Survival Horror-To-Action Ratio

[Graco]

Then maybe just say horror? To call RE1 and RE5 both action games is misleading. Anyone who plays the former for the same reasons they'd play the latter is going to be greatly disappointed.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

It was also used as the loading text when loading a save in RE1. Prior to that, Alone in the Dark was grouped generally with adventure games and SH sounded cool.

But then games have always had a mixed up approached to genre definitions. Sometimes a game would be defined by a perspective, sometimes the content, sometimes the control system. And anything that wasn't easy to define ended up in the equally ambiguous 'Puzzle' genre

[Anders]

Then maybe just say horror? To call RE1 and RE5 both action games is misleading. Anyone who plays the former for the same reasons they'd play the latter is going to be greatly disappointed.

All you're missing is perspective. Add that RE1 is from 1996, and RE5 is from 2009, and you are no longer misleading anyone.

Shocking revelation: The only survival horror game to ever have been made is Forbidden Siren.

[Graco]

All you're missing is perspective. Add that RE1 is from 1996, and RE5 is from 2009, and you are no longer misleading anyone.

Shocking revelation: The only survival horror game to ever have been made is Forbidden Siren.

The difference in level layout, atmosphere, pacing, etc. are still very much different and have nothing to do with console limitations. There were plenty of fast paced action games in the late 90's.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

Anders, so Mikami creates the term survival horror to describe his the gameplay of Resident Evil and you're trying to tell us at the first RE wasn't survival horror at all but FS is?

If we're going to compare games across the genre (and let's not forget Fatal Frame here) then rating them in terms of their amount of survival horror is just pointless.

[Lanzagranadas]

I highly doubt Survival horror is even an actual genre, it's just an ambiguous concept/element added to the adventure genre. The earlier REs were more horror-themed adventure games because the focus was on the adventure itself, where enemies took a secondary role. From RE4 onwards, it turned into horror-themed shooters, as you spent 80% of the game time shooting at enemies.

[Anders]

The difference in level layout, atmosphere, pacing, etc. are still very much different and have nothing to do with console limitations. There were plenty of fast paced action games in the late 90's.

Yes, but is RE5 in the category of the most fast paced action games of 2009?
I'm exaggerating a bit, of course... RE1 is more horror than RE5.

Anders, so Mikami creates the term survival horror to describe his the gameplay of Resident Evil and you're trying to tell us at the first RE wasn't survival horror at all but FS is?

If we're going to compare games across the genre (and let's not forget Fatal Frame here) then rating them in terms of their amount of survival horror is just pointless.

Survival horror is just a made up term (Mikami hardly did anything on RE1 anyway, and that's the closest he has ever been to survival horror, why are we listening to him?). I call Resident Evil 1 and so on for survival horror games, same with Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and a lot more. Survival horror is my favourite genre. I named my website "Lost Releases: Survival Horror Media Releases" (link in sig), and you can see all the games featured and debate how much "survival horror" they are. My only point is that back in the day, RE1 felt and played like an action game with horror/mystery undertones, it wasn't this legendary "oh my god there's no ammo" survival horror game some people make it out to be. It did have a lot of things that modern games are lacking, though - a mystery/story you actually care about, atmosphere.

As for Siren, pointless maybe, but if any game has the right to be called survival horror that's number 1 in the list.

[Becky's Butt]

Mikami didn't do anything with RE1? What?

[News Bot]

Mikami didn't do anything with RE1? What?

Not that he didn't do anything, just that he did very little.

[Brhoom]

Wow this thread made me realise that The first Alone In The Dark ,Clock Tower and Siren games are the only true survival horror games.

[Graco]

Not that he didn't do anything, just that he did very little.

Care to elaborate? I'm not casting doubt, I'm just genuinely interested in the topic.

[Deathlygasm]

Too much crap to read but I feel REmake and Zero are the most survival horror of the series and have the best atmosphere.