TL;DR

I have had it with these indie horror games that completely forgoes combat at this point and they are all starting to feel samey in gameplay.


Long Version




It all started with Amnesia the Dark Decent and Slender, then PewDiePie and Markiplier played them on youtube and ever since the flood gates have been open.

Almost every aspect of Horror Gaming in the indie scene has been reduced to what I call "Walking Simulators"

I watched reviews and let's plays of Horror games and so far it just looks like nothing special and dare I say it boring.

My biggest complaint is the lack of combat, all because "it makes it more scarier if you can't fight back" that reasoning is so oversaid at this point that its sort of irrelevent. I mean the indoor levels in the STALKER games full of horrifying mutants and a bleak and dark athmosphere showcases that combat does NOT take away the scare factor of games.

Now mabye I am wrong in this but judging from watching PewDiePie in his horror days, Markiplier, and SomeOrdinaryGamers most of them are the same game that is just copying what Amnesia the Dark Decent did.

And I played that game and found it nothing special I mean one thing that I find lackluster is the monster design I mean seriously this thing is scary?

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/amnesia/images/c/c8/Oh_Hi_Grunt.png/revision/latest?cb=20120831131307

Really? He just looks ugly and his mouth makes me thing he's making dumb noises like this:

"Durrrgh" "Bluuaaagh"

Monsters design really went to shit after the great monster designs Resident Evil made, I mean this thing is how you do a monster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD4iH6IlT44

The same thing could be said for WWII shooters. There was not that much when you look back on it but people started to find it tedious and that is fair enough. Shame too, these games mentioned in your post can be quite fun. Others can find them pretty bland and not very scary as you mentioned. That is fair enough. It is definitely not for everyone.

It was necssary progression for the time but now I miss WW2 shooters because I feel they can fufill a certain style of gameplay. And come who does not want to see the Omaha Beach landing done in current gen graphics?

We've come so far since Medal of Honor Allied Assault.

And besides this futuristic warfare games that COD and others are currently doing are just not as epic as WW2.

The guns in WW2 are iconic and recognizable whereas these futuristic and modern are all starting to look the same I mean This:

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/callofduty/images/9/9d/L-CAR_9_profile_BOIII.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150813002230

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/callofduty/images/c/cd/HVK-30_Iron_Sights_BOIII.png/revision/latest?cb=20150708012034

Will never be as memorable as these:

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/callofduty/images/7/76/M1911_menu_icon_BOII.png/revision/latest?cb=20121217113657

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/callofduty/images/4/4b/AK47_menu_icon_CoD4.png/revision/latest?cb=20131125195431


(Yeah I know AK-47 is not used in WW2 but still futuristic guns just look all the same)

Notice he mentioned indie gaming. In that case yes. I guess certain game types are easier to make in the indie sector.

Perhaps they are over saturated, but it doesn't bother me because I've never really played one, apart from one or two short demos. So now I can pick from the best to plug that hole in my collection of gaming genres :D

As for the lack of combat, I think it works, or at least it can work pretty well. Both the little bit of penumbra that I've played, and the underground labs in STALKER, made for really tense experiences, but tense in two very different (and of course fun) ways. For me the extent of that difference totally justifies the existence of each game relative to the other.

By the way, have you played Condemned? It's a first person horror game with a heavy focus on a particularly savage melee combat system. There are guns, but they're rare and only ever act as very brief reprieve from getting face to face with the game's incredibly disturbing denizens. I still have to finish it one day. I got as far as a farm house, but something formless kept killing me and really creeped me out. Of all the first person horror games I've played, it's probably the most intense one, though I would really like to play Fatal Frame one day. That game looks like it can scare the pants off of you!

Isn't watching him always a horror? >rimshot<

Seriously though, I don't think there's so many of those games, though that is probably becuause I pay no attention to them at all. I could not be less interested. I don't much like horror games in general, and if I don't have a fighting chance of shooting the scary thing in the face then there is no force in heaven and earth that will make me play it.

And there is the answer- if you're fed up with those games- ignore them.

I think the Long Dark is an awesome way to do survival/horror. Although there is a TINY bit of combat involved, if you mean stalking and killing wolves and deer.
You could be meaning something completely different. I hear the Forest is really good and that looks like a walking simulator type thing.

If its grotesque creepy monster design you want then Shinji Mikami's "The Evil Within" fits the bill and since Bethesda is here who knows, maybe we might see this game on GOG as well someday.

https://youtu.be/Eirc-dFzVcw?t=640

I hate these style of games with a passion! However, my biggest gripe is that there doesn't seem to be a good name for the genre, they are simply referred to as Survival Horror games. When I see the term "Survival Horror" I think of titles like Resident Evil or Silent Hill and instantly start reaching for my wallet. I have purchased several of these games only to be utterly disappointed when I load them up and start playing. So now I have to spend a bunch of time researching any game labeled "Horror" to find out what style it really is while also trying to avoid spoilers.

TL;DR,

If you don't like it don't buy.

Long Story

I think you need to see it in the right perspective. Penumbra, Amnesia, Outlast and others do a pretty good job at what they do and are horror adventures made by small developers that haven't got the budget to design monsters and A.I. and integrate them into the game. If they had the games would probably be hilarious instead of terrifying.

What annoys me more are the viral gameplayvideos of people being scared playing these games.

Everything is oversaturated.

Actually it started with Penumbra. Why does everybody forget Penumbra?!?!

Penumbra (Probably Penumbra Overture) is still probably the best of that subgenre anyway. Sure Black Plague's triangle between Philip, the Doc and Clarence was great, but doesn't top your relationship with Red in Overture, in my opinion, and I don't feel like there was a huge leap in gameplay to justify ranking Black Plague above Overture. Besides everybody having their own taste etc of course.


This is true.

RPG's set in wild west isn't oversaturated, I wish it was though. :(

Before anyone suggests Desperados I already have it and can't play it due to me being on Windows 8. (Tried one of them fixes, it didn't work)

Haven't played very many of these type of games, but I somewhat agree with OP.

Amnesia was alright, but it didn't feel challenging or scary enough once I got used to mechanics of the enemy AI. I basically just applied my knowledge of enemy AI from all the stealth games I played and blew through the game. It had some nice ideas, but I felt the execution needed some work.

Penumbra just didn't quite grab me. Some of the puzzles seemed interesting, but I felt like some of the design was repetitive and combat seemed a bit rough, though to be fair I never finished it so maybe it varied a little more later on. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood to enjoy it at the time too.

I wouldn't mind seeing some good old fashioned Resident Evil and Silent Hill (the older installments of both) style survival horror that's indie developed. I guess growing up with those games is why i'm not really into the stuff like Amnesia.

Man, I wish Nordic (the new owners of the franchise) would or could fix Desperados. Kind of afraid to play it since hearing about it hard crashing PCs (not just a crash to desktop) and erasing save files when crashing.

Vote with your wallet and let the market correct itself.