Old School Horror Thread

Might just be the time of year (Hello, Halloween!) but I've been having a real itch for some good old, classic horror games along the lines of the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill games. Less gore and jump scares and more focus on unpredictable, psychological, ambient horror that draws the player in and keeps them on the edge.

I guess on one hand this is a question if there are any decent and recent games that would fill that gap, which you could recommend but more importantly, and ultimately more appropriate for this section of the forum, if there are other devs and modders that share in my "longing". Figured this would be a good place to get a discussion started and maybe see about taking it from there

If you wanted to know about a game that is upcoming. I would keep an eye on our game. We are currently working on a Multiplayer VR horror game. We will be marketing and posting it in the coming weeks so keep an eye for us!

From what I was able to gather from your site, the game's story/atmosphere does seem to be quite fitting. That said, I'm not yet convinced by VR as a product. For short bursts definitely worthwhile, but with longer sessions it's always given me a bit of a headache. Then again, the industry is fast moving by nature, so I wouldn't be surprised if things catch on fairly quickly.

Will be keeping an eye on your game though, certainly looks interesting.

Yeah VR has a long way to go. Hopefully with some of the newer headsets that are being made, people will begin to create more and more VR games and really look into what can be done. Also if you're looking at VR horror games there's one called A Chair in a Room you should check out. There's also the new Resident Evil on playstation VR. A game that was a lot of fun was Layers of Fear, to get away from discussing VR stuff.

Sadly there are no true survival horror games coming out these days. Only good thing to look forward to these days is the Resident Evil 2 remake. It's really sad to see the genre die off, turn into action shooter or VR games.

If you're looking for survival horror then might be best to look at Dino Crisis 1 or the original Alone in the Dark.

Wouldn't say the genre is dying out, more so going into a quiet phase. This thing always happens with people saying "MMOs are dead" and things like that. It'll make a resurgence when someone either makes a real groundbreaking one (Up there with the likes of Alien: Isolation, Early Res Evil games, etc.) and causes people to want to match it, or there's a culture shock that causes an increased interest in horror/survival horror games. So yeah, it's not dying, just sort of moving into the shadows for a while (There'll still be S-Horror/Base Horror games, just not in such an increased frequency)

But yeah, as for horror/survival horror games, I have a few ideas. I recently completed one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a while, that being a fantastic Source mod called Underhell. I'll try not to spoil anything, but you're basically trying to escape and underground prison. I found it whilst looking around a few weeks back and was pleasantly surprised. The dev actually has gained some popularity in his trade since he released the game with his small team, and has actually moved into a real company. He plans on making an episodic series of five chapters total, and rn there's only the prologue and 1chapter, which last came out in 2013. He's been busy, even more so with his new job, but he doesn't plan on giving up on the project and is making steady progress. Play it, and if you like it, follow it; it'll be definitely worth the wait.

There's less story based games that I'm thinking of, with Project: Zomboid coming to mind. Very good zombie experience and even more so with friends. You might be discouraged early on with its fairly large learning curve, however it's worth it to figure out. Also, the STALKER series comes to mind. I love the games dearly, since they really master atmosphere and managing to mix in FPS elements with the constant piss-your-pants feel and looking over your shoulder every 5 seconds. The entire series is worth a buy, but make sure to make your own judgements on the second game(Prequel), since it's the... least good? I greatly enjoy that one, still, but it's got its fair share of game-breaking problems.

TL;DR

Pick up these games:

-Underhell (Free Source mods, hl2+episodes required)

-Project: Zomboid (If you've got that itch to create your own super zombie-proof shopping mall, house, neighborhood, etc.)

-STALKER (Three games, all good, all with fantastic atmosphere, gunplay, characters and mods; Not very well written for some plot-points, though)

Hope I've helped, and enjoy!

P.S Happy Spoop-tober!

