It's hot take o'clock today for survival horror
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The Evil Within 2 is the best survival horror game since Silent Hill 2
- Thread starter BadWolf
- Start date
It's hot take o'clock today for survival horror
me0wish
Member
And people agree with me:
I've brought a lot of points into discussing why RE7 is bad, I'm done talking about it. If you enjoy it, more power to you.
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Enemies can detect you on ladders and the TEW2 OT people have said the ending was surprising really good I'll leave that open until I see it myself.
Bu its kinda weird how people with the most negative opinion sound like they've never played the game.
But you are right about RE7
I almost forgot!
OP with the shit FPS horrors that now dominate the market TEW2 maybe the closest to the Horror greats like SH2 but it's still nowhere near it's level.
RE7 was definitely easy to cheese, and that includes the early enemies. It does ruin the suspense somewhat. With it and TEW, you kinda have to make your own game. Like actively engaging enemies even though you can run away/close a door/throw down an OP weapon.
Nice to see that amidst the hot takes this thread spawned a pretty interesting discussion about genre degradation.
Either way I would say wait a little longer to have a more well rounded view of the experience. Its easy to overlook flaws when the game is less than a week old.
Either way I would say wait a little longer to have a more well rounded view of the experience. Its easy to overlook flaws when the game is less than a week old.
nogoodnamesleft
Banned
Huh, from what ive played of it i would disagree. Its solid but nothing great. Only about 5 hours in though. I enjoyed nearly every second of Re7. For reference, SH2 is one of my favourite games of all time.
Fantastic game.
I'm slowly struggling my way through my first blind playthrough on Nightmare and the tension is real. Resources are much more scarce than RE4 and RE2. Enemies are faster, stronger and more resilient, too. And while the hero is not an infallible killing machine like Leon, he controls well and has a lot of agency in how he approaches situations.
The atmosphere is wonderful, too, contrasting between comfort one moment and a cold, dark, hostile world the next. The pacing is also on point, with sandbox sections that feel meticulously designed on a moment-to-moment basis, with pockets of activity that you approach with caution and feel handsomely rewarded for overcoming.
The game can be very challenging on its highest default difficult, but I appreciate the frequent autosaves (with their own three slots, separate from the 10 save files) that ensure I don't lose much progress. It's a horror game, definitely, but it also has this cozy quality. Very immersive, and very fun peeling back the layers of mystery and intrigue and seeing what creative setpiece or awe-inspiring creature is around the next corner.
Also, I genuinely care about the main character this time around. There's emotional depth to the story this time and an actual trajectory that he and several other characters follow throughout the game, learning and growing along the way. It's nice to see.
I'm slowly struggling my way through my first blind playthrough on Nightmare and the tension is real. Resources are much more scarce than RE4 and RE2. Enemies are faster, stronger and more resilient, too. And while the hero is not an infallible killing machine like Leon, he controls well and has a lot of agency in how he approaches situations.
The atmosphere is wonderful, too, contrasting between comfort one moment and a cold, dark, hostile world the next. The pacing is also on point, with sandbox sections that feel meticulously designed on a moment-to-moment basis, with pockets of activity that you approach with caution and feel handsomely rewarded for overcoming.
The game can be very challenging on its highest default difficult, but I appreciate the frequent autosaves (with their own three slots, separate from the 10 save files) that ensure I don't lose much progress. It's a horror game, definitely, but it also has this cozy quality. Very immersive, and very fun peeling back the layers of mystery and intrigue and seeing what creative setpiece or awe-inspiring creature is around the next corner.
Also, I genuinely care about the main character this time around. There's emotional depth to the story this time and an actual trajectory that he and several other characters follow throughout the game, learning and growing along the way. It's nice to see.
SecondCitySaint
Member
Was REmake after SH2? Well, regardless, REmake is the king.
Meme Master Flux
Member
Just beat it, honestly one of my favorite games of the year.
I honestly can't believe Bethesda didn't market the game well, because it's a real gem.
I honestly can't believe Bethesda didn't market the game well, because it's a real gem.
Yep, both TEW2 and REVII will be in my Top 10 this year.
consoul
Member
This thread really highlights the age old problem of defining what survival horror is.
Some want a gruelling and horrific atmospheric experience that fills you with dread, others want an enjoyable action game experience with horror themes. Both perfectly valid, but not very comparable. Narrative seems an important factor to some, and incidental to others.
I think there's also a lack of consensus in this thread on other terms. Clunky controls and jankiness are not the same thing. Pacing and flow aren't either.
This discussion makes me wonder if gaming terminology has developed so fast that as a community we don't have common understandings of many of the terms we use.
