Do you think survival horror has went downhill?

[Guest]

As someone who has played RE for many years and loads of similar clones of it, I have to say that the genre just isn't the same anymore. I don't get that same satisfaction from playing newer horror games and honestly, I hardly play RE anymore. Same with the Silent Hill series.

The problem is that things change, plain and simply so. It just ain't how it was a long time ago, when horror games were more atmospheric and there was always a certain charm to the characters, and games like Clock Tower were a great alternative to the usual gun based games. A lot of games were innovative in their own way. Now every game out there just copies RE4 and so the genre has lost much of its appeal.

So, anyone agree?

[yurieu]

i think SH left the main companies and now its a cult genre on indie companies.

resident evil and silent hill sucks these days.

but i still find little pieces of SH on some games. Metro 2033 and Alien Vs Predator show best.

not to mention Alan Wake, the new Lucius, Amnesia(i dont like it), the incoming "Outlast"...

and dont believe producers lies... they can make survival horror, they just dont want to.

[randomwab]

Survival Horror, to me, has followed the same curve as the Adventure Game genre. They were both very popular for a time, but eventually there popularity began to fade. Many tried to bring in different ideas and styles to the genre to freshen it up, to various levels of success. Eventually, the most successful aspects of the genre were absorbed by other types of games, leaving the core titles from the genre seemingly niche.

[Dracarys]

Not so much the genre went downhill but that it cannot cope with better technology.

A lot of old survival horror games relied on limitations of the hardware at the time, as the hardware improved it has become hard for the genre to adapt without abandoning the hardware limitations it relied on.

Is also the same problem horror movies have, watch enough of them and they all end up predictable. Plus when you're older it becomes much harder to scare, though personally being 13 when RE1 originally released I never found any survival horror game scary.

For a game to be an effective survival horror nowdays it needs be a different type of horror, but whenever this is done the supposed 'fans' cry abandonment.

[[STARS]TyranT]

I think DayZ is a great example of survival horror, as is Amnesia - The Dark Descent.

A special mention also goes out to Slender. But all these products have something in common, either an indie developer with next to no budget, or a mod from similar indie developers.

[alexdz]

either an indie developer with next to no budget, or a mod from similar indie developers.

And neither are scary, aside from Amnesia.

[Pikminister]

I was just as myopic as most Survival Horror fans and kept trying to find that in Resident Evil (or worse, in SH which IMO is a psychological horror game like Eternal Darkness) or in some PC games that are more into cheap scares than actual Survival (Slender man anyone?).

But, guess what? Survival Horror is quite alive right now. Just not in our consoles of choice.

ZombiU.

I wasn't sold on the Wii U but after what my 2 cousins told me about that game and after reading reviews such as this one and especially after watching the video below, I have no doubt that if Survival Horror is what anyone wants, then they need to get that game. Because its all about survival, baby. Its not about some metrosexual characters on steroids or anything that will inspire tons of fanfiction or YAOI. Nah. The protagonists in ZombiU are just regular boring people trying to SURVIVE.

Watch this video (forget PewDiePie, this other guy did it right). Now the video is quite long but you need to watch it in its entirety without skipping any parts to understand why ZombiU is just what the doctor ordered in terms of Survival AND horror.

I saw that video last night and I'm sold! I'm getting a Wii U now. For just that game. And no I'm not loaded or rich. But I hope that you guys understand that I've been starving for survival horror for fucking years now. And that's my excuse for getting a new console for just one game (its the same excuse I used to get a 3DS).

EDIT: I don't regret buying a 3DS, btw. Revelations was worth it. Plus the other games I got for it. I just hope this works as well on Wii U.

[News Bot]

I think there's just a lack of decent creative minds with an actual focus on horror, unlike movies. The horror genre just isn't as big in video games as it is in movies. Then you have to factor in marketing cunts who want to focus test everything into a diluted puddle and the fact that quite a sizable amount of gamers don't want to be scared or don't appreciate horror and would rather gun down an army.

[OKeijiDragon]

I think there's just a lack of decent creative minds with an actual focus on horror, unlike movies. The horror genre just isn't as big in video games as it is in movies. Then you have to factor in marketing cunts who want to focus test everything into a diluted puddle and the fact that quite a sizable amount of gamers don't want to be scared or don't appreciate horror and would rather gun down an army.

^Post full of wisdom in the world.

[Branden_Lucero]

Nope. because there is such a broad range of what horror can be.

and the fact that, the older we get, the less likely horror will have any affect on us - to me at least. its come to the point where we depend so much on the same ol' b-movie, cliche shit, that by the time we experience it again, we pretty much ask ourselves "why did i want this again?". as soon as horror becomes nostalgic, its becomes pointless to think it can ever be scary again.

[Pikminister]

When it comes to Survival-Horror, the focus should be one the Survival part, not so much on the horror element of it. Since as some have already mentioned here, Horror (or what we find scary in a game) is entirely subjective.

I never found Resident Evil scary aside from some jump scares in RE1 (the dog crashing through the window). Yet I consider them Horror games for the same reasons most consider Dracula (the original movie) a horror film. Most horror games and films out there are not particularly scary, but since they have enough Horror elements in them, they always get branded as such (horror games/films).

Again, its entirely subjective what each of us finds scary. Jump scares affect most of us, for sure. But then that is usually a self-preservation mechanism that we all have and cannot avoid expressing. But to me, that's very different from being in a state of fear during prolonged segments in a game or movie. And it's quite rare to actually feel that way in them.

