I think I promised this comparison almost a year ago. Better late than never, I guess :p

I divided the comparison into 6 elements. Each series is judged in story, setting, atmosphere, combat, riddles and originality. I'll explain each category first.

Story - the maturity of the themes present in the plot, its direction, twists and turns, and overall quality.

Setting - the location(s) where the games take place, timeline etc.

Atmosphere...

I was thinking about different horror game subgenres that started appearing after 2004. Previously, there were only survival horrors and other games with horror themes.

Nowadays there are three ways of presenting horror to players.

1. Action horror. Prime examples: The Suffering series, Clive Barker's Undying(probably the only game of this subgenre prior to 2004; correct me if I'm wrong).

The game is focused on action more than anything else; lacks(a...

People that read my blog already know my opinion. However I decided to go with the flow and create a series of sorts which shortly summarize each grand survival horror franchise.

In case someone somehow doesn't know my opinion: I love Silent Hill. The atmosphere, music, complex and often philosophical story full of metaphors and, of course, the scare factor. But, as we all know, nothing is perfect. Especially SH which deteriorated slowly over the years. Let's cut to the chase and...

Note: I haven't played RE5 yet. I'm waiting for the PC release which is due in September. When I complete the game, I'll post an addendum on the subject.



It's kind of embarrassing, since I consider myself a survival horror fan, that I hadn't played any of the RE games except the 4th one. Well now I did my homework and completed the original trilogy of the games. Mind you, my opinion on RE4 changed(I was very harsh towards the game), so keep on reading.

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Notes:

1. Fatal Frame is the US name of the game. The series is called Project Zero in Europe and Zero/Rei in Japan.
2. I haven't played the fourth one since it was released only in Japan and only on the Wii, a system I do not have.
3. The opinion is based on the PS2 versions of the games.


After several months of struggle I have finally got my hands on the copies of 3 FF games. They are known among survival horror enthusiasts as one of the holy...