animalmystic

I was wondering what company/game first came out with the genre of "Survival Horror" in games. Some have said Resident Evil, (I also have heard House of the Dead and Silent Hill as well from others) I was wondering if there was something before those, that not be as well know that came onto the scene first?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Groucho

Alone in the Dark is generally considered the first "Survival Horror" game. However, as I recall the term wasn't actually coined until Resident Evil as a sort of marketing gimmick that caught on.

PixyJunket

Resident Evil for sure.

House of the Dead is a shooting game.

PixyJunket

Was Alone in the Dark a PC only title?

Groucho

Originally, but it came out a couple years later for the 3DO.

CreatureX

It was the original Resident Evil (Playstation) that coined the term "Survival Horror". When you loaded up a previous saved game of Resident Evil, you were greeted with the phrase that said something like "welcome back to the world of survival horror".

Zuul

CreatureX is correct. Resident Evil was the first game to use the term "survival horror" (It was used during the first load screen. I believe the sentence was "Prepare to enter the world of survival horror", though I could be wrong.) but Alone in the Dark is generally considered to be the founder of the genre. Silent Hill is survival horror, but came out when Resident Evil was at its peak in popularity. House of the Dead is a light gun game with a horror theme. It isn't survival horror.

animalmystic

OMG I can't believe I don't remember the original RE saying "welcome back to the world of survival horror" its been a while.

I agree on HotD not being survival horror though, it is horror related, and you are trying to survive

I have heard of Alone in the Dark, but never owned/played a 3DO so I am unfamilier with this title, can anybody give a brief desciption of the gameplay and story?

Josh Z

I'm pretty sure this was released on the original Playstation as well.

toq

Here's a snippet from an old 2001 GameSpot article: A Modern History of Horror gamesCoincidentally, there's a movie based on the game supposedly coming out later this year.

Groucho

There was an Alone in the Dark game for Playstation, but it was a spinoff...it wasn't the original game.

nickdawgy

I remember playing Alone in the Dark on the PC many years ago.

Josh Z

Ah ha. That explains it.

cheapskate

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare



It's probably worth searching out if you're a fan of the original... or the Resident Evil series.

I rented this for a few days, and found it to be an enjoyable take on the whole genre. Incredible graphics at the time...and it still holds up pretty well.

Zuul

I've got the Dreamcast version of AotD: TNN. It's decent. It's basically a rip-off of Resident Evil, which was a rip-off of the original Alone in the Dark games. Nonetheless, it's a fun game and is worth tracking down if you're a fan of the genre.

I haven't played the PS version, but I imagine that it's probably easier to find than the DC version.

animalmystic

Hmmm I might have to check this out, thanks for everybodys input and advice on this title. thumbsup:

darkside

I fondly remember playing through Alone in the Dark on the 3DO. I still have it BTW. Of course I didn't know it was a Survival Horror game at the time. I always considered it an Adventure game like many popular PC titles at the time.

jaeufraser

Beware of that movie. Chances are high that it will be one of the worst movies ever made, right up there with House of the Dead. God bless Uwe Boll!

But yeah, the phrase was coined by Resident Evil, the current king of the genre. Alone in the Dark was first, though, in setting it up. But you can trace the origins back a lot...survival horror is King's Quest + some action + horror. It's old adventure gaming with mutiple levels of action and suspense added in.

criptik28

Also agree that it was the original Alone in the Dark game for the PC. Remember those pixelated graphics? The first scene where you're in some sort of cabin, and nasties break through the windows to get to you?

Giantrobo

How come no one mentions the original SPLATTERHOUSE on Turbo- Grafx 16?

sfsdfd

Bingo. And it was every bit the landmark game as the reviews claim.

I found the demo on Infogrames's site. It was a dinky one-room playable demo - you walk around, push stuff, find and pick up a gun. At one point, a very weird Cthuloid beast crashes through a window, and you fight it. At another point, a zombie rises through a trapdoor in the floor, and you fight it. And that was it.

Nevertheless, I must have played that demo about twelve times. It was just so much damn fun, and so different from the run-of-the-mill shooters on the market. I, uh, acquired the full game about a month later - and it held up gorgeously, with lots of memorable moments and crafty puzzles. Great fun.

That period - Spring, 1993, my third undergrad quarter - I was given Alone in the Dark, X-Wing, and Star Control II (among other greats.) Not coincidentally, I earned my lowest GPA of all time that quarter.

- David Stein