It was 1998, I was 7 and my brother had just bought a Sega Saturn, we plugged that badboy into the TV I watched with anticipation as the TV’s static slowly blurred into my first glimpse of a horror game… and It looked like this…

(Okay, not that disturbing but there’s nothing more horrifying than a cheesy live action intro.)

But a few seconds into this game and I knew I was in for one hell of a ride, not only where the graphics bloody beautiful (no pun intended) But there was something that scared the bejesus out of me.. and that was before this bit had happened.

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What set this game aside from others was it’s atmosphere. echoing voices, footsteps, the odd distant groan and above anything else SILENCE. 

 Now this is something that I hate about modern horror games, they feel that they have to build tension with music but Nothing sets a grimmer scene than your characters footsteps echoing ALONE. This made even the classic Tomb Raider spooky (even if you did have Lara’s triangle boobs to keep you company.)

So, what’s stopping modern horror games of being scary, surly the more powerful the console is the better the gaming experience would be right? WRONG. Classic 3d horror games would use the consoles limits to their advantage, whether it be the creepy loading-screen doors of resident evil, or the creepy “fog” covering Silent Hill. Furthermore When a zombie starts chasing you, there is nothing more worrying than not knowing how the F*ck to control your character

(How the hell do I use this thing!?)

In a panic your hands would spasm, you lose all your motor skills and the crappy controls made it all the more scary. 

Game designers these days seem to think that the way to make a good game is to make your character armed to the teeth, though this works for games like GTA it means I can’t take games like F.E.A.R seriously. Why the hell would I be scared of the ring girl when i’ve got a mother-f*cking machine gun!? Weapons should be sparse and harder to get a hold of than the queen’s underwear… not than I’ve been trying. 

Basically what I’m saying is in horror games more is less. There are a few modern horror games like the Gamecube’s Eternal Darkness that are decent but game companies really need to research into what made the classics classic.