Edited by: Disco-Spider

Well, Resident Evil and Silent Hill seem to have dominated among the titles which are now considered as 'old-school, horror classics'. There were a lot of Playstation titles that fit that genre though, which were sadly never ported to PC (especially Japanese titles).

Here are some games that may interest you:

-System Shock 1 and 2.
-The Thing.

There are many good first person Point and Click/Adventure games in the psychological horror genre, like Dark Fall 1-3, The Darkness Within, Sanitarium, Penumbra 1-3, some newer, isometric-styled titles that try to be "old school" like Stasis, or some FPS games with a little more action like Condemned: Criminal Origins. Finally, there are quite a bunch of Half-Life horror mods like They Hunger, Afraid of Monsters, Paranoia, Mistake and Mistake -1, Cry of Fear or Half-Rats: A Fever Dream. But, I believe First Person games are not quite what you seek .

Sadly there are no true survival horror games coming out these days. Only good thing to look forward to these days is the Resident Evil 2 remake. It's really sad to see the genre die off, turn into action shooter or VR games.

I kind of agree. Horror games are more action-oriented these days, and the latest Resident Evil titles are a proof. Another thing I liked in those older games were their puzzles, another aspect developers have over-simplified or left out all together. There are new, good horror games though, but nothing really around the style of these older titles. And I am eagerly waiting for the RE2 remake too.

Edited by: Thanoshld

Yeah i agree I wouldn't say that the genre is dead, just changing and experimenting in new forms. Creating the unique scare experience is rather hard these day and so horror games become more action orientated. Not only that but action keeps most people hooked, whether it's scary or not. One of our favorite more recent games is definitely Alien: Isolation. The only thing we didn't appreciate was the in on area when being attacked by the alien it's was almost a quick time event rather than a boss fight. Still very scary.

Wouldn't say the genre is dying out, more so going into a quiet phase. This thing always happens with people saying "MMOs are dead" and things like that. It'll make a resurgence when someone either makes a real groundbreaking one (Up there with the likes of Alien: Isolation, Early Res Evil games, etc.) and causes people to want to match it, or there's a culture shock that causes an increased interest in horror/survival horror games. So yeah, it's not dying, just sort of moving into the shadows for a while (There'll still be S-Horror/Base Horror games, just not in such an increased frequency)

I think you are right, it will either take some groundbreaking game to revitalize overall interest or similarly a new movie, tv series or book that inspires devs (modders, indie and AAAs alike) to create something related.

Pick up these games:

-Underhell (Free Source mods, hl2+episodes required)

-Project: Zomboid (If you've got that itch to create your own super zombie-proof shopping mall, house, neighborhood, etc.)

-STALKER (Three games, all good, all with fantastic atmosphere, gunplay, characters and mods; Not very well written for some plot-points, though)

I've played and enjoyed both P:Z and STALKER (and I agree about the prequel being the "least good") but Underhell is new to me. Will definitely give that a go - Thanks for the recommendation!

There are many good first person Point and Click/Adventure games in the psychological horror genre, like Dark Fall 1-3, The Darkness Within, Sanitarium, Penumbra 1-3, some newer, isometric-styled titles that try to be "old school" like Stasis, or some FPS games with a little more action like Condemned: Criminal Origins. Finally, there are quite a bunch of Half-Life horror mods like They Hunger, Afraid of Monsters, Paranoia, Mistake and Mistake -1, Cry of Fear or Half-Rats: A Fever Dream. But, I believe First Person games are not quite what you seek .

All good games and most of which I've played and enjoyed. Even the FPS games I did also quite enjoy Outlast 1 and the expansion. Some elements were a bit predictable and too scripted, so ultimately took the flair out of the "unknown" psychological aspect, but still enjoyable as far as a edge of your seat experience is concerned.

