Haunted House (1982)

[Chris Redfield]

Haunted House (1982) is an Atari 2600 game that had players navigating a maze-like house, picking up treasures while avoiding monsters. This is one of the first horror video games that inspired a lot of modern horror games. Have you ever played the game?

 

[Mr. X]

I'm not quite old enough to have played it back when it was released but I know it is often hailed as the first horror game. Of course, it was extremely limited by the technology of the day. There's no immersion as we expect to see even in titles from the 1990s and early 2000s. There is nothing 'scary' going on. It was advanced for the time, but it doesn't hold up these days.

 

[Al]

It's an interesting point of discussion. What makes a horror game a horror game? You'd expect Haunted House to be a horror game based purely on the title, but it doesn't offer the frights one might expect from a true horror game. Is it still horror, just on account of the title?

 

[Samara]

It's an interesting game and among the first I played back then. Collecting items and solving puzzle to unlock doors, reveal secret passages in order to escape from monsters. The game only need skill to be played excellently.

 

[Chris Redfield]

I'm not quite old enough to have played it back when it was released but I know it is often hailed as the first horror game. Of course, it was extremely limited by the technology of the day. There's no immersion as we expect to see even in titles from the 1990s and early 2000s. There is nothing 'scary' going on. It was advanced for the time, but it doesn't hold up these days.

You are right. It doesn't offer much when placed side by side the other horror games that came after it. The only thing that I can pick out was that it helped to give a clue to subsequent developers on what a horror game should look like.

 

[Mr. X]

You are right. It doesn't offer much when placed side by side the other horror games that came after it. The only thing that I can pick out was that it helped to give a clue to subsequent developers on what a horror game should look like.

Hmm. Yes. I do not mean to dismiss the impact of such a game. It has its place in the history of horror games by showing there was a market for the setting. Haunted House has a legacy.

 

[Chris Redfield]

Hmm. Yes. I do not mean to dismiss the impact of such a game. It has its place in the history of horror games by showing there was a market for the setting. Haunted House has a legacy

The game is one that paved the way for most horror games to draw that inspiration on building a game that is nice and beautiful. This is one thing that I truly like about this game as it was the foundation.

 

[Samara]

The game is one that paved the way for most horror games to draw that inspiration on building a game that is nice and beautiful. This is one thing that I truly like about this game as it was the foundation.

This still doesn't deny the fact that the game had less scenes of what a horror game would really look like. It was not as scary as anyone would have wanted a scary game to look like.

 

[Sentinel]

No, I have not played it but I know this game. I think a lot of horror game fans have heard of this game if not played. This is one of the earliest horror games that brought atmospheric fear in eerie setting, in the game.