Survival Horror- Scary has never been so...well...scary...

Ok this one might turn out to be another one of my rants so bare with me. Personally, I LOVE horror movies. Anything and everything from the supernatural thrillers to hack and slash murder mysteries, I am indeed a fan. Not only am I a fan of horror films, but honestly I think everyone is! Anytime a new horror movie hits the big screen, people flock to the local theaters and eagerly sit and wait to have the bejesus scared of of em. It just seems to me that as much as people enjoy seeing a riveting dramatic film , or feeling good when they watch a romance movie, they equally love to be scared by cinema. And it doesn't end there. I remember my mother telling me when I was a kid watching "The Amityville Horror" that she loved to read horror novels and that one in particular terrified her while she read it (and if you are familiar with the story, it scared her even more when she lost the book midway through).

As with any popular medium of entertainment, horror stories have been adapted to video games. The survival horror video game genre can be traced all the way back to the Atari game system with a game entitled "Haunted House" which was released in 1981. This game expanded on the idea of solving puzzles and evasion tactics as opposed to fighting your enemies. This concept of avoiding conflict in games ands a new element to the game, the element of vulnerability as compared to the in game monsters you face. This vulnerability can then lead to the desired effect, fear. Jumping ahead a little under two decades, we arrive at one of, if not the, most influential and inspiring of all survival horror games ever created, Resident Evil.

In Resident Evil, you play the role of a member of a police task force trapped in a mansion with various nightmarish creatures. As the story unfolds, you uncover the truth behind the mansion and why it is overrun with all these different ghouls, by solving puzzles and defeating enemies. This game was the first to actually receive the moniker "Survival Horror". As I stated earlier before that vulnerability leads to fear, although a large portion of the game consists of killing enemies with various weapons, they are exponentially more durable then you, faster than you, and pack one hell of a punch (zombie bites are not to underestimated). Conserving ammunition is also an important factor, as it is not found everywhere and firing wildly is never a good idea due to the fact that almost every enemy must be shot to death numerous amounts of times (the buggers get back up!), so you must take your shots carefully, little as they may be. So even though you have a weapon, sometimes even a very good weapon (Shotgun > Knife) your are still extremely weak as compared to your enemies, causing you to still have that overwhelming belief that death is soon coming your way.

Now what is worse than death? Fear! When you die in Survival Horror games (Ironic) you at least have a moment of comfort to reflect on what happened and now expect it next time. But in those few moments where impending death is shambling, creeping, or running your way, the tension of turning that corner, looking in that room, or opening that door cause your heart jumps into your throat. And this may seem bad, but the worst part is that when you muster the courage to open that door,  you see nothing is there. It was all in your mind the whole time, so you begin to relax, and then, oh then, that's when the monster strikes, because while you were turning that doorknob, the foul creature was waiting right behind you!

These two elements are key components of a successful Survival Horror game. One where you have a sense of vulnerability, and the other is that feeling of uneasiness with every step you take. A genuinely scary enemy helps too of course, I will talk about that in my next blog when I review a favorite Survival Horror game of mine. But it is truly that fear, that feeling of being naked in a black room with no light, that makes Survival Horror the popular video game genre it is today.