2008 was a big year for fans of survival horror games: Condemned 2, Left 4 Dead, Alone in the Dark, Silent Hill: Homecoming, and Dead Space all brought something new and interesting to the genre. Hopefully 2009 will be as good to horror fans as 2008 was, and with Resident Evil 5 coming up in March, this year looks just as promising. Last year was full of big surprises and even bigger disappointments; some marked the beginning of great new franchises, and some we might not see again.

Condemned 2 took everything the original did and improved on them including a much deeper set of tools for investigating crime scenes, and even though the story might’ve been a bit… out there, the game was still an improvement over the original. Left4Dead took coop play to a new level and with the highly innovative A.I. Director, the game is different every time you play. Alone in the Dark, while flawed, tried several original features like a realistic inventory and item combination to force the player to think outside the box when creating weapons. Silent Hill’s new American developer kept the same creepy Silent Hill atmosphere we know and love with the added twist of a better combat system and less complicating story. But hopefully our next return to the foggy town will be a little less repetitive. Finally, (my personal favorite) Dead Space used its amazing sound design and creepy environments to become the scariest game I’ve played in a long time. I mean, come on: strategic dismemberment!

But what will happen to these games we know and love? We know there will be another Dead Space as EA confirmed the sequel, Left4Dead sold extremely well so you can bet we’ll see another sometime in the future, and Condemned’s cliffhanger ending left some serious room for another game. But what about Silent Hill?

With the critical failure that was Silent Hill 4: The Room and now the not so successful reboot (Homecoming), will there be another, and even more important: will it be good? Could this be the end of one of the oldest and most well known horror series? And what about the ‘grandfather of horror’, Alone in the Dark, which received not so shining reviews with its first run on next gen consoles?  Maybe these games should take the example set by Resident Evil and have a RE4 style reboot of the series, or try adding some sort of multiplayer to make the game more replayable (this worked for Lef4 Dead, and plays great in Resident Evil 5). I really like the idea of walking the foggy streets of Silent Hill with a buddy.

The classic survival horror game with quests like: find the blue key, unlock the door, solve the puzzle, and now find the red key, and open the next door are over. Now gamers want a little more substance, and by substance I’m obviously talking about strategic dismemberment, which should be an automatic feature in every survival horror game from now on… no, every game, even Barbie’s Horse Adventures.

Comments (13)

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written by Xerxes3rd, January 07, 2009

Although I'm a fan of horror games, my wife is a bigger fan of watching me play horror games (luckiest husband ever? I do think so). I haven't had a chance to try Dead Space yet, but with all the critical acclaim, I'm excited to do so.

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written by Gecko, January 07, 2009

nice review dude keep it up

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written by Dan Zuccarelli, January 08, 2009

Dead Space oozed with an awesome environment, and was one of those games that I never had a chance to finish last year. I'm looking forward to getting back to it.

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written by emilyyy0923, January 08, 2009

I must say. I don't like your recommendation of those scary games! Seeing as I throw the controller every time I place RE. But this was a very well written article and I'm willing to give these horror games a second chance. I'll just keep the lights on. Once again, great job

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written by rock falls reiver, January 08, 2009

great review, being a huge fan of horror gaming and the suspence when playing them with the lights off. You know you are playing a truely horrific game when you can feel the hair starting to stand up on the back of your neck as you enter a quiet room, I got that feeling from the first F.E.A.R. and hoping to get the same feeling from Dead Space and by the way you descibe it I will! Good Job Mr. Dodd

Somewhere a clock strikes midnight
And there's a full moon in the sky
You hear a dog bark in the distance
You hear someone's baby cry
A rat runs down the alley
And a chill runs down your spine
And Someone walks across your grave
And you wish the sun would shine
Cause No one's gonna warn you
And no one's gonna yell 'Attack'
And you don't feel the steel
Till it's hanging out your back

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written by Marc Deangelis, January 08, 2009

Hahaha, I love the last paragraph.

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written by austin, January 08, 2009

great review! agree with everything you said!!!! i hope Silent Hill does come back! it would kill me if it didnt! great job adam, loved it!

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written by Icarus, January 08, 2009

I haven't been too much of a fan of survival horror games, but the way you describe it actually makes the genre sound appealing, which is a far cry from what I've experienced before. Excellent re/preview, Mr. Dodd.

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written by Darchangel, January 08, 2009

Overall great review! Left4Dead rocks and is my fave of those you reviewed...love the improvements in these recent survival horror games and as was mentioned by another commenter, nothing like feeling the hair stand up on the back of your neck or actually having your heart rate jump when a zombie startles you. Fight or flight stress response triggered by a game? Now THAT'S a good game! Awaiting your next article!!

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written by Further Intel, January 10, 2009

Definitely - the world needs more games that aren't just "shoot everything that moves"! Dead Space fits that void.

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written by Jim Squires, January 10, 2009

I'm not normally a horror guy, but somehow you got me in the mood. Just brought home Alone in the Dark. Gonna fire it up this weekend.

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written by Katie-pot-pie, January 11, 2009

Dude, well done loved it and I actually WANTED to read all the way through, very thorough and awesome! Um, who's the bomb? (Me haha lol)
oh and btw dont start calling me that (name i put down) cuz i hate it! lol
luv ya bro,
keep it up

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written by kathy, January 15, 2009

Good review... helps to decide if one wants to invest or not. Will pass the website info on to my kids who do these things
thanks

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