When asked which survival horror games are the greatest, most gamers will list Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dead Space, Alan Wake, and Amnesia Dark Descent. The thing about that list though, is all those games are vastly different. They?re all great games, but this article is to point out what they do well, and how they could do better.
See, the thing about Silent Hill?ish games, is that they are designed to be scary?Years ago. The franchise used to work so well, mostly because of the technical limitations the developers [img_inline align="left" width="250"]http://thereviewcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/silenthill1-300x225.png[/img_inline]had at the time. For example, the controls and main character were slow, and almost constricted. It wasn?t exactly Gears of War level of responsiveness, and certainly wasn?t designed for gunplay. There was also much less gore than what you would find in a modern horror like Dead Space.
What made Silent Hill truly great, was the pacing and the ambiance. The player would go through long moments of ?dead time?, or slow paced, eventless periods between scares. What I like to call 'what if' moments would begin popping up in the players mind, until he reached the peak of the dead time. He would start thinking "Oh shit, it?s a monst- Oh, it?s a tree. That fog tricked me!". The developers managed to use 'dead time' near perfectly to their advantage. The sound design was also excellent, with it?s unforgettably chilling music and sound effects.
A lot of horror developers need to look back on Silent Hill, and figure out how to replicate it?s pacing, and use of ?what if? moments. The game Alan Wake attempted to bring them back from the coma has been in for all these years, and managed to do better than many other ?big? games in the past few years. The first half of the game managed to manipulate our ?fight or flight response?, an instinct that makes us decide whether we should face a challenge..Or run away.
In the good half of Alan Wake, we were forced to make split-second decisions when the baddies appeared. We could either risk running to a safe haven ? anywhere with light, or risk fighting. The thing that made these moments so great, was the RISK. Neither option was guaranteed to succeeed, and either could get us killed. In between those attacks, there were dead moments. I clearly remember thinking I was about to be attacked by monsters, several times, only to have the threat end up being my imagination deceiving me.
Unfortunately, as Alan Wake went on, both of those moments began to disappear. Eventually we were told "Alright, kill this many monsters and we?ll let you pass through this gate." It had turned into a third-person, linear shooter with some creepy cutscenes. I was.. Annoyed, to say the least, that I was robbed of such a potentially brilliant game.
[img_inline width="250" align="right"]http://thereviewcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/deadspace-300x168.jpg[/img_inline]
The Dead Space games also tried bringing back some features from the good old days, but did the opposite of Alan Wake. Instead, Dead Space toyed with the lighting, controls, and ambiance to obstruct the player from feeling too powerful, and even make them feel vulnerable. There would often be flashing lights where we couldn?t see anything other than a moving shadow or blur, until it was almost too late. We were forced to react quickly, or die. This also brought an adrenaline rush, but wasn?t quite scary. More overstimulating than anything.
Amnesia Dark Descent is the exception to the rule that true survival horror is dying. It fits the genre?s definition perfectly. The player has no weapons, no clue what?s going on, and most importantly, must survive. He does this by solving puzzles and moving forward.. He must ration his inventory of medicine, and make sure he always has a lantern with some oil, or else he will go insane. In Amnesia, you don't have the luxury of fight or flight. It?s a different reaction when one is defenseless and fragile. He must think logically, and be resourceful. And that?s what makes Amnesia so memorably terrifying, and a good puzzle adventure at the same time.
So what has become of survival horror? Well, I say we change the name to of the genre to "linear horror." This is because games like FEAR, Alan Wake, Dead Space and Resident Evil ? The biggest 'horror' games of now'ish, are completely scripted shocks, with a linear goal, and you have to play the game exactly as it wants you to.
See, the thing about Silent Hill?ish games, is that they are designed to be scary?Years ago. The franchise used to work so well, mostly because of the technical limitations the developers [img_inline align="left" width="250"]http://thereviewcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/silenthill1-300x225.png[/img_inline]had at the time. For example, the controls and main character were slow, and almost constricted. It wasn?t exactly Gears of War level of responsiveness, and certainly wasn?t designed for gunplay. There was also much less gore than what you would find in a modern horror like Dead Space.
What made Silent Hill truly great, was the pacing and the ambiance. The player would go through long moments of ?dead time?, or slow paced, eventless periods between scares. What I like to call 'what if' moments would begin popping up in the players mind, until he reached the peak of the dead time. He would start thinking "Oh shit, it?s a monst- Oh, it?s a tree. That fog tricked me!". The developers managed to use 'dead time' near perfectly to their advantage. The sound design was also excellent, with it?s unforgettably chilling music and sound effects.
A lot of horror developers need to look back on Silent Hill, and figure out how to replicate it?s pacing, and use of ?what if? moments. The game Alan Wake attempted to bring them back from the coma has been in for all these years, and managed to do better than many other ?big? games in the past few years. The first half of the game managed to manipulate our ?fight or flight response?, an instinct that makes us decide whether we should face a challenge..Or run away.
In the good half of Alan Wake, we were forced to make split-second decisions when the baddies appeared. We could either risk running to a safe haven ? anywhere with light, or risk fighting. The thing that made these moments so great, was the RISK. Neither option was guaranteed to succeeed, and either could get us killed. In between those attacks, there were dead moments. I clearly remember thinking I was about to be attacked by monsters, several times, only to have the threat end up being my imagination deceiving me.
Unfortunately, as Alan Wake went on, both of those moments began to disappear. Eventually we were told "Alright, kill this many monsters and we?ll let you pass through this gate." It had turned into a third-person, linear shooter with some creepy cutscenes. I was.. Annoyed, to say the least, that I was robbed of such a potentially brilliant game.
[img_inline width="250" align="right"]http://thereviewcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/deadspace-300x168.jpg[/img_inline]
The Dead Space games also tried bringing back some features from the good old days, but did the opposite of Alan Wake. Instead, Dead Space toyed with the lighting, controls, and ambiance to obstruct the player from feeling too powerful, and even make them feel vulnerable. There would often be flashing lights where we couldn?t see anything other than a moving shadow or blur, until it was almost too late. We were forced to react quickly, or die. This also brought an adrenaline rush, but wasn?t quite scary. More overstimulating than anything.
Amnesia Dark Descent is the exception to the rule that true survival horror is dying. It fits the genre?s definition perfectly. The player has no weapons, no clue what?s going on, and most importantly, must survive. He does this by solving puzzles and moving forward.. He must ration his inventory of medicine, and make sure he always has a lantern with some oil, or else he will go insane. In Amnesia, you don't have the luxury of fight or flight. It?s a different reaction when one is defenseless and fragile. He must think logically, and be resourceful. And that?s what makes Amnesia so memorably terrifying, and a good puzzle adventure at the same time.
So what has become of survival horror? Well, I say we change the name to of the genre to "linear horror." This is because games like FEAR, Alan Wake, Dead Space and Resident Evil ? The biggest 'horror' games of now'ish, are completely scripted shocks, with a linear goal, and you have to play the game exactly as it wants you to.