Thirith on 27/10/2016 at 07:39
I'm not sure that surrealism is what I want from horror so much as the irrational. It's why I quite like the supernatural in horror - I don't believe that there are demons, ghosts or werewolves, but in a story it works better for me if there's something that shouldn't be. Even something like Alien's xenomorph, which is a biological entity, has elements that are clearly uncanny, e.g. how can it go from tiny (chestburster) to huge (fully grown alien) in such a short time? I greatly enjoyed System Shock 2 the few times I played it, but I don't think it ever frightened me, whereas something like Thief 3's Cradle freaked me out even during the first part of the mission where you're in no danger whatsoever.
TannisRoot on 27/10/2016 at 13:41
SS2 certainly got my hairs on end at times but not compared to zombies, haunts, and ghosts in Thief. The supernatural definitely amplifies the horror for me.
catbarf on 27/10/2016 at 14:42
Do you think it's that the supernatural is inherently horrifying as a thematic element, or that the use of the supernatural gives the storyteller more options in crafting scares and making players feel vulnerable?
Comparing SS2 and Thief, SS2 gives you substantially more power in fighting back against the threats, making you much less vulnerable. I'm not sure that the nature of the enemies is the main difference, but rather how they're treated in-game. I consider Condemned to be scarier than Dead Space, in part because even relatively mundane crazed axe murderers are scary when you're armed with a lead pipe, while space-zombies aren't terribly scary when you have a whole arsenal at your fingertips.
Thirith on 27/10/2016 at 14:52
For me it's not that the supernatural is inherently horrifying. Using supernatural monsters as monsters only doesn't make them inherently scarier for me than, say, the shark in Jaws. However, the supernatural - as one form of the irrational - has the potential to be scarier because I can't think your way around it. Reason breaks down.
icemann on 27/10/2016 at 15:41
Quote Posted by catbarf
Do you think it's that the supernatural is inherently horrifying as a thematic element, or that the use of the supernatural gives the storyteller more options in crafting scares and making players feel vulnerable?
To use the Silent Hill games as an example here. Those games often use sounds in the background that have you on edge, like that radio interference noise you would hear, distant noises, the soundtrack in the background etc.
Just with the radio noise alone, once you heard that sound you were like "oh crap what's coming".
Speaking in general though and more to your question on the supernatural - A common thing used in horror both in movies and games to good effect is having entities that you can't see. So since you can't actually see the thing, your mind creates up it's own version of what it is. That's certainly fear provoking.
Some have entities that can't be seen with the naked eye, but can be seen if you use a device of some kind. To use a movie example, the movie "V.H.S" had this ghost/entity/thing in a forest that could only be seen through a video camera, and even then it was this distortion in the shape of a person. It gave off the appearance that the camera was mucking up, but you see it walking towards the camera, and your like "OH FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?". Scared the crap out of me.
Inline Image:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pxJWz0M_Dro/Ubz50HQTxJI/AAAAAAAACCc/kq97eX3UjtM/s1600/VHS+-+Tuesday+the+17th.jpgTannisRoot on 27/10/2016 at 16:45
icemann, you have a good point that sound design and music design in a horror game is absolutely key. If a section of a horror game was freaking me out too much I'd turn the sound down to a minimum and suddenly I could deal with it. Helped me get through some stressful sections of Evil Within haha.
To that extent Thief has outstandingly creepy sound design.
