Well, this topic was started in the Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly forum too, so I might as well throw it out here while we're waiting for this game to be released.

Discuss the survival horror genre here. What makes the horror titles you've played unique? How do they compare to eachother? What makes one scarier than the other?

Here's a quote from me in that other thread to help open up the list of possible titles to talk about:

quote SerialZero

Here's my list of survival horror titles that I own:


Alone In The Dark 2: One Eyed Jack's Revenge
Alone In The Dark 4: The New Nightmare
BloodRayne
Clock Tower 3
Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse
Diablo
Dino Crisis 1, 2
Fatal Frame 1, 2
Fear Effect
Koudelka
Parasite Eve 1, 2
Resident Evil 1, 2, 3
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
Resident Evil: Outbreak
Shadow Of Destiny
Silent Hill 1, 2, 3


These are titles I USED to own and need another copy of:


Clock Tower 1, 2


Finally, games I still need to check into and/or buy:


Asylum
D
The Lost
Manhunt
Siren
The Suffering
The Thing

Serial, what is Asylum about? I like the name. I have only played the Silent Hill games, so I can't comment on the topic.

Supposedly, Asylum is a first-person perspective surival horror shooter hybrid. It's got classic elements like demon dogs and dead nurses. The innovation they were promoting for it involves a new system called "Rag Doll" where depending on which part of the zombie's body you hit it will fall more realistically. I still don't know much about it, but there's a forum on it here on Neoseeker.

How much more real can you get? You shoot the arm, it falls off. Just like in real life!

Anyway.

I think Silent Hill was more ground breaking than Resident Evil because it didn't use cheap scares, rather it used ambience(sp?) to creep you out.

Siren (Forbidden Siren overseas) sounds like it's all sorts of crazy, like mixing the terror from Silent Hill and Fatal Frame together and cramming it into one game.

The story revolves around the Cthulhu cult, and the graphics look freakishly realistic. Supposedly you get to play ten different characters in 78 episodes set over three days. I SHOULD be getting it in the mail soon because I won it on Ebay, so I can give some more insight later.

I'm partial to Resident Evil because it's the first survival horror series I got into, unless you count Shadowman as survival horror. But, I think that if I had to choose between RE or SH I'd choose SH. I haven't played FF so I wouldnt know. I'm supposed to be getting Outbreak but the store I ordered it from still doenst have it 4 days after its release

quote SerialZero

Siren (Forbidden Siren overseas) sounds like it's all sorts of crazy, like mixing the terror from Silent Hill and Fatal Frame together and cramming it into one game.

I can't emphasise enough how much of a disapointed I am/was with Siren, seriously do not buy it under any circumstances if you're expecting some survival horror thrills, it's a stealth game plain and simple, no fear nothing.

I traded it in today for Silent Hill 3 (which I misplaced over the last year) and couldn't be happier.

Silent Hill has the dread/terror/fear as does Fatal Frame (project zero) but despite how much I enjoy Fatal Frame it doesn't have the addictive nature of Silent Hill games.

I love you Silent Hill 3 (and 2 and 1 and I hope I love 4, I doubt you'll disapoint me).

Fatal Frame is probably the freakiest game I've ever played, not only did it have the ambience of Silent Hill, but it had just scary situations and ghosts. There's nothing scarier then fighting something that can't be killed in the coventional sense(guns, swords, wooden planks with a nail in it). I do enjoy Silent Hill more because, well, I enjoy shooting things(hey, who doesn't?). Resident Evil is just a shooter to me now, there is no horror associated with the game anymore. Let's face it, the bust through walls thing has been done to death. Plus with a bloody rocket launcher and assault weapons, it losses it's "freakiness". How can you be scared with a rocket launcher? My vote for the scariest goes to the Fatal Frame series. But Silent Hill is still my favorite because you get weapons, normal weapons, and it has a touch of humanity too it. The story is well done, the characters are developed well, and it still is scary.

Atmosphere is definitely what defines a great game for me. Silent Hill basically reached into the heart of darkness and yanked out a big chunk, then jammed it down our gullets with no remorse. *Applauds* The background music and ambient noises are indeed frightening, which just adds to the anxiety and the fear factor of exploring the game.

Fatal Frame indeed, does just as well as Silent Hill in that respect.

Another game I thought captured a great mood like that was Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare. Terrific environmental sounds and plenty of cheap scares!

Dam tough topic, i would have to go with Resi though as it got the whole genre into the mainstream and was one of the first games after i discovered the story went "HOLY SHIT, thats better than most movies" (alone in the dark was one of the initial survival horrors but wasnt that well known, Resi brought survival horror to the mainstream, just a little info for reference purposes) But as for all time favourite game its gotto be Silent Hill its so good it can make your twisted mind cry lol.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Resident Evil wasn't solely responsible for brining Survival Horror to the masses. It's little known, but the Alone In The Dark series was actually the frontrunner for the genre. AITD 1, 2 and 3 were originally on the PC and introduced the concepts of weaponplay and puzzle-solving in a 3D horror atmosphere first. Then AITD 4: The New Nightmare was released for PC, PS1 and PS2. So in essence, AITD was the root of survival horror, and Resident Evil helped it grow. Then Silent Hill flat out mastered it.

Yeh that is what i said above i think i missed a few comma's out.

dude silent hill is the best horror game ever

Asylum does not sound half bad

... Never heard of that game, Lycan.