Helldescent.com on Survival Horror

[[TW]Wilsonam]

Here's the first piece in a little opinion series over at Hell Descent, with contributions from yours truly:

[url]http://helldescent.com/2011/02/09/defining-survival-horror/#more-6513[/URL]

Discuss

 

[C_Gibby]

To be honest, I have totally forgotten the feeling of horror I felt when I first started playing Killing Floor. I think it's mostly down to the player's lack of knowledge of the enemy and the feeling of vulnerability that comes with a level 0 perk against an army of blade-swinging nutjobs.

However, this feeling goes away when you have plenty of hours down. Instead, facing all the horrors becomes a little more "routine" (yet very fun and addicting) and the only "horror" is the lapses in teamwork, being in an indefensible location and the value of the health meter and the distance between the medic. I beleive that KF's horror is all down to panic moments such as getting spammed by ZEDs when your health is low and hoping that you and your team have the strength and the capability of holding out against a powerful enemy.

Also, the guy who replied on the link is putting things out of proportion. Nostferatu in the Raccoon City PD? That's just taking the piss.

Anyway, I feel that true horror games should face you against impossible odds where you really have to think and be careful and fast to survive. Resident Evil 4/5 are terrible horror games because for a starter, you get more than enough ammo to win the game. The original RE games did it right though, because the enemies are indeed powerful, yet you tend to be lacking the ammo to put them down, so it takes avoidance skills which results in the thrill of the chase.

Don't forget the overwhelming feeling of helplessness in games like Amnesia.

 

[aesdana]

Playing KF solo on Hospitalhorrors makes me feel a bit uneasy actually

However with 6 players and teammates going "tool me up you tight gits" and "ohohooo that

 

[Xienen]

To be honest, I have totally forgotten the feeling of horror I felt when I first started playing Killing Floor. I think it's mostly down to the player's lack of knowledge of the enemy and the feeling of vulnerability that comes with a level 0 perk against an army of blade-swinging nutjobs.

However, this feeling goes away when you have plenty of hours down. Instead, facing all the horrors becomes a little more "routine" (yet very fun and addicting) and the only "horror" is the lapses in teamwork, being in an indefensible location and the value of the health meter and the distance between the medic. I beleive that KF's horror is all down to panic moments such as getting spammed by ZEDs when your health is low and hoping that you and your team have the strength and the capability of holding out against a powerful enemy.
...

Even when playing Hell on Earth difficulty?

 

[C_Gibby]

Even when playing Hell on Earth difficulty?

Hmm... Well I have to admit, that's a bit different! Especially on solo. :IS2:

 

[YoYoBatty]

Sitting alone on my computer at night. Lights off. Playing A Long Hard game on KF-BioticsLab. Brightness turned down. That's what brings out the horror in this game.

 

[Undedd Jester]

I think this is why people rant so much about balance. At least in my case anyway. This feeling is what makes KF great, and if the balance is off and classes don't have this feeling, it ruins the game mentaility.

KF has always been excellent at making you feel safe then suddenly dumping you in crap. Its amazing just how relaxed I can be 1 minute, then I see that yellow light suddenly come growling round the corner.

Its that great moment where the following lines come into your head:

TENDERIZE!

"Bloody hell, what's he got on his arms? "

"Wait for me, you tossers!"

"Boomstick time! Now I am going to get serious."

SCREEEEEE!

"Bugger that! She can break glass with that scream. Run for it!"

RAHHHHHHHH!

"Jesus, mind that bloody great knife! The smelly buggers grabbed me!"

"You want some you ponces!?... Christ, I can't move! Get off me, you bloody nonce!"

LEVEL OF AGGRESSION 11!

"Oh, crap. Don't let that big bugger near m..."

-FaTaL-J* was killed by a Fleshpound

 

[timur]

Even when playing Hell on Earth difficulty?

I personally still have some "horror" moments in KF still. Of course, as you grow used to it, it slowly becomes a bit less about jump scares and more about that moment when you get overrun. That feeling that everything is falling apart, and then you turn the corridor and see the light of a fleshpound...and you look around wildly, your heart in your throat, looking for an escape, and you and maybe one other man throw yourselves down a corridor into the darkness, praying that whatever is there must be better than whats behind you.

Priceless KF moment right there.

To be honest, I have totally forgotten the feeling of horror I felt when I first started playing Killing Floor. I think it's mostly down to the player's lack of knowledge of the enemy and the feeling of vulnerability that comes with a level 0 perk against an army of blade-swinging nutjobs.

