Jump scares in video games are lazy

[Kane99]

Jump scares may have been effective in the past, but these days it's just lazy, just like hearing violin played in horror movies or massive scenes. I remember Layers of Fear being great when I first played it, but after playing it multiple times over (had to due to glitches in first two playthroughs), the jump scares lost their power. And once I realized the game was mostly about jump scares, I lost a bit of interest in the game. Don't get me wrong, I liked the story and the atmosphere, but that game was all about the jump scare and it turned me off to it. 

I like when a horror game is creative, has a spooky atmosphere and tries different things. idk, I guess I just feel that horror games are becoming tamer. But what do you guys think? Are jump scares a lazy scare tactic these days? 

[Boblee]

In most cases, I believe that some of the horror games are not really that terrifying the way they used to be; which is why I try to play most of the horror games that I do deep in the night, so that the setting of the midnight can help to intensify whatever horror effects that they used in making the video games.

[m76]

Jump scares were always lazy, but I'd go one further than that. Because what are jump scares?

Yeah, scripted sequences.  I say all scripted events in a game are lazy.

[Justin11]

I never really seen much of the horror game production recently. I wouldn't go and judge if it's tame presently or not, unless I see the present releases and compare to past releases. 

[Boblee]

17 hours ago, Justin11 said:

I never really seen much of the horror game production recently. I wouldn't go and judge if it's tame presently or not, unless I see the present releases and compare to past releases. 

Dead by Daylight is one horror video game that you can look into playing. I can't really say much about jump scare in it, who knows?

 

 

[Justin11]

5 hours ago, Boblee said:

Dead by Daylight is one horror video game that you can look into playing. I can't really say much about jump scare in it, who knows?

 

 

It's pure haven indeed, with what I've seen around it's trailer, I'm given this horror game thumbs up. Is Dead by Daylight compatible with PS3? 

[killamch89]

Most aren't really scary at all - Alien Isolation and Resident Evil games do a good job with them.

[Justin11]

32 minutes ago, killamch89 said:

Most aren't really scary at all - Alien Isolation and Resident Evil games do a good job with them.

Those two are typical horror games, but not all that scary, you simply play during the night, and never felt the impact of being frightened playing all alone. 

[killamch89]

1 hour ago, Justin11 said:

Those two are typical horror games, but not all that scary, you simply play during the night, and never felt the impact of being frightened playing all alone. 

Actually, Alien Isolation is one of the scariest games out there and RE 7 is pretty scary as well. Maybe you're talking about something else.

[Kane99]

2 hours ago, killamch89 said:

Most aren't really scary at all - Alien Isolation and Resident Evil games do a good job with them.

I agree with this. I think when you use jump scares right and sparingly, it works out better. But with like layers of fear, the jump scares kinda become lazy. 

 

On 12/2/2021 at 12:23 PM, Boblee said:

Dead by Daylight is one horror video game that you can look into playing. I can't really say much about jump scare in it, who knows?

 

 

Dead by daylight is a good pick. For me though, most multi-player horror games aren't that scary to me. I find when it's a horror game that's single player it scares me a lot more. 

[killamch89]

20 minutes ago, Kane99 said:

I agree with this. I think when you use jump scares right and sparingly, it works out better. But with like layers of fear, the jump scares kinda become lazy. 

That's true about Layers Of Fear. Outlast had very good jump scares and they were so unique and unexpected.

[Reality vs Adventure]

I thought Layers of Fear was an excellent masterpiece. Layers of Fear 2 actually had some pretty good jump scares and maybe it's because I was so much into the game. But RE7 had jump scares that shivered my spine. Evil Within has this creepy invisible guy that pops up and strangles you. I hate that enemy. All I can do is set a shock bolt trap and hope it hits it to shock it then burn em good. 

[Boblee]

3 hours ago, Kane99 said:

I agree with this. I think when you use jump scares right and sparingly, it works out better. But with like layers of fear, the jump scares kinda become lazy. 

 

Dead by daylight is a good pick. For me though, most multi-player horror games aren't that scary to me. I find when it's a horror game that's single player it scares me a lot more. 

Some gamers have tough skin when it comes to what scares them as they don't scare easily and you are one of such gamers. 

[Justin11]

17 hours ago, killamch89 said:

Actually, Alien Isolation is one of the scariest games out there and RE 7 is pretty scary as well. Maybe you're talking about something else.

I know the game I'm talking about, it's Alien isolation. It's a scary horror game, but I'm always bold playing it without feeling about it's scary nature. 

[Knight Plug]

The music in horror games now is almost non existant, along with the scares, because RE practically has none left. In RE1 on the GameCube, you heard faint music that was appropriate for the atmosphere. Now it's so quiet in RE games, you could hear a pin drop.

And Silent Hill games didn't always have blaring music, but those games were always terrifying with the level of eerieness. Also, Akira's guitar work on "Theme of Laura" is nothing short of awe. But the idiots at Konami had to firstly go and disband Team Silent, then piss off Hideo Kojima many years later. Now the series is dead...