ProgenitorCastle
Banned
Hey GAF...I booted up ZombiU on the Wii U because today's my birthday so I wanted to see the special birthday animation the Wii U plays on your birthday and it got me to think...regardless of camera (fixed/third person/first person or any combination of these...) what makes survival horror games so great?
For me, as of this writing, it's the following traits:
-Great balance of risk/reward in de-emphasized combat. You can risk using up your ammo going for a headshot on a zombie...or you can run away and find an alternate route to your next objective.
-Atmosphere. Depending on the game, it could be luxurious like castle settings, or it could be grimey like sewers. I generally find that the best survival horrors have various iconic settings, but have one main one that stands out. Spencer Mansion, R.P.D., etc.
-OST that balances between ambient, creepy, and to step things up in certain cases a notch, no music at all. The music or lack of can really enhance the atmosphere of a survival horror game, it can make or break the atmosphere.
-Memorable enemy design. Enemy designs can set apart even the more action packed survival horrors from other similar games.
I could go on, but those are a few of the traits that I find in many of my favorite survival horror games and what I find makes them great. So how about you GAF, what do you think makes survival horror games great?
For me, as of this writing, it's the following traits:
-Great balance of risk/reward in de-emphasized combat. You can risk using up your ammo going for a headshot on a zombie...or you can run away and find an alternate route to your next objective.
-Atmosphere. Depending on the game, it could be luxurious like castle settings, or it could be grimey like sewers. I generally find that the best survival horrors have various iconic settings, but have one main one that stands out. Spencer Mansion, R.P.D., etc.
-OST that balances between ambient, creepy, and to step things up in certain cases a notch, no music at all. The music or lack of can really enhance the atmosphere of a survival horror game, it can make or break the atmosphere.
-Memorable enemy design. Enemy designs can set apart even the more action packed survival horrors from other similar games.
I could go on, but those are a few of the traits that I find in many of my favorite survival horror games and what I find makes them great. So how about you GAF, what do you think makes survival horror games great?