However, this feeling goes away when you have plenty of hours down. Instead, facing all the horrors becomes a little more "routine" (yet very fun and addicting) and the only "horror" is the lapses in teamwork, being in an indefensible location and the value of the health meter and the distance between the medic. I beleive that KF's horror is all down to panic moments such as getting spammed by ZEDs when your health is low and hoping that you and your team have the strength and the capability of holding out against a powerful enemy.

Also, the guy who replied on the link is putting things out of proportion. Nostferatu in the Raccoon City PD? That's just taking the piss.

Anyway, I feel that true horror games should face you against impossible odds where you really have to think and be careful and fast to survive. Resident Evil 4/5 are terrible horror games because for a starter, you get more than enough ammo to win the game. The original RE games did it right though, because the enemies are indeed powerful, yet you tend to be lacking the ammo to put them down, so it takes avoidance skills which results in the thrill of the chase.

Don't forget the overwhelming feeling of helplessness in games like Amnesia.

While I partially disagree with you about KF losing its horror, I mostly agree with you.

I know this is hardly possible, but imagine what would happen if you combined the action of KF and the teamwork and the trill of the fight, with the horror dynamics of Amnesia and Penumbra, along with the likes of Call of Cthulu and Requiem of Sanity. The action guns and zombies of KF, but suddenly the zombies are more threatening...and sometimes running and hiding can overcome the urge to fight. Being chased by a fleshpound, knowing you dont have time to weld so you are throwing everything behind you, so as to slow it down just enough...barricading for a scrake attack, using a combination of welding and barricades to try and stave off the massive, horrid specimen just outside...

0.0

 

[Rainydaykid]

Anyway, I feel that true horror games should face you against impossible odds where you really have to think and be careful and fast to survive. Resident Evil 4/5 are terrible horror games because for a starter, you get more than enough ammo to win the game. The original RE games did it right though, because the enemies are indeed powerful, yet you tend to be lacking the ammo to put them down, so it takes avoidance skills which results in the thrill of the chase.

Don't forget the overwhelming feeling of helplessness in games like Amnesia.

Yeah, I thought RE4 and 5 were far superior to the earlier games. I'm trying to save the world, and I have 9 bullets? I prefer the newer ones because there is enough ammo if you are careful with your shots.

Also, ammo was still kind of a problem on 5, My roomates played on PS3, and they regularly ran out of ammo. 4 had the perfect balance of ammo. I beat 4 with 97% acc on professional, didn't care for that TMP.

 

[C_Gibby]

I know this is hardly possible, but imagine what would happen if you combined the action of KF and the teamwork and the trill of the fight, with the horror dynamics of Amnesia and Penumbra, along with the likes of Call of Cthulu and Requiem of Sanity. The action guns and zombies of KF, but suddenly the zombies are more threatening...and sometimes running and hiding can overcome the urge to fight. Being chased by a fleshpound, knowing you dont have time to weld so you are throwing everything behind you, so as to slow it down just enough...barricading for a scrake attack, using a combination of welding and barricades to try and stave off the massive, horrid specimen just outside...

0.0

Add a story mode and a ton of different endings that hold deep metaphors and total openess to interpretation, you'd have the perfect game.

And yes, recently I have had moments in KF where I'm totally bricking it, but that only happens when everything accidentally goes tits-up going through the chain of events that in the end, makes me feel that way. It's not a common occurance, but it's always there.

Yeah, I thought RE4 and 5 were far superior to the earlier games. I'm trying to save the world, and I have 9 bullets? I prefer the newer ones because there is enough ammo if you are careful with your shots.

Yeah man, but that's what disappoints me. RE 4 and 5 are about being a hero, yet we were promised a horror game, you should be a "hero" as in "protagonist" and not the more common definition of Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Rambo or in this case, Chris Redfield. Being given this objective and style of action really ruins the horror.

There is the tension of being chased by a lot of enemies while you happen to be low on spammo (RE4 opening, anyone? When that guy revved up the chainsaw as you lock yourself in a house. Great moment right there.) and I do enjoy those moments. I just can't bring myself to label them as "horror."

 

[Lucidius134]

There is the tension of being chased by a lot of enemies while you happen to be low on spammo and I do enjoy those moments. I just can't bring myself to label them as "horror."

I'm by no means the best KF player but even I look on KF from a technical perspective when playing, although it's really hard not to deny the very very detailed maps which set the atmosphere very well. (Shameless plug, I made the Higurashi sound pack to give it more of a desperate and horror-esque feel)

At points when a door has broken while being un-welded to clear the othe rside and there are 2 flesh pounds on the other side, it's more of a 'shock' and 'panic' then I would really classify as true 'horror', opposed to playing games like Amnesia and what not. It gets promptly broken down to: What should I do to kill this giant cluster of enemies with least damage to the team, instead of being "OH MY GOD WHAT CREATURE IS THAT, HE LOOKS SO SCARY

I may be a bit desensatized ever since playing Poundamonium. I almost had an anxiety attack playing that for the first time. My hand woulsn't stop shaking and my heart was pounding. I was out of breath after like, the first few. Then it became "Oh, I can just use the fire axe and do this to them, hmmmm". "Oh, there's a flesh pound guys, i hope you guys can kill him."

