The horror genre

The horror genre is made to make people scared, It started

hundreds of years ago in books, from monsters such as
Frankensteins monster and Dracula and then went on to be
adapted in films such as Frankenstein and Nosferatu
These films are the starters for the film horror genre and
helped to adapt horror into film.Films started to move onto
more found footage type horror which was very cheap to
make and were also easy to make. Around the 2000s the
survival horror genre began popular and started to become
quite big from games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill
These were popular enough to even be adapted into their
own films which lack the horror element the games
contained.

Horror in videogames is portrayed to make the player feel

helpless. This is a common trope in horror videogames, as
the game will normally not give effective equipment to the
player and will instead give them weak weapons or no
weapons at all. This helps to emphasise the scariness of the
game as the player has no way of fighting back. This is
displayed in Silent Hill 2 where the player is fully helpless
and has a lack of ammo and health at all times. This is
intentional as it makes the player wary and scared to
continue playing. It is also done as if the game had too much
ammo and health the game would not be scary. It is made to
make people be a weak helpless victim who instead needs to
run away from fights instead of engage in them.Instead of a
tank gunning down everyone like Call of Duty or
Uncharted
In horror games, the conventions are dark settings, these
settings are normally empty and secluded spaces where the
player is mostly alone in their journey and has little help
finding their way through the levels, this is done to add an
emphasis on being alone and being a clueless character in a
scary world around you this is seen in games like Resident
Evil Silent Hill and Dead Space where the player is
normally alone in the area; usually the game has little to no
characters to them. This can be done to increase the tension
for example in Resident Evil there is very little interaction
with the other characters in the game to make the main
character feel alone. As if they have too much help or the
game feels too normal it will be not very scary so the
conventions are used to make the player feel alone and
helpless. Another convention of horror games is to make the
player frightened and panic this can be done through the
gameplay, if done effectively the health bar of the player
should be low as well as the ammo count. This is done to
make the player feel vulnerable and not have too much
health and this makes them not able to engage in each
combat situation effectively. Linking this back to Resident
Evil, you are hardly ever given enough health or ammo this
makes you run away from fights more than engage in them.
Also another convention of this genre is the imagery shown
throughout the games. For example blood Is a main aspect
in this genre, and is mostly a clich by this point but is
normally used on walls to help increase fear in the viewer by
knowing that there is something killing people or someone
has died. An example of this being used is in Dead Space
this is done often as the game is very gory and has constant
blood splatters covering the hallways of the ship. This makes
the player feel they are in a
hostile environment and are going to be killed as well.

Videogames are distributed through digital stores such as Xbox live store
and PlayStation store This can be effective as the audience does not have
to leave their house to obtain the game and can obtain the game from the
comfort of their own home. This is helpful as well for older games as if a
gamer does not own a PS1 or a Dreamcast for instance they can put older
games on newer hardware and bring the older games to newer gamers who
have not experienced them before as well as older players who may have
nostalgia for playing that game in the past, and would be happy to buy the
game again with updated graphics and controls without spending a lot of
money on a console they need just to play one game, an example of this is
with Doom from 1993 where they ported the game to the Playstation and
Xbox stores and made it easy for gamers who loved it back in the day to go
back and re-experience the classic game.

They can also be distributed through stores such as Game and EB Games
where people can walk in and buy the game in store on disc. This is done by
people who prefer to own the thing on a physical media due to reliability and
also due to how it sometimes cost less due to pre-owned games being
popular. Some people say that physical media is dying out due to the ease of
digital media, however I disagree with this statement as I feel like physical
media is something we should appreciate more and be saving for future
generations as it is very reliable.
I feel the horror genre has shifted gears a bit in the videogame industry. This
can be seen through older games compared to newer games, firstly is that
most games from the mid 1990s and the early 2000s were using Fixed
camera angles

