What is your favourite survival horror game?

Sidestepping arguments about the meaning of the expression 'survival horror', let's just consider a survival horror game as one whose main theme is heavily rooted in horror, and has elements of survival in it.

What's your favourite then?

Let's see how tastes have evolved over the last years.

Personally I'm conflicted between The Evil Within and Alan Wake.

Silent Hill 2

It's a three way tie between Resident Evil Remake, Resident Evil 2, and Silent Hill 2

Either Silent Hill 2 or Fatal Frame. One for story, one for scares.

Now, if we're counting modern first-person hiding-simulator survival horror: White Day: A Labyrinth Named School is still best in class (no pun intended) for pants-ploppins.

Silent Hill 2. Artistic masterpiece.

REmake is a very close second

It depends:

• Favourite horror-themed game: System Shock 2
• Favourite game that made me terrified the most: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

I don't really consider Alan Wake survival horror, but it'd be that if I did.

Silent Hill 2 is pretty rad. You know, Half-Life 1 kinda felt like a survival horror. The aliens were scary, the facility was eerie and dangerous, and ammo was an issue.

But if we're talkin about that old school fixed camera stuff, it's Silent Hill 1, 2, and Resident Evil 2 that I remember most fondly.

Amnesia The Dark Descent is my personal favorite. The only thing that has come to close is Five Nights at Freddy's. I shouldn't be afraid of animatronic animals but this game did exactly that to me.

Silent Hills 2 was definitely scary, but the gameplay and story pissed me off so much that I look back with disdain. The fact that some people seem to think it's an amazing game just makes me hate it even more.

Nothing got my heart thumping quite like Amnesia:TDD. I could feel the blood in my ears at one point.

Hmm...probably the original Silent Hill. RE 2, 3, and REmake are up there, too.

As far as recent stuff goes, and as for what fits my definition of true survival horror, I would say Condemned 2 and Alien: Isolation. And maybe the Metro games, too. They've both got plenty of scary sections.

Silent Hill 2, but i play Silent Hill 1 more often cuz i can play it on my vita.

Silent Hill 2 for the story, but the combat and (some of the) puzzles leave much to be desired. Still a big favorite of mine, tho.

I'm also gonna say the RE remake as I'm nearing completion as it really has a good balance of what makes a good Survival Horror game. Good atmosphere, scares (them crimson heads!), limited supplies, and puzzles and combat that don't irk me.

Alien Isolation was one of my favorites last year, wouldn't call it my favorite, tho.

Amnesia for pure scare value, obviously. I can't finish it.

Honorable mention: Silent Hill 4 (the prime example of flawed but brilliant)

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was hella rad. System Shock 2 is up there too.

I'm also pretty fond of Project Firestart on the C64 and have some reverence for the first Alone in the Dark.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Nemesis was a nightmare to deal with and I was always on edge while roaming the streets. It was a perfect blend of survival and horror to me.

Silent Hill Origins

edit: just my favorite, not necessarily the best. I played RE1, RE:CV, and Silent Hill 2 but I never beat them, and to be honest my experience with them wasn't very positive. Also played RE4 but the game kept crashing so I never got far in it.

Also, Silent Hill Origins actually happens to be pretty damn good. It's easily one of the greatest PSP games.

Amnesia The Dark Descent was fantastic. Alien Isolation is REALLY good too. Resident Evil 3 will always hold a place in my heart only because it was the only Resident Evil game I was able to beat as a kid. Fatal Frame 2 was also super damn good.

I don't really have a particular favorite, but if I HAD to pick one of them I think I'd pick Amnesia simply because it practically single-handedly revived a dying genre.

Silent Hill 2 is one of the greatest games ever made with how the story, enemy design, and world design all blend together perfectly though I will concede that the last area in Silent Hill 3 is probably the scariest level in any game. Plus I'm not a fan of modern horror games like Amnesia and Outlast at all.

1. Resident Evil (GC Remake)
2. Resident Evil 3
3. Resident Evil 2
4. Resident Evil 4
5. Silent Hill 2

I played BioShock on a very hard difficulty and if that isn't survival horror then I don't know what is. Don't let this knock you off your chair but, that game's pretty good.

CAN'T...SIDESTEP....ARGUMENT

Mine is defo Silent Hill 2. Game is a masterpiece and just try and say it isn't

eheh It's good! But in my opinion there are other games better overall. Not in the story department, but as an overall experience.

Resident Evil 2, but depending on the day I might say Code: Veronica.