I'de say it's alot like when people play Ghouls Forest 3. initially the game is scary as ****, and it's difficult, but after dieing so many times to the ghoulds it's just "SWEET BACK PEDDLE AND HELLA LUCK"

What really makes KF feel horroresque though are those there Mission maps. My god, those actually feel really intense and creepy at times with some of the **** they throw at you unexpectedly.

 

[timur]

Add a story mode and a ton of different endings that hold deep metaphors and total openess to interpretation, you'd have the perfect game.

And yes, recently I have had moments in KF where I'm totally bricking it, but that only happens when everything accidentally goes tits-up going through the chain of events that in the end, makes me feel that way. It's not a common occurance, but it's always there.

Yeah, but that's saying something for a long-time player of aan action-horror game; I mean, most movies just try to scare you the first or second times you watch them, but KF can occaisonally throw in a moment even after a year of playing.

Also, back to the fantasy of th ultimate game...I would say a storymode would be necessary, and perhaps a co-op one. With Requiem's sanity effects, it would likely go both ways (seperation, freak-outs, and seeing teammates as enemies)

I'm by no means the best KF player but even I look on KF from a technical perspective when playing, although it's really hard not to deny the very very detailed maps which set the atmosphere very well. (Shameless plug, I made the Higurashi sound pack to give it more of a desperate and horror-esque feel)

At points when a door has broken while being un-welded to clear the othe rside and there are 2 flesh pounds on the other side, it's more of a 'shock' and 'panic' then I would really classify as true 'horror', opposed to playing games like Amnesia and what not. It gets promptly broken down to: What should I do to kill this giant cluster of enemies with least damage to the team, instead of being "OH MY GOD WHAT CREATURE IS THAT, HE LOOKS SO SCARY

I may be a bit desensatized ever since playing Poundamonium. I almost had an anxiety attack playing that for the first time. My hand woulsn't stop shaking and my heart was pounding. I was out of breath after like, the first few. Then it became "Oh, I can just use the fire axe and do this to them, hmmmm". "Oh, there's a flesh pound guys, i hope you guys can kill him."

I'de say it's alot like when people play Ghouls Forest 3. initially the game is scary as ****, and it's difficult, but after dieing so many times to the ghoulds it's just "SWEET BACK PEDDLE AND HELLA LUCK"

What really makes KF feel horroresque though are those there Mission maps. My god, those actually feel really intense and creepy at times with some of the **** they throw at you unexpectedly.

Also, may I suggest KF-Origins. I did a review on it, and its insanely creepy.

 

[CandleJack]

KF-DancingWithTheDead

Play this on Solo HoE.

Guaranteed to get you saying

Spoiler!

It has the atmosphere of Amnesia, and just walking around with specimens somehow disabled gave me a NOPE moment.

 

[timur]

KF-DancingWithTheDead

Play this on Solo HoE.

Guaranteed to get you saying

Spoiler!

It has the atmosphere of Amnesia, and just walking around with specimens somehow disabled gave me a NOPE moment.

I can't find this map anywhere, could someone give me a link to the forum page?

 

[Darkwave]

Somehow it did lost it's horror but, when I am concentrated, walk into a corridor and a FP pops behind me , I almost jump off the chair. ( Sometimes , not much)

Off topic :
Man I was so sad when I played Dead Space , I thought it was going to be scary but if you stay alert and listen carefully you can easily predict where the enemy is gonna spawn , same happened with Dead Space 2 , didn't even frightened me.
I miss Fatal Frame on my PS2 , that was some scary ****..

 

[Spicy]

Does it count if I'm horrified by a "special" teammate raging the double fleshpound spawn, instead of letting the team take them down one at a time?

 

[Xienen]

Even if it's stupidity breeding horror, it still makes the game experience scary

 

[Arkayer]

I get a 404 error. :/

Guess I'll just bookmark that site. Darkness 2, YEAH.

 

[CandleJack]

I can't find this map anywhere, could someone give me a link to the forum page?

I'm not sure where it is, because Sorrow himself linked it to me, and he's 1/2 the creators of the map.

The other half is his brother

 

[Arkayer]

I'm not sure where it is, because Sorrow himself linked it to me, and he's 1/2 the creators of the map.

The other half is his brother

Conjoined? Just pray to [your favourite deity here], that they are twins, otherwise, it must've been an awkward birth.