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The Survival Horror Genre In Video Games

The survival horror genre in video games refers to the style of video game with emphasis on traditional horror elements from cinema and survival aspects taken from many narrative genres including post-apocalyptic. The first video game to be categorised as survival horror Resident Evil became the benchmark for the genre in gaming. The genre is comprised of elements found in action-adventure games and horror games, though gameplay is typically less focused on combat than the majority of those titles. According to IGN "Survival Horror is different from typical game genres in that it is not defined strictly by mechanics, but subject matter, tone, pacing, and design philosophy."

History

Early examples of games that are now classified as survival horror Include Alone In The Dark and Clock Tower. Alone In The Dark, released in 1992 and originally advertised as a 'virtual adventure game' is commonly recognised as the first 3D survival horror game. The player must navigate their way out of a haunted mansion whilst facing supernatural beings and solving puzzles. The puzzle element of the game is considered to have pioneered the survival horror genre. "It also introduced notes and books, which would become genre staples." Clock Tower, released in 1995, introduced a 'panic mode' which is entered when threats appear. "Depending on your health, you'll be able to run past, but if you are in a less-than-ideal state, you'll start tripping, drastically slowing you down." Clock Tower was also a pioneer of survival horror in that the player had to hide from the main antagonist, Scissorman, and had no means of fighting him.

Resident Evil, released in 1996, was the first video game to be advertised under the survival horror genre. Taking inspiration mainly from Alone in the Dark, with its supernatural monsters, such as zombies. The game contained puzzle solving elements and a limited inventory, meaning the player had to be strategic in how they played. The success of the game was a surprised, as noted by producer Tokuro Fuijiwara that the game had been focused on a core audience and only expected to sell around 200,000 copies. The game was so popular than it spawned a series of games, novels, comics, a film series and and upcoming Netflix series.

The success of Resident Evil and its sequels led to the creation of many other survival horror series including Outlast, Dead Space, and Silent Hill, which also gained movie adaptations.

Atmosphere

One of the defining features of survival horror is its atmosphere. Games like Silent Hill have been described as tense and sparse. Being of a linear progression it "maintains pace and tension, and so fuel its unnerving visions of death and possession." Though not all survival horror games have a linear system of progression, such as Clock Tower which contains eight different endings. Atmosphere is built on several layers, one of which being elemental effects. Fog is present in Silent Hill, obscurely the players view of what is ahead or surrounding them. Matches that flicker and burn out after a few seconds provide moments of tension or frenzy as players have a limited time before losing the light source. A highly important part of building atmosphere in any genre is lighting. "There are many lighting design techniques...that address the role of lighting on emotions." Sight is a very important sense in gaining a sense of safety and a common cinema technique is for a scene to begin in a well lit space and then suddenly remove all lighting. Common fears of the dark or being without technology provide a sense of panic in audiences that something has 'gone wrong' or needs to be fixed. Survival horror is also designed to trigger other phobias within its audience such as claustrophobia, this is done with use of camera angles, making environments seem smaller than they are and obscuring obstacles and threats. Claustrophobic atmospheres can also be achieved with set dressing. Rooms filled with objects like storage boxes give feelings of uncertainty, fear of the unknown is a powerful narrative device.

Audio

Audio in survival horror takes from its ancestral horror movie genre, using atmospheric pieces and stings, often in aid of the atmosphere built by the visual design. Horror sound design is varied in that it can be industrial or operatic. Mechanical sound effects and strings are used to create unnerving audio that pierce audiences and leave them unsettled and on edge. "Survival horror games rely on convention of horror film sound to effectively create the mood." Unlike many genres of media, the lack of music and audio also serves a purpose and is not just a break in the soundtrack. Silence in survival horror serves the purpose of putting the player on edge and not reassuring them. The lack of music allows the sound effects to be of greater affect and importance, Brittany Allen explained her thought processes of composing the sound design and soundtrack for What Keeps You Alive as "the short little interval of a few notes that without anything else around would sort of leave you unsettled." "How can I make the audience uncomfortable here?" Erik Friedlander referred to sound design as "aggressively background...This background element is there to provoke and scare you"

See also

Action-Adventure Games

Horror Games