Amnesia: The Bunker is fast approaching and it got me wondering about the current state of AAA Horror Games in 2023. After giving my soul to the amazing game of Amanda the Adventurer, Indie Horror is on a roll with banger after banger and the place to be right now is on Steam. With limited options for those playing on Consoles, the move to PC is inevitable for those hungry for some good horror content. Thousands of Horror Games await you on Steam and Itch.io, so what horror intrigues you? Whether you are a fan of puzzles, running away from the darkness or diving in, armed to the teeth, there is something for everyone in the world of Indie Horror. The truth of the matter is, Indie Horror is consistently outshining AAA Horror and we love to see it. This is the rise of Indie Horror Games and the inevitable fall of AAA Horror Games.
How Amnesia Changed Horror Games Forever
I want to firstly take us back to 2011 where for many of you this may have been the first time hearing of a person, who around this time was gaining popularity with silly games such as Happy Wheels. Now sitting on 111m subscribers 12 years later, he is still the YouTube Giant, PewDiePie. His rise was on the up and up through his playthrough of what was at the time a very niche Indie Horror Game titled, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. This incredibly tense and unique game did something that many games did not try to attempt or even conceptualize. This was the Sanity Bar. Whilst many Video Games have implemented this feature since Amnesia, nothing beat the original and truly terrifying atmosphere that was achieved in the first hour of this Horror Game back in its release of 2010.
I will admit now however that the first Amnesia, The Dark Descent has not aged particularly well since the 2020s, but you cannot deny that this Horror Game popularized the Sanity Bar feature. As The Bunker is arriving in May 2023, their outdated mechanics of hiding from monsters has moved on for good. Amnesia became highly popular through the Internet and would not have risen as high as it did without Content Creators such as PewDiePie, Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, CoryXKenshin and others. It is also incredibly important to note that no AAA Developer has attempted such a task of testing their consumer’s fear by how far they would go to keep their character sane via a Bar, as the world around them fell apart and monsters roamed the street. The only Horror Games that came close to this were classics such as Silent Hill 2 which handled very dark and psychological issues.
But Amnesia inspired many, many Video Games to come. Whilst we acknowledge that older games such as The Suffering implemented their own Sanity Bar, Amnesia blew this idea up and made it so that this measurement came as part of a package for Supernatural or Psychological Horror. Not only did Frictional Games make the Sanity Bar popular but they also transformed Survival Horror Games forever. Before Amnesia, the biggest and best Horror Games focussed on limited inventory space and the strategic use of weapons and ammo. These were the franchises of Silent Hill and Resident Evil. If we did not have Amnesia then games like Outlast would not have been made. Amnesia shifted the horror towards survival without weapons by hiding our outrunning the monster instead of unloading a full magazine into their skull.
Content. Content. Content.
This brings me directly into the rise of Indie Horror, where without the Internet, we would not be able to consume the sheer amount of Video Games we can now. With the existence of the middle men: Steam and Itch.io. If you are like me, with a adolescent dream of learning to code and create a Video Game, it used to be that you would want to work for the likes of Nintendo, Naughty Dog, Capcom etc. But if you know how to code, you can now create a Video Game from your Bedroom and distribute it online for anyone to play. Following on from the massive powerhouse of Amnesia came the next big Indie Wave of Slenderman. This game originating from a Creepypasta, took the Internet by storm. It once again, would not have been achievable without the Content Creators who gave the game its deserved amount of attention.
Games such as Slenderman, Amnesia, Five Nights at Freddy’s did so much for the Indie Horror Genre that pioneered and inspired new Subgenres of Horror. We have more Horror Games inspired by Creepypasta such as Sirenhead and the FNAF Camera-only gameplay is utilized in games such as I Am On Observation Duty and Alternate Watch. Prior to this we had a lot of RPG Indie Games such as Ao Oni, Ib, Crooked Man and The Cat Lady which also thrived online.