I've been playing around with the idea of dusting off my modder boots and creating an "homage" (for lack of a better word) to old-school psychological horror games like Silent Hill and the early Res Evil games. That said, I've been out of the modding loop for a while, so would need to find my way back into the right kind of engine and dev environment. Alternatively, with most of the big engines going "Free-To-Dev" these days, might even be worth considering an indie project, rather than, say, a Source mod - just as an example, not that I would be opposed to a Source mod.

That's the thinking that will "save" us old-school, horror fans. Creating something of our own. Going to assemble a team and start a new mod or indie project sounds like a very good, though tough, idea. I believe the best way to go around these days is by using the latest UE engine. It's free, and it looks very good. My personal opinion is that Source is not as friendly-user and good as GoldSRC was back in its days. Not to mention outdated, by today's standards. Waiting for Source2 would be wise, but, who knows when that is going to be released. And even if for free, for that matter.

Would be nice if someone suggested some good, Indie, horror games. Because we all, pretty much, know about the AAA titles.

Edited by: Thanoshld

Hey so at the beginning of this thread I mentioned my own game and it's finally here. You can play with or without a VR headset the choice is yours (it's a bit better in VR). Anyway I hope you like it and come check it out !!! We will be updating it over the course of the next few weeks

Indiedb.com

It's VR vs VR horror but there is a single player version!

tiredandwired wrote:

Hey so at the beginning of this thread I mentioned my own game and it's finally here. You can play with or without a VR headset the choice is yours (it's a bit better in VR). Anyway I hope you like it and come check it out !!! We will be updating it over the course of the next few weeks

Indiedb.com

It's VR vs VR horror but there is a single player version!

Congratulations on releasing your game I'll check it out tonight - though only the non-VR version for now hehe.

That's the thinking that will "save" us old-school, horror fans. Creating something of our own. Going to assemble a team and start a new mod or indie project sounds like a very good, though tough, idea. I believe the best way to go around these days is by using the latest UE engine. It's free, and it looks very good. My personal opinion is that Source is not as friendly-user and good as GoldSRC was back in its days. Not to mention outdated, by today's standards. Waiting for Source2 would be wise, but, who knows when that is going to be released. And even if for free, for that matter.

Yeah, starting a new mod/indie project is definitely easier said than done hehe. I used to work on some GoldSRC and Source mods in the past, so have had my fair share of experience with the difficulties of assembling a team and keeping them together to pull on the same set of strings in the same direction.

I've not worked with UE 4 yet but have heard a lot of good things about it, so maybe this is the time to deep dive into the engine. Source 2 would tempt me of course.. but as you say, who knows when it will be released or what it would be capable of supporting.

Edited by: Sorbitar

Nice thread, interesting ideas here.

Horror games, especially the old titles, are always an interesting topic to talk about .

And, since we talked about the RE2 remake, I just came across this: Gamenguide.com . I really hope it's just a rumor.

Thanoshld wrote:

Horror games, especially the old titles, are always an interesting topic to talk about .

And, since we talked about the RE2 remake, I just came across this: Gamenguide.com . I really hope it's just a rumor.

Oh man.. that would really suck. And the Daymare game being pushed in its place just looks like a cheap attempt at cashing in on yet another shoot'em up with monsters. Nothing that shouts horror to me.

I think it really is time to create something new. A fresh look at old school, psychological horror, rather than another monster gorefest.

Oh btw, I came across a Silent Hill Shattered Memories Lets Play recently. This looked pretty decent for saying its a spin-off. Haven't actually played it myself though.

Edited by: Sorbitar

I don't (want to) believe that Capcom let the RE2 remake go. They already remastered RE0 and RE1, the last one even twice. I think they see the potential of remastering their old classics. I believe they are just focusing on RE7 right now. But this Daymare thing... I don't know, it just looks too beta right now to say anything. But if this is going to replace the RE2 remake in any way, it better be damn good.

SH: Shattered Memories does look good. I am not really a fan of re-imaginings, games that change the original title completely (SH:SM is supposed to be a re-imagination of SH1) though. But I haven't played it either to have an opinion on it .

