What is survival horror as a videogame genre?
A player is spawned in a world with limited supply/equipment, where the goal is to last as long as possible. A common theme in survival games is the zombie apocalypse.
The history of survival horror videogames:
Survival horror as a genre of gaming didn't come about until "Atari's Haunted House", a game that was made with the horror genre in mind. It focused on the player being weak while being forced to run away from monsters in game. This pushed the player to find and use resources within the game to survive. This made way for classic horror movies being adapted into games, creating some of the first horror videogames. From then on, game developers have continued to take inspiration from horror movies, and applying new perspectives and storylines to create new games every year, developing the survival horror genre of videogames even further.
Read more on the history of survival horror here!Common identifiers:
- Limited Supply
- Hostile/supernatural Environment
- Typically Single Player
The Last of Us
Made in 2013, players control Joel Miller, a smuggler residing in the Boston area as he is tasked with 'smuggling' Ellie Williams across a post-apocalyptic world where zombies called 'infected' roam the earth. Through their combined efforts, players will navigate through a series of intense and emotional gameplay and storylines. Over time, we see Joel and ELlie's bond grow stronger, as we learn what it means to be human and what our purpose in the world is, even when the world is ending. The Last of Us has won over 300 Game of the Year awards and won Best Animated Video Game at the 41st Annie Awards as well as Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing at the 66th Writers Guild of America Awards. In 2020, Naughty Dog, the company known for creating The Last of Us, made the sequel: The Last of Us Part 2, which picks up years after the first game's ending. The sequel continues to question further what one's purpose in life is, but also focuses on revenge and how far one is willing to go for it.
Following are pictures I took myself while playing the game!
More Information:
The Last of Us Part OneThe Last of Us Part Two
Naughty Dog
Silent Hill
Following a similar father daughter trope to The Last of Us, this game features Harry Mason, a father searching for his missing adopted daugther within an American ghost town named Silent Hill, hence the name of the game. Through his exploration of the town, he encounters monsters that are manifestations of his daughter's childhood memories. One of the main antagonists, Pyramid head, is the most popular monsters featured in the game, and represents the guilt that Harry carries. In 2006, a movie adaptation came out, based on the game's original story. Following the 2006 adaptation, several sequels came out, continuing the story.
Following is the 1999 cover for the first Silent Hill video game every release. Alongside it is the 2006 movie poster for Silent Hill.
Resident Evil
One of the most popular franchises in the survival horror genre today is Resident Evil. With over 10 games in the main storyline, and over 30 games in the franchise in total, the player follows several different protagonists over the series, including fan favorites like Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong, Jill Valentine, and Chris Redfield, all of which are from the main story.
Dead By Daylight
By using their own killers/monsters, and featuring the world's most popular killers/monsters, Dead by Daylight brings both gaming fans and horror fans together in a team based multiplayer game. The player can either be a 'survivor' or a'killer', each of which have their various options. Original survivors include Dwight Fairfield, Jake Park, Feng Min, Kate Denson, as well as well known survival horror protagonists like Ellen Ripley (Alien), Leon Kennedy (Resident Evil), and Lara Croft (Tomb Raider). Original killers include The Huntress, The Trapper, and the Legion, as well as survival horror protagonists like Pyramidhead, Micheal Myers, Ghost Face, and Chucky. These are only a few examples of the total list of survivors and killers, giving players a wide variety of choices for playstyles, since each character has different perks and abilities that change your gamplay. Despite it's lack of updated gameplay style, it still retains its spot amongst other survival horror games because of its use of popular horror media.
Below is a video trailer for one of the original killers in the game.
Impact:
With the rise of the survival horror genre, companies began to see their success, and started making shows and movies based on these games.Most recently is the show adaptation of The Last of Us Part One. Starring Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller, and Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams, the show follows a very similar path to the games, with some diverging storylines here and there, which was the creative liberty of Naughty Dog, allowing them to explore ideas they didn't get to implement in the original game.