Don't worry, there's always something worse waiting.
It’s been a great few years for co-op horror games. We’ve collected trash and trinkets in Lethal Company and REPO, and we’ve made vlogs for millions of viewers while we trek through abandoned buildings in Content Warning. But between these japes and jests, we’ve also had the challenge of making our way around the Murkov facility and trying not to break down into tears while we fight back against whatever horrors The Outlast Trials throws at us. I might be projecting here, but even if you’ve only spent time in the tutorial, you’ll know it’s not exactly for the faint of heart.
There’s no denying that a huge number of developers are cottoning onto the thrill of co-op horror, and we’re in a position where there are more opportunities than ever to be scared out of your skin. I can’t help but worry about whether or not horror is starting to lose its charm. There’s only a certain number of times you can encounter a jumpscare before you know the signs to look for, and with so many successful horror games launching recently, is it getting to a point where we, as players, are expecting too much from them?
In an interview with PC Gamer, Red Barrels’ founder Philippe Morin said that “Players have a need to have high emotions, and being scared makes people feel alive. The great thing about video games is that you can be scared without actually having real risk. So as long as you’re able to immerse people in your world, and make them believe in it, then we’ll be able to scare them.
“You want them to feel fragile and powerless, and that may evolve depending on the social context. But once you have them there, the scares are always guaranteed. You just have to make them think this world is real, and this world can hurt you.”
There’s undeniably a lot of pressure on horror games in particular to create an immersive experience. The more people play horror games, the more expectations are set for the next one. On the subject of challenges faced when creating a horror game as immersive as Outlast, Morin said “One question we always ask ourselves is do we have to go further every time. I don’t think so. But I think it’s just a natural tendency for us to just see how far we can go in, how much we can get away with.
“Ultimately it’s just a bunch of polygons moving. If you start thinking about it that way, nothing will scare you. So as long as we can make you forget that it’s just a bunch of polygons moving, we can do our jobs and scare you.”
In addition, Outlast’s primary writer, JT Petty, weighed in: “I have complete faith in horror, just generally. But you do build up a tolerance. As you take in more you need more and more extreme products. But people talk about games as their next fix after horror movies don’t work like they used to.”
Petty continued “Fortunately, I don’t think our audience gets desensitized. I think they just change the way they ingest things. Sure it’s harder now for an audience to be scared, and watching the way people consume Outlast specifically, and I guess games in general, it’s become such a communal activity.
“A lot of the storytelling is untangled by people on YouTube, and we are reacting to that and giving them stuff they can use to solve these puzzles. The important thing is I’m never trying to get in the way of people playing the game. For example, with Outlast you can find the documents and piece together this story, but it’s not going to get in the way if you just want to walk through a haunted house.”
So it’s not about the monsters or the villains themselves, it’s about the atmosphere created and the ability to immerse players into that world. Fortunately, I don’t think we will ever get to a point where horror games don’t scare us like they used to. It’s just a case of forcing us into that state of vulnerability and letting the fear come naturally.
As I’ve learned during my extensive time with the Outlast series and The Outlast Trials in particular, there will always be something bigger and badder lurking in the shadows. This also applies to every other horror game I punish myself by playing, whether that’s with friends or alone. And whether I like it or not, I just know I’m going to have to go and find out what it is.
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