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Is cinematic survival horror the new gen evolution of last gen's deluge of shooters?

FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
I've been thinking a lot about the impact Dark Souls and Last of Us towards the end of last gen, and I'm kinda wondering if survival horror has become quietly poised to be the big trend for this new generation. Sony, in particular, seems to be betting big here:

Couple of key precursors:

  • The first Dead Space was a rare "lightning in a bottle" for EA last gen that it never managed to recapture quite the same way
  • Resident Evil has basically died to most of us
  • Demon and Dark Souls 1/2 clearly resonated in a big way with the hardcore gamer market
  • Dark Souls in fact, in spite of its difficulty, started to reach a broader audience who, perhaps unexpectedly, liked it too
  • Last of Us saw incredible commercial and critical success
  • Tomb Raider, which arguably took a somewhat similar approach (albeit more actiony), had some unexpected success as well.
  • Games like Rust, DayZ, and Slenderman have become en vogue
  • Roguelikes, which have similar characteristics (resource scarcity, survival, etc.), became en vogue
  • Walking Dead + Zombies boom
Observations:
  • The Evil Within
  • Last of Us Re-release will introduce a big swath of new people to the play style
  • Bloodborne
  • Dying Light
  • Alien Isolation
  • Uncharted 4, though not really known, seems to have a tone set for it that is darker and, perhaps suggests it may lean to some of the strengths of Last of Us
  • The Order 1886 has a lot of horror elements in the story and the gameplay may yet reveal itself to have even more elements therein
Given how few next gen games have solidified, and how many in that small number are horror, survival horror, or inheritors from that genre, I'm left wondering...

tl;dr: Is cinematic survival horror the new gen evolution of last gen's deluge of action shooters?
 
O

Orayn

Member
Bloodbourne is neither cinematic nor survival horror, it's an action-RPG like the Souls series in a more horror-oriented setting.
 
O

old manatee

Banned
If AAA games become all about horror I'm taking a break from gaming because I'm so over the argument about which games are survival horror and which are action horror or whatever and then someone posts that nonsensical jpg. "THE CAMERA HAS TO BE IN THE CORNER OF THE ROOM AND THERE HAS TO BE A DOOR WITH A SLIDING TILE PUZZLE OR IT ISN'T SCARY."
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
Orayn said:
Bloodbourne is neither cinematic nor survival horror, it's an action-RPG like the Souls series in a more horror-oriented setting.
Click to expand...
I think you could very well make the argument that the Souls series is as much survival horror as it is an action RPG. Scarcity of resources, unexpected and significant threats, and stiff death penalties are three of the most salient characteristics of survival horror games, and those are all some of the defining characteristics of Souls.

Edit: Similar train of thought for Last of Us.
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
CaptainAhab said:
If AAA games become all about horror I'm taking a break from gaming because I'm so over the argument about which games are survival horror and which are action horror or whatever and then someone posts that nonsensical jpg. "THE CAMERA HAS TO BE IN THE CORNER OF THE ROOM AND THERE HAS TO BE A DOOR WITH A SLIDING TILE PUZZLE OR IT ISN'T SCARY."
Click to expand...
I now realize, as a result of this, the can of worms I just opened, haha.

Dem semantics.
 
R

redcrayon

Member
I would have thought the piles of online-only shooters are the evolution of last gen's trend for short single player mode with bolted-on multiplayer deathmatches. I mean, stuff like Titanfall, Evolve and Destiny are all aiming to grab that crowd more than the horror games are.
 
O

Orayn

Member
It's not so much semantics as the fact that survival-horror is a slippery, hard-to-define genre that has more to do with a game's setting, atmosphere, and "feel" than it does mechanics. The easiest way to handle it is just limiting the definition to games that self-identify as horror.
 
S

Salmonbottle

Member
This year's Sony E3 press conference was weirdly heavy on horror. Dead Island 2, Bloodborne, Let it Die, The Last of US, The Order, etc. I got kind of sick of it.

Horror games are cool, but variety is important. Sony is generally better about variety :(
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
I think space sims are going to be the big genre this generation. They've certainly come back with a vengence. In terms of design, they can be everything from fast paced arcade gameplay or a twitch shooter, to an MMO, to a slow arduous simluation. They can be team based, they can be solo experiences. They can be extremely open world, or they can be very linear. It's a versatile genre to work with, and it's one that'll benefit from VR the most.

I fully believe a space sim will be one of VR's first major hits.
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
I think horror itself has had/is having a huge resurgence this gen as a whole. And that is awesome, because apart from a couple gems, last gen wasn't all that hot for horror.
 
P

pinkurocket

Member
Hope they can create a psychological horror that rivals Silent Hill 2 or some of the other PS2 era survival horror games, which in my opinion are still the best. Horrid controls, but a focus on story, symbolism and atmosphere.
 
D

disappeared

Banned
pinkurocket said:
Hope they can create a psychological horror that rivals Silent Hill 2 or some of the other PS2 era survival horror games, which in my opinion are still the best. Horrid controls, but a focus on story, symbolism and atmosphere.
Click to expand...

Don't worry. They won't.