I think it really is time to create something new. A fresh look at old school, psychological horror, rather than another monster gorefest.

Ah, I really can't wait for such a title to get in production! The only one I looked forward to before release was a First Person adventure game, named Layers of Fear. I really like the style, but I have yet to play it. Will buy it on the first change.

Oh, and btw, Steam has just started its Halloween Sales on horror titles. I am sure someone will find something interesting .

I've started putting together a story brief and some character bio for the protagonist. Not a lot at the moment but it's starting to set the scene, I think. Thinking of posting the first draft on here.

Well go ahead my good man! You may even attract some people to join you in a team .

Well go ahead my good man! You may even attract some people to join you in a team .

Haha, well here it goes! Excuse spelling/grammar mistakes - have only written this as a quick draft for now, also some parts may read a little cut-off or a bit like bullet-points.

Protagonist Bio

Name & Age: Alex Cleaton, early 40s.
Status: Widowed after wife passed away due to cancer. Never married again.
Occupation: Photographer for local weekly newspaper - The Gazette. On assignment to take pictures of an old hotel.

Story brief

Protagonist is on assignment to take pictures of an old, derelict hotel due to be to demolished to make way for a new factory, expected to revitalise the local economy. The hotel has been a big part of local history and many locals would rather it was refurbished and returned to former glory, than to see it turned into a modern factory.

Foggy night in middle of countryside. Protagonist travels by car and gets involved in accident with another vehicle. Other driver was a peculiar looking brunette woman in mid to late thirties.

Protagonist comes away with minor scratches and checks on the other driver, who has come away a lot worse. Her car has overturned and slammed into a tree. She has massive trauma to the head and chest area but still appears to be breathing. Protagonist tries to ring ambulance but has no signal. Sees Manor House through the trees and decides to head there to ask for help/landline to ring the police.

As protagonist comes closer to the house he sees a woman stand by the window, staring at him. Once by the house a butler opens to him, saying he will get the lady of the house, who upon arrival has remarkable similarities to the woman from car crash.

She has her butler fetch some first aid, a drink. She also tells him to telephone an ambulance and asks him to head to the scene of the accident to await their arrival.

Manor House is very dated but well preserved, with all the original features still intact. Protagonist is escorted to the reception room and given a drink to calm his nerves, which he drinks by an open fire.

Above the fire is a portrait of the lady of the house and upon inspecting it, the protagonist is again reminded of the likeness to the woman from the car crash.

The butler returns alongside the lady of the house and informs the protagonist that there was only his car, left abandoned at the road and no sign of any other car, let alone a serious crash. The butler suggests that perhaps due to the heavy fog this night, the protagonist had only imagined the other car and driver were in such a poor condition and in fact the other driver, after suffering some shock was able to drive away.

In disbelief of the news, Protagonist takes another sip of his drink, begins to notice his hand shaking and his vision blurring. Suddenly starts to lose consciousness. His last sight is of his drink slipping out of his hand as he starts to collapse. the lady of the house smiles and leans over him when for a brief moment it looks like her face gets distorted and looks like that of the injured woman from the car crash. Then everything turns black.

The story sounds very interesting indeed! Reminds me of Dark Fall 1 and 3, The Darkness Within and Black Mirror, good writing! Would love to see such a project get started one day.

The story sounds very interesting indeed! Reminds me of Dark Fall 1 and 3, The Darkness Within and Black Mirror, good writing! Would love to see such a project get started one day.

Thanks I'm still adding more to it every day, so it's starting to flesh out a bit. Would be great to get a team together and turn this into an actual project. Still not sure what engine would really lend itself to this or what some of the game mechanics could look like. I guess that could also be something where a team could be quite useful: almost having some kind of "hive-mind" approach to deciding what this could turn into and how to visualise various story elements.

