Horror games and graphics

[Tsar]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4887-The-Ugly-Secret-of-Horror-Games

I watched this and have to agree.
Horrors that look good don't do it for me. Silent hill two was grainy seedy looking dirty looking and it was one of the scariest games ever

Look at amnesia did not look great but shit was the scariest game I ever played.

 

[OmegaFenix]

I think you are confusing art direction with graphics.

True Silent Hill used its limited hardware brilliantly however with the right art direction even a photo-realistic game can be scary.

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/graphics-vs.-aesthetics

 

[Tsar]

I think you are confusing art direction with graphics.

True Silent Hill used its limited hardware brilliantly however with the right art direction even a photo-realistic game can be scary.

Yeah no my mistake been a long day. I meant art direction

 

[MOnk]

I don't think it's about games being too high fidelity, it's just when you are low def you get a certain vagueness for free. So when you go big budget shiny graphics you need to work harder to create that atmosphere.

 

[Terak]

I agree, things are scarier when you don't know what they are. Another example is from The Empire Strikes Back. The wampa is way more scarier in the first clip:

 

[LadyAnne]

I agree, True silent hill was scary .. I had nightmares after playing the game

 

[powderbucket]

I've played games before that really scared me which were not even close to the horror genre. Some of these games included Tomb Raider, for example...

That was because the atmosphere contributed so well to my immersion in the game.

Then again, games like Clock Tower on PSone were so clunky and slow that it contributed fantastically to the stress you felt you scissorman started chopping at your ankles. I guess horror depends on a lot of things, but I mostly think its atmosphere.