Moving away from tank controls hurt the survival horror genre.

[Wyrdness]

Experimental42 said:

I'm not saying to shoehorn in "bad" controls. I'm saying that the elements that made Resident Evil and Silent Hill the standouts of the survival horror genre were directly brought about by technological limitations. Since those limitations are now gone, games have moved away from those mechanics without, for the most part, finding ways to recreate the dread from those mechanics.

Many would be survival horror titles give the player too much control over the situation by making them too capable, be it in combat, movement, or stealth abilities. Showing the creatures off too much is another flaw. Monster/enemy designs just aren't as frightening when they can be seen. Silent Hill was terrifying because you couldn't see enemies at a distance but you could sure as hell hear them out thanks to the radio. The disturbing sounds of the unseen gave early games their horror.

That's the reason why games like RE4 are almost completely lacking in horror. Those enemies might as well just be regular pissed off villagers and dogs, with the title just made into a spy game. Outside of those creepy regenerators, there's nothing scary about the enemies at all. They might as well be genome soldiers for all the fear they inspire. especially when you can absolutely wreck them with a handful of bullets, a trusty knife, and fighting moves that make Chuck Norris envious.

You essentially are saying that though, you and a few others are effectively agreeing to handicap the player, in todays gaming that's just bad design and wouldn't help revive the genre at all. RE4 is a different kind of Horror focusing more things like anxiety and dread most of the enemies aren't scary because the situation you're in is scary, like with all other RE games once you get the hang of it you know how to deal with situations.

The player getting more control over the situation was always going to happen for progression as the old tank controls were because of the state of 3D gaming at the time, non of that can take off today especially as the are Horror games that have been fine with out that, the player has always been overpowered in Horror games even in the old RE games. No offence but part of the reason developers aren't willing to try and adjust with the times is because of things like this, the developer themselves know this design can't work today so when fans are demanding it it's just sending the wrong message so they go more action like in RE5 and RE6 to try and appeal elsewhere, you should be asking for designs that fit around the new gameplay style while maintaining the atmosphere and suspense not old dated designs.