The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
If you saw the title of this topic, and then ran away to hide under the covers of your bed, then you probably know what I’m on about. But for those who don’t what the title is on about, I’ll explain. In FPS horror games, many things that happen that may make you jump or give you a little fright. But in TPS’s (Third Person Shooters) you don’t get as much of a shock as you do in FPS, but why is this?
Well it’s obviously the view point of the game, but why? Well, in Third Person Shooters you can see beyond what a normal person would see. You see behind you and you can round corners that you couldn’t on FPS’s. So the simple answer for why are FPS’s more frightening than TPS’s is the element of surprise. Because FPS’s give a more realistic view point, in the game it feels more like you’re actually walking around a spooky mansion that you know has a huge variety of monsters, ghosts and other gruesome creatures with more limbs than a centipede, you’re wondering which direction they’re going to come from. Especially if you’re walking down a thin corridor and there’s doors on both sides of you. You don’t know what’s going to happen, even though you can hear the monsters.
But it’s not just the build up to a monster jumping out on you, it’s when a monster jumps out of nowhere and you have no idea it’s going to happen. That is more likely to make me jump back or get a shock than slowly building up to something because then you know something is going to happen. But if your walking down a street, which doesn’t really seem that dangerous, and a huge beast jumps out the bushes and latches onto your neck, that might give me a shock more than the description I made earlier on in the post. On TPS’s if you were walking along a dead street and that scenario took place in the last description, it wouldn’t be frightening. The simple reason being that you’d be able to see more, you might see the top of the monster or any other part of it. But in FPS’s, you’d more likely not see anything because you can only see a very limited amount of the game at once.
Also something that seem to happen frequently in FPS’s is this. Say you walk down a corridor and halfway down is a door that’s locked. You keep walking and find a lever, you full pull the lever and hear something crank open. Suddenly loads of monsters run at you from behind and start chewing on your head and setting fire to your trousers (That only applies to student monsters). Monsters appearing from what seems nothing. This really works if the creators are trying to give you a shock.
Another thing that works very well and that’s very similar to the one before, is doors than can only be opened from the side that the monsters are on. When you get past a certain point it triggers the doors to open and hoards of monsters come streaming out. All of these things that happen really give the adrenaline quite a rush.
So, in retrospect to what I’ve mention and discusses I think we can safely say that FPS’s do work as horror games. They have the element of surprise that works too well in horror games and causes you to leap back in fright. Will there be more ways to come to give you a fright, well I’ll let you decide that…
Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS
Well it’s obviously the view point of the game, but why? Well, in Third Person Shooters you can see beyond what a normal person would see. You see behind you and you can round corners that you couldn’t on FPS’s. So the simple answer for why are FPS’s more frightening than TPS’s is the element of surprise. Because FPS’s give a more realistic view point, in the game it feels more like you’re actually walking around a spooky mansion that you know has a huge variety of monsters, ghosts and other gruesome creatures with more limbs than a centipede, you’re wondering which direction they’re going to come from. Especially if you’re walking down a thin corridor and there’s doors on both sides of you. You don’t know what’s going to happen, even though you can hear the monsters.
But it’s not just the build up to a monster jumping out on you, it’s when a monster jumps out of nowhere and you have no idea it’s going to happen. That is more likely to make me jump back or get a shock than slowly building up to something because then you know something is going to happen. But if your walking down a street, which doesn’t really seem that dangerous, and a huge beast jumps out the bushes and latches onto your neck, that might give me a shock more than the description I made earlier on in the post. On TPS’s if you were walking along a dead street and that scenario took place in the last description, it wouldn’t be frightening. The simple reason being that you’d be able to see more, you might see the top of the monster or any other part of it. But in FPS’s, you’d more likely not see anything because you can only see a very limited amount of the game at once.
Also something that seem to happen frequently in FPS’s is this. Say you walk down a corridor and halfway down is a door that’s locked. You keep walking and find a lever, you full pull the lever and hear something crank open. Suddenly loads of monsters run at you from behind and start chewing on your head and setting fire to your trousers (That only applies to student monsters). Monsters appearing from what seems nothing. This really works if the creators are trying to give you a shock.