These camera angles were done in a way that they would not change until
the player moved to a certain point of the screen shifting the camera angle to
another set spot. This was effective in the early horror games as these angles
helped to create fear with what is around the next corner and not being able
to fully see the room you are in can be scary as you will not fully be able to
adapt to the camera change creating a high point of tension. They were first
used in the 1996 videogame Resident Evil (seen above) and were carried
over to many other horror games like it such as Dino Crisis from 1999. The
early horror genre was full of these games are worked effectively, keeping
this in mind; the newer horror games do not use these camera angles really
at all anymore.
This traditional camera set, was replaced by newer games using a first
person camera instead. This can be seen in the comparison of the image
below which is from Resident Evil 7 which was released in 2017 which uses
first person camera view to help get the player involved in the game. While
the image above of Resident Evil from 1996 uses the previously talked about
stiff camera angles to help add horror to the game but in a different way, yet
still being in the same series. And the major shift in design with the way the
player plays the game and how they experience horror in the game.
Putting the player in a first person view can directly increase the tension to
the player. This is done as you are put in the eyes of the person you are
playing as and directly seeing and feeling how the character you are playing
as is.

This could be impacted by the release of the PS: VR and virtual reality being
introduced more and more each year. Other games that are first person are
some games such as Outlast Amnesia and Alien Isolation these games
all have first person horror that works very well and is very atmospheric
helping to amplify the tension. Games have also shifted in quality in terms of
graphics this is shown as every year videogames get better and better
looking, to the point of making them almost realistic!
These are many different horror genre structures in the way they are
presented. For example some games like to play tricks on your mind and very
psychological that more tries to scare you with being uncomfortable and
surreal instead of being just jump scares and mainly horror. An example of
this is Silent Hill 2. Again, this uses horror that plays on your mind and is
more focused on the story aspect, and the story aspect is displayed in a
surreal and strange way through the wife of the main character being dead,
although he receives a letter from her. https://youtu.be/C-HhS4djBL4 This is
used to confuse the player and make them very confused on the plot and
what is happening. However another way the narrative structure takes place
is in a simple straight forward storyline such as Dead Space where the
game slowly reveals the story but never really cares too much for the story
and cares more for the gameplay and uses the story more of a setup just for
the gameplay.
Story in horror games has drastically evolved, this can be seen through the
original stories in videogames from times like the 1970s and 1980s were
very simplistic as they were mostly homage type stories focused on early
horror villains with no real depth of plot and was normally placed in the
manuals for the people who are interested in reading into the story, an
example of this can be seen below with the 1986 videogame Castlevania in
this game, the plot is minimal and the only hint of plot you get is a small
backstory talking about your character going to kill Dracula.

Comparing this to contemporary games, such as the 2013 videogame Last

of Us, which some people accuse of being almost to focused on the story,
this game is much more evolved than older games this is shown through the
depth of story, the story is the key aspect of the game and for most people is
the key selling point of the game when compared to older games that take a
backseat to the story and is more focused on gameplay. Gameplay has also
developed, this can be seen as back in the 80's horror games like
"Castlevania" and "Friday the 13th" were 2d side scrollers where the player
would only be also to walk from left to right on the screen giving the player a
lack of complexity that is shown in modern horror games such as "Resident
Evil 4" and "The Last of Us"which are 3rd person horror games where the
player takes control of the character from behind the shoulder and controlling
them with the ability to see alot more around them. As previously mentioned
there is the "First Person" games as well, these games are done from the
characters point of view and everything the character sees the player with
see and gives a sense of claustrophobia from that point of view. With more
modern games they are also a lot more complex in the way that they play for
example, in "The Last of Us" from 2013 you will be crafting items and
collecting parts and weapons throughout the game, adding a layer of
complexity that helps to make the game feel more realistic and helps to give
the player a sense of panic and fear if they do not have many inventory items
left helping them to be more scared for upcoming foes. Comparing this to the
1989 videogame "Friday the 13th" the game now lacks in scares not just from
the bad graphics compared to more modern games making it look silly but
instead how simple the game is, this is shown through how the controller only
had 2 buttons on it (A,B) and a d-pad this makes the game slightly to simple
and lacking as there is nothing you really do in the game but go from left to
right on the screen and try not to be killed by the killer "Jason" this shows the
lack of gameplay elements in early games, compared to more complex and
more fun modern videogames.
Story aspect in games has also changed from a linear and simple thing to
much more complex, this can be seen in the ps4 game Until Dawn which is
seen by many to be a reappropriation of popular 80s horror films. This is
seen through the stereotypical setting and characters; However in this you
can make choices throughout the game that can alter the storyline and affect
the world around you, making it a complex and fun story based game. This
allows the players of the game to directly infulence the characters, at whom
they would fruitlessly shout at if it was just a movie.

