About Modern Horrors

Here you, remember any really terrible computer games which ever played? I to mind was come only by one, already 2006 — Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, based on Howard Lavkraft's story "Khtulkhu's Call", here in it, were really terrible moments which at all didn't dream modern horrors …

I remember as now; I walk the character on the night street and incidentally I notice a basement window from which dim light makes the way, I look and I manage to notice out of the corner of the eye, as something unclear quickly заныривает at hardly slightly opened door then it is sharply closed. In total. You sharp sounds, visual effects, anything — only silence around and the closed door, in light cone from a ceiling lamp. It seems, that here terrible, but I felt really ill at ease.

Having a little more stood and having examined the desert street, I quickly rustled further from this window, with feeling of terrible fear and danger for the game life.

What yielded such result and why modern horrors not such terrible? I answer — the atmosphere of game which forces feeling of a hopelessness and fear to remain in private with something unknown. Everything is tied round the atmosphere and in it, guarantee of good and qualitative horror is hidden.

What do we see in modern a horror games? Frighten us of exclusively sudden emergence of all creatures and sharp, as a diarrhea, sounds. In additives, to all this, brighten up all this the whole heap of visual effects and kat-sketches that it is direct well ващпе obosrayets. Yes, from such fright it is possible to postpone couple of normal bricks, but it is exclusive from surprise. Thereby, developers force on the player not atmospheric fear, and fear to be suddenly frightened, i.e. entering the continuous expectation player "бу! ", behind the next closed door or turn.

Such course of developers, reminds me terrifying stories which at a fire told kids more; such boy scouts all in the circle sit, shined with light of a fire in the center and listen carefully the story-teller. Penetrate into simple and usually standard horror plot, podpukivy from each crunch in the wood. And it (the author обосраки) as will begin to yell suddenly, something like "Bu! " … and here, someone in a circle already in wet trousers reddens, on a brick crumb. The curtain falls, the hall applauds, all are happy — mission is executed.

Here, as affairs and with modern horrors are; conduct the player on dark casemates of a location, and then, at some instant, sharply shout from round the corner, directly to you in an ear, ill-fated "бу! " also throw in the eyes dumbfounded from a fright a visual and graphic dust. And still, to a heap, and in the head give that the image shivered, realism mother - its. Terribly? And how! Achievement to developers – a brick to the player.

Well, actually not everything is so bad. Strangely enough, but among such genre as the quest, is terrible things. Here, for example, the game Rustle — an excellent and difficult horror quest. I advise.

The translation from Russian - VictorFrame (original: http://chamber41.ru/articles/104-o-sovremennyh-horrorah.html)

Castilian for the NES.

You won't understand the pain unless you've played it yourself.

I would never wish that experience on my worst enemies.

That translation is fascinating.

Anyway, I agree, horror should be more about atmosphere and suggestion than about explicit fear. Our mind is much better at frightening us than any visuals, so games have to create a compelling narrative and a world that sets the right tone. The actual fear is up to the player; the game needs to feed it, not try to provide it.

Translation. Wow.

Anyways I think one of the last really good horror games was the original Condemned. It wasn't scary for its first half but by the end it did a great job at inducing paranoia and creeping the player out with a lot of different techniques, not jut lame jump scares.

Still, it isn't the typical bad translation. I mean: "I to mind was come only by one" almost sounds poetic... ;-P