Another thing that works very well and that’s very similar to the one before, is doors than can only be opened from the side that the monsters are on. When you get past a certain point it triggers the doors to open and hoards of monsters come streaming out. All of these things that happen really give the adrenaline quite a rush.
So, in retrospect to what I’ve mention and discusses I think we can safely say that FPS’s do work as horror games. They have the element of surprise that works too well in horror games and causes you to leap back in fright. Will there be more ways to come to give you a fright, well I’ll let you decide that…
Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS
Cooky wrote:
>I'd have to disagree a bit there. There hasn't really been any FPS's
>that have scared me, but there have been TPS's that have. I'm talking
>about the Resident Evil games. There about the only games that have
>ever made me jump. FPS's may put you in a more realistic perspective,
>but it doesn't really make the games any more scary. A TPS game can
>be much more scary than FPS's if done properly like Resident Evil!
>
>:)
I never really find games to be scary. But some things can surprise me, make me jump back from the screen. I find FPS's do this better than TPS's because you know you're not actually the character in TPS's but in FPS's there's something that makes you feel you're actually in the game. SO i'll have to disagree with your disagree ;-)
>I'd have to disagree a bit there. There hasn't really been any FPS's
>that have scared me, but there have been TPS's that have. I'm talking
>about the Resident Evil games. There about the only games that have
>ever made me jump. FPS's may put you in a more realistic perspective,
>but it doesn't really make the games any more scary. A TPS game can
>be much more scary than FPS's if done properly like Resident Evil!
>
>:)
I never really find games to be scary. But some things can surprise me, make me jump back from the screen. I find FPS's do this better than TPS's because you know you're not actually the character in TPS's but in FPS's there's something that makes you feel you're actually in the game. SO i'll have to disagree with your disagree ;-)
I think the first part of Unreal was pretty scary. Walking round the destroyed prison ship when all you can hear are the screams of other survivors being killed by aliens had me constantly looking behind my back. It was bloody scary.
I remember playing the demo of Quake 1 when it was first released to the world back in, er, '96 I think (could be wrong).
I was playing it in the dark and it made me jump loads more than any resident evil style game ever has.
I was playing it in the dark and it made me jump loads more than any resident evil style game ever has.
System shock 2 scared the hell out of me, as did alien vs predator 2.
Those who have never played a scary FPS game should try System Shock 2 on the PC. Its a great example of how developers can scare the living crap out of you, and it works perfectly as a FPS horror game.
I agree that games in first person can be much more spooky than games in third person, but most first person shooters do not have "horrific" content - they always seem to be either war-based or futuristic.
The only slightly horror-based FPS I can think of is the Turok series.
There should be more "survival horror" games in first person.
The only slightly horror-based FPS I can think of is the Turok series.
There should be more "survival horror" games in first person.
I'd have to disagree a bit there. There hasn't really been any FPS's that have scared me, but there have been TPS's that have. I'm talking about the Resident Evil games. There about the only games that have ever made me jump. FPS's may put you in a more realistic perspective, but it doesn't really make the games any more scary. A TPS game can be much more scary than FPS's if done properly like Resident Evil!
:)
:)
I think VR goggles would be great for a FPS. Your character would look wherever you look, but 'forward' always stays the same so you could have quick glances over your shoulder to see if anything is there.
If you saw the title of this topic, and then ran away to hide under the covers of your bed, then you probably know what I’m on about. But for those who don’t what the title is on about, I’ll explain. In FPS horror games, many things that happen that may make you jump or give you a little fright. But in TPS’s (Third Person Shooters) you don’t get as much of a shock as you do in FPS, but why is this?