@jeust: Yeah, I mean it certainly hasn't aged well, with tank controls being considered antiquated. There are certainly better-playing games, but as far as genuinely horrifying moments and unsettling imagery go nothing beats Silent Hill.

Nothing about tank controls and fixed camera angles are dated. Just because games don't do it anymore doesn't make it dated.

Resident Evil 2, 4, and the REmake are my favorite from that series and still stand the test of time for me and are absolutely amazing. I've enjoyed all mainline RE games and I'd say the only one I don't really like all that much is Code Veronica. There is still a lot of good stuff in that game but the PS2 version was the first inclusion of Wesker that I absolutely disliked, and I just felt the combat encounters in that game aren't nearly as good as what came before. I'll also forever hate that poison moth hallway in the Antarctica base, they give you a lot of blue herbs to counter it, but I still hate those fuckers all the same.

Silent Hill 2 is another favorite and still the high bar in the series and my favorite interpretation of the town. I'm more into the town as a tormentor of someones specific sins, I don't really care about all the underlying cult business.

I also really love Alan Wake, it may not dip into the more classic examples of what a survival horror game but I still have no trouble lumping it in the category and loving it all the same. Big fan of Remedys stuff so that game was destined to strike a chord with me anyway. Even though I would not go to bat too hard for the quality of it, during the early days of tons of Resident Evil clones hitting the market, I really enjoyed the hell out of Curse: The Eye of Isis. It had a cool setting with a goofy story and acting to match and felt like a B-style horror movie.

Evil Within is a recent one I really like and probably one of the best survival horror games I've played in a few years now.

It's a tough choice between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Remake. REmake is probably the better quintessential survival horror game where resources are actually quite scarce and you should be worried about ammo and health until the late game which is unusual even for RE. RE2 on the other hand has the zapping system and I love the boss fights and the music is amazing. It's also the debut of my favorite character in the series, Leon. But Spencer Mansion is so atmospheric and beautiful in REmake...but then there's the Second Malformation of G track...

I agree entirely. In fact, I wish some modern games brought back fixed camera angles with tank controls when you consider how gorgeous REmake looks to this day and the mood that's established with fixed camera placement to show off locations in certain ways.

Dead Space 2 takes the cake. Should actually play it again...

@lost_remnant: For the record, you aren't the only person out there who doesn't think too highly of Code Veronica. It's probably my least favorite old-school Resident Evil game.

I think the remake of Resident Evil is basically the high watermark for the gameplay concepts that go into "survival horror" (also it still looks fantastic), though I also have to give mention to The Evil Within for being a semi-successful attempt at applying those ideas to more action-oriented shooting stuff.

Silent Hill 2. I'd put Dead Space 2 or Resident Evil 4, but those are more horror shooters with light item management elements. But really damn good ones.

Edit: Amnesia: The Dark Descent made a man of me. Seriously, after playing that game all the way through, my capacity to handle horror games and films has really increased. Anyone else feel this?

The amount of Silent Hill 2 in this thread is really bumming me out.

For me it's System Shock 2. Followed very closely by Silent Hill.

Code Veronica is broken. It's possible to start as Chris in the mansion without any ammo, right before a boss.

Penumbra: Overture, when followed-up with Penumbra: Black Plague. Those are an awesome combo right there.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is good too, but Penumbra was better.

And hell, even games as recent as Resident Evil 5 used tank controls, albeit with precision aiming and no fixed cameras, but still.

People gotta realize

first impulse is to say Resident Evil. So yeah, either that or Silent Hill 2.

Silent Hill 2, still one of the best game experiences ever for me.

I know this is out of the loop of what everyone is saying, but The Forest is a wonderful horror survival game and much better with friends. Hope this helps!

Dead Space

It's the first survival horror game that fixed most survival horror problems and did it under the cloak of a wonderful new setting. Devoid of graveyards, crypts or abandoned cathedrals, it was an incredible breath of fresh air with proper controls, good mechanical puzzles and visceral combat. No longer forcing players into the dated and nonsensical tank controls of yesteryear, Dead Space ushered in a new era of what a modern survival horror game could be.

Sadly that new era ended with, technically, Dead Space 2. I enjoyed the last game in the series and applaud their efforts at trying to innovate the core idea but it simply wasn't as good a game as the first two in the series. Now the IP is ironically all but dead and yet we continue to get terrible Resident Evil releases along with microwaved re-makes every year or so.

