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Best Survival Horror Game Ever (besides RE4)?
- Thread starter HAL_Laboratory
- Start date
Guess i'll have to give Eternal Darkness a shot one day if I can find it for a decent price.
Wait, that is what Slender is about? When was this made?
Wait, that is what Slender is about? When was this made?
It doesn't seem to be out for that long really.
It's a free game, and basically you have to find 8 notes in a forest area, surrounded by a fence. The Slender Man is after you. Not as in he's chasing you, but he'll suddenly appear. He'll get more relentless in his pursue as you gather more notes. You'll also see very short static graphics and noise when he's near.
You have no means to defend yourself. You have a flashlight that will die out of you use it too long, and you should only sprint when you really have to.
If you run into the Slender Man, the only thing you can do is run.
Staring at him will cause you to die.
Starsunder
Member
I consider REmake to be the best survival horror game ever, including RE4.
Played on the most difficult setting, Dead Space will destroy you, and is one of the best modern survival horror games. The achievement for that is no joke.
quinntendopower
Banned
Haunting Ground - Impossible to beat for me. Hewie makes the game, and there is a ton of stuff to unlock and do after you beat it a first time.
The graphics are fantastic too, the perfect game that could use an HD remake.
By far my favorite buddy game, Hewie is too cool and I love the dynamic between them. The director mentioned he wanted you to take care of Fiona and Hewie, and I'll be damned if I didn't do my best.
Lots of great effects when you are freaking out too.
The graphics are fantastic too, the perfect game that could use an HD remake.
By far my favorite buddy game, Hewie is too cool and I love the dynamic between them. The director mentioned he wanted you to take care of Fiona and Hewie, and I'll be damned if I didn't do my best.
Lots of great effects when you are freaking out too.
It was released last week, so probably over the last few months. SA/Marble Hornets have really put him on the map. Now you can run and hide from him.
Doctor Decimate
Member
the only thing that's survival horror about RE4 is the tank controls
Forbidden Siren? If so, then I agree.
RE4 is not a Survival Horror.
Anyway, a list of Survival Horror from the past generation that you should try anyway. But first, i'll advise you: most of them have chunky controls, weird cameras and a slow paced gameplay, you won't find anything similar to RE4.
Silent Hill 1 and 2. 3 is a nice game but not on par with the other two. Shattered Memories is a powerful experience, but there isn't almost any horror. Origins is mediocre and 4 and Homecoming are garbage.
The first Siren is a great, terrific experience with a great plot from the first Silent Hill author. But the gameplay is kinda... well, you'll need a walkthrough.
The first Clock Tower on SNES is awesome. Ignore the others though, they are crap (CT2-3) or didn't age well (CT1).
Penumbra is pretty good if you like to play in first person, Overture has a particularity good setting. Ignore Requiem though, it's just a shitty cash-in with no plot.
Rule of Rose has one of the best plot, if not the best, in the whole genre and videogame world. Gameplay is kinda stale and old and you may not like it if you liked RE4 for the action.
PZ1 and 2. 3 is kinda crappy and 4 is mediocre.
RE2-3-Rebirth.
These are pretty much the best i can think right now. There are also a lot of other games, some pretty obscure, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Echo Night, Hellnight, Dino Crisis 1, Amnesia, Condemned, but they are not on par with them.
Anyway, a list of Survival Horror from the past generation that you should try anyway. But first, i'll advise you: most of them have chunky controls, weird cameras and a slow paced gameplay, you won't find anything similar to RE4.
Silent Hill 1 and 2. 3 is a nice game but not on par with the other two. Shattered Memories is a powerful experience, but there isn't almost any horror. Origins is mediocre and 4 and Homecoming are garbage.
The first Siren is a great, terrific experience with a great plot from the first Silent Hill author. But the gameplay is kinda... well, you'll need a walkthrough.
The first Clock Tower on SNES is awesome. Ignore the others though, they are crap (CT2-3) or didn't age well (CT1).
Penumbra is pretty good if you like to play in first person, Overture has a particularity good setting. Ignore Requiem though, it's just a shitty cash-in with no plot.
Rule of Rose has one of the best plot, if not the best, in the whole genre and videogame world. Gameplay is kinda stale and old and you may not like it if you liked RE4 for the action.
PZ1 and 2. 3 is kinda crappy and 4 is mediocre.
RE2-3-Rebirth.
These are pretty much the best i can think right now. There are also a lot of other games, some pretty obscure, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Echo Night, Hellnight, Dino Crisis 1, Amnesia, Condemned, but they are not on par with them.
Barrel Cannon
Member
Friday the 13th. Please put on your nostalgia glasses and pretend your 7 years old before playing.
southsidewolf
Neo Member
Probably not typical choices, but both D* Souls games and several sections of Heavy Rain had my heart beating and palms sweating like all good survival horrors should.
