Summary
Horror video games have come a long way since the dawn of consoles. Nowadays, there are so many different ways to enjoy horror, from first-person psychological experiences togreat horror third-person shooters. But before all of that, horror games were often from the perspective of a fixed camera angle from which players would view their protagonist (depending on where the developers placed the camera), intentionally limiting the player’s vision as a way to draw on their fear.
With the fixed camera angle, developers can dedicate more console power to make the game look better, since they don’t have to render more than what the static camera can see, sometimes opting to use pre-rendered backgrounds to create a stronger sense of immersion. As horror games evolved, this fixed perspective faded out, at least for a while, but it has since made a comeback in recent years thanks to indie games. The horror genre owes a lot to these games for how impactful they are and for the legacy they left.
While it may look silly rather than scary by today’s standards, the originalAlone in the Darkwas one of the first games to use the fixed camera angle, predatingResident Evilby four years — and possibly inspiring it. It even has two playable protagonists, tank controls, and is set in a spooky mansion.
In fact, much of the survival horror genre owes at least some of its legacy toAlone In The Dark. The game is widely considered to be one of the first 3D horror games and has many of the genre staples, such as puzzles, inventory management, and, of course, fixed camera angles. Its impact on the genre is legendary, and there have beenmany follow-ups to the original game(for better or worse).
While it’s certainly not Capcom’s flagship horror franchise,Dino Crisisis remembered fondly. Trading slow-moving zombies for a range of deadly and persistent prehistoric predators, the game puts the player in the shoes of Regina as she discovers what went wrong at a research facility — and why it happened.
It has everything expected from the genre: tense chases, thrilling boss fights, and careful inventory management, all wrapped in a fun B-movie story with multiple endings. It has that unique charm and quality expected from aCapcom game during this era.
Opting for a completely different approach,Who’s Liladoes away with the traditional enemiesand monsters and goes for one of the most unique approaches to social mechanics. Multiple characters must be talked to throughout the game, but instead of selecting one of multiple dialogue options, players manipulate the facial expressions of the protagonist to determine their response. The facial expressions alone can lead to the uncanny valley.
Players who have not yet mastered this system can give the wrong response to somebody, leading to one of the game’s many different endings. The dreamlike presentation, camera angles, and David Lynch-esque story (one full of mystery and weirdness) create one of the most memorable horror games in recent years.
Kidnapped protagonist Caroline Walker awakens in a mansion where she must combat horrific enemies and challenging puzzles to fight her way out.Tormented Soulsis a love letter to the fixed camera angle horror genre, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking its own identity.
Many puzzles are difficult, even for the most seasoned experts, but in a way that feels satisfying to solve. The game goes one step further by having the player traverse between two different realities to solve some of the puzzles, something rarely explored in the genre.
Taking away the gun and forcing the players to get up close and personal with a camera isFatal Frame 2: Crimson Buterrfly’s (and the franchise’s) central mechanic — and its greatest strength. While the perspective typically uses fixed camera angles for exploration, the game changes to first-person perspective when combating the game’s ghosts using the camera. The closer the ghost, the more damage having their picture taken will do.
While many other games focus more on Western horror (zombies and monsters),Fatal Frame 2opts for more supernatural Japanese horror such as vengeful spirits, haunted villages, and failed rituals.The second installment only ups the anteand builds on the horror of the first game. Fans of films likeThe RingorThe Grudgewill find themselves right at home.
Delving into Sci-fi horror,SIGNALISis set in a future where humanity has managed to colonize the solar system. Naturally, this will have the player trading the typical scary mansion for an alien planet, and their flesh-and-bone human protagonist for an android. This means plenty of variety in what players will explore, from a crashed derelict ship to seemingly abandoned mines, all with unique head-scratching puzzles and nightmarish enemies.
Despite having a fixed camera, the game will occasionally switch to a first-person perspective for short exploration sequences, giving the game some nuance and variety, setting it apart from its contemporaries. These sequences (and other cutscenes and notes throughout the game) give context to the game’s dreamlike story that will have players thinking for hours after the credits role.
While the 2024 remake has certainly made waves with a change in perspectiveand its new endings, the originalSilent Hill 2is something special. While most fixed camera games use this technique to make the games scarier and tense, Silent Hill uses it to make the game feel otherworldly and mysterious, like the player is detached from reality itself. The foggy and empty town that the protagonist, James Sunderland, wanders through only adds to the atmosphere.
The game is widely renowned for its storytelling, answering enough questions to leave any player satisfied with the outcome, and it gives enough context clues through its environmental designs that more curious players can (and have) spent countless hours theorizing what everything means.
While the 1996 original was revolutionary for the time, the 2002 remake ofResident Evilis the superior version andthe start of the games being remade. Originally released on the GameCube (before being ported to every capable system from 2015 onwards),theResident Evilremake not only has impressive graphics that still stand up against more modern, more graphically demanding games, but it also has a list of additions and changes that enhance the original.
There’s new voice acting, replacing the cheesy delivery from the original, along with new items and changes to the environment that keep veterans of the original on their toes. It also introduces the terrifying Crimson Heads, zombies previously killed by the player that come back to life stronger — unless the player uses a precious resource to burn them. It’s perhaps the most effective game at using fixed camera angles, hiding various monstrosities around corners and making the player listen for sound cues to detect them.
