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Survival Horror

Survival Horror is a sub-genre in the horror genre of video games. It focuses on the survival of the character as they traverse through a scary and horrific environment. In most cases combat is one of the core pieces of gameplay; however the player has been given limited control compared to games in the Action genre. This is done by presenting the player with limited ammunition, speed, health and sometimes vision. The players are also given the challenge to solve puzzles or find items in a level to unlock progression. These games have made a great use of horror themes, like using environments that makes players feel trapped and unexpected enemy attacks.[1] [2]

The use of the term “Survival Horror” was first used by the original Japanese release of Resident Evil in 1996. It was influenced by earlier titles such as Sweet Home (1989) and Alone in the Dark (1992). Since then games with similar gameplay have used this name and has also been applied to past games as well. Both Sweet Home and Resident Evil were Capcom games that were created by Tokuro Fujiwara, along with Shinji Mikami in Resident Evil’s case. The Resident Evil series would soon go on to inspire the creation of the Silent Hill series.

Definition

Survival Horror is a sub-genre of video games which a protagonist must escape or survive a horrific, eerie and violent environment. It aims to create an atmosphere similar to a horror film with the use of creepy environments and unsettling sound effects. Survival Horror takes the player into a world where they have limited resources and skill and sometimes are given no weapons to fight off the threats of the game. Survival Horror games are distinct form other Horror-themed games since they choose to make the player defenseless and takes combat away in favor of challenges such as solving puzzles, fetch quests and running/hiding from enemies.[3] [4] [5]

Survival Horror Sub-Genres

Psychological Horror

A theme of suspicion, distrust, self-doubt and paranoia about oneself, others and the game’s world. These are the emotional and mental fears that keep people up at night and evoke a sense of dread in everyday life. In these themed stories the player would be struggling with monsters, aliens, supernatural creatures but as metaphors for the emotional and psychological struggles of the characters. The Protagonist may not get a happy ending and instead may have to learn to live with their demons or succumb to madness. Plot twists are an important element since it helps deepen the exploration of the theme. The traditional horror theme would follow a straight line of a fight for survival while in Psychological horror, the terror is the explanation of why everything is not what it seems.[6]

The following games are good examples of Psychological horror:

Alan Wake
Amnesia The Dark decent [7]
Condemned: Criminal Origins [8]
Fatal Frame 2 [9]
Layers of Fear [10]
Outlast [11]
Silent Hill [12]
The Evil Within 2 [13]

Action Horror

This is what Survival Horror uses the most in the genre since it gives the player resources to fight back the horrific threat. Games like Dead space where you are given a numerous number of weapons and resources to kill the enemies that unlike in Survival Horror are not invulnerable. Unlike most horror games this sub-genre is similar to the traditional action games but will either have a horror themed environment such as, Bloodborne and Doom’s world or it will have enemies that are from traditional horror like the Resident Evil series when the fourth installment arrived.

The following games are good examples of Action Horror:

Bloodborne [14]
Dead Island
Dead Rising [15]
Dead Space [16]
Doom
Dying light
Resident Evil [17]

History

One of the oldest survival horrors was the 1981 title 3D Monster Maze which used a tyrannosaurus Rex as the enemy that the player had to escape from. The goal was to escape the maze while outrunning the enemy which ultimately made this the original survival horror game. Atari created haunted house in 1982 with the intent of building a horror game. Haunted House was more about what was not seen, due to the characters eyes only being visible and nothing but a single match to guide their way through the darkness. It contained tension, sounds and had living threats, alongside that the player was weak, vulnerable and defenseless, with an emphasis of flight or fight. With all these elements, players were in the truest sense of the word ‘just trying to survive’. It has been put with the survival horror genre even though it was made before the genre was made a decade later. While many games that followed Haunted House waved the Horror flag, they were all done using atmosphere and plot but leaving the survival aspect out but still using the “Don’t die before you get to the end”. The difference between the two were to do with how they would handle the amount of resources, the odds of the player succeeding and also the emphasis of combat. A few examples of games that embraced Horror in atmosphere but didn’t fully utilize any of the other elements were, Castlevania, Kenseiden and Ghost House. However, in 1989 the rebirth of survival horror began in the form of Capcom’s Sweet Home. Sweet Home was an RPG that focused on survival that made death permanent. it has also been said to be the original Survival Horror due to its influence with Resident Evil. Another game that pioneered the genre was 1992’s Alone in the dark a 3D survival horror game. The game’s primary method of progression was having the player solve puzzles and alongside that the mansion’s undead inhabitants could be evaded, slain or banished. It was also one of the first games to introduce notes and books which later became a genre staple. It was originally the first part of the Call of Cthulhu series but was so successful that it spawned its own franchise. Other game to note were Doctor Hauzer which allowed players to switch between multiple camera angles and had no enemies except the villain. D released a year after that brought more of a focus on problem solving and a new challenge to survive – cannibalism. Also, that same year a game called Clock Tower was released and it introduced stealth. Then in 1996 the term Survival Horror was invented by Capcom who placed it in their advertisement for Resident Evil. It changed the way people looked at survival in video games by setting survival as the core of the experience. It also contributed to the success of the PlayStation console. [18] [19]

References

  1,4. Survival Horror. giantbomb.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
  2,5. What Makes a Survival Horror Game?. techraptor.net. Retrieved December 9 2018.
  3. Definition of Survival Horror.definitions.net. Retrieved December 9 2018
  6. Beginner's Guide: Psychological Horror.filminquiry.com. Retrieved December 9 2018
  7. Amnesia: The Dark Descent. amnesia.fandom.com. Retrieved December 9 2018
  8. Condemned wiki. condemned.wikia.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
  9. Fatal Frame 2 Is still one of the scariest games you can play Kotaku.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 10. Layers of fear taught me how to be scared again eurogamer.net. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 11. Outlast is a stealth horror game designed to make the player suffer polygon.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 12. Silent Hill giantbomb.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 13. The More I play The Evil Within 2, The More I Like It kotaku.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 14.Bloodborne Wiki bloodbornew.wiki.fextralife.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 15.Dead Rising giantbomb.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 16.Dead Space giantbomb.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 17.Resident Evil giantbomb.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 18.Trying to Survive - A History of Survival Horror Video Games escapistmagazine.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.
 19.IGN PRESENTS THE HISTORY OF SURVIVAL HORROR uk.ign.com. Retrieved December 9 2018.