Five major horror games that fail to horrify

The first Dead Space was very edgy, definitely one of the scarier games i've ever played. Dead Space 2 didnt have quite the same effect as you quite rightly put, the element of surprise was gone, although the very first section was quite visceral and disturbing and the game did put up a fair few 'WTF!!!' moments. I think the key to a game being scary is making the scares last through the entire duration of the game. If the new Silent Hill, Dead Space and Resident Evil games can achieve that i will be a very happy (and terrified) man!

Maybe if we all slate FEAR 3 enough, Monolith will get the message and go back to the Condemned series. To set up another sequel and then leave us hanging for this long is a bit of a dick move frankly.

Is there any talk,even a whisper that they might port amnesia.By the video it seems a very atmospheric game,something i wouldn,t mind playing on my own with the lights off.

Maybe if we all slate FEAR 3 enough, Monolith will get the message and go back to the Condemned series. To set up another sequel and then leave us hanging for this long is a bit of a dick move frankly.

Damn you, I'd forgotten Condemned 2 ended on a cliff hanger

I can't believe that both of the Dead Space games are effectively being slagged off here. What is it with OXM always feeling the need to condemn such top class games when at the time they were released they were being lauded as the finest examples of the horror survival genre? The Dead Space games were both fantastic and they will always be two of the most memorable and enjoyable games I've ever played on the 360. I won't hear a bad word said about either of them.

We think they're fantastic games, lawsond28, we just think they could be scarier.

Wow, this article has wound me right up. Dead Space is hands down the most unsettling game I've ever played. Far from being desensitized, you are thrown into a blind panic at the beginning. Playing as someone who fixes ship systems for a living instead of a gung-ho military jarhead was a master stroke in my opinion. I have fond memories (if you can call them that!) of sitting in the dark with my Turtle Beach headphones on crapping myself. Chapter ten is etched in my memory; Twinkle twinkle little star is being sung beautifully in the background amidst scenes of carnage.. You are being stalked by a regenerating Hunter.. The fellow engineer who was always a chapter or two ahead of you in progress gets dispatched ruthlessly by Dr. Mercer.. (Apology for the mini spoiler there for those yet to play the game.)

I agree that Dead Space 2 isn't as scary but it does have its moments. It does annoy me that in the magazine only a year ago, the general consensus was that the game and the pack necromorphs in question were scary. I quote. "Oh god, the crèches. Oh god, the school halls. Oh god, the naked dead children tumbling out of kiddie-garment stores in that shopping centre."
Way to go with the contradiction OXM! I would really like to know under what circumstances these games were being played. If you are really expecting to be scared whilst playing in a bustling office, brightly lit with every day distractions then you are simply not giving the games a fair crack.

I can't vouch for the other two titles but Res 5 really missed a step. It became a near tedious duck and cover shooter for me by the end. I've been toying with the idea of getting Res 4 on marketplace but maybe it's best to leave sleeping (las plagas) dogs lie.

I think one of the biggest problems with survival horrors is modern horror in general. In books and films slow building suspense has given way to torture porn or worse still endlessly recycling Japanese staples like a creepy girl with hair in her eyes. Go back to the '70s and '80s and there was a set of established audio and visual cues that could be used to build your tension levels with a shadow or the first two or three notes of a piece of discordant music. Which child of that era doesn't think of sharks when they hear a chello? John Carpenter managed to scar for life a generation with a casio key board and a $2 William Shatner mask, and I once terrified a girlfriend just by vocalising the breathy "ch-ch-ch, ha-ha-ha" noise you hear before an attack in Friday the 13th.

Replace that with the in your face style of Saw or Hostel and we've lost the ability to build tension, not just because the writers, directors and developers have forgotten how to do it effectively, but because a big chunk of the viewers no longer realise that a they are supposed to react in certain ways. Play the cello to an 18 year old and you might as well be playing a lullaby, discordant violins don't conjure up phobias of shower curtains and transvestite Motel owners but bad country music. We need to rebuild the language of horror before we can start to build scary games.

I'm sorry that the article appears to contradict our Dead Space reviews - truth be told, this was me getting ahead of myself. I've edited the piece to clarify that the opinions it gives are my own, not the team's.

I'm sorry that the article appears to contradict our Dead Space reviews - truth be told, this was me getting ahead of myself. I've edited the piece to clarify that the opinions it gives are my own, not the team's.

Mine too, I never found deadspace scary in the slightest, so go ahead and add my name to the list...

