The "Rules" Of "Survival Horror"

[Goldsickle]

Wandering from one gaming community to another, I see a lot of people's personal take on what a horror game should be.
What's weird is when some people come up with black and white, rigid, anal rules of "Survival Horror" and insist that they're right (even though they're probably not in game development, much less have developed horror games before).

The list consists of actual "rules" I've heard from people over the years and I swear, I'm not making these up.

• Survival Horror must have only fixed camera angles.
  
  
• You cannot have item drops/pickups from dead/defeated enemies in a Survival Horror game.
  
  
• You can only save from a save point. Quick-save or auto-save invalidates the title from being horror.
  
  
• There must be no "upgrade points" system in a Survival Horror game.
  
  
• There can be no "shop" system of any kind in a Survival Horror game.
  
  
• Ammo must be limited, as in no "ammo restock" points or buying ammo.
  
  
• First person view/over-the-shoulder is only for shooters (some people actually said this).
  
  
• Horror games must not have a "chapter select" feature.
  
  
• Horror games can't have a "checkpoint restart" or a "continue from last checkpoint" feature.
  
  
• Ranking in a horror game must not be graded based on how many enemies you killed.

From the looks of it, it sounds like some people had a huge impression left on them from playing the first Resident Evil game and suddenly feel that every horror game in existence must be just like Resident Evil 1.

I have played a bunch of horror games, like Siren, Silent Hill, Clock Tower, Haunting Ground, Kuon, Fatal Frame, Alien Isolation and so on and if we were to really use all these "rules" as guidelines, I'd say a lot of games would be "disqualified".

I remember reading from a magazine way back in the 90's about how "Survival Horror" was nothing more than some random marketing term invented by Capcom's marketing department to sell Resident Evil.
I always knew it as nothing more than some random phrase in the first game's loading screen.

Suddenly, it's a "genre" and everybody in gaming communities are insisting that their personal definition is correct, while those who actually work in the game industry has different ideas.

 

[Demi-fiend]

Yeah, I can't stand these people's interpretation either.

Don't ever watch twin perfect on youtube -- they're almost as bad as the DmC naysayers.

 

[Innsmouth]

Well first things first. "Suddenly" genre (actually sub genre), while got definition from RE, exists since very first Alone in the Dark meaning it'd already 24 years old.
Basically all of those rules listed only were used to bash newer REs, while ignoring that games like RE6 suck as much as horror but as action game as well. Survival horror definition was pretty simple: game emphasising on exploration while using limitation (doesnt matter if scarce ammo, lack of weapon, visibility etc) to prevent player reach their goal, while scaring them at the same time. Problem that comes from games like RE5, 6, Homecoming and others is shifting focus on combat. While combat oriented those game lost exploration part in favour of shoot'em'up/beat'em'down parts which disqualified them from genre altogether.

 

[Lain]

The only "Rule" of Survival Horror, is to have to survive against something horrible.

If you try to make rules to contain genres then that will lead to stagnation. Freedom to experiment leads to new and exciting ideas in the genre.

 

[Innsmouth]

nobody forbids experimenting. Its just will be different genre.

 

[absolitude]

i'd say all of those are right, since basically those were the stuffs defined by the earlier games that made the survival horror genre to fame ;the feeling of being alone and hopeless; you need to survive; you have the ability to fight the enemies, and horror

but ofc times changed and they added things up, and the problem with the current games let's say resident evil 5 and 6, they wanted to focus on combat/action thus making the horror theme went significantly south --more of jump scares than the feeling of cautious, worried and horrified, and ofc they also kinda lose the survival part, being it too much on power action..

i can say those fans of survival horror weren't wrong, one of the parameter for me to say that is i dare play the game. honestly i only tried resident evil 1 and silent hill 1, i don't play them, i'd say screw this i'm too much of a coward for those games, i have my friends play them for me and i watch them.. but those games really define the survival horror as far as i can understand

and games like forbidden siren or fatal frame or amnesia, to me they're more of horror for they're so thick with the horror part --settings and ambience, and those games scare me more

but again, for flexibility today, all is fine to call as survival horror.. and i gotta credit alien isolation to redefine it this era

 

[Demi-fiend]

This was the shortest twin perfect video (of a western silent hill) I could find...