I see this game more like a Penumbra kind of game, maybe even without the combat elements. The basic story may need quite a lot of changes to be the background of a more action-oriented survival game like Resident Evil or Silent Hill. For instance, I could imagine it to become something like the later. This is what I might add to it:

The protagonist wakes up and looks around, but finds no one. The fireplace is still lit, and the glass he was drinking out of still full, on the table. He gets up and exits the room, but now things have changed: the manor is in a decaying state. Confused, he tries to go outside, but the main entrance is barred up with wooden planks and so is every window in the manor. So he looks around for a crowbar, or something to open the main entrance door. Psychological horror is building up with creepy background music and weird sounds. No enemies as of now. Protagonist finds something (crowbar/pipe) and opens the main door: he gets attacked by something that resembles a dog. He runs towards the front yard, which is covered with high grass (cinematic video). Enemy disappears. There's a strange mist all around.

So the game starts: he explores the surrounding area, the manor, the nearby town, the hotel and a nearby church, all being in a decaying state. It could be open-world like: you could find objects in one place that would help you get further in another one. Notes, books, riddles and finding objects will be the core of the game. Enemies will be scarce, but difficult to defeat (dogs, female, human-like creatures, etc.). The main point of the game: you died in that car crash and you just face your inner demons (the protagonist was especially afraid of dogs, he was traumatized by the death of his wife, hence the female enemies, etc.). The revelation will be made by the lady of the house, which is the protagonist's dead wife all along (he supposedly didn't remember her face, so he -and the player- did not recognize her when he first met her). After the lady of the house told him he is dead, he "wakes up" in his damaged car under the tree. He goes out. Mist covers everything. Crawls of the game's enemies are to be heard. Twist: there is no Heaven, only this place. And he is trapped in it.

This is how I imagine it turning into a more survival kind of game . Potential title: Mist .

I still believe UE4 is the best option to make a game (any game) right now. Or maybe even Unity, though I do not have experience with any of them. Just stating what I have read about them.

Edited by: Thanoshld

I think you must have gotten hold of my notes somehow lol. A lot of what you wrote is very much in line with the direction I have in mind, even down to the psychological impacts of his dead wife. You're also bringing in some really interesting twists, though. I really like the idea of the protagonist actually having died in the car crash and now being trapped in between realities. The title Mist is also quite fitting in that regard

I would definitely want to see puzzles form part of the game mechanic, and absolutely agree with your points on combat. I am also keen to establish a non-combat association to the enemy (in this case a sound - see below). So when the player begins to hear the sound, they should expect that things are about get ugly, and will keep them on edge even (or especially) when nothing happens.

Here are the additional bits I have been adding to the story brief so far, following on from the point where he loses consciousness. The next steps will include the introduction of combat and expanding on the mystery surrounding the house and local area:

In what seems like hazy, disconnected memories, the protagonist is walking along a never ending hallway. Flickering candles hanging from the walls are the only source of light. Doors are leading off the hallway in regular intervals but all appear to be locked. Muffled sounds, almost like screams or crying babies can vaguely be heard coming from the other side of the doors.

The protagonist keeps walking along the hallway when a door just ahead of him slowly opens with a snarling creak. A voice, that of a woman is calling his name, beckoning him to enter but the room is pitch black. He has no desire or intention to enter the room, a feeling of dread is enveloping him and the sound of his heartbeat is pounding in his head. His instincts tell him that something sinister is waiting for him in the darkness of the room but for some reason he can't stop himself moving towards it.

As if someone had taken control over his legs away from him, he can feel himself getting closer and closer to the room and the darkness it contains. Almost as if he is floating towards the room, being pulled along by an invisible rope, held by the hands of someone...or something terrifying. The sound in his head of his pounding heart has turned into a constant hum, like that of loudspeaker where the bass was broken. The closer he got to the room, the louder it got.

Just as the pitch black darkness of the room was beginning to swallow him inch by inch, the droning sound in his head was becoming unbearable. But there, in the room. He saw it for the briefest of moments. A figure darker than the darkness of the room he was now standing in. It had beckoned him in. It's red eyes glaring at him. It knew his fears. Knew his secrets. And then everything stopped. The droning sound. The floating sensation. Everything.

