IGN Presents The History Of Survival Horror - Review

Taking a much more closer look at horror in games, I found this article that 'presents the history of survival horror'.

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2009/10/30/ign-presents-the-history-of-survival-horror?page=1

This is a huge article however here are a few interesting segments from it:

The music, triggered whenever an enemy drew near, soon became enough to inspire panic even before the monster appeared on screen.

- Shows the importance of sound/audio - especially in a horror game

Project Firestart may have pioneered the survival horror formula, but it did not inspire imitators, and it wasn't until years later that the lone game would become part of a genre, and others would make the same discoveries that Dynamix did. Alone in the Dark is forever remembered as the game that brought the genre to a mass audience and inspired countless imitators, and Project Firestart is one of many similar stories of games that were simply too far ahead of their time.

- The beginning of survival horror - worth looking at 'Alone In The Dark'

"Almost 20 years ago, graphics couldn't make monsters scary, so I used several methods," Raynal says. "First the player should be more scared of what he doesn't see than what he sees. That was a goal of having texts to read, that could tell a story you can't display." This device allowed the game to slowly reveal a story without compromising the oppressive isolation needed for the game's story. Large amounts of dialog were simply not an option if the player was to feel like he was alone in the dark.

- The limitations of graphics etc are what enhanced the importance of developing a scary game

Music was equally important. Like Jeff Tunnell, Raynal had music triggered by the presence of enemies, but Alone in the Dark took it a step further. Noticing the sense of dread the music inspired, Raynal recalls composer Philippe Vachey's breakthrough: "He said 'Why not launch it randomly sometimes? That was very efficient!" The occasional false alarm kept players fearing what lurked around the corner.

- Relating again to the music

The oppressive fog and darkness may have been used to mask the system's limitations, but once again survival horror plays by different rules. Where not being able to see would be considered a game-wrecking flaw otherwise, the fear of the unknown is a powerful tool of terror.

- This relates to the importance of lighting, sometimes an ambiguous scene can be the most terrifying.

when faced with the challenge of making a truly scary game, they came to the same conclusion. They identified two main elements, isolation and vulnerability, as being the key themes in the story and gameplay that contribute to fear.

- These seem to be the keey elements of story - isolation and vulnerability

Immersive and sometimes deceptive use of sound and lighting helped to reinforce the sense of dread with a strong audiovisual component.

 - Brings us back to the importance of light and sound to enhance player experience

Personal Notes

This has been a very interesting read. It has provided me with a well informed history of survival horror. Reading this I have come to understand various techniques required to make a game scary. I have numerous different articles that I have found relating to th subject so aim to get all these looked over today and tomorrow.