also been cited as a precursor to horror video games, as it involved a survival scenario where an alien invasion slowly descends and increasingly destroys the landscape while menacing sound effects gradually speed up, which created a sense of panic in players when it first released.[15][16][17] The text-basedadventure gamesMystery House (1980) andThe Lurking Horror (1987) incorporated horror elements through their textual descriptions of rooms.[3]
ASCII Corporation'sNostromo (1981) for thePC-6001, inspired by thescience fiction horror filmAlien (1979), was a survival horror game that involves escaping from an invisible alien with limited available resources.[18] Another notable early horror video game wasHaunted House (1982) for theAtari 2600. At that point, video game technology lacked the fidelity to carry the themes of horror in the technology and was instead wrapped more in game manuals and other presentation materials.[19]3D Monster Maze (1982) for theSinclair 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 asThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1983),Halloween (1983) andFriday the 13th (1989), as well as games inspired by horror films such as the survival horrorProject Firestart (1989) inspired by theAlien films.[3] Due to limitations of consoles and computers, these horror images were often limited tocutscenes rather than the animatedsprites used in the action-based gameplay as to give the fidelity to the details of the horror scene.[3]
Sega'sMonster Bash (1982) arcade video game depicts classicmovie monsters such asCount Dracula,Frankenstein's monster andwerewolves.[21][22][23] Other horror-themed action games that followed in the late 1980s includedCapcom'sGhosts 'n Goblins (1985),[24]Konami'sCastlevania (1986),[14][8] and Sega'sGhost House (1986) andKenseiden (1988),[8] with more violent gory arcade horror games includingExidy'sChiller (1986) andNamco'sSplatterhouse (1988).[25] One of the most well-known "haunted house" themedgraphic adventure games wasManiac Mansion (1987) byLucasArts.[14]Sweet Home (1989) was a survival horrorrole-playing video game based on theJapanese horrorfilm of the same name. It was Capcom's first survival horror title, directed byTokuro Fujiwara, who had earlier designedGhosts 'n Goblins and later went on to produceResident Evil, which was originally intended to be a remake ofSweet Home.[26]Phantasmagoria (1995) byRoberta Williams was one of the earliest psychological horror games.[3]
Alone in the Dark (1992), developed byInfogrames and inspired byH.P. Lovecraft fiction andGeorge A. Romerozombie films, was one of the first survival horror games to bring a more immersive presentation, using crude 3D figures drawn atop a 2D pre-rendered background, so that players would control their character from a fixed camera angle. This allowed the developers to create the necessary sense of tension throughout the adventure game.Alone in the Dark was a global success onpersonal computers.[8]Sweet Home,Alone in the Dark, andDoctor Hauzer (published by River Hill in 1994) went on to inspire Capcom's originalResident Evil (1996),[27] which coined the "survival horror" term.[26][8] It spawned theResident Evil franchise, which defined and popularized survival horror games.[28] 1995 saw the release ofClock Tower on the Super Famicom, which Carl Therrien claims is "clearly inspired by theslasher movie breed of uncanny."[27] Sega'sThe House of the Dead (1996) was an arcade horrorshooter game that introduced fastzombies who could run, jump and swim,[29] whereas Konami'sSilent 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 ofResident Evil andHouse of the Dead sparked a renewed interest in zombie films by the 2000s,[30][31] influencing hit zombie films such as28 Days Later (2002), theResident Evil film series,Dawn of the Dead (2004) andShaun of the Dead (2004).[32][33][34] TheResident Evil andHouse of the Dead games influenced zombie films to move towards a moreaction-oriented approach with scientific themes and fast-running zombies.[29][35]
Horror games also benefited fromindie game growth in the early 2010s, since outside of established franchises likeResident Evil, major publishers had shied away from the genre.[36] Series likeFrictional Games'Penumbra series andAmnesia series, andRed Barrels'Outlast series captured the type of gameplay from horror games likeSilent Hill andResident Evil. Parsec Productions'Slender: The Eight Pages took advantage of the popularSlendermancreepypasta, and became one of the first games to gain popularity from viewers watching reactions to online streamers playing the game. TheFive Nights at Freddy's series byScott Cawthon also similarly captured popularity through watching streamers' reactions to jump-scares.[37] More recently in the early 2020s, indie horrors games have found a new aesthetic based on emulating the graphic style of older platforms, such as the low-poly graphics of thefirst PlayStation console or even pixel art, rather than high realism from modern 3D graphics. Besides capturing a sense of nostalgia, developers are able to use retro-inspired graphics on modern hardware to continue to manipulate the player and surprise them beyond the expectations of the visuals, such as giving the player the idea that the game itself is cursed and potentiallybreaking the fourth wall.[38][39]
| Media | |
|---|---|
| Types | |
| Monsters | |
| Related genres | |
| Other | |
| Related | |
| Action |
|  | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action-adventure | |||||||||||
| Adventure | |||||||||||
| Digital tabletop | |||||||||||
| Puzzle | |||||||||||
| Role-playing | |||||||||||
| Simulation |
| ||||||||||
| Strategy | |||||||||||
| Other genres | |||||||||||
| Related concepts |
| ||||||||||