Some want a gruelling and horrific atmospheric experience that fills you with dread, others want an enjoyable action game experience with horror themes. Both perfectly valid, but not very comparable. Narrative seems an important factor to some, and incidental to others.
I think there's also a lack of consensus in this thread on other terms. Clunky controls and jankiness are not the same thing. Pacing and flow aren't either.
This discussion makes me wonder if gaming terminology has developed so fast that as a community we don't have common understandings of many of the terms we use.
TEW2 is both legitimate horror at times (sweating bullets instead of actually having bullets, barely scraping by, never sure if you're escaping danger or running into more danger), AND horror-themed action (those moments where the game arms you to the teeth and throws abundant enemies at you to mow down).
I feel like I had way more items on RE2's highest default difficulty than I do here. That's funny to me because RE2 is classic RE and this looks more akin to action RE.
At any rate, the result is a superbly paced game. I really enjoy the way it keeps throwing new things at me, or subverting my expectation, or bouncing back and forth between linear and nonlinear spaces.
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
You telling me, I ran into the Circular Saw woman I didn't have the ammo to take her out so I ran
Saw a near by Diner and went in there for safety and then the jukebox turn on
Dane_gerClose
Member
Kind of off topic but I just read the OP again and only now discovered you could heal while sprinting.
I'm halfway through my Classic playthrough and this will be invaluable.
BadWolf delivers again!
I'm halfway through my Classic playthrough and this will be invaluable.
BadWolf delivers again!
Strider311
Member
Couldn't agree more, OP. I would still personally place TLOU at the top, but I am loving this game.
King of Cups
Member
Hmm, sounds right up my alley. Hehe!
Seriously, I enjoy the atmosphere most survival horror games provide but not necessarily the helplessness, hence why RE4 is one of my favorite games.
Curious Puppy
Banned
TEW2 is not even in the same stratosphere as Silent Hill 2. Silent Hill 2 is the absolute GOAT, TEW2 is very good but a lot of very good survival horror games have come out in the last 10-15 years. RE7, RE4, Dead Space, etc.
None of them come anywhere close to the story and atmosphere of SH2 though. I don't think I'll see another survival horror in my lifetime that does.
None of them come anywhere close to the story and atmosphere of SH2 though. I don't think I'll see another survival horror in my lifetime that does.
Tinfoilhatsron
Banned
You post about as well as TEW2 tells its story.
God I hope you don't use writing in any part of your job. Christ.
Edit: Huh, you beat me to the punch. Why even post in the first place though? Chill the fuck out, people can have opinions that don't align with you.
Neff
Member
I wouldn't say matching Silent Hill 2 is a particularly strong achievement. It's not even one of the better SH games imo. Challenge and variety are sorely lacking, its only strength being the story and presentation, which is only ever going to be so effective if you already know the famous twist. I played it for the first time a couple of years ago and found it incredibly disappointing compared to the slick, engaging original. I love horror/Survival Horror games, but I consider SH2 among the most overrated titles in the genre along with Alan Wake.
TEW2 has its faults, but at least it's a fun game. It's probably too early for me to rank it in the hall of fame yet, though.
1. Resident Evil/Remake
2. Resident Evil 4
3. Resident Evil 2
4. Resident Evil Code Veronica
5. Resident Evil 6
6. Resident Evil 5
7. The Evil Within
8. Resident Evil 7
9. Resident Evil Revelations 2
10. Resident Evil 0
11. Dead Space 2
12. Dead Space
13. Resident Evil 3
14. Resident Evil Revelations
15. The Last of Us
16. Dead Space 3
17. Silent Hill Downpour
18. Alien Isolation
19. Silent Hill
20. Haunting Ground
TEW2 has its faults, but at least it's a fun game. It's probably too early for me to rank it in the hall of fame yet, though.
1. Resident Evil/Remake
2. Resident Evil 4
3. Resident Evil 2
4. Resident Evil Code Veronica
5. Resident Evil 6
6. Resident Evil 5
7. The Evil Within
8. Resident Evil 7
9. Resident Evil Revelations 2
10. Resident Evil 0
11. Dead Space 2
12. Dead Space
13. Resident Evil 3
14. Resident Evil Revelations
15. The Last of Us
16. Dead Space 3
17. Silent Hill Downpour
18. Alien Isolation
19. Silent Hill
20. Haunting Ground
TheJollyCorner
Member
Downpour is your highest ranking SH, Neff?
I'm starting to think you might not 'get' that series... but hey, glad you enjoy the RE games!
I'm starting to think you might not 'get' that series... but hey, glad you enjoy the RE games!
Neff
Member
Downpour is your highest ranking SH, Neff?
I'm starting to think you might not 'get' that series... but hey, glad you enjoy the RE games!
