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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Survival Horror vs Action Horror

Dr.Henry_Killinger on 29 November 2014
Egann said:

Survival Horror is basically action horror with the difficulty drastically turned up and a few "play it smart" options added. Fundamentally, in A-H there is no choice but to fight, and is balanced around that. S-H is mechanically very similar, but the enemies are stronger, item drops are rarer, and the player is encouraged to find alternatives to fighting.

Basically, in A-H the player is directed into fighting the monster by the designer. S-H adds that the player is never allowed to properly prepare for a fight, and there are usually some alternatives around.

Other than that, they're basically the same thing.

If I had to pick, though, I would say S-H is better because it includes all the A-H design choices and then adds its own. You can always turn a S-H game into an A-H game by turning the difficulty down and playing like Rambo, but the reverse is not true.

Survival Horror is actual horror.

Action Horror is just the pretense of horror, since there is no reason to be afraid as you are equiped with the tools to combat it. It might shock the player but even that is only when they percieve a threat.

That being said, a lot of what we think is Action Horror is actually surivival. If an enemy is dangerous enough to pose a significant threat even if you can combat it, its a fight to survive.



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Kane1389 on 29 November 2014
badgenome said:

A related question to anyone who's played it: which would you say Evil Within is? I lean toward action horror myself.

And whichever one Evil Within is, it has the best music just because of Clair de Lune.

Silent Hill 2 prettye  much has the best everything, except for combat.


Of course its action. Only the first 3 chapters  are actually survival, because you actually must run away and hide to survive, after that, its mostly shooting and stabbing



Egann on 29 November 2014
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:
Egann said:

Survival Horror is basically action horror with the difficulty drastically turned up and a few "play it smart" options added. Fundamentally, in A-H there is no choice but to fight, and is balanced around that. S-H is mechanically very similar, but the enemies are stronger, item drops are rarer, and the player is encouraged to find alternatives to fighting.

Basically, in A-H the player is directed into fighting the monster by the designer. S-H adds that the player is never allowed to properly prepare for a fight, and there are usually some alternatives around.

Other than that, they're basically the same thing.

If I had to pick, though, I would say S-H is better because it includes all the A-H design choices and then adds its own. You can always turn a S-H game into an A-H game by turning the difficulty down and playing like Rambo, but the reverse is not true.

Survival Horror is actual horror.

Action Horror is just the pretense of horror, since there is no reason to be afraid as you are equiped with the tools to combat it. It might shock the player but even that is only when they percieve a threat.

That being said, a lot of what we think is Action Horror is actually surivival. If an enemy is dangerous enough to pose a significant threat even if you can combat it, its a fight to survive.

Yes and no. There are a few instances of horror in games where there's literally no chance of the player character dying or where the player doesn't have control like during a cutscene. Horror is something which unsettles, and while fighting for survival is one of the ways to do that, it is not the only way.

Conversely, lethal force does not make horror, either.

I do agree that as a general rule Action horror could be renamed to "kill ugly creatures," but just because developers are woefully underimaginative doesn't mean that action horror itself is an invalid genre.

I think the difference in my mind is that survival horror has alternatives to fighting, and the player is directed into those paths to avoid powerful enemies or resource starvation. Survival horror takes a design which is fundamentally action-horror, balances combat to punish the player, and adds options to do something other than fight. It's survival because you're admitting you have to coexist with the monster rather than be a hero and slay it.



SvennoJ on 29 November 2014

Survival horror all the way.

And play Alien Isolation, it's a bit long but ugh it's good. Last night all the alarms were blaring, lights flashing, the Alien stomping around, damn droids in the way yet you can't attack them without alerting the Alien. Sneak in the shadows and pray the Alien doesn't look under the table you're cowering under.

Best setting, best music although it plays rarely, love those classic Alien tunes. Awesome surround sound, great use of the DS4 speaker and light bar for the scanner. Combat is fun too, although you're best off to make some noise to get the Alien to do your dirty work. Last night I got surprised by some humans that opened fire on me, suckers, the Alien jumped out of the ceiling attracted by the noise. I barely had enough time to make it out of their through a vent while listening to their screams.