Downpour has a (scathing) two hour review. Eff. That.

 

[berto]

If I may go point by point.

-Survival Horror must have only fixed camera angles.
Fixed camera angles were a product of RE1, the first Horror Survival game, which, by the was, not the first horror game but the one to create the genre by stating at the begging PREPARE TO ENTER THE WORLD OF SURVIVAL HORROR, which is the origin of the name of the genre; it was back when they were big on mixing themes/words to create genres, such as Stylish Action, and they still are doing it, like Climax Action. It was a thing about creating genres with each title to add to it. Sometimes it stuck, but it mostly didn't. This style of camera work was made because the technological restrictions were keeping them from making it look as good as it did with a dynamic camera, it was a time of trial and error and RE tried a format that would improve appearance with less demand on the hardware. With that been said, Devil May Cry had fixed angles as well do to been an RE game, and it certainly adds to the atmosphere, but as the years progressed titles that fit the bill and don't follow this criteria began popping up all over the place and while it has it's effect it can be a real pain in the D so it's not the only option. Hell, Shinji Mikami himself, the man who created the genre, who came up with the name, made a game that is, by his own words, Survival Horror and it doesn't have fixed angles.
If you want fix angles you should also request tank controls on all you Survival Horror games while your at it.

-You cannot have item drops/pickups from dead/defeated enemies in a Survival Horror game.
Resident Evil 1 does and it is, again, the original Survival Horror.

You can only save from a save point. Quick-save or auto-save invalidates the title from being horror.
Why? How does that add to the horror or survival of the game? I refer back to the Evil Within. There are several other successful SH titles that don't require this and they are quite good at both.

-There must be no "upgrade points" system in a Survival Horror game.
I'm getting tired of repeating the same thing. There are plenty of horror games that have that, Fatal Frame would be a great example of having something to upgrade while still been a horror game.

-There can be no "shop" system of any kind in a Survival Horror game.
That's not up to you. That's up to the developers and what kind of horror game they want to make. That's like saying a first person shooter can't have a jump function, genre is irrelevant.

-Ammo must be limited, as in no "ammo restock" points or buying ammo.
Why? It worked well on Alien: Isolation.

-First person view/over-the-shoulder is only for shooters (some people actually said this).
Same could be said of third person and action.
Edit: How about P.T.? Not a SH? Is it a bad one or even a mediocre one? No, it's very good, infact and it doesn't play in 3rd person.
Something else. When VR hits which camera angle do you think will be the best one to experience horror? You're need to keep it all the same has reached the point that it's dumb.

-Horror games must not have a "chapter select" feature.
Resident Evil didn't and it was, as I keep saying, the original Survival Horror. Hell, SH2, the Survival Horror game isn't chapter based nor can you select a chapter to go to.

-Horror games can't have a "checkpoint restart" or a "continue from last checkpoint" feature.
For all the crap been said about what cannot be in a SH me or anyone can name at least one excellent game that has the mechanic you keep saying can't be in there.

-Ranking in a horror game must not be graded based on how many enemies you killed.
Refer back to what I said about shops.


Nag, nag, nag. It sounds to me like these people just want to play the same game over and over again with different skins. I have no issues with a game that follows the formula listed above, hell, some of my favorite horror titles do, but you shouldn't get to just say it must follow this list or nothing at all. Fine, don't play them. I'll go enjoy while you're outside complaining about how it's not how you want it done and refusing to expand your horizons.

Hell, the only thing a game needs in order to be survival horror is to be a horror game where you need to survive and even that isn't a strict rule.

 

[Goldsickle]

This style of camera work was made because the technological restrictions were keeping them from making it look as good as it did with a dynamic camera,

Specifically:

- The PlayStation's hardware issues create distortion on textures called "affine". Prerendering the backgrounds help sort this out.
- By making the backgrounds prerendered, they were able to take away polygons/triangles from the backdrops and apply them to the characters, making them more detailed.