In gaming, the role of the main character has been shifting from when
gaming started off just being male orientated, to slowly moving into more
games where you can pick witch gender you want to be. In early gaming key
examples were games like Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda
where the plots are very typical where you are always rescuing the helpless
princess who cant save themselves and normally just putting them in the
damsel in distress role.

The is a very stereotypical role that was later broken by games like Metroid
and Tomb Raider where the main character is a female and is shown to be a
strong and an effective killing machine without being put into the unable to
kill people roll. This has also advanced to the more modern day RPG genre
in which you can fully customise your characters skin colour, gender and age.
This helps to get more people into gaming by people who would rather not
play as a male and would instead rather play as their own gender. This can be
seen in the "Last of Us" where there are many strong female characters: such
as Tess, Marlene and Ellie. During one of the parts of the game the main
character, Joel is fatally wounded and for that section of the game you get to
play as the young girl Ellie; in this section you have to control the young girl
and help survive her through the winter and during this section the girl is
nearly killed and raped by one of the bandits, in the end of the section you
kill him with a machete all by herself. This scene shows how strong she is and
how she can effectivly handle herself without the help of Joel and shows she
is a strong female character that does not need constant saving and looking
after shown in earlier gaming like "Super Mario Bros"

Overall I feel like the the horror genre is an effective genre in videogames
and media in general as it gives the player a rush and intense feeling when
playing them that helps to make them scared and panicked when playing
them. This genre of games is good as well because they help to add variety
into the games industry as many games nowadays are very boring as you are
just shooting everything without much variety to them and this can leave
many players bored because they are all so simular. However with horror
games they do the complete opposite and take away pretty much everything
from you and the effectiveness of them comes from the running away of
enemies rather than the fighting of them. This variety really helps as it makes
players feel helpless and scared when playing them whitch most people enjoy
feeling when they expreience a new horror game, there is also a lot more
diversity in these games from other genres as they are the most unique and
creative when it comes to the idea making stage as some of the monsters
and designs are horrifying when compared to other games in other genres.

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Survival horror. [online] Available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_horror [Accessed 28 Mar. 2017].
freeman, (2017). Codes and Conventions of Horror. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at:
https://www.slideshare.net/04freej/codes-and-conventions-of-horror [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

Google.co.uk. (2017). BLOOD ON WALL - Google Search. [online] Available at:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?
q=BLOOD+ON+WALL&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXy62zrorTAhVG
OMAKHVpoAWsQ_AUIBigB&biw=718&bih=725#tbm=isch&q=BLOOD+ON+WALL+video+games
&*&imgrc=t3eZ72MffQ4xiM: [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

Blogcdn.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at:
https://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2013/08/screen-shot-2013-08-30-at-
11.10.55.png [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

VEGAS CREATIVE SOFTWARE. (2017). Is Physical Media REALLY Dying?. [online] Available at:
https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/is-physical-media-really-dying--101475/
[Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

D1vnh8mbrp67em.cloudfront.net. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at:
http://d1vnh8mbrp67em.cloudfront.net/image/file/0/38/67860/RE2.jpg [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

Google.co.uk. (2017). resident evil 7 - Google Search. [online] Available at:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?
q=resident+evil+7&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbyoOzu4rTAhXLCsA
KHYvRDmAQ_AUICCgD&biw=958&bih=954#imgrc=T49FGG1CE_d1IM: [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

Google.co.uk. (2017). dead space - Google Search. [online] Available at:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?
q=dead+space&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH2rW_xIrTAhWMBcAKH
Q_xBmMQ_AUIBigB&biw=957&bih=686#imgrc=QzaXk9XXZpxm7M: [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].