User:JamesPears/sandbox

= The Survival Horror Genre = Horror Genre in gaming has two distinct subgenres Action horror and Survival horror. The term Survival Horror was first used to describe and market the release of Resident Evil (1996) and has a heavy emphasis on the survivability of the main protagonist(s). Survival Horror games often rely much more heavily on item management, puzzles and jump scares than its counterpart, using quiet environments and dark scenery to allow a player’s mind to fill in the fear factor.

History
3D Monster Maz T-Rex chasing the player The term was created by Resident Evil (1996) however the genre was created much earlier than this and thus many games have been retroactively deemed Survival Horror games due to their gameplay. The biggest games thought to have birthed the genre, as they had heavy influences in the Resident evil game, were Sweet Home (1986) for the Super Nintendo and Alone in The Dark (1992) For the PC. Both these games featured the core mechanics that soon became the staples for identifying a survival horror game.

Many go so far as to label 1981’s 3D Monster Maze for the PC as the first survival horror game. This had the bare minimum for what is to be considered a survival horror game, which was an overwhelming and more powerful enemy, meaning there is no chance to fight for yourself and escaping is your only option. The point of the game was to accumulate points by outrunning the dinosaur that pursued you through a randomly generated maze. Upon completing one maze you would be teleported to another maze until you made it to the end, if you tried to finish the game there would be a 50% chance that you would be forced to play the final maze again until you were successful.

With Resident Evil’s huge popularity amongst gamers many companies sought to copy the trend in a similar way to how companies attempted to previously replicate DOOM, there was soon an oversaturation of what was referred to as “Resident Evil Clones”. Many of these games were popular in the cases of Clock tower II (1998) and Corpse Party (1996). However, none of these titles were as successful as Silent Hill (1999) which refined and added other elements to the genre, such as a psychological thrill, and the uncanny valley effect making for a much more relatable and ultimately scarier experience.

In today’s markets the once over-saturated Survival Horror genre is becoming less and less popular with big developers, however it is still a thriving genre in Indie developers with titles such as Amnesia the Dark Descent (2010) and Outlast (2013). Finally, it seems like a return to form with Resident Evil 7 (2017) being a much more survival horror setting than several previous releases, might see another resurgence in the genre.

Defining Elements
Both Survival Horror and Action Horror follow the same principles in that it intends to invoke fear in its players, but both subgenres approach this in different ways.

Overwhelming Enemies
Most of the enemies presented in these games are overwhelming and will often be presented as much more powerful or much better equipped than the player, and thus a different approach must be achieved as apposed to the run and gun mentality of the action horror games.

However, this does not mean one very strong enemy, it can refer to a multitude of enemies that you have limit resources to defeat and thus you must avoid them with the glooming acceptance that they will pursue you.

Resource Management
Many of the games obstacles, including enemies and puzzles, will require some resources or items collected throughout the game world. With limited space for the character to collect items it may become difficult to decide what is the most important and down the line lead to very anxious moments when you don’t have the available items for a puzzle, or the ammunition/weapon to defeat a pursuing enemy.

Puzzle Solving
The games are more often feature puzzles for the players to overcome for another challenge outside the realms of being scared or pursued by something scary. Large open maps also contribute to this meaning the player must use their memory to analyse their surroundings and remember specifics of the area. Puzzles add a level of mental strain around the fear and anxiety of their surroundings and will often involve backtracking through a level facing more impending fear.

Isolation
It is natural for humans to seek groups for guidance and safety this is no difference in the world of horror games and the lack of relatable people add to the levels of tension and so isolation from a ‘normal’ life is an addition to this. Examples of this come from Telltale’s The Walking Dead (2012) where the player seeks safety in numbers and is often trapped in instances where there is nobody else but themselves.

Human Horror
The human horror refers to anything that is in its essence a relation to human. Zombies are a good example as they are a shambling uncontrollable monster, however, shares many similarities with some human, something real. When we can rationalise, and familiarise ourselves with an enemy it makes them more of a threat. The greatest part of human horror, is the relatable, underpowered and unstable protagonist. This is a staple in the genre due to its similarities with real problems a player may have had in the past makes the scenario seem much more realistic and grounded within the world.