Well it’s obviously the view point of the game, but why? Well, in Third Person Shooters you can see beyond what a normal person would see. You see behind you and you can round corners that you couldn’t on FPS’s. So the simple answer for why are FPS’s more frightening than TPS’s is the element of surprise. Because FPS’s give a more realistic view point, in the game it feels more like you’re actually walking around a spooky mansion that you know has a huge variety of monsters, ghosts and other gruesome creatures with more limbs than a centipede, you’re wondering which direction they’re going to come from. Especially if you’re walking down a thin corridor and there’s doors on both sides of you. You don’t know what’s going to happen, even though you can hear the monsters.
But it’s not just the build up to a monster jumping out on you, it’s when a monster jumps out of nowhere and you have no idea it’s going to happen. That is more likely to make me jump back or get a shock than slowly building up to something because then you know something is going to happen. But if your walking down a street, which doesn’t really seem that dangerous, and a huge beast jumps out the bushes and latches onto your neck, that might give me a shock more than the description I made earlier on in the post. On TPS’s if you were walking along a dead street and that scenario took place in the last description, it wouldn’t be frightening. The simple reason being that you’d be able to see more, you might see the top of the monster or any other part of it. But in FPS’s, you’d more likely not see anything because you can only see a very limited amount of the game at once.
Also something that seem to happen frequently in FPS’s is this. Say you walk down a corridor and halfway down is a door that’s locked. You keep walking and find a lever, you full pull the lever and hear something crank open. Suddenly loads of monsters run at you from behind and start chewing on your head and setting fire to your trousers (That only applies to student monsters). Monsters appearing from what seems nothing. This really works if the creators are trying to give you a shock.
Another thing that works very well and that’s very similar to the one before, is doors than can only be opened from the side that the monsters are on. When you get past a certain point it triggers the doors to open and hoards of monsters come streaming out. All of these things that happen really give the adrenaline quite a rush.
So, in retrospect to what I’ve mention and discusses I think we can safely say that FPS’s do work as horror games. They have the element of surprise that works too well in horror games and causes you to leap back in fright. Will there be more ways to come to give you a fright, well I’ll let you decide that…
Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS
Well it’s obviously the view point of the game, but why? Well, in Third Person Shooters you can see beyond what a normal person would see. You see behind you and you can round corners that you couldn’t on FPS’s. So the simple answer for why are FPS’s more frightening than TPS’s is the element of surprise. Because FPS’s give a more realistic view point, in the game it feels more like you’re actually walking around a spooky mansion that you know has a huge variety of monsters, ghosts and other gruesome creatures with more limbs than a centipede, you’re wondering which direction they’re going to come from. Especially if you’re walking down a thin corridor and there’s doors on both sides of you. You don’t know what’s going to happen, even though you can hear the monsters.
But it’s not just the build up to a monster jumping out on you, it’s when a monster jumps out of nowhere and you have no idea it’s going to happen. That is more likely to make me jump back or get a shock than slowly building up to something because then you know something is going to happen. But if your walking down a street, which doesn’t really seem that dangerous, and a huge beast jumps out the bushes and latches onto your neck, that might give me a shock more than the description I made earlier on in the post. On TPS’s if you were walking along a dead street and that scenario took place in the last description, it wouldn’t be frightening. The simple reason being that you’d be able to see more, you might see the top of the monster or any other part of it. But in FPS’s, you’d more likely not see anything because you can only see a very limited amount of the game at once.
Also something that seem to happen frequently in FPS’s is this. Say you walk down a corridor and halfway down is a door that’s locked. You keep walking and find a lever, you full pull the lever and hear something crank open. Suddenly loads of monsters run at you from behind and start chewing on your head and setting fire to your trousers (That only applies to student monsters). Monsters appearing from what seems nothing. This really works if the creators are trying to give you a shock.
Another thing that works very well and that’s very similar to the one before, is doors than can only be opened from the side that the monsters are on. When you get past a certain point it triggers the doors to open and hoards of monsters come streaming out. All of these things that happen really give the adrenaline quite a rush.
So, in retrospect to what I’ve mention and discusses I think we can safely say that FPS’s do work as horror games. They have the element of surprise that works too well in horror games and causes you to leap back in fright. Will there be more ways to come to give you a fright, well I’ll let you decide that…
Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS