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The best of survival horror
- Thread starter seiki
- Start date
Dead Space and Resident Evil 4-6 are Action Horror, not survival horror.
I guess Dead Space gets there on the hardest difficulties, but it's still a stretch imo.
Silent Hill 2 is still king, although there are countless classics.
I guess Dead Space gets there on the hardest difficulties, but it's still a stretch imo.
Silent Hill 2 is still king, although there are countless classics.
I'm surprised there's been no mention of The Last of Us in this thread yet. It's the best survival horror game since REmake IMO.
Alien Isolation takes the top spot for me. No other game made me feel more like i'm prey. Also, seeing other survivors searching the station for supplies with you watching them from the shadows, waiting for the best moment to use them as bait for the alien. True survival horror.
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The primary focus of those games for the player is still to survive. Making them survival horror, sure they have more action but they are still survival horror games.
Just because the action aspect of those games is faster paced and more focused than the other games mentioned, all the elements of survival horror are still in those games.
I wouldn't say there's any elements of it in RE5 personally
RE7 is probably my current favorite, followed by PT. R.I.P Silent Hills. I would piss myself in excitement over a new remake of REmake that was first person like RE7. Imagine how atmospheric it would be to explore the Spencer Mansion in first person with those graphics (or in VR for that matter)? It will never happen though. Hopefully the next RE takes place in a similar gothic/spooky mansion though. The Baker farm house was a cool change of scenery, but doesn't hold a candle to the setting in the original, or a place similarly compelling.
I'd argue it is. You're underpowered (handguns and shotguns vs hordes of enemies including giant axe wielding men), limited combat (can't move and aim and the same time), resource management is required (especially on veteran mode) and the game has puzzles required to solve. The game also has a number of claustrophobic and dark levels. The only thing RE5 is missing out on is the feeling of isolation but that can't be helped being that it's a coop based.
I was referring to the first one as well. It is still primarily a TPS that encourages you to kill everything in your path, with enemies either dropping ammo or money to buy more ammo with. It's not really Survival Horror.
Thank You!
I have big love for:
Resident Evil 1996,2,3,4,rev2
Silent Hill 1,2,3,Downpour
The Evil Within 1&2
Parasite Eve 2
Dino Crisis 1&2
Haunting Ground
Until Dawn
Medium love for:
Rule of Rose
Countdown Vampires
Resident Evil 6
The Fatal Frame series
No love for:
Silent Hill 4, Shattered Memories, Homecoming
Resident Evil 0,5,7
The Siren series
Resident Evil 1996,2,3,4,rev2
Silent Hill 1,2,3,Downpour
The Evil Within 1&2
Parasite Eve 2
Dino Crisis 1&2
Haunting Ground
Until Dawn
Medium love for:
Rule of Rose
Countdown Vampires
Resident Evil 6
The Fatal Frame series
No love for:
Silent Hill 4, Shattered Memories, Homecoming
Resident Evil 0,5,7
The Siren series
One of the things I love about System Shock 2 in stark contrast to typical horror fair is that player constantly hears the enemies in advance, it had 0 jump scares and enemies appear quite regularly, with the player never quite sure of their location. Much like the ending of Invasion Of the Body Snatchers they start screaming out in arm. Couple this with tight rigid corridors where the player borderline hobbles, security systems set off at the drop of the hat and you have a constantly tense experience.
The sound effects for many enemies are screams of pain with some specially asking to be killed, which indicates they are consciously aware of their current state, which works great in tandem with the text/audio/ghosts humanizing them pre-disaster.
100% this.
In what universe people think RE4 its a survival horror surprise me. The game have a bunch of QTE, you kill a npc and drops ammo, herb or even grenade, unlimited save point, npc sell guns, upgrade your guns, refresh your ammunition and sell a STUPID INSTAKILL ROCKET LAUNCHER... Jez folks wake up. This is a bloody shooter.
I absolutely love survival horror it's one of my favorite genres. I would say the absolute best survival horror I've played is Silent Hill 3. A list of my favorites :
Silent Hill 1-4 (favorite being 3)
Condemned Criminal Origins
Kuon
Haunting Ground
Fatal Frame 1-3
I tend to think the better Survival Horror have tank controls, just because the bad scheme tends to add to the stress a bit. Also it allows for the fixed camera angles, that really allow environments to look amazing.
Silent Hill 1-4 (favorite being 3)
Condemned Criminal Origins
Kuon
Haunting Ground
Fatal Frame 1-3
I tend to think the better Survival Horror have tank controls, just because the bad scheme tends to add to the stress a bit. Also it allows for the fixed camera angles, that really allow environments to look amazing.
