AppleQueso wrote:How do you feel about the state of Survival Horror this gen, Ack?
Similar issue, though on a different scale. While survival horror has never been the console deciding genre, their most popular years were in the late 90s into the early 2000s. Resident Evil 4's massive control scheme and gameplay style overhaul led to some sweeping changes in the genre, and some of the more hardcore fans dislike the way the genre's become so heavily focused on action and combat. At the same time, new fans to the genre or those merely interested refuse to go back because of the control scheme popularly used during the days of Resident Evil and its many clones. In some cases I've heard people go so far as to declare the genre entirely dead, and while I wouldn't go that far with my opinion, it seems survival horror has certainly changed.
Let's face it, how many folks here are willing to accept the things considered so common in survival horror during its golden years? Point and click adventure is effectively dead in the mainstream, so that's gone. Tank controls are almost universally despised nowadays. Limited saves, weak weapons, and poor combat controls are also criticized heavily, resulting in poor reviews. So the genre has become focused heavily on gore (Dead Space), name brands (Silent Hill), or budget releases (Deadly Premonition), and at least one flagship title has completely jumped genre in many folks eyes, becoming just another generic third person shooter (Resident Evil). And while gamers will accept horror-themed levels at times, survival horror games typically don't sell well enough to justify costs(I say typically because the Resident Evil series has enjoyed astronomical sales, not just for the genre but for the industry as a whole).
That's not to say that survival horror hasn't seen some quality games in this generation. Heck, it even started with a bang, with Condemned: Criminal Origins as an Xbox 360 launch title. I adored Condemned and had high hopes for the genre, and I haven't been disappointed with games like Dead Space (despite the emphasis on gore) or Silent Hill V: Homecoming. And titles like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Cursed Mountain, and Deadly Premonition certainly interest me. But I have had my share of disappointments, first with the announcement that Fatal Frame IV wouldn't be released outside of Japan, and then with releases like Condemned II, Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil 5, and Saw (or so I'm told. I'll pick it up on my own eventually, but I trust The7k's opinion on games enough not to want to pay too much for it).
But let's face it, we're 5 years into this generation. By this time with the previous gen, starting with the Dreamcast's 1999 US release, I already had access to titles like Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, Fatal Frame, Fatal Frame 2, Clock Tower 3, The Thing, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, as well as a host of other titles like Illbleed, Carrier, Extermination, Blue Stinger, and so on. And within a year after that mark, we were seeing titles like Kuon(just slightly after the five year mark for the DC's US release), Haunting Ground, Cold Fear, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, and of course Resident Evil 4. And there were quite a few ports of PS1 survival horror titles to the DC. We're not really seeing anywhere near this number with the current gen.
