Horror games are arguably one of the best and most innovative genres in video games. They help us in bringing out mans oldest emotion - fear. These games have evolved greatly since the original horror games of the 1980’s. They have always mixed with the idea of scaring us through different mediums. One of these mediums (And often the most popular) involve invoking the idea of surviving into horror making us the player know that we are the ones whom have the higher chance of dying and not the other way. An example of this would be in the very popular game series Resident Evil where the protagonist is left alone to fight hordes of zombie like enemies who are resurrecting often (But we’ll get to this later). Survival horror games are arguably the one game genre that has evolved more than any other genre with their titles always trying new ways to bring us, the player to elicit the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from just playing them. They often feature moments that startle the player through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres. Horrors also frequently overlap with the mystery genre. Survival horror is simply my favourite genre for so many reasons. This thread will outline the major development the genre has made from the 80’s to today & what we generally expect to see in Horror games.
Origins
The origins of the survival horror game can be traced back to earlier horror fiction. Archetypes have been linked to the works of legendary works of Weird Science writer H. P. Lovecraft, which include investigative narratives, or journeys through the depths. Often there’s been comparisons made between Lovecraft's Cthulhoid Old Ones and the boss encounters seen in many survival horror games which if you’ve read any of his works then you might just notice(Though it’s easy to miss). Survival Horror’s inspiration stems mainly from Western and Asian traditions but following two very different paths with Western traditions favouring action orientated survival horror(Examples include Condemned, F.E.A.R & Bioshock) while the Asian traditions usually favour Psychological horror(Examples include the Penumbra series, Amnesia: The Dark Descent & Clock Tower). Some of today’s most common elements of survival horror stem from the 1982 Atari 2600 game Haunted House which, instead of facing your enemies head-on emphasized future tactics in survival horror. One of the first real believed horror games was The Lurking Horror .
Not only did this game completely immerse the player into the story and atmosphere it presented but it also gave a wide selection of choices. For instance, there’s a point in this where you see a monster locked in a cage and you can literally do anything to the monster(Except for that) like type “lick” and the command is followed through naturally. Horror games had little notoriety at this stage but they were just about to reach their zenith when the 1990’s came around.
The Emergence of Survival Horror
Towards the end of the 80’s there was the release of a breakthrough game in the horror genre. The game often considered the first true survival horror game, due to having the most influence on seminal survival horror game Resident Evil, was the 1989 release Sweet Home. Though it was an RPG, it focused a large part of the game on puzzle solving and using what limited inventory is available to the party. Another key part of this game’s legacy was that death was permanent & didn’t just lead to a game over screen. In 1992, Alone In The Dark was released. To this day Alone In The Dark is seen as one of the main games of the survival horror genre. The general setup is what we see nowadays in survival horror: A lone protagonist possibly stuck in an abandoned place(Usually a mansion, school, etc.) alone fighting off hordes of monsters and sometimes having to use intellect to get around the impossible to kill ones. It also introduced us to the good but quite irritating system of reading books and diary entries to get info on the location of keys, items, codes, etc although it‘s best potential would be applied later. Another start up game in a popular game series was when Clock Tower: The First Fear was released in 1995. It was a different game for it’s time that incorporated stealth and hiding spots as the protagonist is constantly being stalked by Scissormen who will kill her instantly. By this stage both methods were getting notoriety and each had a distinct fan base. However Clock Tower’s method of de-emphasized combat had not reached it’s pinnacle until fairly recently(Which we’ll get to later).
Two games would be made later in the 90’s that would redefine the genre and make it appeals to a general audience much bigger and making the games themselves much better. These two games were Resident Evil released in 1996 & Silent Hill released in 1999. Aside from the hilariously bad voice acting, RE introduced the player to a much more varied and interesting story than that of former games with playing through the story with several unique characters with several different point of views being put across. Silent Hill, like Resident Evil, introduced us to a complex and dark story with alternate dimensions and monsters to be faced. To mitigate limitations of the hardware, developers applied fog and darkness to muddle the graphics. Unlike earlier survival horror games that focused on characters that had a past with combat training(Such as being a cop, detective, soldier), the player character of Silent Hill is portrayed as an "Everyman". This isn't just a title as early in the game when using firearms Harry’s hands will shake. This helped to further immerse the player in Silent Hill. Horror had reached huge popularity for what progress had been made in the 90’s. Survival Horror would generally remain in this spot until 2004 with each of the mentioned titles getting several sequels(Clock Tower would get 3 more titles, Silent Hill is currently on it’s 9th & Resident Evil is currently on it’s 7000th title).
