How Horror Can Improve Non-Horror Games

Horror games are some of the best gaming experiences, but only for those who can tolerate them and sit back and watch them from beginning to end. But those who don’t play in the horror space can still get their fill in non-horror games because horror, no matter what genre it is in, can improve a game for the better.

The horror is extremely moving. The jolts of adrenaline spikes, the sweaty feeling of barely avoiding death, the lingering dread that slowly turns into a climactic surge – these emotions affect everyone in different ways.

At the heart of those emotions are the same feelings found in haunted houses, roller coasters, skydiving, and more – the feeling of getting as close to death as possible without actually dying. As a result, the horror that brings us closer to death is effective in books, television, movies, and even games. Game developers are aware of this, and that is why terror spreads across all genres of video games, although sometimes you have to look a little further to find it.

One of the best examples of this is Fullbright’s Gone Home.

Gone Home is a great game – read why Game informer gave it an 8.5 out of 10 here – but simply reading a plot synopsis or game breakdown wouldn’t necessarily reveal that. This is because part of what makes Gone Home so great is all the things that it isn’t. When the game starts, you are figuring out how to get into a creepy big house on a stormy night. When he enters the house, he finds that it is empty but not abandoned. His family is not there, but his packed bags are, and he must determine why.

From the beginning, the game is presented as a horror. There is the atmosphere of a stormy night, a big, dark and spooky house, and a mystery within the walls of the house. It’s classic horror stuff, and these things come together to tell you, the gamer, that things are a little scary right now. As such, your hands may become a bit clammy and your heartbeat may increase a bit. These feelings accompany you throughout the game until you reach its end and you realize that it was never a horror game to begin with, it was a love story and a great story.

Paint a cloak of dread over a story that keeps you engaged and moving forward (the faster you get out of this spooky house, the better, right?). It’s a clever way to keep players playing until the very end, where the relief they’ve been seeking for hours comes along, and Fullbright can reveal the truth of what happened at Greenbriar’s house.

Another non-horror game that uses terror in a powerful way is Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt Red’s latest RPG is many things, but it is definitely not horror. However, there is a side quest available mid-story that is one of the most horrible things I’ve ever experienced in a game: helping (or preventing) someone from being crucified on camera. It’s quite graphic and extremely dark, naturally, but it also gives a look at Cyberpunk 2077 that isn’t seen anywhere else.

Cyberpunk 2077 is about the seedy belly of Night City and how global capitalism invaded by corporations has affected those unaware of that wealth. The crucifixion side quest uses the horror of witnessing a real crucifixion to show the player how far people will go to redeem themselves from the deeds they have committed to simply survive in Night City. It’s a powerful scene that is made even more powerful by the fact that you directly control how it unfolds.

For some, space alone can be quite scary, and Outer Wilds takes advantage of those natural space-based fears to inject horror into an otherwise non-horror game. In Outer Wilds, players must determine why everyone is in a loop where the sun explodes every 20 minutes. It can be argued that dying every 20 minutes no matter what you do is scary in and of itself, but Outer Wilds is presented more as a sci-fi mystery exploration game than something appropriate for Halloween.

As you explore unknown planets, uncovering ancient relics of those that came before you, finding warnings of things to come, and dodging tornadoes from waterspouts or deadly anglerfish, you’ll find yourself squeezing the controller in hopes of surviving just one more minute. . Outer Wilds takes advantage of our most basic instinct in life, to survive, to great effect, especially in the way it ramps up your adrenaline only to come back down every 20 minutes.

Some developers use horror sequences as a way to change the type of terrors experienced in the game. Take The Last of Us Part II, for example. Some might call it horror, but I doubt most people define it that way before third person shooter or action-adventure first. Regardless, the events of the game can be quite traumatic. Even the way Ellie kills enemies is sometimes straight out of an R-rated movie.

Naughty Dog introduces a unique “level” in the second half of The Last of Us Part II that not only gives players the opportunity to experience a new kind of fear for the series, but probably nods to the horror genre it clearly inspired. the game. When you enter the lower floor of a hospital, you come across a dark ICU-like unit filled with doors covered in cordyceps and more. You explore, you look for a way out, and that’s when the Rat King, as Naughty Dog refers to, reveals himself: he’s a huge ball of infected who wants nothing more than to get you out.

The sequence feels more at home in a Resident Evil game than it does in The Last of Us, but Naughty Dog uses it to up the ante on everything we’ve already experienced. In a 10-minute gameplay section, Naughty Dog reveals that the world of The Last of Us has even more monstrous enemies than previously thought and that the series could easily slide into horror if it wanted to. It also takes the stress out of the human versus human conflict at the center of the game and reminds you that you are actually very lucky to still be a human in this world.

While horror isn’t for everyone, the developers recognize the powerful effects it can have on virtually anyone. This is why horror has infiltrated basically every aspect of the media. It is universal in the sense that everyone is afraid of something, but it is unique in the sense that each of us has our own fears and anxieties living in our brains. And in the same way that games affect everyone differently based on what we personally bring to the experience, horror also changes shape to resemble the monster each of us imagines in our head; however, it is up to the developers to determine what genre that monster will hide with each new release.

For more on these games, check out our thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077 at Game Informer’s official review then read Game Informer’s Outer Wilds review. See why we gave The Last of Us Part II a 10 out of 10 after that and then read on. Game Informer’s list of horror games you should play this Halloween season.

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What’s the scariest part of a non-horror game you’ve played? Let us know in the comments below!