Seventh Generation Horror Games
F.E.A.R. (PC, 2005)
While Resident Evil 4 was lighting fires in the third-person shooter department, the first-person shooter was by no means slouching behind. Massive games like Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 showed that first-person shooters were here to stay.
Knowing this, the team at Monolith Productions went a little outside of the box with their next entry into the genre. F.E.A.R. plays like a typical FPS, but with a bit or a horror spin to it.
The main character, Paxton Fattel, experiences glimpses of paranormal phenomena, often taking shape in the form of hallucinations of Alma. When you’re playing the game knowing that this creepy little girl can show up at any time is more than a little unnerving.
The first-person perspective in F.E.A.R. definitely shone a light on how effective the perspective can be for horror games. The closer a paranormal being is to the camera, the more frightening it is. In fact, after this point, a majority of horror games were in first person.
Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360/PC, 2008)
Zombie fever was in full swing during the seventh generation. Although, to Left 4 Dead’s credit, it released before the over-saturation, and maybe it played a hand in the amount of zombie games that proceeded it.
Left 4 Dead put fun over fear. Although, bumping into the Witch was definitely terrifying.
Before Left 4 Dead, horror games were predominantly single-player affairs, but that definitely wasn’t the case following Left 4 Dead. Surviving a zombie apocalypse with buddies is just way too much fun.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (PC, 2010)
Amnesia was quite the talk of the town when it came out. It’s hard to argue that horror games hadn’t been seeing a stronger focus on action since 2005’s Resident Evil 4, but Amnesia: The Dark Descent was nothing like this at all.
In Amnesia, you’re constantly being chased by different monsters in the castle while you’re trying to work your way around and solve puzzles. However, you don’t have any weapons to fight them with. Like Clock Tower, your only real choice is to run and hide.
The amount of oil and tinderboxes in the game is limited, so you can’t always rely on your lantern. Sometimes, dark corridors have to be traversed blindly to preserve supplies. It can be pretty damn frightening.
Slender: The Eight Pages (PC, 2012)
Slender: The Eight Pages, originally known simply as “Slender,” had the perfect release. With the rise of viral videos and let’s play YouTube channels, everyone knew about Slender, the supposed “scariest game of all time.” It also helped that the game was completely free.
The game was super simple: wander the woods and complete eight pages while avoiding the Slenderman. It was almost impossible to beat, though, as he got faster and more aggressive with each page you collected.
Games like Amnesia and Slender show that people like the thrill of being chased. It doesn’t really matter what you’re being chased by. Just look at games like Baldi’s Basics.