The days of SH2 quality are long gone.
 
B

badcrumble

Member
NoMoreTrolls said:
Interesting that your list contains several games that aren't cinematic survival horror games.

In a word, nope.
Click to expand...

I could see certain survival horror design tropes (like the idea that enemies are actually something to be feared and dealt with quite cautiously) making their way into the mainstream, just like RPG mechanics did.
 
N

norealmx

Banned
True survival horror implies thinking, rationalizing, a little bit of micromanaging, lots of tension and the general feeling of exposing your neck at every step.

Hardly appealing for the majority of the current gaming demographic, where shooting at everything and "pressing A for awesome" is expected.
 
H

HueyFreeman

Banned
FrankCaron said:
[*]Uncharted 4, though not really known, seems to have a tone set for it that is darker and, perhaps suggests it may lean to some of the strengths of Last of Us
Click to expand...

This is a huge stretch - there's almost no chance of UC4 end up anything remotely resembling survival horror.
 
A

Auctopus

Member
I would not put all those games in the same genre, especially that one.

The Order, Uncharted 4 & Bloodbourne are certainly not Survival Horror.
 
D

DoubleTake

Member
disappeared said:
Don't worry. They won't.

The days of SH2 quality are long gone.
Click to expand...

Sad but true. Wonder how Miyazaki would fare in this sense.

Also a lot of the games you mention I wouldnt consider Survival Horror.

The Order is a cinematic action game before Survival Horror imo. Although Id absolutely love if it ended up that way.

Bloodborne is an Action RPG with horror elements thrown on top. The Player character for the most part isnt completely vulnerable to enemies as in Survival Horrors.

Uncharted is an Action game much like the order.

The Last of Us is closest because of the tone of the game and combat.

I would love a resurgence in the genre though. Here's to hoping Alien: Isolation and Evil Within are great games.
 
S

Sande

Member
DoubleTake said:
Also a lot of the games you mention I wouldnt consider Survival Horror.

The Order is a cinematic action game before Survival Horror imo. Although Id absolutely love if it ended up that way.

Bloodborne is an Action RPG with horror elements thrown on top. The Player character for the most part isnt completely vulnerable to enemies as in Survival Horrors.

The Last of Us is closest because of the tone of the game and combat.
Click to expand...
This is quite interesting. Most of the games are something else first but some kind survival horror style undertone has become quite popular. In this sense I agree with OP. There are few survival horror games but definitely quite a lot of games with survival horror elements.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Salmonbottle said:
This year's Sony E3 press conference was weirdly heavy on horror. Dead Island 2, Bloodborne, Let it Die, The Last of US, The Order, etc. I got kind of sick of it.

Horror games are cool, but variety is important. Sony is generally better about variety :(
Click to expand...

I couldn't be happier about the comeback of horror, as last gen we only got Siren: Blood Curse, Dead Space, Alan Wake, Dead Island, and The Last of Us. Perhaps Bioshock as well, if it's counted as one. I'm also looking forward to what kind of horror experiences the indie sector may offer. I only hope the run & hide gameplay mechanics won't dominate the genre.

I wouldn't worry about horror being prevalent in Sony's, or anyone else's portfolio.
 
S

Smooth Criminal

Member
Surprised that Outlast hasn't been mentioned yet.

I think some of the titles mentioned in the OP are reaching. I've seen little to suggest they're becoming as popular or as plentiful as shooters.
 
I

Ibrahim

Banned
Stop saying TLOU is survival horror it isn't, no matter how many times you say it wont make survival horror.

I've played horror games since Alone in the dark so I know what is a survival horror game and the last of us was not that, not saying that it should be like alone in the dark but you get what I'm saying.

And to people who thinks tlou is scary don't know what horror means, people keep bringing some basement from the game, really that was scary to you?

The only thing that gave me a classic survival horror feel was
the people in the sewers and the memos they left
, that was nice of them otherwise it would've been boring exploring that place.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Smooth Criminal said:
Surprised that Outlast hasn't been mentioned yet.
Click to expand...

Well, it was one of the games I implied to with "run & hide gameplay mechanics". ;) There's more to come in the form of Frictional's SOMA.


EDIT:
Ibrahim said:
Stop saying TLOU is survival horror it isn't, no matter how many times you say it wont make survival horror.

I've played horror games since Alone in the dark so I know what is a survival horror game and the last of us was not that, not saying that it should be like alone in the dark but you get what I'm saying.

And to people who thinks tlou is scary don't know what horror means, people keep bringing some basement from the game, really that was scary to you?

The only thing that gave me a classic survival horror feel was
the people in the sewers and the memos they left
, that was nice of them otherwise it would've been boring exploring that place.
Click to expand...

I've played horror games since Friday the 13th on C64, and watched horror movies since the early 80's, and I certainly consider TLOU a horror game.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
pinkurocket said:
Hope they can create a psychological horror that rivals Silent Hill 2 or some of the other PS2 era survival horror games, which in my opinion are still the best. Horrid controls, but a focus on story, symbolism and atmosphere.
Click to expand...

This.

I want more psychological horror and less cheap jump scares
 
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