Deadspace falls in that category. RE4? LOL. You're a commando who can kick 5 grown men so hard that they're all knocked out for 5 seconds. You are so overpowered that you don't even need to be scared of anything. The game clearly wasn't designed as a horror game since the entire principle of a horror game means that you yourself aren't that strong and have tread carefully and conservatively. RE4 was pretty much designed like a 3rd person shooter without the ability to move and shoot... and they accommodated that in the gameplay by making every enemy except a few just stop and walk as slowly as possible towards when they're 5 meters from your distance.
Anyways, as for my contribution... try Bioshock BUT on Survivor difficulty.
RE2 is often stated by many to be on the level of REmake and Re4, even here on Gaf.
So it's not a lack of popularity. I for instance didn't list it because to me RE2 isn't on the level of Either Remake/Silent Hill so it doesn't stand as the best, to me anyway.
Loved it lost a lot of the creep factor compared to RE1 for me.
Version 3.0
Member
I'm not much into the horror genre, most of them don't do much for me. I've always enjoyed Resident Evil, though, and REmake is incredible. Maybe that says something about their horror level.
RE2 is my favourite from the series, but in comparison I always thought Silent Hill was more scary because of the mystery behind it, and the fact the protagonists were just 'normal' people who somehow ended up in Silent Hill, where RE's characters were more prepared as in knew how to handle weapons and the like.
graywolf323
Member
Corpse Party scares me silly
Its good, but its creepy factor doesnt hold up.
plagiarize
Banned
RE2 is great overall, but i think if we're judging it just as survival horror it's not as pure a survival horror game in the gameplay sense as REmake, and if we're judging it as horror i think most people would agree that it's down there with RE4 in terms of tameness (though i love both).
it's not remotely as scary as 1, 3, RE:Make or Zero. that's not a criticism, because i don't think it was trying to be.
plagiarize
Banned
well, not entirely, but there are certainly chapters of Gears of War i consider horror. Gears occasionally tries to scare, but Dead Space continually tries to scare.
Oh good, someone else brought up Haunting Ground and lots of people brought up Rule of Rose, so I don't have to.
It's hard to pick a single "best" game, it'd be hard for me to pick between Amnesia, Silent Hill 2, and the REmake. I'd probably put Haunting Ground in this tier as well.
Idk if I'd consider Rule of Rose the best horror game bar none, but in terms of how much I enjoyed them I'd probably put it in the same tier as the better Fatal Frames (2, 4), Deadly Premonition, and maybe 1 or 2 more.
It's hard to pick a single "best" game, it'd be hard for me to pick between Amnesia, Silent Hill 2, and the REmake. I'd probably put Haunting Ground in this tier as well.
Idk if I'd consider Rule of Rose the best horror game bar none, but in terms of how much I enjoyed them I'd probably put it in the same tier as the better Fatal Frames (2, 4), Deadly Premonition, and maybe 1 or 2 more.
Berzerk or the original Castle Wolfenstein, one of the two. Something about being able to see the whole playfield and being limited as far as what you can do... pretty tense. Plus a guy died after playing Berzerk. You don't hear about that happening nowadays unless it's from fatigue.
Ninja Scooter
Member
is RE4 even a survival horror game? It's not scary and doesn't even seem to try to be. It's an action-shooter.
PetriP-TNT
Member
Silent Hill 2 is the king, still after what 10 years? I'd like to see the day of some game matching it but I find it doubtful.
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
Wii version just came out too.
Such total bullshit, this Wii version, when the Wii exclusive Fatal Frame title is not allowed to be released here.
That's cheating. You have to use the assy cover art:
This boxart is just too strange. I mean, almost Snes-Street-Fighter2 strange.
Its funny how nobody mention it.
++
I just couldn't get into Resident Evil, didn't find it scary at all. It also felt more like an action game: Open a door, spot where enemies would likely appear, unload led as they came at you.
Alone in the Dark, while more simplistic, at least gave it an honest try. There's also a xmas version/promo of some kind which wasn't too bad, but I didn't like any of the sequels.
I've never played any of the Silent Hill games, but I've been hearing good things about them. Apparently there are monster there that you simply must avoid, or die, so you can't simply run around and shoot everything that moves. Might be closer to what I expect out of survivor/horror.
Krappadizzle
Member
Pretty much everything everyone has said was posted http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=479870. It has a pretty comprehensive list an suggestions for those looking for new games to try.
Darkangel
Member
Survival-Horror is one of my favourite video game genres, so I'm full of opinions about the subject .
Games like Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 aren't really survival-horror, they are more like horror themed third person shooters (not that there's anything wrong with that). I didn't make this picture, but it's pretty much spot on:
Anyway, I would say that the top survival-horror games are:
Resident Evil 2 and REmake are pretty much equal in my book, but if RE2 had gotten the remake treatment (redone script, added horror, crimson heads, photo realistic backgrounds, ect..), then it would probably come out on top.
I found that Silent Hill 3 was the scariest game in the SH series, but SH2 was the better game due to the storyline, and atmosphere.