So I think, that instead of focusing so much on the elusive horror part (as some users are doing here), we should focus all our attention on the SURVIVAL part. Which in the case of RE, has become even more elusive and in some cases, totally absent from the gaming experience. Its just not there. And I think that is what needs fixing more than anything else. Because the survival aspect of the games was what really defined them as scary games for most people.

BTW, Happy New Years everyone!

[Wrathborne]

Survival horror has been abandoned more than anything. It's niche market is small in contrast to the larger shoot everything that moves market and really, you cant argue with the sales from a business perspective :/

[RetroRain]

Not so much the genre went downhill but that it cannot cope with better technology.

A lot of old survival horror games relied on limitations of the hardware at the time, as the hardware improved it has become hard for the genre to adapt without abandoning the hardware limitations it relied on.

No, I don't think it has anything to do with the technology at all. Resident Evil Revelations was half horror and half action, but the horror parts were done well. It's just that these game companies can't get their heads out of their asses and make a decent horror game for shit. It really is sad.

ZombiU.

I wasn't sold on the Wii U but after what my 2 cousins told me about that game and after reading reviews such as this one and especially after watching the video below, I have no doubt that if Survival Horror is what anyone wants, then they need to get that game. Because its all about survival, baby. Its not about some metrosexual characters on steroids or anything that will inspire tons of fanfiction or YAOI. Nah. The protagonists in ZombiU are just regular boring people trying to SURVIVE.

I find it funny that they said they were inspired by the original Resident Evil games, and yet what do they do? They make the game with a first-person view. *sigh* I can't stand this fucking FPS fixation that seems to be what the game industry has been all about over the last 5 years. Enough is enough already. Can't we just get a decent survival horror game that has atmosphere, and realism, and is not a FPS?

[Pikminister]

I find it funny that they said they were inspired by the original Resident Evil games, and yet what do they do? They make the game with a first-person view. *sigh* I can't stand this fucking FPS fixation that seems to be what the game industry has been all about over the last 5 years. Enough is enough already. Can't we just get a decent survival horror game that has atmosphere, and realism, and is not a FPS?

ZombiU is a First Person game but its not really a shooter. Watch the video that I included in that post.

If you watch it, you'll notice that the game is not a typical CoD shooter and playing it like that only brings you closer to the perma-death screen.

I mean the guy playing the game sometimes tries to play ZombiU the same way (as a shooter). And it always backfires on him whenever he does that. That's part of what makes watching his ZombiU videos so funny.

Now something that helps explain why the game is not really designed to be a typical shooter (where you go about blasting everything that moves), is that the characters that you play with in ZombiU are regular civilians with no training whatsoever.

So they always get nervous when having to use firearms. And their aim is terrible as a result. That's why you will see in that video that the player has trouble getting any headshots. Its not because of the controls (as some would suspect) its because each time you use a new character, you have to make him/her learn to use all the weapons. And the more he/she uses them, they begin to gain experience points like in an RPG (you LEVEL UP).

And you find more firearms than actual ammo in the whole game. Which is hilarious and a bit cruel. So even if the game includes guns, finding ammo (and knowing when to use them) is part of the fun/challenge.

In regards to where did the ZombiU devs looked for inspiration from RE, they obviously weren't looking at the static camera angles and old fashion pre-rendered backgrounds. Why would they? When what really branded the early RE games with the Survival Horror experience tag was the lack of ammo, health items and always having to deal with dangerous enemies/traps that could kill you at any moment. It was all those elements coming together in the same game what made it so hard to SURVIVE in them. And what have always defined them as actual survival horror games.

And all of that is included in ZombiU. Including atmosphere (London never looked so creepy) and realism (your character reacts realistically when attacked. Ammo and supplies are scarce. Etc. ).

So regardless of the FP/TP/Isometric view or perspective n that or any other game, I believe that we can actually have a successful Survival Horror game if it includes all of those elements in them.

Anyway, its funny you mention this about the game (that its a shooter). Because one of the reasons ZombiU initially got mixed reactions, was because reviewers expected the game to be a FPS (shooter). The trailers were guilty of making it look that way. And they were disappointed when they found out that they couldn't actually shoot everything in their path in the game. And that it was a survival game.

That was ZombiU's big fat sin, actually. Being a survival game. Which these days, is something that is mostly frowned upon by modern gamers... and also something that most devs want to avoid (otherwise, their games won't sell - see Capcom).

Unfortunately that's part of what prevents Survival-Horror games from being made. A lack of intere$t.

[Dracarys]

No, I don't think it has anything to do with the technology at all. Resident Evil Revelations was half horror and half action, but the horror parts were done well. It's just that these game companies can't get their heads out of their asses and make a decent horror game for shit. It really is sad.

Ignoring the irony of you using the most backwards current gen 'console' out there to list a example game, Revelations isn't really survival horror. You admit it is half action...except the other half isn't survival horror, it is just more action only you get less enemies at once, a slower pace and a different visual environment. Ammo and health is never really limited, you'll never find yourself fighting so much you run out of ammo, puzzles barely qualify as puzzles and mostly the same simple junk over again, you don't really get to explore until nearer the end of the game, by which point is mainly just opening doors with new keys you got for more weapons, ammo and upgrades to blast stuff with.

The Jill sections have a good atmosphere that is well suited to a survival horror game but there are plenty of action games that use the same style of atmosphere. The actual gameplay fails as survival horror.