Game Critics Killed Survival Horror Games

Seriously. Look at Resident Evil 2. The Playstation version has an 89 on metacritic. 4 years later when it was rereleased it has a 59. Now we're stuck with "survival horror" games like Left 4 Dead and *sigh* Dead Rising 2. Critics NOW see everything that made a survival horror game as "dated" and "bad design". God fucking dammit. Every "survival horror" game these days makes you feel like a goddamn Rambo and's more obsessed with action than scaring the shit out of you.

Also read this:

http://www.destructoid.com/how-survival-horror-evolved-itself-into-extinction-114022.phtml

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Pickles wrote:

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I've always thought that if I was a game developer I'd make a zombie apocalypse survivor game. You know where if you shoot or make noise you attract other zombies. And if you get bitten just once you begin to turn into a zombie unless you get a cure fast. And if you get caught by a horde you are fucked like you would if zombies were real. And if you die it's game over and you must restart the game. I wouldn't really put much of a story in it, just survive until all the zombies are turn into mush from the heat or something. I'd like to play an actual survival game, not some game where you can just blow everything to shit or one that has levels. You know like a sanbox survival game.

Edit: I'm not sure why I quoted your post, but I didn't mean to.

Very interesting. But I think that's kinda wrong.

Silent Hill Origins for PSP got 78. That's almost AA. And usually psp games recieve HEAVY criticism.

Silent Hill Shattered Memories, the wii version got 79, almost 80. And that game took away all forms of combat.

Alan Wake, okay it's an action game for the most part. But it recieved a very decent score, 83 and not because of the action. Mainly because of the amazing atmosphere it creates.

Then there's condemned 1 and 2. Okay, there's combat but not all the way through and to be fair, it's one scary game.

The games got 81 and 80 on metacritic.


And then a game that solely relies on combat comes along, Vampire Rain.
lol well do I need to explain?


I think survival horror is still very alive. The new silent hill titles were well recieved even though Shattered Memories had no combat whatsoever.

Survival horror is still out there. Maybe it's not as dominant but styles change from generation to generation. This generation, shooters is the popular thing. Older generations it was mainly the rpgs or the survival horror, as indicated.

Check this out:

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/925/925275p1.html

Siren: Blood Curse, that ps3 game (which looks pretty damn awesome) got to number 6. Great achievement!

Penumbra got 4th.

You see, critics still appreciate some of this survival horror stuff. It may have evolved slightly but it's still survival horror.

If you really care about survival horror, emulate ps1 survival horror games on psp or get psx classics on ps3

Thinking about old scary games, it reminds me of this game I used to play when I was really young:

It was called Clue Chronicles: Fatal Illusion. Based upon the board game of cluedo but with a storyline.

I used to be creeped out by it even though it's not a very scary game, it just builds up so much tension and it's really dark n' forboding.

Graphically it seemed way ahead of it's time though it's all prerendered (really well done though).


Thing is, your original point about games being different these days, it's true. This game was like horror to me at the time. (probably not if I played it again though because I'm not a kid anymore) and there are almost no games like that today. So yeah, I guess you're sort of correct.

I loved my survival horrer games, I still think RE2 is the perfect example of how a survival horrer game should be.