@humanity: While I completely disagree with you about tank controls that is purely the realm with of preference so I won't really go into it but yes Dead Space 1 was absolutely amazing and I still look fondly at it. It's easily one of my favorites and can't believe I forgot to include it, as someone who does not find most sci-fi stuff all that appealing except for a few specific things, there is just something about sci-fi horror that just absolutely speaks to me. Dead Space hit all the right beats and somehow found that right balance of vulnerability and empowerment. Something I felt they lost in the sequels, Dead Space 2 was very good even still but I thought they tried to ramp up the action more instead of the horror and Dead Space 3 was just a hell of a thing for many reasons.

The sad thing about Dead Space 3 is that all the beginning section stuff is very good! The part with the ship flotilla's and moving through them was all very neat and still very much felt like the other games. It's when it got to the ice planet that things started to take a turn. It lost steam and every time a horror game attempts to throw in dudes with guns as enemies I roll my eyes, it's just never worked for me. If it wasn't for co-op I would not of liked that game nearly as much as I did (co-op horror stuff should be more of a thing, it's something I've wanted to see more of since the Obscure games two generations ago) and I did like the weapon customization idea. The Carver hallucinations are also worth a mention, it was a hell of an idea to make the second player see some crazy stuff while the first player sees nothing but just a non assuming room.

So basically what I'm saying is, they should try Dead Space again if only for the setting and enemies alone.

Resident evil series just nothing has topped it. maybe its because i beat them as a kid and it took me weeks to actually build up the courage to play it. I just miss going ok shit wtf do i do now and running in the environments looking at every pixel to solve a simple puzzle. Seriously tho who locks the gate to a town hall with gems? there are so many retarded puzzles in that series

@humanity: Tank controls aren't dated or nonsensical in the slightest, especially in a space that utilizes fixed cameras. Tank controls make more sense than 3D controls when it comes to that because there's no mistaking what direction you're going in once the camera switches.

And as for games like RE4 and 5, the tank controls work perfectly fine in those games as well with the camera behind the character. Nobody has ever put up a good argument as to why tank controls are "dated."

Dated =/= no longer used.

They work perfect; you just don't like them.

@lost_remnant:I agree about the beginning of Dead Space 3. One of the things that series absolutely nailed was the hopelessness and vastness of space. Whenever you would find yourself outside it was such an incredibly imposing experience. Flying around the flottila was indeed a really great part of that game and gave you hope for the rest. The planet simply lacked the same sort of methodical pacing and environments. Something about not being locked away in a large tin with the dark void just outside the window instantly took away from the experience. A ton of other issues with that game but it also had it's moments.

Likewise I would love it if they rebooted the franchise, put me back on some crazy ship and had me solving cool engineering puzzles. Dead Space 1 was like Event Horizon the video game and it was great.

@frostyryan: They are dated because they're cumbersome and a means to an end that technology has outgrown. The only reason why anyone would prefer tank controls would be because of fixed camera angles, which themselves are a dated technique that offers no benefits now that we can render beautiful 3D spaces.

They work perfect at imposing the titular tank movement onto a human being, but human beings simply don't move like that. Why would I want to hold a direction and wait for my characters to spin around in place, aligning them with whatever item I want to interact with, when I can simply move my stick towards that object and that same character will instantly move towards it regardless of what direction I'm facing. In a situation where there are 5 valves next to each other on a wall, with tank controls I have to spin towards one, walk forward, use it, then walk backwards, spin to the side, walk forward, spin back towards the next valve, walk forward, repeat 3 more times. With regular controls I just strafe between them. What is the benefit? They are dated because there is no benefit and conventional controls have outgrown them. This isn't even mentioning the horror that is combat with tank controls.

@humanity: First of all, about fixed camera angles, not that's absolutely not true that they have no benefit. Director's choice camera angles are used to focus the player attention on a certain thing. It gives the game style and atmosphere. It's one of the reasons the old Resident Evil games scared so many people back in the day, and more recently(and ten times more effectively) REmake. That game uses fixed camera angles to evoke emotions and aid the atmosphere of the area you're in, and thus is praised as one of the scariest and most gorgeous looking games ever. You're completely wrong about that, don't make such bold statements out of nothing.

To your explanation of why tank controls suck, you really made that ten times more convoluted and drawn out than it actually is. Just from the way you explained that, it sounds like you haven't even played a survival horror game with tank controls. It does not take that long and it is not that complicated. If there were 5 valves lined up on a wall, no you would not have to take every step you just said. Why is "walk forward" a step right before you interact with the valve? How would "step back" be apart of that process? Do you see what I mean? You made it insanely complicated when it's not nearly that hard. You know what I would do? Sprint forward along the wall. That's it. If you'd actually over complicate the process by doing all the things you just said then yup I'd hate that too, but that would be my own fault.