A Move towards action orientated Horror games
In 2004 Capcom released Resident Evil 4. This was a big change for the series which took a turn towards more action orientated with the horror still being there somewhat(Dr. Salvador, The big fish, the scary as hell Regenerators & Ashley‘s level). The game was fun and still very enthralling but it would not work out in the long run. Resident Evil 5 would be a huge disappointment in the eyes of some hardcore fans(Including myself) with the feeling that there was no horror left whatsoever & that it was just a dumbed down mess with a story that a lot less interest when compared to previous games with a Co-Op system that simply did not work if playing alone(The computer would use a pistol non-stop until they ran out of ammo). Basically at this stage RE had pissed off it’s fans by demolishing the genre conventions that it had established and not for the better. Horror games became more multiplayer friendly with the most obvious example of this being Valve’s Left 4 Dead. This was a fun game and it’s a blast to play online but it only satisfied the “survival” part of it’s genre. The F.E.A.R series also debuted around this period. This FPS was fun with it’s psychological elements being good for a scare & some damn fine environments although it had a story that with each sequel got a bit more rage inducing. Survival horror ’s basic premise was seemingly forgotten. A few games from 2005-2010 that held any relation to the original premise usually fell under the radar e.g The Penumbra series, & Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. One of the only ones to really stand out was Dead Space. It was reminiscent of old games following the abandoned area, lonely protagonist with limited ammo yet tons of enemies. It’s sequel provided a huge improvement with character and psychological horror being mixed in. Horror would soon turn around and go beyond it’s original conventions.
The Emergence of Survival Horror(Again…..)
Horror gaming has seemingly been taken aback to where it once was and evolved from there(As it should’ve). This can probably be attributed to the release of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. This a game that Penumbra was originally a demo for and pushed the Call of Cthulhu insanity system that one step further. The game set the player into an old mansion filled with monsters, an environment that could go from empty to occupied in under a minute, provided tons of time wasting puzzles and a good, compelling story. Not only did this provide hilarious YouTube response videos but also made gamers realise what was missing. Weapons not being an option is something truly challenging these days for gamers since games are usually watered down for today’s audience who don’t like a challenge.
The mental horror helped to affect us more deeply. One prominent example of this is the SCP games. For those who aren’t aware, The SCP Foundation is a CreepyPasta website which also dispenses some small size, short games. These games create terrifyingly dark atmosphere’s where you often made to travel through a constant like a dark staircase or hall. With how much further you get, the atmosphere of the game gets scarier. The kicker is that there is NO monster or spirit. It’s just smoke and mirrors used to their best ability(Or at least I assume, I’ve gotten to such a point in the game that I’m too terrified playing to play further). Horror gaming looks to be getting better with the expected releases of 2012. Capcom seem to be back on the right track with the RE series taking their original formula, their multiplayer formula and a new possible stealth/melee mode all for their story which seems to please all fans. Silent Hill seems to have also moved back to it’s original format(Though I found no issues personally with the game and enjoyed it). PS3 and Xbox users seem to be getting their own form of Amnesia with the release of Asylum hopefully this year. Lucius is an upcoming game where you play as the AntiChrist killing people. All this tied up with the metaphorical bow of Frictional games(Amnesia and Penumbra developers) announcing a new Amnesia title makes 2012 and horror look like a good combo.
Origins
The origins of the survival horror game can be traced back to earlier horror fiction. Archetypes have been linked to the works of legendary works of Weird Science writer H. P. Lovecraft, which include investigative narratives, or journeys through the depths. Often there’s been comparisons made between Lovecraft's Cthulhoid Old Ones and the boss encounters seen in many survival horror games which if you’ve read any of his works then you might just notice(Though it’s easy to miss). Survival Horror’s inspiration stems mainly from Western and Asian traditions but following two very different paths with Western traditions favouring action orientated survival horror(Examples include Condemned, F.E.A.R & Bioshock) while the Asian traditions usually favour Psychological horror(Examples include the Penumbra series, Amnesia: The Dark Descent & Clock Tower). Some of today’s most common elements of survival horror stem from the 1982 Atari 2600 game Haunted House which, instead of facing your enemies head-on emphasized future tactics in survival horror. One of the first real believed horror games was The Lurking Horror .
Not only did this game completely immerse the player into the story and atmosphere it presented but it also gave a wide selection of choices. For instance, there’s a point in this where you see a monster locked in a cage and you can literally do anything to the monster(Except for that) like type “lick” and the command is followed through naturally. Horror games had little notoriety at this stage but they were just about to reach their zenith when the 1990’s came around.
The Emergence of Survival Horror
Towards the end of the 80’s there was the release of a breakthrough game in the horror genre. The game often considered the first true survival horror game, due to having the most influence on seminal survival horror game Resident Evil, was the 1989 release Sweet Home. Though it was an RPG, it focused a large part of the game on puzzle solving and using what limited inventory is available to the party. Another key part of this game’s legacy was that death was permanent & didn’t just lead to a game over screen. In 1992, Alone In The Dark was released. To this day Alone In The Dark is seen as one of the main games of the survival horror genre. The general setup is what we see nowadays in survival horror: A lone protagonist possibly stuck in an abandoned place(Usually a mansion, school, etc.) alone fighting off hordes of monsters and sometimes having to use intellect to get around the impossible to kill ones. It also introduced us to the good but quite irritating system of reading books and diary entries to get info on the location of keys, items, codes, etc although it‘s best potential would be applied later. Another start up game in a popular game series was when Clock Tower: The First Fear was released in 1995. It was a different game for it’s time that incorporated stealth and hiding spots as the protagonist is constantly being stalked by Scissormen who will kill her instantly. By this stage both methods were getting notoriety and each had a distinct fan base. However Clock Tower’s method of de-emphasized combat had not reached it’s pinnacle until fairly recently(Which we’ll get to later).
