For a while, horror games had started to change. Survival horror games started to incorporate quicker pacing, eschewing atmospheric or encroaching horror elements in favor of jump scares and thrills instead of lasting fear. Many point to games likeResident Evil 4as the beginning of this trend of games shaping the horror genre into frequent quick scares full of loudness and lacking subtlety. Any player vulnerability began to fade away, since the core of these games was an action game, though things are starting to change once again.
Thanks to landmark games likeP.T.andResident Evil 7, survival horror in general is seeing quite the resurgence in video game culture. In the most recent Inside Xbox presentation alone, there were several atmospheric horror games shown. Likely in response to the culture shift last console generation,horror games are beginning to reject action-oriented gameplayand replace it with more traditional atmospheric horror. Now ambiance is the name of the game for mainstream horror games, and that’s not a bad thing.
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Shifting to Action Horror
Right around 2005, the start of the seventh console generation, horror games started to move away from many of the elements that defined them previously. Games likeF.E.A.RandResident Evil 4were critically acclaimed horror titlesthat incorporated elements of action games along the base horror elements. That’s not to say they were bad horror games, as they did for the most part have a thoughtful balance between atmosphere and functional horror. The main thing that changed was the vulnerability of the playable character, though this change was subtle at first. Over time, successive horror games gave players way too much freedom and power in their own ways.
Resident Evilquickly became the main perpetrator of this problem with subsequent entries in the series.Resident Evil 5, despite being a genuinely enjoyable coop game, strayed even further away from atmospheric horror. Throughout the game, there were quick time events and setpieces that were bombastic and full of gore. This is without even mentioningResident Evil 6, which basically ignored any semblance of horror, and turned the series into an exertion of spectacle rather than subtlety. It wasn’t until 2014 where horror games started to recede from mainstream games, and one project in particular marked a return to roots for the genre.
Returning to Roots
A certain project from veteran video game producer/auteur Hideo Kojima helped bring the genre back to its atmospheric and enduring horror roots. Often cited as one of the most genuinely frightening horror experiences in recent years,P.T.and its reception showed that horror games didn’t need elements of action games to see widespread acclaim. Despite being a literal “playable teaser” forthe now-cancelledSilent Hillsproject,P.T.re-emphasized the player vulnerability aspect of horror games which many new titles seemed to ignore. While plenty of other franchises likeAmnesiaandOutlastwere innovating similarly scary survival horror games, they had limited influence since they came from independent game studios and didn’t have established brand recognition.
Another huge game that inspired modern survival horror in 2014 wasAlien: Isolation,based on the amazingAliensci-fi horror film series.Alien-inspired video games had seen a similar situation toResident Evil, where many of the video game adaptations had nothing to do with the horror genre. Fans may remember the highly controversialAliens: Colonial Marineswhich came out just a year earlier, which received a ton of backlash for releasing in a completely different state than what was advertised. But theAlienfranchise was able to rebound withIsolation, which dialed in on the horror aspects of the original film and translated them to survival horror gameplay to great success. Again, the vulnerability of the playable character was palpable inAlien: Isolation, thanks to imposing nature of the Xenomorph.
Enduring Survival Horror
Since then, atmospheric survival horror has inspired several successful modern horror games. This marked a shift even for the longest running survival horror franchises of all time,Resident Evil. AfterResident Evil 6was largely panned upon release, Capcom brought the series back to the drawing board for nearly five years. Largely influenced bythe impact ofP.T.on the game’s produceras well as the genre as a whole,Resident Evilmade a radical change to the franchise by craftingResident Evil 7. For the first time ever,Resident Evilwas being played through a first-person perspective as a completely new protagonist to the series. Serving as a soft reboot for the franchise, it was the first time in a long time whereResident Evilreturned to the genre it helped pioneer during the fifth console generation.
Games likeResident Evil 2/3 Remakehave proven that even older titles remade with modern sensibilities can still retain their innovative horror roots. Indie games likeLittle NightmaresandHunt: Showdownare pumping in design inspirations from other genres to horror with great success. Even more recently there’s titles likeScornandThe Medium, both of whichwere unveiled during the Inside Xbox’s May presentation. Both games exhibit a high horror atmosphere rife with disturbing imagery and surreal ambiance. These games serve as further proof that traditional survival horror is alive and well, and may even see greater evolution during the upcoming console generation.