I don't know about 'getting' Silent Hill, but the 'shit gets rusty, all the doors are locked' thing never really worked for me, I'll admit. That said, SH1 has an eerie, lo-fi '90s charm to it that uniquely works along with the game's desolate town setting. And it's on PSone, and PSones are awesome.
Downpour won me over by simply having a lot of effort and care put into its environment design. It feels oddly claustrophobic for what is essentially an open world game due to its dense, maze-like structure and abundance of interior locations. There's a lot of elaborate sidequest content, too. I dunno, it pushed a lot of the right buttons for me. I even don't mind the Korn song. I think it's a very underrated game, especially considering it's so vilified by Silent Hill fans.
Jangowuzhere
Banned
When it comes to just pure gameplay, Evil Within 2 is probably the best survival horror game I've played. Only in chapter 5 now, but it's an addicting experience exploring the open world and coming up with new strategies to save ammo. It can be a bit clunky at times, but I guess survival horror games need to be a bit clunky to give players that needed tension.
Not sure about comparing it to Silent Hill. If we're being real here, the SH games are more about the atmosphere and story. Evil Within 2 is definitely not that.
Not sure about comparing it to Silent Hill. If we're being real here, the SH games are more about the atmosphere and story. Evil Within 2 is definitely not that.
Silent Hill Downpour was fantastic. It only needed better enemy design and less jank.
...
Anybody who says he likes REmake and doesn't like 7 is full of shit.
I just played remake, months after I played 7, and it feels like 7 is what TFA was to ANW. It's almost a retread, which is good, after the horrible dumbfest that was 6.
...
Anybody who says he likes REmake and doesn't like 7 is full of shit.
I just played remake, months after I played 7, and it feels like 7 is what TFA was to ANW. It's almost a retread, which is good, after the horrible dumbfest that was 6.
Astral Dog
Member
RE6 in the top 5 horror games!? :O
Everything in this posts triggers me. Everything.
Loves Survival Horror, has RE6 in top 5. :thinking:
xviper
Member
just finished the game, took me about 20 hours, explored almost everything
The evil within 1 was criminally underrated, it was amazing
but The evil within 2 is a HUGE disappointment for me, i expected much more than this
it's a step backward on every possible way
the gameplay has gotten worse, controls are fucked up, it's like they are glitched or something, camera is fucked up, gunplay is significantly downgraded from the first game, i'm not feeling the shots, the enemies are not reacting properly to the shots, hitboxes are fucked up, sometimes i shoot them and it misses even though i'm sure i aimed at them, especially when they get very close to you, bosses are bad and forgetable (except the final boss), the pacing is insanely boring, it heavily depends on stealth or you will run out of ammo, and the stealth is basic as fuck
the open sandbox was a big mistake, it's obvious that it effected the game's quality, the story is the only improvement from the first game, everything else is a much worse
The evil within 1 is like the MUCH better sequel to The evil within 2
open world is the FPS of this generation, apparently every game has to be open world or semi-open world now
The evil within 1 was criminally underrated, it was amazing
but The evil within 2 is a HUGE disappointment for me, i expected much more than this
it's a step backward on every possible way
the gameplay has gotten worse, controls are fucked up, it's like they are glitched or something, camera is fucked up, gunplay is significantly downgraded from the first game, i'm not feeling the shots, the enemies are not reacting properly to the shots, hitboxes are fucked up, sometimes i shoot them and it misses even though i'm sure i aimed at them, especially when they get very close to you, bosses are bad and forgetable (except the final boss), the pacing is insanely boring, it heavily depends on stealth or you will run out of ammo, and the stealth is basic as fuck
the open sandbox was a big mistake, it's obvious that it effected the game's quality, the story is the only improvement from the first game, everything else is a much worse
The evil within 1 is like the MUCH better sequel to The evil within 2
open world is the FPS of this generation, apparently every game has to be open world or semi-open world now
I never once encountered any of the gunplay issues you had or the camera issues either. I played Evil Within a week before this game and it was a massive step up IMO.
I dislike the Stealth, the story and voice acting were bad, the game had awful animations and tons of glitchy crates ( I watched 5hrs of a stream before playing and I ran into the same floating crates they did) The open world and getting around it isn't great, too many things feels scripted and its by no means a "scary" game. I played on Nightmare and pretty much went directly into stealth.
Edit: Any enemies in the open world can just be ran past and they give up after like 15ft and non of the bosses provided the slightest of challenge.
Edit: Any enemies in the open world can just be ran past and they give up after like 15ft and non of the bosses provided the slightest of challenge.
Yeah, it is pretty dreadful. Some cool parts but overall a waste of time.
old manatee
Banned
Can you elaborate, Also whats so "literal" about it?
