Silent Hill 2 Remake: Avoiding Enemies
Following the release of Silent Hill 2 Remake, many online discussions have noted a shift in the game’s approach to combat, with some players suggesting it has become more combat focused and that avoiding enemies is now less feasible. While the remake does incorporate significant upgrades to combat mechanics, players still retain the ability to avoid certain enemies in various scenarios. “One prominent example of this perspective appears in Modern Vintage Gamer’s YouTube video, Silent Hill 2 Is A Remake (Mostly) Done Right. In the video, MVG notes that the ability to avoid enemies, a notable feature in the original game, has been altered in the remake, commenting that ‘avoiding enemies is unfortunately not part of the remake’ and that ‘players will need to engage in combat.’” While I disagree with this point in the video, I appreciate that MVG has highlighted the importance of enemy avoidance in survival horror games; after all, this is a key aspect that separates them from action games. Survival horror is a puzzle game of efficiency , the whole time you are playing every action you take is all part of a grander puzzle. I’m not only referring to the classic puzzles, like finding and rearranging coins, but also the intricacies of combat, resource management and navigating the maze-like environments. If you boil down the gameplay of Resident Evil 1, the core objective is simple: get from point A to point B without dying, often picking up a key item along the way or backtracking to retrieve one. This is also true with Silent Hill 2 and the Silent Hill 2 remake. The trick is to get to point B the most efficient way possible, and often the most efficient way to do this is to avoid combat altogether running past the enemies saving your ammo for later. I show an example of this in the video below. As shown in the video above, enemies can be avoided about 80% of the time; you can either run past them or use the newly added dodge button. For the remaining 20%, however, dodging is impractical, and it’s more efficient to eliminate them. The enemies are also much more aggressive than in the original Silent Hill 2, where you could literally walk in circles around them, even the initial encounter with Pyramid Head was almost comically easy to avoid. Not so in the remake, and the game is all the better for it. Since 2001, people have become desensitized to horror; we now see far worse things on YouTube or in the news. If the enemies in the remake were as easy to avoid as in the original, there would be no sense of tension or threat. Bloober Team made the right decision to make the enemies more relentless while also retaining a fundamental trait of survival horror games, the ability to avoid the enemies.
Vultures – Turn Based Survival Horror
In the same way you would combine a red and green herb in Resident Evil, Giovanni (Agar3s) and Mateo (Carenalga) from Team Vultures are combining tactical turn-based gameplay with survival horror themes. “In fact I came to the realisation that the tactical elements are perfect for a survival horror game.” Before I played the Vultures – Scavengers of Death demo I was worried the turn based elements would overpower the survival horror but that isn’t the case. In fact I came to the realisation that the tactical elements are perfect for a survival horror game. Turn-based games share several similarities with survival horror games in terms of strategic depth and gameplay mechanics. In turn-based games, players must weigh the risks of each move, while in survival horror games players must think about their actions at a more deliberate pace rather than relying on fast reflexes. Survival horror games typically feature real-time combat, the need to choose when to fight, flee, or hide mirrors the tactical combat decisions in turn-based games. I decided to test Vultures against my “golden rules of survival horror” and I was surprised to find it almost perfectly fits my criteria for the essential gameplay elements of a survival horror game. For more information on my golden rules for visit here: www.survivalhorrors.com/survival-horror-golden-rules Golden Rule 1: Scarce Resources There is barely enough ammo to kill all of the zombies in the police station where the demo takes place, I found myself entering rooms with 5 or 6 zombies and I simply did not have enough ammo to kill them all. Just like classic survival horror games I had to back track where I found a shotgun which let me progress through the rooms with large numbers of enemies. Saving in Vultures is also a scarce resource, just like the ink ribbons in Resident Evil to save in Vultures you have a limited number of discs, this requires players to be strategic about when and where they save their progress to avoid losing significant progress. Golden Rule 2: No Control Over How Successful Your Attack Will Be In fixed camera angle games, you aim roughly in the direction of the enemy without any real control or precision aiming. This lack of control is present in Vultures, I found myself with a 70% chance of getting a head shot regularly missing. This lack of control when fighting enemies is what separates survival horror games from action games that do have precision aiming. Golden Rule 3: Unexpected Attack In classic fixed camera survival horror games there would often be enemies just outside of the cameras view which made it unsettling to turn a corner. In the footage below you can see this same scenario plays out in Vultures, you don’t know what is a few movement squares in front of you until after you commit to moving. In the footage I try and sneak past a zombie but a second zombie is revealed around a hidden corner triggering the combat. Running in the game wouldn’t be advised and the sneaking feature doesn’t guarantee safety either. Golden Rule 4: Puzzle Solving The demo features a few code base puzzles which require you to read notes you find in the police station and then back track to a lock. Puzzles in the final game will be expanded to more than just code based puzzles but they are still being developed. Golden Rule 5: Having to Evade Enemies I found myself underequipped to fight the enemies in a room or the room had more zombies than I first thought, when this happened it was best to just run to the nearest door and evade the enemies. There is also a stealth movement mode (Sneak) which is slower but a much safer way to move around the police station. I found this worked great when there is 1 zombie in the room but you can’t easily sneak between multiple zombies. Golden Rule 6: Playing as a Vulnerable Character You play as a bad ass from the Vultures organisation so you aren’t exactly vulnerable however if enough zombies surround you it is hard to live. In the final version of Vultures you will have the choice of two characters, Leopoldo or Amber. This is a nice tribute to Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil that also give you a choice of a male or female character. Golden Rule 7: Maze-like Environments The police station in Vultures is very similar to the labyrinthine Resident Evil 2 police station it was inspired by. Even the demo has a nice variety of locations to explore within the police station including a Garden, Press Room, Offices, Firing Range etc. I am really looking forward to exploring and unlock new paths in the police station further when the final game is released. Check out some gameplay from the official Twitter page. Are you excited about Vultures – Scavengers of Death? Wishlist it on Steam now and be the first to know when it’s available! www.store.steampowered.com/Vultures__Scavengers_of_Death
Clock Tower Remake – True Survival Horror
Get ready to revisit one of the most iconic horror games of all time as Clock Tower gets a chilling remake. Never before release outside of Japan, this indie gem, developed by a team of dedicated horror enthusiasts, promises to revive the terror of the original while introducing new twists and turns to keep players on the edge of their seats. For those unfamiliar, Clock Tower follows the story of Jennifer Simpson, a young woman who finds herself trapped in a sinister mansion plagued by a relentless stalker known as Scissorman. As players guide Jennifer through the haunted halls of the mansion, they must solve puzzles, evade the Scissorman’s deadly grasp, and uncover the dark secrets hidden within. “It is true survival horror, you can only survive” Mariel CartwrightClock Tower Port+ Creative Lead Just like the original game Clock Tower Port+ will be a true survival horror game explains Mariel Cartwright “We have a ton of game where you’re fighting monsters and you’re shooting them with guns and that can still be scary but clock tower is distinct in that you really don’t have any of those tools… It is true survival horror, you can only survive.” Whether you’re a fan of the original or new to the world of Clock Tower, this remake is a must have for survival horror fans. Keep an eye out for more updates on this eagerly anticipated indie title as we await its release date. If you would like a physical version of the game Limited Run Games is opening up pre orders from May 31 to June 30 for Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
