Horror and surviving, but not survival horror

[ethanThomas]

What games have you played that feature surviving and horror, but don't fall into the 'survival horror'?

Personally I would put forward Defcon and Manhunt as examples of what I'm talking about.

Edit: In retrospect Defcon was probably a bad example, but I still think Manhunt captures what I'm trying to articulate.

Edited September 9, 2009 by ethanThomas

[Psych]

Surviving doesn't seem like much of a criteria, I've probably only played three games in my life that didn't involve surviving.

That aside, the first Half-Life is the scariest game I've ever played. Head crabs teleporting everywhere, while I'm crawling in vents, now that's just spooky.

[ethanThomas]

Surviving doesn't seem like much of a criteria, I've probably only played three games in my life that didn't involve surviving.

Fair enough. I guess in my mind 'surviving' in this context would mean a constant sense of weakness and vulnerability on the part of the player. The difference between the bad-ass cyborg Master Chief and the frail vulnerable James Sunderland.

[elmuerte]

System Shock 2

[SignorSuperdouche]

The end of Monkey Island 2, that scared the shit out of me as a kid.

[thorn]

Fair enough. I guess in my mind 'surviving' in this context would mean a constant sense of weakness and vulnerability on the part of the player. The difference between the bad-ass cyborg Master Chief and the frail vulnerable James Sunderland.

Would you classify the first two Oddworld games (Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus) in this category?

[ethanThomas]

Would you classify the first two Oddworld games (Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus) in this category?

I haven't played either game, so I cant really tell you. As Psych pointed out, the 'survival' category is pretty vague and probably ultra subjective, but my intention was to capture a class of game that tries to deliver an experience that is the antithesis of the empowerment fantasies that many major games are founded on.

[jneeriem]

The whole half-life world scares the crap out of me. I can't finish those games because I just get too scared.

[Gordy Freeman Jr.]

I haven't played either game, so I cant really tell you. As Psych pointed out, the 'survival' category is pretty vague and probably ultra subjective, but my intention was to capture a class of game that tries to deliver an experience that is the antithesis of the empowerment fantasies that many major games are founded on.

The Thief series fits the bill extremely well (at least the first 2 do, never played the third). They're spooky as all hell, and Garrett is not a warrior by any means and the games will punish you badly if you attempt to play like one. You really cannot stand toe-to-toe with more than one enemy at a time, even the average guard is a better fighter than you. In other stealth games like Splinter Cell or MGS, you're still a badass super-soldier and capable of killin' lots o' dudes. But Thief really conveys a sense of being weaker than everything, and that getting the drop on isolated enemies - or total avoidance of them - are really your only options of overcoming them.

[Korax]

Doom 3 got spooky on a number of occasions when I played it, partially due to the fact that I was playing in a dark room with headphones on. At one point I was walking down a hallway, and the lights went out. Glowing red sigils appeared on the walls and strobed down the corridor, accompanied by a whispery "screaming of the damned" sound. I had to quit the game, turn on all the lights, and watch TV for a while before I could keep playing.

[Horticulture Tycoon]

Falling off a building in Mirror's Edge really disturbs the hell out of me. And I'm not even afraid of heights.

[thorn]

I haven't played either game, so I cant really tell you. As Psych pointed out, the 'survival' category is pretty vague and probably ultra subjective, but my intention was to capture a class of game that tries to deliver an experience that is the antithesis of the empowerment fantasies that many major games are founded on.

Then I'd suggest giving them a go. You play a weak, unarmed schlub in a landscape full of gun-wielding nuts and wild animals.

[George B]

Falling off a building in Mirror's Edge really disturbs the hell out of me. And I'm not even afraid of heights.

Yeah I had to look away every time I fell off a building... the motion blur visual effect they used coupled with the sound effect they chose to represent her body collapsing into mush were too much for me...

otherwise I was scared as a kid playing The Colonel's Bequest... pro tip: Don't use the shower.

[brkl]

So apparently anything can be horror if you're a huge pussy.

[Irishjohn]

Games with a reputation for being intensely difficult fill me with horror. I bought and paid for Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox years ago and didn't play it for two days.

[GameDreamer]

I wouldn't call BIOSHOCK a horror game, or even a survival game technically.

However, the parts with the mannequins (you know the parts) scared the hell out of me.

[Moelman]

I would think Resident Evil 5 would start to fall under what you've described. It's definitely not survival horror anymore, no matter how reluctant Capcom is to acknowledge that. I would say the game is still somewhat survival because you still have to be careful about saving your ammo, and the odds are heavily against you. And I guess it's horror because there are zomb-err, infected villagers, but it's not really scary.

But it's definitely much more of an action game now than survival horror, I guess you could call it survival action.