this post was submitted on 16 May 2025
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Horror

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I've always considered Bioshock a horror game but not everyone agrees on this. The developers have stated they were inspired by survival horror games like Resident Evil but inspiration from a genre doesn't automatically make it that.

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[–] golden_zealot@lemmy.ml 29 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

It is a horror game, just not a Survival Horror game - the difference is that you can fight back effectively against enemies and the game operates largely on combat mechanics instead of running and hiding.

[–] Adkml@hexbear.net 7 points 20 hours ago

First one you were deffinitly low on supplies a lot I'd say there's a little bit of survival. There isn't like hunger or thirst or sanity or anything but you certainly have to pick your fights at times.

Second one your a human tank so that ones a little less survival-y.

[–] GammaGames@beehaw.org 10 points 22 hours ago

Definitely more action horror, yeah

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 28 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I'd say so. Plenty of jump scares, and creep scares (that guy standing behind you holding a wrench), as well as a dark twist at the end.

I'd say it's got about the same pacing as a Jordan Peele movie

[–] SassyRamen@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

One creature has hooks for hands and crawls on the walls in the dark, how is that considered horror? /s

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 5 points 21 hours ago

That's a standard night out in Glasgow

[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 4 points 18 hours ago

It's a libertarian society, they even do unspeakable things to children.

So yes

[–] paultimate14@lemmy.world 10 points 22 hours ago

BioShock 1? Without a doubt it's a horror game. It's basically a zombie game except they call them "splicers" and technically haven't died yet.

The lighting is spooky- the whole game is dark. Being underwater is another classic horror setting. There are unethical doctors who caused a lot of this, and one of the first areas you go through is the medical area, including surgery and dental areas. Classic horror tropes.

I don't just think BioShock is a horror game, but one of the most influential ones in history. There have been plenty of conversations on the internet about how you can technically find examples of other games doing the things that BioShock did earlier (System Shock, Half-Life, I could go on). But it was the first game that combined all of these elements and executed them well, and it led to a huge boom of what I consider to be heavily Bioshock-inspirwd horror games. Markiplier became one of the most successful and wealthiest content creators on the internet by tapping into the flood of these things. Bigger games like Amnesia: the Dark Descent or the flood of "walking simulator" indie horror games.

BioShock 2? I have only played like an hour or two, but I do know it was made by a different development team and have heard it focused much more on the gameplay and multiplayer than the story. Still possibly a horror game but less so.

BioShock Infinite? I don't think I would call it a horror game. I would be open to arguments for that though. Perhaps in a decade or two people may start to group these stories that involve "multiverse" travel, or even just time travel, as a sort of existential horror. I would say Infinite has a case for that, but you might need to add tentacle monsters to fully cross the threshold into horror there.

[–] CyanideShotInjection@lemmy.world 9 points 23 hours ago

If someone asked me what genre of game is Bioshock, I would not directly go to "horror game" the same way I would for, let's say Outlast. But it clearly has horror elements to it and I got more scared in that game than some others that are classified as such. Even on my second run I had some good jumpscares.

[–] entropicdrift 4 points 21 hours ago
[–] rtxn@lemmy.world 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

No. I'd put it in the same category as Control. It's an action game that contains elements of horror. Stronger in some areas, but completely absent in others. It doesn't define the whole experience.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I would say some of the Control levels count as horror. Certainly had several eldritch/body horror elements. That one level with monsters that cannot be hurt in the dark especially stuck with me.

[–] ferric_carcinization@lemmy.ml 3 points 18 hours ago

You use the Alan Wake DLC* as an example. Of course it has horror elements, it's a horror game crossover. I still agree that the game has some horror elements to it. I can't name many examples off the top of my head, as it was some time since I played it, but you basically fight against zombies, and the Mold (as in the fungus, not the linker) mission(s) (can't remember if it was optional content or not) might count.

* Not sure if DLC is the right term here, as I'm not sure if you have the option to not to download it, as at least on Steam, only the "ultimate" edition is available, I think.

[–] capt_wolf@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

I'd consider it a horror series, absolutely. Just not in the same vein as survival horror games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, etc. I think a lot of people don't consider it to be because you get desensitized to a lot of the horror elements in it pretty quick. I'd lump it in closer with games like Doom, Quake, or Left 4 Dead.

[–] Carnelian@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah pretty much a horror game I’d say. It’s tagged as horror on steam, although FPS and action are more popular tags

[–] ReakDuck@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

The Tags are set by users so they can be invalid

[–] Carnelian@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Idk, OP asked if the game is considered horror. So horror being so high up on the list of user tags seems to answer their question pretty directly. Checking back on this post it also seems like the overwhelming majority of users here also agree with the tag, anyway