Resident evil 1 is the Goat; 2 and 3 were great but didn't have that ominous feel that 1 had.
Dead Space 1 & 2 were also great but 1 sits right behind RE1 for...playing that game in the dead of night was something, Even my dog used to bark evey now & then when fighting a necromorph.
Dead Space 1 & 2 were also great but 1 sits right behind RE1 for...playing that game in the dead of night was something, Even my dog used to bark evey now & then when fighting a necromorph.
I still think that the sound design in Condemned is the scariest in any game ever. The way you hear people fighting upstairs or yelling from God knows where is extremely unnerving to me, and the last level where you have to walk around a house in complete darkness with nothing but a UV light to follow a weird trace on the floor is among the most nerve-wrecking things I have ever played. I actually had to put the controller down at some point, just to take a deep breath, because it was getting to much for me to handle. I really hope that Monolith revisits that franchise someday, but I don't have high hopes.
Other than that, I think that P.T. has one of the most unsettling atmospheres I've ever experienced in a game. And that was just a demo! It saddens me to think what Silent Hills could've been, because P.T. managed to do so much with so little and created something that people still try to replicate to this day. But of all the P.T. clones, none have ever even come close for me to what that short little demo has achieved in terms of atmosphere and style. It's a fascinating little game, and a testament to Hideo Kojima's talent.
I love that game (more than most people even, because I rank it as one of my favorite games of all time), I just don't think it's particularly scary.
Other than that, I think that P.T. has one of the most unsettling atmospheres I've ever experienced in a game. And that was just a demo! It saddens me to think what Silent Hills could've been, because P.T. managed to do so much with so little and created something that people still try to replicate to this day. But of all the P.T. clones, none have ever even come close for me to what that short little demo has achieved in terms of atmosphere and style. It's a fascinating little game, and a testament to Hideo Kojima's talent.
I love that game (more than most people even, because I rank it as one of my favorite games of all time), I just don't think it's particularly scary.
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most would say ff2. i, personally, still like the original the best :) ...
For me, nothing beats the third-person survival horror games that were coming out of Japan in the late 90s and early 00s. RE1/REmake-through-RE3 are amazing, with REmake being my favorite horror game ever. I actually prefer the Fatal Frame series next, and then Silent Hill (with Fatal Frame 1 and Silent Hill 2 being my favorites of those series, respectively). I wish this type of game was still being made by somebody...modern horror games just don't scratch that same itch. I want there to be a heavy puzzle aspect in my survival horror games, both in terms of there actually being challenging puzzles as well as the level design and progression feeling like a large-scale puzzle in and of itself. Nowadays, these games make absolutely sure that you know exactly where to go and what to do, with a heavy dose of checkpoints.
Among more recent horror games, I consider Alien Isolation to be exceptional.
Among more recent horror games, I consider Alien Isolation to be exceptional.
The atmosphere, constant sense of WTF is going on, and reading pages of a novel you don't remember writing detailing upcomung horrific things you're about to encounter keep you tense throughout the experience.
I think it does quite the opposite to be honest. It's an interesting narrative idea, sure, but it kind of spoils every scary encounter you might have had. Again, I love that game to pieces and I 100% agree that it can be quite tense at times, but I just never found it scary.
Sure and scary is a very subjective thing. Anticipation of something horrible you just read can be terrifying.
I'd go with Fatal Frame 2 // Project Zero 2.
The first is also worth playing but I found it a bit harder to get into.
Silent hill 2 destroys stalker. Its not even close imo
Superb Choices op.. I will add the usual culprits SH1, SH3, Siren, Alien Isolation, RE7 VR to your list
Well, I guess there is going to be split opinion on that. The focus is survival, resources are constrained, character movement is limited and even the weapons used are mostly engineering equipment. That's survival horror.
Since Pathologic was already mentioned, i'll suggest The Void, by Ice Pick Lodge. Eurogamer review of it was lovely
Well worth a play. The feeling of uncertainty is wonderful, and the brothers extremely imaginative.
and this too, is most excellent. Good thing about it is that the tutorial is more than enough to make it clear if the game will be for you or not, so steam refund works like a charm if a person doesnt like it.
Well worth a play. The feeling of uncertainty is wonderful, and the brothers extremely imaginative.
and this too, is most excellent. Good thing about it is that the tutorial is more than enough to make it clear if the game will be for you or not, so steam refund works like a charm if a person doesnt like it.
I wouldn't put Devil May Cry in the "beat 'em up" genre, so I wouldn't put Dead Space or RE4 in the survival horror genre.
They're mutations on the formula.
