The storytelling in these horror games is enriched by the environments, where players can uncover dark secrets and further lore to their deep worlds.
Horror games thrive when they can incite fear, suspense, and dread in their players. When creating a game of this genre, the setting is just as important as sound and monster design, if it is indeed a creature feature. Players need to feel immersed in the horror world and fear whatever could lie around the next corner.
But, a good setting can do more than set the tone and instill suspense. It can offer small glimpses into what sort of world surrounds them, or even tell a story, even while maintaining a frightening facade.
Observation
A Game Centered Around Uncovering a Mystery
Observation
Platform(s) PS4, PC
Released May 21, 2019
Developer(s) No Code
Genre(s) Adventure
As the title suggests, Observation places the player through the lens of an observer, in this instance an AI known as SAM, scanning the environment to try and uncover the tale of what happened to the scientists onboard, and the origin of an unknown signal that delivers an ominous message.
Players will find clues scattered throughout the environment as they cycle through the various cameras to view different rooms and scan them for any clues they can relay to Emma. The entire game centers around an environment and the story that it tells by paying close attention to it.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Explore the Castle to Piece Together the Story
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Platform(s) PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, macOS
Released September 8, 2010
Developer(s) Frictional Games
Genre(s) Survival Horror, Indie Games, Adventure, Action, Puzzle
Amnesia is the most famed and popular title in indie horror history, showing what excellent games companies can make with a more limited budget and smaller team. This title is set in the ominous Castle Brennenburg, a dilapidated facade of grace and elegance, which houses a substance referred to as the shadow overtaking the place, as well as roaming monsters, as protagonist Daniel tries to regain his memories.
Exploring certain locations and reading the diary pages scattered throughout the castle help Daniel regain memories and piece together what happened in the past, and what he must do next, the story slowly coming together through the surrounding environment.
BioShock
The State of Rapture is Highlighted Through the Environment
BioShock
Platform(s) PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Released August 21, 2007
Developer(s) Irrational Games
Genre(s) FPS
BioShock is one of the most terrifying FPS games of all time, taking players deep into the ocean to the once beautiful underwater city of Rapture. By the time the player descends, it is a run-down shell of what it once was, filled with leaks, broken buildings, and home to splicers, Little Sisters, and the dreaded Big Daddies.
The environment does a brilliant job of telling the story of how Rapture has fallen and that it is now a place filled with dangers, such as bloody warnings or messages on the wall and skeletons or dead bodies strewn throughout Rapture. Everywhere a player looks, there is another hint chronicling the downfall of Rapture.
The Last Of Us
Signs of the Apocalypse are Everywhere
The Last of Us
Platform(s) PS3, PS4
Released June 14, 2013
Developer(s) Naughty Dog
Genre(s) Action, Adventure
The Last of Us drops players into a post-apocalyptic world that has fallen to zombie-like creatures known as Clickers, with many cities and humans falling to the infection, other than Ellie, who has an immunity to the bite.
As with most apocalypse games, the environment does just as good a job of relaying this narrative to the players along with the game plot itself. Many buildings have fallen to ruin, entire cities are decimated, and nature takes over, large vines and leaves thrive on the sides of buildings, and wild animals such as giraffes freely roaming. It is one of the few games that has some of its environmental cues showing some beauty can grow through all the decay.
Dead Space
Visual Clues Are Scattered Throughout the Ishimura
Dead Space
Platform(s) PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Released October 14, 2008
Developer(s) Visceral Games
Genre(s) Survival Horror
Dead Space tells the terrifying tale of a space-faring crew investigating a mining vessel by the name of Ishimura. But the more Isaac explores, the more apparent it becomes that something is wrong, through clues left across the environment.
Even if it weren’t for the necromorphs swarming through the ship ready to tear Isaac limb from limb, the environment does a good enough job of telling the tale of the ship’s downfall. Messages smeared in blood, barricades intended to come something in–or out, and conspicuous piles of posed corpses all hint towards the horrors that unfolded before the player even arrived, and the horrors that they will soon have to face for themselves.
Silent Hill 2
The Weight of James’ Guilt is All Around Him
Silent Hill 2
Platform(s) PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox (Original), Xbox 360
Released September 24, 2001
Developer(s) Konami
Genre(s) Survival Horror
Silent Hill 2 is often touted as the best Silent Hill game, breaking away from the story laid down in the first game for a more personal tragedy about a man who lost his wife to a terminal disease, but has received a letter summoning him to the eponymous town. The town they once enjoyed for many a holiday is no less a dream location and more of a twisted nightmare.
The thick fog, broken down buildings, and the NPCs and monsters encountered along the way are all evidence of James’s broken psyche and his fractured relationship with Mary even after her death, all culminating in a twist that was hinted at all along. The story-telling of the environment of Silent Hill 2 is more subtle than other games, but that only makes it all the more brilliant, so gamers can still be shocked by the reveal.
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