Well, for this stand-alone article in my “Horror Videogames Series“, I thought that I’d look back on what it was like to be a fan of horror games during the early-mid 2000s. Or anything between the year 2000 and the release of the original version of “Resident Evil 4” in 2005 (which ushered in a more action-focused era of the genre’s history).
One of the first things to note about this era is that “fixed camera” survival horror games were king back then. Whilst other types of horror games existed – such as the horror-infused shooter game “Doom 3” (2004) – the majority of popular horror games used a third-person perspective and fixed camera angles. The movement controls for these games are often derided as “awkward” these days, but this was only the case for the very first game you played. Once you got used to them, they became as natural and standard as “WSAD” is for first-person perspective games on the PC these days.
Likewise, whilst some horror games from the era included psychological horror elements – most famously, “Silent Hill 2” (2001) – the main type of horror back then was survival horror. Horror where the main character’s survival depended on the player’s actions. Horror games which might have a scary story, but where the emphasis was firmly on actual active gameplay – on decision-making and problem-solving.
Whilst there was some innovation – most notably the 2003 game “Siren”/”Forbidden Siren”, which focused on stealthily avoiding possessed villagers and being able to see out of their eyes using psychic powers – horror games back then often tended to include more action elements too. Yes, these were often balanced in a way that kept the game suspenseful but – with rare exceptions – you could usually fight back against any monsters/zombies/ghosts that you encountered whilst playing. And, if you’re saying “Does this mean horror games were less scary back then?“, you would be both right and wrong.
Objectively speaking, by modern standards, most horror games from 2000-2005 are maybe only moderately scary. But what you have to remember is that people back in 2000-2005 had much less of a basis for comparison than we do now. Horror games sometimes felt scarier back then because ultra-scary modern indie horror games hadn’t really been invented yet. Not only that, players would usually have had much less experience with the genre as well.
Even assuming that you were lucky enough to own a Playstation 2 back then – the console with the largest library of horror games and backwards compatibility with PS1 horror games too – you probably didn’t play that many horror games back then. Yes, online shopping was a thing, but most people bought games in physical shops (whether new or second-hand). And, whilst you could find horror games, they were sitting alongside numerous other types of games that you probably also enjoyed too. So, you were more likely to play a wider variety of games – and therefore fewer horror games. Therefore, less of a basis for comparison and fewer chances to build courage. So, horror games felt scarier – even if they weren’t.
It’s a far cry from today where, thanks to indie developers, people can pretty much just play horror games if they want to. There were far fewer horror games in 2000-2005, so playing one was a bit more of an “event”. Not only that, you were probably playing it alone at night on a tiny, blurry CRT television as well. So, whilst horror games back then were “less scary” than modern ones, they felt scarier than you might think. Though, of course, this still varied from series to series. If you were lucky enough to own a GameCube back then, you could play the scariest classic “Resident Evil” game – but, if you were on team Playstation, then the “Resident Evil” games were more like fun/cool action-adventure games with horror elements. “Silent Hill”, on the other hand…
Even so, this was a gentler age for horror games. Between the official censorship boards and the fact that physical media meant that game companies had to sell larger volumes of games, you didn’t really get the sort of ultra-terrifying “Made by and for experienced horror game fans” indie horror games that you’d see during the 2010s. Even so, “edgy” horror games were still technically a thing though, with the famous example being “Manhunt” (2003). I haven’t really played much of it, but this game – where you have to sneak around and brutally kill henchmen for the amusement of an evil film director – caused one hell of a fuss when it was released.
Still, one of the cool things about the early-mid 2000s was that the horror genre (except, ironically, horror novels. Though you could easily find second-hand 1980s-90s ones back then…) was a bit more popular. This was an age where popular films included horror movies like “The Ring” (2002) and “Saw” (2004). When even one of the best comedies of the time, “Shaun Of The Dead” (2004), was a comedy-horror movie. And horror videogames were no exception here. Whilst “Silent Hill” wouldn’t get a film adaptation until 2006, there were “Resident Evil” films released in 2002 and 2004. Seriously, you could go to the cinema to watch a “Resident Evil” movie – and it was as cool as it sounds
Horror game walkthroughs and fan media did exist back in 2000-2005. But, leaving aside those goofy over-priced physical “strategy guides” and the occasional game tips you might find in physical magazines, you have to remember that internet video was a lot less common back then. If you needed a walkthrough for a survival horror game puzzle, you’d often end up finding and printing out a text-based one from a site like GameFAQs. Fan fiction and fan art for horror games were a part of the internet back then. Forums obviously existed too. But this was a time before there was a wealth of amazing horror game-themed Youtube channels like “Ink Ribbon”, “The Sphere Hunter”, “Residence Of Evil”, “ManlyBadassHero”, “RagnarRox”, “Eurothug4000” etc…
Of course, horror games back then consisted of more than just “Resident Evil” and “Silent Hill”. Whilst indie horror wasn’t much of a thing, there were “mid-budget” horror games which weren’t as well-known. I’m talking about games like “Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare” (2001), “Project Zero”/”Fatal Frame” (2001), “Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem” (2002), “Siren”/”Forbidden Siren” (2003) and “ObsCure” (2004). You might have stumbled across one of these in a second-hand shop or possibly played a demo of it on a magazine cover disc, but lesser-known mid-budget horror games were a thing back then.
Yes, modern game-creation tools have blown these old games out of the water and there is no shortage of modern indie horror games which would have been “mid-budget” ones back in the day- “Remothered: Tormented Fathers” (2018), “Tormented Souls” (2021) and “Oxide Room 104” (2022), to name but three – but, because of their relative rarity, finding a mid-budget horror game was more of an “event” back in 2000-2005.
In summary, horror games were both more well-known and less common back then. They were objectively less scary than modern horror games, but they felt scarier. They often included more action elements than modern horror games, but they were also less “user-friendly” in some ways. Even if you seriously loved horror games back then, they were maybe only one out of every three or four games you played. Indie horror wasn’t really a thing, but “mid-budget” horror games still existed. The main differences between then and now can probably all be traced back to the fact that indie horror games weren’t really much of a thing back then.
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Anyway, I hope that this was interesting