CulixCupric said:
Yeah, too many survival horror games have become action-horror, we need to have more games like Dark Corners of the Earth, Silent Hill, or Amnesia, ones where you can't fight back easily or at all, therefore giving more suspense and tension for immersion. It's not scary if you can gun down every monster like expendable mooks.
Saw this early in the thread and saw the OP nearly said what I feel. My only quibble with this post is not that horror relies on a weak protagonist and powerful enemies. Horror relies on making the threat disquieting. It relies on mixing primal and adult fears, throwing in human frailty (moral as well as physical), and leaving the audience sympathetic to the characters yet sure many or even all are doomed. That said, I think the OP is completely right. When the protagonists are either never in real danger because they are so badass, or when the protagonists are all such jerks we don't care about them, the horror genre loses all traction.
I'm not saying the protagonists have to be weak or ineffectual, but they have to be both physically -and- psychologically vulnerable. You weren't freaked in Dark Corners of the Earth when the shoggoth showed up because it is the scariest monster in gaming. You were freaked because the main character started hallucinating, muttering to himself, limping along, and gibbering. In my first attempt, he wound up shooting himself rather than face the monster.
That mind game is what makes horror.
Back on topic:
Can I say I'm more tired of zombie fanboying than of zombies themselves?
Yes, yes, zombies are a fine plot device. Decidedly American style horror. Usable in anything from modern horror to high fantasy to science fiction. Perfect empty vessels for you to stick in whatever symbolism, ideas, or horror tropes you want to include. Heck, you can even play them for horror comedy or even comedy that deconstructs the zombie genre.
I'm more annoyed by the over-reliance and the gushing fanboys, but that's just my preference. And if you are tired of it, do what I do. Avoid those games and shows you don't like, then let other people go enjoy them.