Two games would be made later in the 90’s that would redefine the genre and make it appeals to a general audience much bigger and making the games themselves much better. These two games were Resident Evil released in 1996 & Silent Hill released in 1999. Aside from the hilariously bad voice acting, RE introduced the player to a much more varied and interesting story than that of former games with playing through the story with several unique characters with several different point of views being put across. Silent Hill, like Resident Evil, introduced us to a complex and dark story with alternate dimensions and monsters to be faced. To mitigate limitations of the hardware, developers applied fog and darkness to muddle the graphics. Unlike earlier survival horror games that focused on characters that had a past with combat training(Such as being a cop, detective, soldier), the player character of Silent Hill is portrayed as an "Everyman". This isn't just a title as early in the game when using firearms Harry’s hands will shake. This helped to further immerse the player in Silent Hill. Horror had reached huge popularity for what progress had been made in the 90’s. Survival Horror would generally remain in this spot until 2004 with each of the mentioned titles getting several sequels(Clock Tower would get 3 more titles, Silent Hill is currently on it’s 9th & Resident Evil is currently on it’s 7000th title).
A Move towards action orientated Horror games
In 2004 Capcom released Resident Evil 4. This was a big change for the series which took a turn towards more action orientated with the horror still being there somewhat(Dr. Salvador, The big fish, the scary as hell Regenerators & Ashley‘s level). The game was fun and still very enthralling but it would not work out in the long run. Resident Evil 5 would be a huge disappointment in the eyes of some hardcore fans(Including myself) with the feeling that there was no horror left whatsoever & that it was just a dumbed down mess with a story that a lot less interest when compared to previous games with a Co-Op system that simply did not work if playing alone(The computer would use a pistol non-stop until they ran out of ammo). Basically at this stage RE had pissed off it’s fans by demolishing the genre conventions that it had established and not for the better. Horror games became more multiplayer friendly with the most obvious example of this being Valve’s Left 4 Dead. This was a fun game and it’s a blast to play online but it only satisfied the “survival” part of it’s genre. The F.E.A.R series also debuted around this period. This FPS was fun with it’s psychological elements being good for a scare & some damn fine environments although it had a story that with each sequel got a bit more rage inducing. Survival horror ’s basic premise was seemingly forgotten. A few games from 2005-2010 that held any relation to the original premise usually fell under the radar e.g The Penumbra series, & Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. One of the only ones to really stand out was Dead Space. It was reminiscent of old games following the abandoned area, lonely protagonist with limited ammo yet tons of enemies. It’s sequel provided a huge improvement with character and psychological horror being mixed in. Horror would soon turn around and go beyond it’s original conventions.
The Emergence of Survival Horror(Again…..)
Horror gaming has seemingly been taken aback to where it once was and evolved from there(As it should’ve). This can probably be attributed to the release of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. This a game that Penumbra was originally a demo for and pushed the Call of Cthulhu insanity system that one step further. The game set the player into an old mansion filled with monsters, an environment that could go from empty to occupied in under a minute, provided tons of time wasting puzzles and a good, compelling story. Not only did this provide hilarious YouTube response videos but also made gamers realise what was missing. Weapons not being an option is something truly challenging these days for gamers since games are usually watered down for today’s audience who don’t like a challenge.
The mental horror helped to affect us more deeply. One prominent example of this is the SCP games. For those who aren’t aware, The SCP Foundation is a CreepyPasta website which also dispenses some small size, short games. These games create terrifyingly dark atmosphere’s where you often made to travel through a constant like a dark staircase or hall. With how much further you get, the atmosphere of the game gets scarier. The kicker is that there is NO monster or spirit. It’s just smoke and mirrors used to their best ability(Or at least I assume, I’ve gotten to such a point in the game that I’m too terrified playing to play further). Horror gaming looks to be getting better with the expected releases of 2012. Capcom seem to be back on the right track with the RE series taking their original formula, their multiplayer formula and a new possible stealth/melee mode all for their story which seems to please all fans. Silent Hill seems to have also moved back to it’s original format(Though I found no issues personally with the game and enjoyed it). PS3 and Xbox users seem to be getting their own form of Amnesia with the release of Asylum hopefully this year. Lucius is an upcoming game where you play as the AntiChrist killing people. All this tied up with the metaphorical bow of Frictional games(Amnesia and Penumbra developers) announcing a new Amnesia title makes 2012 and horror look like a good combo.