To be honest I haven't played or seen a horror film that actually scares me! Maybe because I have seen so many etc that I am desensitized to it or maybe the fact that I know deep down inside that it isn't real. I do find watching the News however provides the biggest and most scares....

I think there is a big difference between scary and gory. The horror genre has tended more towards Gore at the moment. This has also been echoed in video games. Seeing the 'eye' bit in Dead Space 2 actually made my eye water making completing it a little more difficult (I have a thing about eyes and puncturing/poking them but it is not scary)

However the Dead Space games are both excellent (certainly the first is better than the 2nd) and I must admit I quite enjoyed playing Resident Evil 5 - it is quite a good action game (pity Sheva is so useless when played on your own - Why she can't use grenades and always uses the pistol despite having better weaponry is beyond me - In the end I just gave her the gun I wanted her to use and ALL health items only) I can't comment on Silent Hill or FEAR as I have never played them. I do have Condemned 2 but that isn't scary - although I haven't completed it as I don't think it is that good a game to play. Sometimes I wonder if developers concentrate to much on trying to shock or on the gore rather than actually making the game playable.

Amnesia doesn't look scary either - it looks like all the cliches though - dark corridors, blood splatters, hanging bits of corpses/meat. Noises that you don't know who/what or where they are, doors where 'something' could be hiding/waiting for you etc etc...

I do like the 'horror' genre and some do provide a lot of WTF moments, gore and challenging moments. I am looking forward to Dead Space 3, Resident Evil 6 etc. but do I expect to be 'Scared'... NO!! I do expect them though to be very good to play, provide a certain amount of atmosphere and also to be great additions to the horror genre

Horror is as subjective as comedy - not everyone will agree on what works.

The only game on 360 that made me uncomfortable to play was the 1st Condemned.

Recently a movie called Kill List made me uncomforable but it wasnt scary.

Theres Gory horror, scary horror (jump scares these days mostly) and my favourite - stuff that makes me uncomfortable.

It can be through a combination of plot, pacing, atmosphere and dread. Overwhelming sense of dread where u dont know where the story is taking you but know its not gonna be pleasant.

Any game hat uses stuff like lockdowns with waves of enemies and gives you loads of weaponry (upgradeable to boot) has already lost in the "horror" aspect. No threat, no danger, no surprises = NO dread.

And dread is what makes a good horror. Its what makes you uncomfortable for the characters.

(sorry but im a HUGE horror film buff and the lack of horror games that arer worth playing depresses me - and yes ive played amnesia - wasnt there rumours of an xbla port? it was ok but awkward to play on my laptop)

Personally, I find Japanese and Eastern horror films far scarier that Western ones. Perhaps this is due to my preference for atmosphere and surrealism rather than jump-out-the-closet shocks. This also transfers for me into gaming. I really enjoyed Resident Evil before it made the switch to big-bad shooter, and now my survival horror of choice is Silent Hill. You don't have to have blood and guts to be terrifying, as anyone who has played Silent Hill 3 and entered the mannequin room will attest.

i agree with all except dead space. that made me poo myself constantly. didn't get desensitised at all even going against necromancers. it always had me on edge, you get one big fright in a certain situation, and next part you expect similar - only its not, its scarier and makes you jump more than the last little shock

The prospect of Dead Space alone worries me a little bit, I've only seen it played for a while, but enough to know that it would definitely creep me out if I played it. The Gamecube remake of Resident Evil was bad enough - I barely finished it, my hair can only stand on end for so long.

Agreed with Resi 5 to be honest, but obviously it's not what they were going for, hopefully we'll see some more variety with 6.

Dead Space is very atmospheric game and very well made too. Certainly one of my TOP games and highly recommended!!

The remake of Res 1 was cool. The Crimson Head mutated Zombies were mental!! I really enjoyed the Lisa Trevor sub-plot that was added as well. I had a few issues with some wasted opportunities to expand the playing area, but generally it was sound.

@RetroDad

I've been meaning to ask how come you only have hugs for people born in the eighties. Are the children of the seventies doomed to die unloved?

There's always that one obnoxious kid on the scary ride at the carnival who brags that "I'm not scared". People who say Dead Space isn't scary remind me of him.

@CunningSmile

I was a child of the eighties.. Children of the seventies were blessed with the music I get my groove on to.. I was blessed with Wham! and Spandau Ballet. We need all the hugs we can get dude!