The protagonist gingerly opens his eyes. Light. Glorious bright light, cast from the ceiling was practically blinding him and he was grateful. As he looked around he noticed he was in a small room, a bed and chair standing in one corner. A wardrobe and desk in the other. The window was shut but he could tell that it was night outside. Did he fall asleep? He remembered the car crash. The butler and the lady of the house. He had a drink. The butler told him something about the crash. He couldn't remember what it was...everything seemed to be a blur. He vaguely remembered that he collapsed. Maybe he hit his head and the lady of the house and the butler took care of him.

After having adjusted to the light, the protagonist walked to the door and attempted to open it. It was locked. Did they lock him in? He looked around the room but found no key. Inside a desk drawer he found a note, on which “Be careful what you wish for, Alex…” was written in red. Was that blood? And how did, whoever wrote the letter know his name? The protagonist opened the wardrobe door, looking for anything that might be of use to get out of the room. Inside the wardrobe he noticed that the wood at the back of the wardrobe was broken. Through the hole, he could see that behind the wardrobe was a gaping hole in the brickwork.

The protagonist decided that this was his best chance to get out of the room and find out what was going on. As he squeezed through the hole in the wall, he noticed that the house seemed different. Almost as if it had aged and had become dilapidated. He walked through the house to find his bearings and noticed that all the windows had been boarded up, floorboards were broken and a number of walls were dotted with holes. This did not look like the manor house he came to after the car crash. Yet somehow it still was.

His thoughts were interrupted by a blood curdling scream coming from the front of the house, which sounded to be from a woman, perhaps the lady of the house. The protagonist ran towards the sound of the screams, which lead him to the great entrance hall. He is standing at the top of the bannister with two staircases leading down to the lobby below. A gruesome scene awaited him there. The lady of the house was nailed by her feet and hands to an upside down cross and hung from the ceiling by her feet. Her face looked heavily distorted, like it was hit by a blunt instrument. The protagonist had another flashback of the woman from the car crash but he was now struggling to remember all the details.

Suddenly the droning sound returns but this time it was not in his head. It seemed to be coming from the house, as if the house itself was generating the noise. The protagonist looks around to try and identify the source of the noise when he notices the lady of the house begin to twitch and move. He can’t believe that she is still alive and quickly decides he needs to try and get her down. As if on queue, the rope tied to her feet snaps and she plummets to the stone floor below. The protagonist runs down the stairs, expecting to see her lying on the floor but he only finds remainders of the wooden cross in a puddle of blood. The body, it seems, has disappeared.

I was away for the week and read your message via my phone, but made no attempt to answer it through a touch screen . We certainly have the same ideas about horror and building up suspense, keeping the player on the edge. Except, your writing is far superior . I believe you should also consider writing a book, since you seem to be very good at it.

I like your ideas and the intro scene (dark creature) . But I really like the first horror scene with the lady of the house, nailed upside down. It feels so authentic and Silent Hill-ish, good work. It introduces the player right into the terrors he will later face, no long intro scenes, cutscenes and endless horror build-up. Just the creature scene, the escape-from-the-room scene (which is a great place to introduce the player to the game's mechanics, like finding clues, reading letters and collect things that may later help him) and the crossed lady. Brilliant.

I keep thinking that the right engine to create such a game would be UE4. It just provides the right tools to re-create such an atmosphere. Also, it could be made like a right-out tribute to the 'old-school' titles: not as an First Person game, but a fixed angled cameras game. Though a First Person perspective would also be a great choice. But definitely not a Third Person or Over the Shoulder camera. I believe these ones are more fitted for action games.

A very well-written background for a potential horror masterpiece. I hope you'll find the time, energy and people needed to start development on it one day. It's a shame to leave such an idea on the shelve .