I hear it over and over again that another survival horror game is coming out. Yet they always end in disappointment. Most of them try and cash in on cheap scares by having something pop out of nowhere, while some, like Alan Wake just cover it in shadows and zoom in on it to point it out. This is not survival horror! This is action-adventure, with a few thrills here and there tacked on to fall into a different genre. What happened to Resident Evil, and Silent Hill? These two games are iconic to the survival horror and psychological horror styles respectively. (We'll discuss the differences in a blog at a later date.) Now Resident Evil has become a common 3rd person shooter and almost no puzzles and breakable doors. Silent Hill on the other hand, seems to be tracing its roots with Shattered Memories and possibly the developing Downpour. Yes Silent Hill's combat is pathetic, but it supposed to be, you're not a soldier in a world of targets. Resident Evil has lost all original story of being in the fictional Raccoon City and surrounding woods, to Europe and most recently, Africa. Both Europe and Africa have done away with zombies that was a series staple, for what just appears to be people frustrated that you are there. Granted every series and genre needs to grow to keep up with the times, but changing everything and adding characters from the past like a cameo just seems like a whole new game with recycled people.
Its been said that Resident Evil has become a shooter because there is nothing left with the story, so now the characters just come back, guns blazing. What is the point? Umbrella is disband between RE3 and RE4 but they're looking for a new virus and a new company called Tri-Cell is introduced. In case you have forgotten, Umbrella Corporation began researching the viruses to create weapons for the military, they were not an evil organization until they tested humans, making zombies and causing an outbreak. At this point it does not make sense to look into another weapon making parasite, other than world domination. If that's their motive, why not quit messing with people and make a bunch of the big crab things from RE5 and be done with it. I can't beat them without a rocket launcher, which costs probably more than smaller nations can scrape together anyhow. This idea just blows apart the, "Let's get revenge now that we have them disbanded." idea. Just the site of a shambling zombie in the first game nearly made Chris and Jill urinate all over; now they want to shove their foots up every man, woman, tree, child, chicken, crab and bird that has a bottom to shove. Sadly, the genre as a whole has not held up with time well and has been derived into a common, dime-a-dozen shooter.
Silent Hill has developed in a, some would say bad, I say functional way. The original game for the Playstation featured Harry Mason in the town of Silent Hill, a now abbandoned resort town, looking for his daughter Cheryl. The plot takes Harry deeper into the horrific past of the town that can basically be summed up in one sentence. The town has gone to Hell. (the literal place) And houses a cult trying to make Cheryl, whom is the good half of Alessa Gillespie, who was originally the sacrifice/mother of this goat looking thing, or woman depending on the ending. (Both are evil though, so its pretty much the same) Each game, with the exception of 4, has taken place in or eventually led to the town. The series started to go down hill when Konami's Team Silent, gave it to western developers, Climax Studios. Climax has so far just did the previously mentioned cameos by characters, and crappier combat. I like this though, to an extent. Silent Hill: Origins was a bit off with a, what felt like, protagonist with a tacked on bad past that just so happens to lead to Silent Hill and he never has a reason to stay and not get back in his truck and enjoy his way home. Homecoming brings things a bit better with, decent combat, decent puzzles and a good story. Biggest problem with Homecoming is the puzzles sometimes don't give a hint and relies on the player to guess. These are problems with the series since Climax took over, yet they seem to keep it an original psychological horror series still. Shattered Memories, mentioned in a previous post took the first game down a much better adventure styled theme with a better story removing the cult completely. If Silent Hill: Downpour will continue the original horror style, this game may be ridiculed by some, but in my opinion, will be better, showing that yes, Shattered Memories being its own series will be great, but don't lose the feel of a dying genre and it'll definitly be something to take a second look at as a near extinct animal in a zoo will be.
Ok, we're at the end of this post and just want to say, survival horror and psychological horror are dying, but the companies are changing them to action games because they appeal to a broader range and can bring in better revenue. Just like what Bethesda Softworks did with Fallout, that was originally a point and click PCRPG, and is now a first-person shooter RPG and has been a success worldwide compared to Interplay's Fallout PC games that had a niche market. This was going to be my usually closing but, just want to say: Survival horror has a fear that can be explained. i.e. Zombies made with a virus developed in a lab. Psychological horror deals with things that cannot. i.e. The Taken in Alan Wake and the monsters in Silent Hill, yes they can be attributed to Alessa's inner evil, but where does she get the power? Was going to address that in another blog, but not really enough material to worry about.
Thanks for reading ^_^
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