Oh and i'm sure the game is barely harder on classic but I really don't want to go through all of the scripted non sense again and no i'm not talking about the phone calls I know they can be skipped.
This thread was filled with good debates from both camps I feel, and then this post happened.
Why is TLOU in that list? Why is DS3 in that list? WHY IS RE6 THAT HIGH ON THE LIST?!?!
I'm out. My brain can't even fathom this insane take on good games.
The Xtortionist
Member
Decided to hook the ol' PS3 up yesterday to see if Dead Space 2 holds up, and, uh...ended up completing a whole playthrough. Goddamn that game is still fantastic. Enemies in Dead Space are essentially walking pieces of bubble wrap, with the dismemberment mechanic essentially "popping" them over and over. The gunplay is top tier with uber-satisfying feedback and sound, and stasis is a brilliant mechanic to manage crowds or particularly twitchy enemies. Then once enemies are down you get to run up and STOMP A MUDHOLE IN 'EM, making items fly out to the tune of the juiciest, meatiest splatter sound effect around. Sogood.gif. For weapons I went plasma cutter/pulse rifle/ripper/contact beam for a good mix of crowd control and precise destruction.
Pacing is so on-point - the game just flies. It's a constant barrage of cool environments and enemies to massacre, with the occasional setpiece to keep things interesting I also love how the game uses jump scares. While some number of the scares are purely there to startle you, most of them are accompanied by an enemy jumping out, which gives them function as signaling the sudden start to a combat encounter. The constant threat of ambush really keeps you on your toes. Economy is also fairly strong, with the ability to purchase power nodes (weapon upgrades) and suits (essentially DS2's answer to RE4's attache upgrades). Finally, the aiming sensitivity feels fantastic even on default settings. The reticle smoothly responds to player input, and regular camera movement without aiming is very quick to allow for situational awareness and fast changes of direction, while sensitivity during ADS is slowed down considerably to allow for precision shots. It's TPS controls done exceptionally well.
Still my number two action/horror after RE4. Definitely holds up to the point where I can play it over and over. You can really see dat $60 million on-screen. RIP Visceral.
Pacing is so on-point - the game just flies. It's a constant barrage of cool environments and enemies to massacre, with the occasional setpiece to keep things interesting I also love how the game uses jump scares. While some number of the scares are purely there to startle you, most of them are accompanied by an enemy jumping out, which gives them function as signaling the sudden start to a combat encounter. The constant threat of ambush really keeps you on your toes. Economy is also fairly strong, with the ability to purchase power nodes (weapon upgrades) and suits (essentially DS2's answer to RE4's attache upgrades). Finally, the aiming sensitivity feels fantastic even on default settings. The reticle smoothly responds to player input, and regular camera movement without aiming is very quick to allow for situational awareness and fast changes of direction, while sensitivity during ADS is slowed down considerably to allow for precision shots. It's TPS controls done exceptionally well.
Still my number two action/horror after RE4. Definitely holds up to the point where I can play it over and over. You can really see dat $60 million on-screen. RIP Visceral.
hivsteak
Member
I have fun playing the game. What kills the game for me is how easily the AI can be exploited so far.
I can stealth kill all normal enemies without any effort.
When an enemy does sees me, I run around a corner/obstacle and hug cover. They lose sight yet still come running in my direction. Then I use the skill that allows you to melee kill unsuspecting enemies from cover.
I can stealth kill all normal enemies without any effort.
When an enemy does sees me, I run around a corner/obstacle and hug cover. They lose sight yet still come running in my direction. Then I use the skill that allows you to melee kill unsuspecting enemies from cover.
Honestly, that sounds like a good thing for me.
Neff
Member
Pretty much. RE6 has some creepy moments/enemies, even though by and large it's all about slidin' and counterin' and shootin' european monsters in tracksuits with machine guns. That said, I'd still qualify it as a horror game.
Because they're fun.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
But The Last of Us is not horror game.
me0wish
Member
I defeated waves of enemies by just "hiding" on the ladder, I've literally done that with various enemies.
Minor boss spoiler:
https://i.4cdn.org/v/1508427971226m.jpg
Even the graphics and atmosphere terrible compared to the first game.
One of the bosses you can just hide in a bus and it can't hit you so you can just snipe it non stop. It's pretty poorly designed.
Neff
Member
Not as overtly horrific as some games out there perhaps, but game about a virus which makes fungus sprout through people's faces and irreversibly turns them into mindless, murderous creatures is enough to qualify.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
I would consider TLOU as survival game but its not horror. Its just doesn't have the horror atmosphere. Besides base on your logic then is Bioshock considered horror game? I mean some of Splicers look more messed up looking than the zombies in TLOU.