The Resident Evil series tends to excel at the "survival" aspect, while the Silent Hill series excels at the "horror" aspect. Resident Evil games have limited inventory space, limited saving, limited health, and somewhat limited ammo. Although they have great atmosphere, I never really found any of them "scary" (except for parts of REmake). Silent Hill games on the other hand have less refined gameplay, but are truly amazing when it comes to producing fear and discomfort. Unlike most horror media, Silent Hill does not rely on jump outs to produces its scares. SH games are able to instill fear through horrific environments, excellent sound design, and the almighty psychological element.
REmake is truly a masterpiece in that it was able to master the survival gameplay of previous titles, yet also succeed at implementing some genuine horror.
Although the SH games are scarier, I would say that the Resident Evil Remake is the quintessential survival-horror experience.
Games like Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 aren't really survival-horror, they are more like horror themed third person shooters (not that there's anything wrong with that). I didn't make this picture, but it's pretty much spot on:
Anyway, I would say that the top survival-horror games are:
- Resident Evil Remake (good at everything)
- Resident Evil 2 (great gameplay)
- Silent Hill 2 (great story)
- Silent Hill 3 (great horror)
Resident Evil 2 and REmake are pretty much equal in my book, but if RE2 had gotten the remake treatment (redone script, added horror, crimson heads, photo realistic backgrounds, ect..), then it would probably come out on top.
I found that Silent Hill 3 was the scariest game in the SH series, but SH2 was the better game due to the storyline, and atmosphere.
The Resident Evil series tends to excel at the "survival" aspect, while the Silent Hill series excels at the "horror" aspect. Resident Evil games have limited inventory space, limited saving, limited health, and somewhat limited ammo. Although they have great atmosphere, I never really found any of them "scary" (except for parts of REmake). Silent Hill games on the other hand have less refined gameplay, but are truly amazing when it comes to producing fear and discomfort. Unlike most horror media, Silent Hill does not rely on jump outs to produces its scares. SH games are able to instill fear through horrific environments, excellent sound design, and the almighty psychological element.
REmake is truly a masterpiece in that it was able to master the survival gameplay of previous titles, yet also succeed at implementing some genuine horror.
Although the SH games are scarier, I would say that the Resident Evil Remake is the quintessential survival-horror experience.
Magicpaint
Member
Not really, though RE4 straddles a fine line between survival horror and action horror... but REmake and Silent Hill 1/2 are fantastic survival horror experiences. Condemned is a really good one too.
EDIT: I didn't know Eternal Darkness was considered survival horror. I certainly didn't think so when playing it. Just goes to show how subjective this genre is.
EDIT: I didn't know Eternal Darkness was considered survival horror. I certainly didn't think so when playing it. Just goes to show how subjective this genre is.
Corpse party is my favorite survival horror game of all time. The atmosphere in that game is amazing. I wish it was available on more platforms so that more people could enjoy/be scared silly by it. I can't remember another game where I didn't want to keep playing because of the tension it was creating.
Project zero(fatal frame)2 wii edition is a must play. The remake is excellent and better than the originals. Outside of maybe amnesia its the best survival horror game we've gotten this gen.
Watch the launch trailer(better quality version on nintendos site)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aLXc1hnffRo
I did too. It's not scary, sometimes creepy but the story is top notch.
Watch the launch trailer(better quality version on nintendos site)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aLXc1hnffRo
I did too. It's not scary, sometimes creepy but the story is top notch.
graywolf323
Member
I've only ever managed to part the first chapter and that was with a friend helping me >_<
As much as I want to like Amnesia and the Penumbra games I just do not sit well with games where you have to flee from everything because you're helpless.
I like the RE games not just because of the horror aspect but rather the survival, in terms of making do with limited resources. It's also why I like STALKER, for example.
It just bugs me that there hasn't been a single game that does everything I want perfectly so I can't even pick a favorite. Dead Space and REmake got the setting and atmosphere right, but I'd rather have gameplay that was somewhere in the middle of the two. Hell if Dead Space had an option to get rid of the ammo drops from enemies and force you to rely on exploration then that'd go a long way towards being what I want. RE: Revelations was on the right track, at least, although just like DS1 it devolves into a shooting gallery later on.
I know it's a bit on the goofy and actiony side but I still love Code Veronica. The knife wasn't THAT overpowered and it was actually useful instead of being a pointless toothpick. It uses the old style of controls but it's not clumsy or slow. I'll take it over RE0's nightmare of inventory management at least.
I like the RE games not just because of the horror aspect but rather the survival, in terms of making do with limited resources. It's also why I like STALKER, for example.
It just bugs me that there hasn't been a single game that does everything I want perfectly so I can't even pick a favorite. Dead Space and REmake got the setting and atmosphere right, but I'd rather have gameplay that was somewhere in the middle of the two. Hell if Dead Space had an option to get rid of the ammo drops from enemies and force you to rely on exploration then that'd go a long way towards being what I want. RE: Revelations was on the right track, at least, although just like DS1 it devolves into a shooting gallery later on.
I know it's a bit on the goofy and actiony side but I still love Code Veronica. The knife wasn't THAT overpowered and it was actually useful instead of being a pointless toothpick. It uses the old style of controls but it's not clumsy or slow. I'll take it over RE0's nightmare of inventory management at least.