He draws a line between action horror and survival horror. In the former you always have a gun, whereas in the latter combat isn't necessarily always a good option. Dead Space is a solid example of action horror because Isaac, the game's heavily armored protagonist, spent a large portion of the game firing weapons. Though you can run, usually the way forward is best cleared by killing all the slippery, betentacled monsters that attack. In Amnesia, by contrast, you're constantly on the run, and even the sound of something else creeping in the dark is enough to send you fleeing in the opposite direction.
For Downpour, Gomez is hoping to add in more of the survival element without losing the action part completely. He's acutely aware of how titles in past – specifically early Silent Hill and Resident Evil games – were scary in part because they were so difficult to control. That's not a good thing, in his opinion, and something he'd like to steer clear of for Downpour. By embracing the more intuitive modern control systems he feels a major hurdle to player entertainment is cleared, but that doesn't mean he wants to shed the old-school influences completely.
Fixed and on-rail camera systems will still be used from time to time in Downpour to enhance the mood. For instance, if protagonist Murphy Pendleton's mental state is deteriorating, the camera can shift to a skewed position. In the right situations, having a camera system that incorporates multiple angles is used to show Murphy advancing toward the screen, or is locked over Murphy's head in an elevator, allowing the game to achieve appropriate emotional effects.
To enhance a sense of fear, Murphy also isn't being designed as a total badass on purpose. He's still agile and capable of fighting and fleeing, but he won't be pulling a John Matrix from Commando at any point. Instead of handing him big guns, his arsenal is often improvised. When attacked it's meant to add an extra layer of stress as he's forced to scramble around the environment panicking about what might be effective to use, and when to give up and just run. Gomez assures that there will be situations where escape is the smart choice.
In an interesting twist, Gomez also believes that the future of horror game is in co-operative play, citing Valve's Left 4 Dead franchise as by far the most successful example. Though some may think playing with others, simply by the social nature of it, isn't as scary as solitary experiences, Gomez argues the tension can actually be heightened in a few ways. In a co-operative game when a partner dies, you can see the results of what enemies might eventually do to you, raising your apprehension. And as your friends die, the pressure is intensified as the responsibility of survival weighs more heavily on your actions.
He believes the future is also in alternative control devices, such as Kinect and Move. He gave an example of a horror game where a character would whisper at you to lean closer to the speakers so it could convey a vital piece of information. Does that sound like the game you'd want to play? Or would you rather play alone, in the dark, with traditional control inputs?