Amnesia: The Dark Descent is widely regarded as one of the best and one of the scariest horror games ever made, and its haunting visuals and chilling sound design do wonders to transport the player into the tortured protagonist’s shoes. Games like Amnesia, Alien: Isolation, and Outlast build their entire experience around oppressive atmospheres and the hard truth that you, the player, are only mortal, weak and vulnerable.Ĭreeping around the cold and overbearing corridors of Brennenburg Castle with no memory and only a lantern to light your way inspires that harrowed and brooding sense of unease perfectly.
They might have the occasional jump scare tucked away in there somewhere, too, but for the most part, they rely on atmosphere. There are many great games that do this well. Image: Capcom – Watch out for the shambling shapes lurking in the dark. They take their time and carefully craft their experiences, showing the player just enough to scare them, without revealing what it is they should truly be scared of. The fear of the open sea and the unfathomable horrors that lurk below. The fear of the grotesque and the uncanny, of witnessing something that simply shouldn’t be, a fleshy mess with too many limbs and teeth and eyes, slowly shuffling towards you, or seeing twisted abominations of man and machine scuttling in the dark. The fear of the dark and the unknown, of forcing yourself to step through a doorway into the inky blackness beyond just knowing something else is in there waiting for you, of catching a glimpse of some strange shadowy figure in the distance but never knowing when or where it will strike. The best horror games, like the best horror films, shows, and books, play with fear.
Image: EA/Visceral Games – Jump scares are everywhere, but they will always be scary. One or two jump scares can be perfect for finally breaking the tension, but too many and all sense of horror is lost. Repeated playthroughs of games that rely solely on jump scares (or even slogging through to the end of a longer game with nothing else up its grisly sleeve) quickly sees their effectiveness dwindle, and the overall experience wear thin. A monster leaping out from behind the cupboard door, a hand snatching your ankle from beneath the bed – it’s only really effective the first time around. They are just too good at eliciting a response and making the audience jump out of their seats.
Who can forget that mini-heart attack they suffered when they turned around to suddenly find themselves face-to-face with a screaming Boy of Silence in Bioshock Infinite? Or while watching in horror as the man trying to rescue you is set upon mid-sentence and transformed into a Necromorph before your very eyes at the start of Dead Space 2?
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