You just seem like you haven't had much experience with tank controls if you really find them that cumbersome. The whole "rotating every time I want to turn" is something you don't do as much as you say at all. You DO know games like REmake and RE4 IMPROVED tank controls, right? They haven't remained the same since RE1-3. In REmake, you can make a curved walk while walking forward. No rotating involved there.

@frostyryan: I am indeed talking about classic tank controls. Controls that are: rotate left or right and then (throttle)walk forward or back. If there is some hybrid of that in existence now then I haven't really played it, but then I wouldn't really count that as true tank controls either. The example I gave is a situation where you have to interact with each object individually and thus it requires you to approach each one in sequence. Maybe it's not entirely clear, but there is no real point in describing a hypothetical situation in much detail. That said, you still haven't given a clear reason why tank controls in that situation, or any situation without fixed camera angles, would be preferable to modern controls. What do we gain? Why would a developer choose that style of control in their game when modern controls work perfectly well.

The only reason I can see how tank controls might enhance a survival horror game would be in creating tension by limiting the fluidity of player movement, which is a cheap technique in my opinion. Dead Space as noted above proved that you can have fluid movement and retain the feeling of dread in combat situations.

I wouldn't say I'm "wrong" about fixed camera angles either. I can concede that it is a subjective matter of preference. Personally I think the trade-off you make between gameplay and cinematography is not worth it in the long run. I absolutely agree that fixed angles can make for some incredibly atmospheric shots, but simultaneously playing within those angles can oftentimes be cumbersome, but thats just my view on it - obviously there are also people who will see no problem at all with walking around using tank controls while a camera is pointed down at the entire scene in some dramatic overhang.

It bums me out that System Shock 2 and Silent Hill 2, my two favorite games in this genre, are over ten years old. Has creeping psychological horror fallen out of vogue? Amnesia is an okay recent example, but even it doesn't reach the quality of the older titles. As @humanity pointed out, modern bigger budget horror trends can be seen in the Dead Space series. The first two entries were innovative and effective. The third... well...

Your first real encounter with the alien in Alien: Isolation was pretty terrifying and also AWESOME!

@upperdecker: I'm with you on that, The Forest really installs a sense of dread, especially when the first night falls and I haven't finished setting up a safe zone/camp yet and you are in the middle of nowhere, don't know where anything is yet and you keep hearing noises near by and aren't sure if its a deer or a monster. Game's pretty good.

I really love the atmosphere of Condemned and it's sequel (though it's story starts to get kind of silly) it more then most horror games to me really makes me feel hopeless, like the whole world is going mad or depressed, that type of stuff really gets to me, it's like an apocalypse brought on not by weapons or chaos, but peoples depression and self loathing and anger, it would be just a miserable world to live in and the fact that it's brought on by some unexplained supernatural shit really really gets to me. I love it.

Dead Space 2 really gets to me as well, great sound design, jump scares the game basically but sometimes that is what I want out of my horror, the constant feeling of "oh god, oh god, oh god, when is it going to happen? When is it going to happen? Now? Now? Is it now? Right now? Now? Wh-OH GOD RIGHT NOW OH GOD RUUUUUN!"

Silent Hill 3 was my first Silent Hill and really one of my first horror games now that I think about it, so it holds a special place in my heart.

@zolroyce If you want to add me to steam, i will help you build a good camp on multiplayer. ROGamingRyan

I'll judge according to what level of fear a game managed to illicit from me. I don't get scared easily, considering that I do get exposed to many horror related games and movies, but none the less, there are specific games or movies that do tend to have a very mentally tiring effect on me. Amnesia:The Dark Descent was among these games. Sure, The Dark Descent is sort of scripted, but the execution is so fantastic that it's completely forgivable. The audio, the mystery, the voice work, the atmosphere, the gameplay (stuff like the madness meter and the oil fuelled lamp) were all perfectly blended with one another. I mean, I didn't wake up at night screaming, but I had to take breaks during the relative small campaign because it was just to difficult to sit through it.

Same goes for the Evil Within, which was my game of the year for 2014. It wasn't scary in the traditional sense, but it was very mentally taxing because it was ridiculously easy to get killed. You literally had to measure your every step.