Survival Horror

Jimi-Spandex

OK, I'd just like to discuss a genre which seems to constantly get a mixed reaction, i personally like it, i treat it as an update, or continuation of ye olde adventure games with puzzle solving and what not.

combat is imho the only drawback to the genre, engineered by the developers to add a false sense of difficulty to the games, making movement, aiming, dodging and shooting as awkward as possible to make things last longer, this really pesses me off, and is a sign of a copout by developers from adding some real difficulty to the puzzles. I'm not saying get rid of the combat, god no, it adds a nice break from puzzle solving and gives you an opportunity to vent your anger,

Storylines could be improved, also voice acting and scripting, i acknowledge this will come with improving tech. In the case of the first couple of RE games this added to the whole "B-Movie" theme they had but, tbh there is no need for every game to do this.

ok rantage over, I'd just like to hear your opinion on the genre, where its heading, if its heading anywhere, and a favourite. I'd have to go for RE: Code Veronica on dc, blew the pantaloons off of me

bugs

You're limiting the survival horror games to RE, there are lots of 'em , some of which mikami decided to give funky names to, like devil may cry, stylish hunter something or other.
Onimusha , a real gem for survival horror , a great storyline, excellent combat controls and a real sense of atmosphere.
Personally i think its time they killed resident evil because its getting a bit stupid and nothing really ever changes but the gfx and the levels, the controls get tweaked and you get quick turns and what not.

It has actually become a really good and wide genre, its nice to see something new.

RopeDrink

Always prefered Resident Evil 1 to the rest, and I also prefered RE3 to number2, even though it retained only a very small portion of the scare factor (That small portion being brough on by the Nemisis himself)

I haven't played Veronica, or that Light-Gun based Resident Evil, but I think the Resident Evil Half Life Mod would be a very nice touch indeed...

Silent Hill was excellent, played it many a time... The very start contained something so scary, it begged you to play on, but after that it mainly emphasised on tension rather than scares... Still, an excellent game to play, and the music was something else, as was the music in the RE series.

Something else that had me excreting brown substances into my pants was the Amiga's Version of Space Hulk... It knocked the socks off the PSX Version / PC Version, and really had blood pumping out of your ears.

Clive Barker's Undying wasn't half bad... It lost all scare factor after the first chapter but was worth playing to the end, despite the semi-rank ending.

Anyone remember some of the class scary games on the Amiga!?

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[VAR]-RopeDrink***** was killed by IOL NoLimits with Headshot from Disconnect

orangerooster

The second i seen that bugs had badmouthed re i knew criminally would post something on it sure silent hill is good and the videos iv seen of sh2 make me want ot get it the second it arrives cause it seems genuiley scarey so another 50 squid taken care of lifes great eh?

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dont open ... that door- resident evil 1

bugs

My opinion, i think that RE has gone too far (as does its creator mikami who has said in more than one interview that hes sorry that its gone on this long..... capcom's fault)

Hes gone on to do better things , just let umbrella get taken down , its about time loike.

DrunkLeprachaun

How broad do you want to take the 'survival horror' genre? Do you count games like System Shock or Undying?
SS2 is the scariest(read nly scary) game I've played, much more so than RE or Shadowman or Alone in the Dark.

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If there's one thing I hate, it's people.

Jimi-Spandex

I personally wouldn't consider SS2 as survival horror, as it is much much more than that, its more of a "Horror-RPG-FPS-Action adventure" but to define it would be wrong, scariest game ever, but not survival horror. I've only played the demo of undying, but it seemed pretty good, no real emphasis on puzzle solving so thats the main reason its not imo, but then i haven't played the full version so correct me if you will.

