I think the major importance from "scare" is the element of being surprised. That keeps the game fresh and on your toes.

In Fallout 3, more so than FNV, the atmosphere of complete loneliness and the unknown as you explored the post apocalyptic wasteland was pretty scary. Being the only person around was like something out of the Twilight Zone never knowing what you were going to encounter when you entered a ruined building, subway tunnel or unexplored area. Even when it seemed quiet you always knew that something was going to happen, you just didn’t know when or from exactly what.

Not scarier, but eerier.

Golgotha, Ghost Farm, The Glow, various locations in Point Lookout and a bunch of the vaults are good examples of this.

Scary is overrated, way way overrated, but eerie? Eerie is far better at creating dread than scary is.

True. There's more to fear that 'ARGH IN YOUR FACE BLOOD AND GUTS AAAAAARGH!!!!' Sometimes the best kind of horror is the horror you don't see, the horror that lies just underneath the thin veil of 'normal'. There's a nagging voice in your brain that constantly tells you, 'something isn't right here...'

If you don't think being alone, scrapping for food and gear, fighting for survival, in a post-apocalyptic world filled with people who will kill you on sight...you, Sir, are braver than I.

Yes, because there is nothing survival about post apocalyptic world. *facepalm*

Me too, but there is very little change that beth's will do that, as always they will just make moders do it for them.

Bethesda has to ride a fine line between horror elements and enough elements that relate to the mainstream. It's been said before in this thread, it's not a survival horror game, bu there should be, and there are, elements of this in the game. Bethesda also adds kind of a satirical dry humor to the game to spice it up and lighten it up so it's really a mixture of a lot of polar opposite elements constantly tugging at each other that really defines fallout as a franchise.

Take the intro to Fallout 1 for example, the US soldiers executed a Canadian rebel and waved at the camera. It evoked disgust and humor at the same time.

If you really want to add a little more horror to the game. Smoke a bowl and really try to imagine that you are the protagonist it's hella fun and immersive

NOPE! I have zero interest in the boring scares that come from traditional horror. Emotionally tense? Absolutely. But straight up horror has no place in the Fallout universe. It should always first and foremost remain a science fiction epic, with all the boundaries that genre implies. Don't misunderstand me; I love the "ohhhhh [censored]" tension that comes from exploring, say, that vault in New Vegas where they were forced to sacrifice the Overseer every year. Slowly putting the pieces of that place together then actually seeing the sacrificial chamber was excellence. That's the kind of emotional tension I want. If that's your definition of horror, great. If you're more into sawblades and on screen torture and copious amounts of blood spraying everywhere, go find some other game to ruin.

TL:DR, I want to play the equivalent of Nightcrawler (INCREDIBLY good movie if you haven't seen it), not the equivalent of Saw 5.

Eh, "survival horror" as a genre, isn't really the same as regular survival-style games.

Maybe when you go to visit a certain "escort" and have her play with your umm.... Pipboy 'wink' 'wink' only for her to knock you out, then you wake up chained to a wall 50 shades style, naked and alone then you fight your way through a legion of dominatrices armed with only what you assume is a fly swatter, to recover all your loot and finally get to third base, then there's a big climix 'wink' 'wink' where you must destroy the ultimate masochists pet...... Dun dun duuuuun.... A deathclaw cosplaying as a dark souls boss. You're welcome.

Scary as in eery atmosphere? Yes. Scary as in jump scares? Pass.

I feel like thematically, Fallout is about contrasts. You have this idealized Pre-War society versus the grim realities of the Wasteland. You've got humor and colorful characters mixed with darker themes and tough choices, etc.

So I appreciate when some levels and quests go in a more horror-based direction. I know that stalking around in a ruin listening to feral ghouls skitter about still creeps me out, for example. I don't think it needs to be the main focus of the game (and I don't think anyone is calling for that, of course,) but in the past I think it's added a nice bit of flavor when things do take a turn towards the eerie.

There are some pretty creepy elements in Fallout, after all. I think maybe not every Raider clan needs to decorate their base with corpses, but I sure did find it unsettling to explore those areas. And there's plenty of other scarier creatures and villains in the game.

No its about survival

Well I'm a pretty cool gal who doesn't afraid of anything, but places and events intended to be scary are usually interesting so I wouldn't mind more of them.

Recettear is survival, Fallout is survival horror, period. All post apocalyptic movies had horror part, because that is essential for such world setting.

....uh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_horror is games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Amnesia.... Fallout is not remotely a survival horror game.

edit: And Recettear?!?!? That item shop/business sim? A survival game? Whaaaaa?

Why? I realy try to understand the logic behind such statements, but it seems like there is none.

The level of horror is already good. You need contrast for some of the horror in this game.

Perhaps if it were within a proper setting for it. Side quest, or out of the way location in the sticks, for instance.
But at large, I get more of an apocalyptic punker vibe from the series, than a survival horror. I wouldn't want it to be used ham fistedly.

"Survival Horror" is a specific subgenre of video games. Fallout does not belong to the genre, it's a different style of game.

It's also not much of a general Survival game (which, again, is different than Survival Horror), either. Just because it's got a plot of "you're a wandering vault dweller/tribal/etc, trying to survive in a post-apoc wasteland", doesn't mean there's actually much "survival" gameplay, even playing in FO:NV's hardcoe mode. Shelter, The Long Dark, Stranded Deep..... )

"There's enemies that can kill you. Find better gear, level up" does not make your game a Survival game.

You know, it still dosn't make any sense. You basically say: "it is not because i want it so", that is not how you support your arguments. Basically, i think there is only survival-horror genre, because survival alone could be applied to almost any game, because almost any game is about surviving.

So knowing that, it is only needed to determine whatever fallout is an horror game or not.

Lets see, you call resident evil horror, but fallout also got feral ghouls and fter all you still trying to not getting eaten by zombies, so, if resident evil is horror then fallout is a horror too.
Also post apacaliptic world is where you see the horrors of an atom war, that is in its whole definition, and i have thausends post apocalyptic movies to proof it.

Fallout > atom war > horror, those are unseporatable things. So, those people that try to make a walk in a park out of it, claiming that it should be like a duck hunt with a huge shoping mall for guns and ammo, just don't know what the hell they are talking about. To all those people i would recommend to go watch ANY of post apacaliptic movies, before you make a fool of yourself.

I want the game to be a littler darker and scarier too. I'm worried about Fallout 4 in respect to this; the new art style and tone of the gameplay suggest it's going to be a more explosive, lighter take on the apocalypse D:

Having said that, it could just be that they've shown the brighter, more appealing aspects of the game to the public so far.

No. Fallout is perhaps about the aftermath of a nuclear war, but the strong presence of humour is of outmost importance!