We now have so many Video Games available to play on Steam and Itch.io alone that it can keep the YouTube and Twitch Creators fed for months. With this simple business transaction of the Creator playing Indie Game, giving free publicity towards their massive audiences to try the Horror Game out for themselves, and the Creator being paid to do so, Indie Horror Games have become a staple for big Creators such as Gab Smolders, ManlyBadassHero and many, many more.
Without YouTube or Twitch, many Indie Horror Games would not have grown in popularity. Take any of the great Chilla’s Art or Puppet Combo games that would never be seen if the Internet did not exist. We have to notice how without Content Creators too, we would not have found the gold mine of Indie Horror. For example, many do not know of, or have not played the better Frictional Games Horror titled Penumbra: Black Plague. Released in 2008, this Horror Game went under the radar, being a better game to the Amnesia series, its limited reception was likely due to Content Creators not picking this game up and giving it a go.
The Triangle of Great Indie Horror
Whilst Indie Horror Games nowadays predominately follow a formula hitting a specific setting and atmosphere for the players, there is a lot of magic that can be found by following this formula. We are seeing the rise in PS1 Video Games and with that comes bigger and bolder ideas. In the last few years alone, we are seeing more and more Horror Games on Invasion (Home or Alien), Supernatural (Ghosts and Demons) and a great fondness for Japan, with a lot of games being set there. It is difficult for Horror Games, any genre of Gaming for that matter being completely original with an idea as everything has been done at this point. However, we are seeing more unique combination such as Lovecraftian elements with Fishing (Dredge), Walking Sims with Home Invasion (Fears to Fathom), Sanity Bars with Paranormal Activity (Phasmophobia and Demonologist) and Roguelike meets Cards (Inscryption).
Other interesting Indie Horror Game formulas are Children’s Toys turned scary. Whilst I love this idea and have great admiration for Five Nights at Freddy’s or ARGs such as Welcome Home, making the target audience children themselves is a horrible choice but it is one that many forms of media are making the shift towards for horror. Alternatively, the Analog Horror Subgenre is rising, with the likes of The Backrooms getting a ton of exposure and many, many games being made following this infinite liminal space of a yellow-walled labyrinth. Even the PS1 aesthetic has returned and because of its sharp, distorted design, horror is easily achieved. These formulas can take on more sinister tones, where there is little limit over what can and cannot be made. These gigantic games in the Indie world thrived online to the point that Five Nights, Iron Lung and The Backrooms are getting film adaptations!
Greater Connection to their Audience
What is missing from many AAA Horror Games is their connection to their audience. Many Horror Games are incredibly outdated upon their release, after following the same predictable pattern, narrative or gameplay as older games. Take The Callisto Protocol which was poorly received due to its many similarities of being a Dead Space copy. Even the Dead Space Remake was received higher than a new take on the Sci-Fi Horror Genre. But with both allegedly selling 2 million units when they wanted 6, you have to wonder where these games went wrong?
Other recent Horror Games however, follow a predictable narrative with repetitive gameplay. A prime example being the Dark Pictures Anthology or The Quarry itself. Whilst I tend to enjoy these games, although their ending typically lets the game down, these interactive movies tend to fall short due to the only differences being how likeable the characters are and the type of monster you are versing this time around.
A lot of Video Games fall under the all style, no substance category, with games such as Scorn being one of the most disturbingly beautiful Video Games I have ever experienced but being a glorified Walking Simulator. But Indie Horror does not have this issue to face due to the already limited budget of the game that all consumers are aware of when getting into it. No one really cares about when this games look worse than usual. A great example being Baldi’s Basics (honestly, nothing can look worse than this).
Indie Horror Games which regularly provide multiple endings, many secrets/Easter Eggs and consistent turn-over new content for their audience to enjoy year in, year out. With Indie Developers either being made by a single person or a small team, there is more opportunity for their fanbase to communicate any feedback and be heard by the Developer themselves.