I wasn't really limiting the genre to re, just using it as it is probably the best known out there, I just spent the last week catching up on survival horror with Silent Hill and AITD4 two ends of the survival horror spectrum. Silent Hill was absolutely brilliant, excelent pace, great story-the way it makes the player want to find out what the hell is happening, really care about it, due to the fact that it affects you. AITD4 was well, lets just say its not as good.

orangerooster

Oh jesus that game makes me **** bricks but sh2 looks scary but itll have to go a long way to beet the terror and true horror of ss2 and no it isnt a survival horror game as such its what jimi said

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dont open ... that door- resident evil 1

swiss

RE was really the impetus for the modern Survival Horror genre. It was polished and atmospheric, with a strong story line. Above anything else it was actually scary in places. Anyone remember when those dogs burst out of the window behind you when you're walking down one of the wings of the mansion? Or your first contact with the snake? Or when those 'attackers' greet you when you re-enter the mansion after visiting the guardhouse? Some of the puzzles were quite clever too, such as pressing the buttons underneath the pictures in a certain order (in order of ascending age) to get a crest.

Combat was never really going to be the forté of survival horror titles. That is the preserve of gung-ho action titles like Half-Life (okay, bad example coz half-life is gaming heaven and calling it simply that is an injustice). What most Survival Horror titles concentrate on is atmosphere, with short bursts of action to keep the pulse up, and keep you wondering if/when the next assault is going to come.

The trouble is many horror titles actually fail to recreate that same atmosphere of tension, where death could quite literally lurk around every corner. RE2, despite having much improved graphics and a few nice touches (lickers, playing as Ada and Sherry, 2nd scenario's) never really matched the atmosphere of the original. The scenario with Hulk did do that to an extent, but that was because it was dámn hard. (Did anyone manage to reach the roof with him. I did )

After Dino Crisis and RE3, which again have nice touches, but never really live up to the 'horror' in survival horror, I'm going to consider carefully before making another foray into the genre. I'm thinking about getting Silent Hill next? In the context of survival horror, is that any good?

Conorisco

Well i just plain hate them all

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"I can't speak for command, but I'm gonna clean the place out" - Jc Denton, Deus EX

CriminallyInsane

I think you're all forgetting about one of the best Survival Horror games out there - Silent Hill. It's an odd coincidence that I recently started playing thee game again. Sure, I MUCH prefer Resident Evil, but Silent Hill is a refreshing change. For one, it's MUCH scarier atmosphere-wise than Resident Evil. It's also about two and a half times longer and its also more difficult, both in gameplay and in the puzzle aspect. Its only drawback is it's insanely over-comploicated and hard to understand plot. Overall, the game is brilliant and Swiss, you won't be disappointed if you get it. Personally, I can't wait for Silent Hill 2 to come out for the PS2, I'd get it in a second.


As for the Resident Evil series - BEST GAMES EVER. I own all five resident evil titles and my favourite is Resident Evil 2. I can't wait for the next one to come out, just like I couldn't wait for 2, 3 and Code Veronica to come out.

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How Do You Prove You Exist? What If We Don't Exist? - Vivi Ornitier, Final Fantasy IX

CriminallyInsane

Conor, why do you always have to do this. You've told me MANY times before that you hate survival horror games - I GET it. You don't have to ****e al over my beliefs again and again and again.

P.S. I'd love to be able to do that deadly thing that Alexia Type 1 from CV does where she kinda throws blood on you with her hand and then it catches fire - Soooooo Cool.

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How Do You Prove You Exist? What If We Don't Exist? - Vivi Ornitier, Final Fantasy IX

orangerooster

Whati've seen of sh2 is very disrubing.A step in the right direction.

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dont open ... that door- resident evil 1

RasTa

i've had tham all apart from the light-gun based game and i ahve to say re:code veronica for the dc is the best
i betcha it wont look any better on the ps2 either

Kenjd

Personally i love the genre. I thought the RE games were great when they came out. Played Silent Hill as well (a couple of times!) and thought it was very good. I prefered Silent Hill. Well, I prefere Satan stuff to gore + zombies etc. If ye know what I mean! When you walk into a room full of pentagrams and weird sounds there is nothing scarier! SH sent a few shivers up the ol' spine!