Current hardware makes prerendered backgrounds outlive its usefulness, since games nowadays can create realistic backdrops using the game's own engine.

You cannot have item drops/pickups from dead/defeated enemies in a Survival Horror game.
Resident Evil 1 does and it is, again, the original Survival Horror.

But it kinda loosens up a bit, like how you can loot Mr. X's body for ammo and how Nemesis drops weapon parts and First-Aid Sprays in the next games.
There are also other examples of horror games with drops/loots from enemies, such as Siren: Blood Curse, The Evil Within and Alien: Isolation.

There are plenty of horror games that have that, Fatal Frame would be a great example of having something to upgrade while still been a horror game.

The Evil Within is another example.

Resident Evil didn't and it was, as I keep saying, the original Survival Horror. Hell, SH2, the Survival Horror game isn't chapter based nor can you select a chapter to go to.

Chapter select is almost becoming a standard.
For example, there's The Last Of Us, The Evil Within, Fatal Frame and Alien: Isolation.
All these games have chapter select.


Seriously, every time someone makes a rule about "Survival Horror", there's always a counter example, because horror game variety is just that vast.

In an attempt to invalidate RE5, someone told me "horror games should not rank you based on enemies you killed".
That would mean almost every Silent Hill games are disqualified, since it grades you based on how many enemies you kill, even specifically counting how many killed with melee or firearms.

 

[Innsmouth]

RE5 is fun action horror, but it has nothing to do with survival.

 

[Goldsickle]

I agree with this too because survival horror isn't about racking up an enemy bodycount for me. It's surviving & ranking should be graded on how many times i didn't die.

But that's exactly what almost all the Silent Hill games did.

I have yet to hear any black & white statement from people that "Silent Hill is not a horror game because it grades you based on kills".

1. Eliminating Al or co-op partners just don't have partners period because for me they give away the horror hiding behind the door or under the bed or wherever.

Obscure II and System Shock 2 has co-op.

4. No health regeneration

Entire Siren series. Still scarier than Resident Evil.
Depending on how you view Haunting Ground or Clock Tower's stamina mechanics, that may also be regenerating health.

It's like I said, create whatever rule and there's always a counter-example.
Horror game variety is that vast.

 

[Absent Nova]

Well if it's scary and you have to fight to survive then it's survival horror, at least that's how I see it.

 

[meg5493]

Survival horror games are different from horror games, though horror games can be survival horror. When it comes to survival horror games its true that many people were introduced to it through Resident evil but it wasn't the first survival horror game,Clock Tower, was one of the first though I guess Sweet home would be the first since Resident evil was technically a remake of that game. Capcom were masters of survival horror, games like Haunting Grounds, Dino Crisis, etc even though most of them branched from Resident evil. Though they weren't the only ones Konami's Silent hill series and Tecmo Koei's Fatal Frame series are also good examples of survival horror.

With any kind of genre it does evolve over time most surival horror games had a formula that every game usually stuck to which was limited items, puzzles in order to progress, and combat with a decent story to go along with it. Now though a lot of survival horror are more action based with horror elements put into the environment without the thought of how the game play affects the tension though a lot of indie games really capture the feel of survival horror.

 

[ROCKMAN X]

"Survival Horror must have only fixed camera angles."
While its true that Fixed Cameras are not "must" they do bring a certain atmosphere to the game.

"You cannot have item drops/pickups from dead/defeated enemies in a Survival Horror game."
Even RE 1 had item pick ups from enemies, i think what the original point meant was that you cannot have constant&frequent item drops from the enemies as it makes the game too easy and removes the scavenging/exploration aspect of the game.

For ex:In RE4 you can get ammo&herbs just by killing regular enemies, in RE 1-3 you have to FIND herbs&ammo as the regular enemies in RE 1-3 are nothing but bullet sponges.