But genres aren't hard lines. It's easy to parse through someone's list and find the common denominators and outliers without making a big stink about it.
They're mutations on the formula.
But genres aren't hard lines. It's easy to parse through someone's list and find the common denominators and outliers without making a big stink about it.
Siren 2 is so good - more variety & creativity in missions (like a character who is blind and has to use enemies/dog to get around), not as brutally difficult as the original game, while still having a huge amount of content like the first game. It's a shame it never came to North America (only Asia & Europe) since I think it's the best game in a fantastic series.
Besides the Siren series, I really like the Resident Evil series (REmake + 2-4) and Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (which is buggy & has some weak segments, but when it's good, it's amazing). Also, I really like Parasite Eve 2 which is kind of a cross between a PS2 RE game and an RPG.
Besides the Siren series, I really like the Resident Evil series (REmake + 2-4) and Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (which is buggy & has some weak segments, but when it's good, it's amazing). Also, I really like Parasite Eve 2 which is kind of a cross between a PS2 RE game and an RPG.
I'm partial to Dead Space and Alien Isolation. Been meaning to replay the latter.
You're cherry picking the action elements and ignoring stuff like this:
This was about RE5, but also applies to RE4, obviously. I'd argue these are elements of survival horror, even if they're diluted by some QTEs and a late-game rocket launcher.
Bumping this cause I'm finally getting into some classic survival horror, busted out my PS3 so I could play Fatal Frame 2, got Siren 1 on PS4, have Siren: Blood Curse and Silent Hill 2/3 through PS Now.
All of those for the first time as well. Played some Siren and Silent Hill 2 earlier because those sounded like the ones that would take the most getting used to control-wise, but I find they control well enough. Maybe it's because I played RE4 recently so the tank controls aren't taking much time to get acclimated to
All of those for the first time as well. Played some Siren and Silent Hill 2 earlier because those sounded like the ones that would take the most getting used to control-wise, but I find they control well enough. Maybe it's because I played RE4 recently so the tank controls aren't taking much time to get acclimated to
You're in for something truly special with SH2. Hopefully you've managed to avoid spoilers over all these years.
Oh man, you've never played Silent Hill 2? You are in for a treat, one of the best games ever made imo.
I dont find SH2 to be clunky at all, but Siren definitely can be. Siren is super ambitious for the PS2 though, the sight-jacking mechanic is genius.
I don't have much experience with horror games in general; it's the rare exception like SOMA (I had to finish that story) and Dead Space 1 & 2 (more action than horror) that I've been able to finish. Amnesia, Outlast, Alien Isolation, Layers of Fear, Lone Survivor...I don't last long. Darkwood, I've gotten further but I have to play that one in chunks
Ironic because I love horror movies and the tenets of classic survival horror are so up my alley. So looking forward to finally playing these, especially SH2 and FF2
Late reply but...
Because it's a third person shooter with a horror theme, not a survival horror game.
Just because a game has a horror theme does not make it survival horror. Lot of games get called this when they aren't.
I can understand that, considering many horror games have 'bad' gameplay in service of a certain atmosphere or player experience, which can be incredibly subjective.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Silent Hill 2's narrative and themes, personally I think it's one of the peaks of the medium in terms of storytelling, not just for horror but in general. Kind of like what The Shining is to film.
I would argue Dead Space 1 is absolutely survival horror in every way that matters. The focus is much more on the player's isolation, immersion, and relative vulnerability compared to the necromorphs. The game constantly keeps you on your toes, limits your resources, and is always using atmosphere and level design to create a sense of dread first and foremost, whereas the shooting elements are rather secondary.
For Dead Space 2 and 3, they definitely leaned much more heavily into the action side of things, but the original game is definitely primarily a horror experience (much more so than, say, Resident Evil 4).
Got my copy of SH2 working on PCSX2 on my lapto, so I'm excited to finally play through it after I finish up Dead Space. I didn't get very far in my PS2 playthrough (just past the first boss fight) so it will mostly be fresh stuff are 60fps and 4x native resolution.
Outlast 2 is incredible, probably the most disturbed/stressed I've ever been playing the game. Some of the good parts get washed away when you're just bolting through a part of the town to proceed but overall I think the game was a masterpiece. So much more original than the first one too, imo.
I don't get how you can say the shooting in Dead Space is secondary. It's at the forefront of the game within ten minutes. Aside from the jump scares, I never found myself scared while playing Dead Space, just tense. When you can tear apart enemies with ease, it's hard to be scared of them
Evil Within 2 has been scarier to me than the Dead Space games ever were, although that's because I decided to play on Nightmare so I usually have at most ten bullets and I need to run like hell from groups of enemies
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