I am a child of the seventies and while i agree retrodad we had music we also had GLAM rock lol.And people like garry glitter and look how he turned out.

@Clanger67

Yes, Gary Glitter was offering 'special' hugs to children of the seventies....and the eighties.... and the nineties... and the noughties.... Does beg the question of what type of gang he was offering people to join.

I don't quite know how a thread on horror games has diverted to referring to a paedophile, but that's liiiiiiiiiife! (jazz hands if you're in the mood.)

I'm always in the mood for jazz hands!

@Clanger67

Yes, Gary Glitter was offering 'special' hugs to children of the seventies....and the eighties.... and the nineties... and the noughties.... Does beg the question of what type of gang he was offering people to join.

I don't quite know how a thread on horror games has diverted to referring to a paedophile, but that's liiiiiiiiiife! (jazz hands if you're in the mood.)

Sorry my bad.I was just trying to point out that the seventies wasn't all brilliant.We didn't have the 360 for a start.

Child of the eighties here, hugs galore! (coincidentally my 70's Blaxploitation name)

There's always that one obnoxious kid on the scary ride at the carnival who brags that "I'm not scared". People who say Dead Space isn't scary remind me of him.

I didn't find dead space scary because it was too obvious and all about gore - there were a few shock moments but nothing that made me dread the next room or be scared for my character - the invincible necro especially was just annoying. Piss off, you appear, I shoot your legs, you are frankly target practice.

Bioshock on the other hand, you are lead down paths and then given something completely unexpected. The crying mother caressing a baby's carriage... the opportune moment to sneak up on a splicer fiddling away in a cupboard only for the room to steam up as you're about to strike... the shadow of a splicer around a corner only to find there is nobody there and then the lights go out. This are true horror moments for me as they make me go 'oh shiiii-erbet!' and display more of not knowing where or whom is lurking around corners, and enticing you in - making you think you know what is going to happen, and then it surprises you. Bravo Levine.

I've certainly heard of it but I've never played Bioshock before. I'll have to give it a whirl if you think it pisses on Dead Space from a great height.

Dude, seriously if you haven't played Bioshock you are missing out on one of the best games, and certainly one of the best plots, of modern gaming. It has aged a bit, and a lot of the style has been aped so it's lost impact but you owe it to yourself to play, especially since you can get it for a tenner or less.

Bioshock 2 is fun but not as good or as inventive (made by a different company), but the Minerva's Den DLC for it is IMO is almost at the level of the first game (it was good enough for the writer to get head hunted by Ken Levine)

Depends what you mean by that, Dead Space is a great game but I find it predictable and not scary. Bioshock is more story lead, in that you explore Rapture (the setting) and are told what happened here in audio files, you are new to the place after all and something has happened. It's not pant wettingly scary, but it certainly gives me the shivers and made me jump a few times. Then there are the Big Daddys and little sisters...

I recently (as in last two weeks) completed bioshock and was very glad i did, an excellent game that still holds up now despite the fact it's not a new release...!

Agree with the creepy comments, it certainly was that without ever being flat out scary, and the big daddy fights are awesome and often epic with some really inventive ways of taking them down coming as the game progresses - didn't stop me being battered by a stray one that wandered into my well laid trap for a previous encounter. Leaving a shop to find an enraged big daddy waiting outside is not my favourite discovery of all time!

I really like 'Dead Space' and its sequel but neither game even comes close to the original 'BioShock'. BioShock is possibly the best game on the current generation of consoles for its genre. It may lack the graphical polish of more recent games but the story and gameplay are superb. Although the graphics are not the best you can find, they are still not bad and even some more recent releases are not up to the standard of the original BioShock but it is stil showing its age a bit.

If you have NEVER played Bioshock - I would highly recommend it

Condemned is still the only true horror title on the 360 -

The first one - NOT the sequel.

Consider it my next purchase then. I am currently preparing for a Hardcore run (attempt) on Dead Space 2. Once I have my Gladiators audience participation unlock, I will Bioshock myself good and proper.

i have just purchased condemned 2 is the first one better???

i have just purchased condemned 2 is the first one better???

Yep. The first one was a creeping survival horror with real tension, the second one boosted the combat in a vain effort to have MP and ruined the mood. Have to admit I played them in the wrong order too, so really enjoyed the second one but looking back the first is better.

i have just purchased condemned 2 is the first one better???

Absolutely - 2 is a solid shooter but the 1st game is shit-your-pants scary.