"You can only save from a save point. Quick-save or auto-save invalidates the title from being horror."
I hate Auto-saves in general, so what can i say? i just want them to be sparse in any video game i play, its quite frankly annoying&immersion breaking to see checkpoints over checkpoints, i prefer to manually save rather than the game arbitrarily deciding to save for me.

"There must be no "upgrade points" system in a Survival Horror game."
I agree 100%! this type of B.S only gives you even more incentive to grind and then level up XYZ and become GOD tier, no thanks! i want to play a survival horror game where i'm NOT superman and just some weak human trying to "Survive" the "Horror".

"There can be no "shop" system of any kind in a Survival Horror game."
I'm beginning to think you're just defending RE4 at this point, anyway if that's the game you're talking about then yes the "Shop" in Re4 completely ruined any tension that you had in the early games from being powerless&isolated.

Maybe the shop could work in survival horror game, i just don't have faith in anything that Re4 introduced, that game is the worst thing that happened to the RE series.

"Ammo mustbe limited, as in no "ammo restock" points or buying ammo."
I agree 100%! you must have scarce resources or else how can you call it "Survival" if you're getting everything spoonfed to you?

"First person view/over-the-shoulder is only for shooters (some people actually said this)."
Alien Isolation begs to differ.

"Horror games must not have a "chapter select" feature."
As long as the game feels like one coherent experience i don't mind it being separated into "Chapters" or whatever.

"Ranking in a horror game must not be graded based on how many enemies you killed."
I agree, you should be ranked for how many you don't kill! you should be rewarded for not killing and conserving your supplies and doing it as fast as possible.

 

[berto]

I still say that none of the things on the list are absolutes that must be included on a survival horror. Survival Horror is just the name we give to all horror games, even one that don't nervelessly need you to survive. To add all these restrictions as to what they can and cannot have would give the developer needless restrictions on game makers and it would just make all the games pretty much the same thing and before long people will get tired of it and move along, killing the genre. Doing the something over and over and over again causes staleness.

 

[Goldsickle]

3. I have HauntingGrounds & to me health regeneration in survival horror takes away from the feeling of really needing to survive because you'll always have full health as i'm always thinking just find a way to get away, rest regenerate & look for a way out again.
No health regeneration & limited supplies adds more elements to how i need to survive, more obstacles.
Do i chance it & run looking for a way out.
Do i risk looking for more supplies
No health regeneration causes me to realise i can't just sit & wait till all is okay, i have to do things myself.

I'm not a big fan of health-regeneration myself but the entire Siren series made me rethink the whole "regenerating health isn't for horror" idea.
All three games uses regenerating health but I still find these games more scary, challenging and tense than an RE game.

I recommend giving it a try.

"There must be no "upgrade points" system in a Survival Horror game."
I agree 100%! this type of B.S only gives you even more incentive to grind and then level up XYZ and become GOD tier, no thanks! i want to play a survival horror game where i'm NOT superman and just some weak human trying to "Survive" the "Horror".

The entire Fatal Frame series does this and yet I found it more scarier than any RE game.

I remember another "rule" where someone says "combat should be discouraged" but Fatal Frame kinda makes it compulsory.
I think horror game enemies are a joke if you can just outrun them.

I'm beginning to think you're just defending RE4 at this point,

Because you think only RE4 has a shop system of some sort.
There are shops in Dead Space and even later Fatal Frame games allow you to "buy" items with upgrade points.

I agree 100%! you must have scarce resources or else how can you call it "Survival" if you're getting everything spoonfed to you?

Fatal Frame series beg to differ.
First game allows you to restock on the weakest film every time you hit a save point.
Second game gives you infinite ammo for the weakest film.
The third game restocks your ammo every time you leave and reenter the manor.

I agree, you should be ranked for how many you don't kill! you should be rewarded for not killing and conserving your supplies and doing it as fast as possible.

I'm saying this the third time but remember how almost all the Silent Hill games rank you based on kills, even specifically counting whether you kill with melee or firearms.
I've yet to hear a universal opinion that Silent Hill games should be disqualified from being "Survival Horror" just for that.

