What Annoys Players in Horror Games?

Many of us have tried playing various horror games from both renowned developers and lesser-known indie studios. However, they all used the main gimmick of the genre, trying to instill fear in gamers. But the ways to create horror have always been different: some added as many jump scares as possible, some created an oppressive atmosphere through music and design, and some didn’t hesitate to play on clichés that had become tired. It’s these annoying and irritating factors that we will discuss in this article.

Darkness, Shadows, and Fog

Fear of darkness is inherent in many people, so developers often use this technique in their horror games. Sudden monster attacks from some corner or a constant sense of impending danger in the darkness are familiar to every gamer. However, the reduction in draw distance no longer surprises anyone after many years of gaming industry development.

Moreover, the feeling of helplessness in the dark quickly disappears when one location is REPLACED by another that is better lit. Here, there are no more unexpected turns or jump scares, and gameplay often turns into a slasher or shooter. Rarely do developers manage to combine these elements effectively. The creators of Outlast successfully recreated a gradual descent into darkness that frightens and doesn’t let go until the very end.

Lots of Text in Notes

A rich game lore can be conveyed through handwritten text, which often appears during the storyline in various high-class RPGs. After all, not everything can be told through dialogues. Detailed descriptions of technologies, magical artifacts, character biographies – all of this helps immerse players in the virtual world for hours.

In horror games, a similar technique is often accompanied by dreary notes from some insane characters. This is done to deepen the atmosphere of horror. But in reality, it often indicates that developers were too lazy to create something more convincing. For example, instead of showing the player a scary cutscene or animation, authors add scare tactics in the form of bloodstained notes or torn diaries.

Rescuing the Princess

Players need to be engaged, given a goal, or a reason to move forward. And for some reason, developers of horror games haven’t come up with anything better than using the worn-out cliché of rescuing another attractive lady from the clutches of a monster. Or finding a daughter, sister, or wife, as in the Silent Hill series.

It would be great if such presentations were even a little more creative. Because when one game differs from another only in the fact that in Silent Hill you need to save a daughter, and in Alan Wake – a wife, it quickly becomes boring in terms of player interest in the plot.

A Tour of Yet Another Asylum

Human fear is associated with terrifying places that few would want to visit. So why not choose such places as the main location? For example, a mental hospital. After all, you can bring to life a whole stack of stereotypes there: terrible experiments, dangerous psychopaths, no less frightening doctors.

“Scary?” developers will ask. “Terribly clichéd,” millions of horror game fans will reply. Everyone wants to immerse themselves in a creepy atmosphere, but not several times in a row in the same place. An abandoned mansion, a strange mental hospital, or a foggy town – we’ve been through all of this hundreds of times.

Secondary Characters

This problem applies not only to horror games but also to most games with weak storylines. However, in our genre, it happens too often and stands out against the backdrop of what’s happening. How many times have we had to watch the stupid deaths of useless companions or Squad members? It’s hard to count. Of course, all of this is usually accompanied by bloody cutscenes or touching dialogues.

But how can you empathize with a character who manages to die within an hour of playing a horror game? And if we’re talking about a companion who should provide support, more often than not, it’s just another dummy in need of your help. Yes, Resident Evil, we’re talking about you.

Brainless Protagonists

This problem irritates all gamers without exception, especially in horror games. The behavior of the character you control is often accompanied by completely illogical actions. Sometimes, it’s so frustrating that you want to uninstall the game immediately after witnessing it.

Remember The Evil Within or the intelligence level of characters in Until Dawn! You constantly had to clean up after what the protagonist did. Sometimes, it’s tear-inducing, but still, the games were saved by a fairly decent atmosphere and gameplay features.

Everything Moves Very Slowly

You thought that running slowly was only possible in dreams? Well, horror game developers decided that running away from a monster or a psychopath is a bad idea. It’s better to allow movement at a leisurely pace. After all, this builds up the horror of impending DOOM, doesn’t it?

This illogical aspect often annoys horror enthusiasts. But slow movement speed isn’t the only problem. Remember how long it took some protagonists to open doors, chests, retrieve weapons, or anything else. Perhaps it’s acceptable if used a few times throughout the game. But when your hero is constantly “lagging,” it’s infuriating.

QTE (Quick Time Events)

The era of QTE has long faded into obscurity for most gaming genres, but it stubbornly persisted in horror games. Blockbusters like Until Dawn or Resident Evil 4 were saturated with this mechanic. Fighting a boss? Let’s press “X”! Need to overcome an unexpected danger? Press “X” again!

These exciting moments of the game lost their intensity because you simply had to press a few buttons. Your hero would win, get out of trouble, and continue collecting healing herbs. Boring!

Dolls, Clowns, and More Dolls

This cliché has become so overused that it’s no longer scary, funny, or even amusing. Here’s a doll without eyes, and there’s a creepy doll painted in bloody colors. And here’s a clown with teeth. It seems that every gamer, in anticipation of a scary moment in a horror game, will say, “Oh! Another doll.” Yes, sometimes it’s appropriate and frightening, but you don’t need to fill every dark corner with plastic figures so often!

A Few More Jump Scares?

The classics of the horror game genre are jump scares. Sometimes they are so terrifying that you involuntarily twitch or fall off your chair. But the more games that come out, the less effective they become. Almost every developer adds a few jump scares to their game. But each time, after another terrifying character jumps in front of the hero, the impressions blur and become bland.