Take the rise of Demonologist for example, many players are communicating with one another in figuring out the secrets within this Ghost Hunting Game, such as getting into Maria’s Room. Another example that is currently ongoing as of the time of editing this article on April 24th, 2023, is the community diving into the bizarre world and mystery of Amanda the Adventurer. Indie Games like these that captivate their audience with puzzles, mysteries and an unique yet disturbing lore to keep you playing tower over the many carbon copies of AAA Horror Games.
How Normalcy Evokes Fear
Normalcy is something that not many Developers try to make into a scary concept. The only AAA Developers that has previously attempted this are Capcom’s Resident Evil with their unnatural humans with genes altered by the T-Virus, or Monolith with Condemned, where you must fight violent humans who want nothing but your head on a pike. But Indie Horror dives into this idea all the time and it is where a lot of new Horror Games should venture into. Unless you are trying to go super different with it by adding something unique in the gameplay such as The Voidness or Close Your Eyes, many Horror Games are incredibly similar and can only be differentiated by how scary its atmosphere truly is.
But something new has crawled its way into the spotlight and that is making the mundane or our reality scary. Prime examples of Developers regularly doing this are Puppet Combo, Rayll and Chilla’s Art who as you have probably seen by now, I am incredibly biased for but they make the everyday terrifying by taking the rational horrors of others – Home Invasion, Stalkers and Serial Killers a reality. Many can in some way relate to the horrors on their screen and can place themselves into the protagonist’s shoes as the setting and scenario is believable. This also adds onto the point that Indie Horror can connect with their audience better than AAA Developers as it can be difficult imagining yourself as a Astronaut or a Soldier.
End of Originality & Rise of the Remakes
This brings me onto what the reduced and limited amount of Horror Games AAA Developers are creating today. The truth is, all we see by the Household names of Horror such as Capcom, Bethesda, Konami or Motive are Remakes. Whilst Capcom appear to be carrying the Horror Genre on their back since Resident Evil 2 Remake, the most we are getting out of these massive Developers are primarily Remakes. For AAA Developers having the amount of money they have and some of the most talented minds and artists on board, to make a Remake to milk their Horror Game title is incredibly disappointing. I can see why Remakes keep being made as there is so much money in it, but this could destroy the Developer’s future for brand new content. Even Konami make their return with Silent Hill 2 after cancelling Silent Hills in 2015.
Sadly, Naughty Dog are to blame also, for milking The Last of Us dry from Remaster, Remake to TV Show (they are making it hard to call TLOU2 my favorite game at this point) that I can no longer be surprised when a Horror Game Remake gets announced. With System Shock and Silent Hill 2 set to release in 2023, who knows where the Remakes will end for AAA Developers? If the fanbase continues to buy these, just like the 4 million units Resident Evil 4 Remake made in the first 2 weeks of its release just in March, 2023 alone, why would they quit remaking games that bring them more money than an original, new concept?
The Kiss of Death for Indie Horror: Early Access Multiplayer Games
What is typically the end for Indie Horror Games is when the Developer makes the choice to release an Early Access Multiplayer Game. These are almost never finished, or released in a state that could have been completed without having the Early Access label on it. What makes this worse is when a game is made Multiplayer only. If you do not have the option to play with friends, finding some by random for a match or two can be an impossible task. You need to be able to play a Video Game on your own, and having the option to play with friends is just an added bonus.
I believe that the best Horror Games lie with Linear narrative and on Single-Player. Whilst some blow up such as Phasmophobia, Demonologist and The Forest, they withstand the test of time due to being able to play the game as a solo whenever you would like. But these games mentioned are not only Multiplayer Video Games but are also released on Early Access. The problem with this is that the game may never finish and unless you can regularly provide updates for more content to keep the loyal fans happy, you likely will not retain their attention. As mentioned above, there is nothing more important to a Developer than staying connected with their playerbase.
Published: Apr 28, 2023 12:49 pm