As I said, horror variety is vast.
I'm only posting based on examples I played or heard.
There could be more examples that breaks these "rules".

 

[berto]

So does adding elements that doesn't fit helps kill the genre too.

Not as much as flooding the market with one kind of game. With a list like that the horror genre would become the next CoD or AC.

Making a list of what you can or cannot have will impede innovation. If you're to be restricted to that list then games like RE4, Dead Space, Alien Isolation, Siren and a plethora of other games wouldn't exist because 'fix camera only' and 'first/third person is for shooters,' and that's just one item on the list.

As I said, for every item on that list anyone here can list at least one game that defies it and still works right as a horror title. I have nothing against the list, if they were suggestions or preferences, but what they are is demands.

As a few people here said certain restrictions does help define survival horror or horror in general.

But just because they define it it doesn't mean it has to be bound to it forever. Just because RE took place in a mansion doesn't mean every horror game has to take place in one, or just because you need a ribbon to save in it doesn't mean all others must, too, and just because SH has lots of fog doesn't mean all horror games have to as well. Hell, now a days they don't even have to take place at night.

Horror you're suppose to fear for your life & be thankful for item you get, every scrap of ammo you find & each time you've made it that much further.

No, actually, it's more simple than that. Horror is just about been afraid and not just for your life, either, there are many different types of fear. Plus, in games having ample ammo doesn't mean you'll be safe (some games don't even have ammo). That's just my point, you can't say that a horror game can't have this or must have that because you won't know if it worked or didn't till someone tries it, and they have, but how will we know unless we let them.

SurvivalHorror (games in general) has gotten easier throughout the years & another reason SurvivalHorror isn't as scary or all about survival anymore especially when items, upgrades, checkpoints, are almost handed to you.

Actually, that's just video games in general. (Still, I rather have a game that'd be easy than one with artificial difficulty) If difficulty is that important to you there are hard games out there.

This list brings back a bit of difficulty to SurvivalHorror.

Spice of life. Horror games aren't, and shouldn't, all be just one kind of experience, which is just what these restrictions would create. They shouldn't be all hard, or have guns or be about only zombies and so on. Gameplay, design, and the general mechanics need variety as much as the themes and stories do or else it's just the same thing.

What would be wrong with restricting developers from adding as @ROCKMAN X said the superman element or God tier.
What kind of SurvivalHorror games do we have now when the smurfin survival is handed to you & the fear is reduced.

One that's different from the others. Why can't that exist as long as there others that are different from it?

It's not about a game having all the qualities on that list or having none of them at all, it's about been able to have both or/and a mix of each. If a game wants to have all of the stuff on the list, cool, if not, that's just as awesome, as long as neither is the only thing available. Variety.

As I said, I have no issue with the list except that they're demands rather than just preferences. It should be 'Hey, you know what I would play the s*** out of? A game with fixed angles. You know RE? I want more of that' but the attitude I perceive from the people listing their demands are like 'If it's not fixed angles it isn't a horror game.'

 

[Innsmouth]

Oh don't get me wrong i don't hate health regeneration but i'm sure those games would be much more intense without it.

Health regeneration to me keeps me in it for the long haul, i can relax.
No health regeneration means my time can be cut short any moment, so i try harder to survive.

In Siren's case it pretty much doesnt matter because once you found by enemies you are almost certain gonna die. Damage output is so high that no regen will save you.

IMHO Survival Horror can have any rules as lon as it makes exploration more important than combat. It also doesnt mean horror must be hard. SH put more pressure due to its psychological side than to it combat for what it mattered.

 

[Goldsickle]

In Siren's case it pretty much doesnt matter because once you found by enemies you are almost certain gonna die. Damage output is so high that no regen will save you.

Depends on the situations or characters.
I recall being able to shrug off pistol or even rifle shots.

The child characters are instant death if caught, though.

 

[Innsmouth]

Depends on the situations or characters.
I recall being able to shrug off pistol or even rifle shots.

The child characters are instant death if caught, though.

that depends on the game. In first Siren being discover lead to almost instant death. In second and remake its milder down except for kid characters.