JBoc924You hear it all the time: the genre of survival horror is one that is slowly dying. Such a claim isn’t entirely misguided due to the lack of any truly scary games being put out recently. In 2010 the independent developer Frictional Games changed that and they gave us a gem with Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a PC/ Mac exclusive that truly lived up to its genre and gave horror fans hope for the genre’s future. So here we are in a new year and with major horror franchises getting sequels that will all, hopefully, land in 2011. Will they deliver on the scares? Or will they just stick to the very popular recent uprising of “survival-action”. Join us, as we all pool in our picks for what’s going to be hot within the survival horror genre in 2011.
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 2 is the first major horror release of 2011 and it is coming out on January 25th, which is really soon. The game will put players back in the shoes of Isaac Clarke where it has been 3 years since the events of the first game. With Isaac being hospitaliazed and suffering from a bad case of hallucinations, his trip through the Sprawl is going to be anything but a breather and part of his rehab.
Visceral Games has brought back everything we loved about the first game and fixed elements that were met with complaints, like the Zero-G mode of traversal which now grants complete freedom of movement to players. We’ll also be getting more necromorphs and more ways to dismember them. The latter of which can even be done online now, thanks to the sequel’s inclusion of a multi-player mode. Though such a feature lead some fans to believe that the focus was going to be taken away from the single-player experience in order to enhance the multi-player mode. By the looks of what we’ve seen, that is not the case at all.
The 3rd Birthday
The 3rd Birthday sees a return to Square Enix’s Parasite Eve series after around a decade of being dormant. Coming out as a PSP-exclusive, players will get to play as Aya once again in a third-person shooter/action-RPG hybrid available sometime in Q1 2011.
Monsters known as “The Twisted” are descending on Manhattan, and Aya will join an investigative team called CTI (Counter Twisted Investigation) to try and contain the monsters. The game will be played with an over-the-shoulder view similar to RE4 and Dead Space, and Aya will have some very unique powers at her disposal.
Alice: The Madness Returns
The sequel to the much loved American McGee’s Alice has finally surfaced. Electronic Arts and Spicy Horse games announced Alice: The Madness Returns, the sequel to the 2000 PC hit some time ago, and is ‘expected’ for a 2011 release. This return to Wonderland is looking to be everything that fans have been waiting for; the same twisted and dark style with updated visuals, story and design. If you’ve never heard of American McGee’s Alice, take a look at it this way – it’s Alice in Wonderland, but everything about it has been reinvented with a dark, psychotic twist. Honestly, what’s not to love about that?
The Madness Returns will take place 10 years after the conclusion of the original game, with Alice struggling to recover from the emotional trauma of losing her entire family in a fatal fire. After spending a decade institutionalized, she is finally released ot the care of a psychiatrist who just may be able help her conquer her nightmares.
Alice: The Madness Returns is set to release on the PC, Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 some time in 2011.
Silent Hill: Downpour
Silent Hill has seen greater days, and so far being handed from publisher to publisher hasn’t fared well for the series as a whole. Now coming up to the eighth installment in the series, now known as Silent Hill: Downpour, the newest installment is being handled by the fairly new company Vatra Games. Silent Hill is still recognized as one of the best, if not the best, horror series to exist so it’s a shame that new titles in the series create an air of cautious hype instead of being a big blowout. While nothing can be said until we’ve tried the game ourselves there does look to be reason to be excited. Vatra Games really seem to know what they’re doing.
Silent Hill: Downpour follows a man named Murphy Pendleton who while being carried off to prison in an escort vehicle escapes after it crashes. Coincidentally, it crashed right by a small lakeside town known as Silent Hill. The game features a heavy rain and water motif, taking place in the southeast part of Silent Hill and it’s outskirts in what is promised to be the biggest Silent Hill title to date (so big they even have a subway system to travel faster). Even who Murphy is as a person is morphed by the player, who’s choices, some obvious and some not, affect his story as well as one of multiple endings (an example being, help the cop who was trying to capture you from falling off a ledge or leave her to die). However, while Vatra is opting for a bigger and more open and explorable experience with side missions and lots of interaction with the environment , they still have not forgotten about the importance of fear, horror, and psychology in the Silent Hill series and the importance of mythos to the series and that each character has their own story and versions of Silent Hill.
There might be worries at the back of everyone’s mind, but these people do sound like they know what their doing. It seems they have done a lot of research to see what worked and didn’t work with past titles and while there is still much uncertain about the game as well as a few things that may turn heads, it sounds like it’s building up to be a great game for 2011 and one that Silent Hill fans may have been hoping for over 6 years for. While some losses may be underlined for now, like the leaving of Akira and many still believing Silent Hill just can’t work without Team Silent, the past is the past and while losses are felt the direction these new producers bring to the table sound both promising and interesting. One to definitely keep your eyes on as it develops and releases later this year for PS3 and 360.
Shadows of the Damned
Grasshopper Manufacture’s Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami took the stage at the Tokyo Game Show last year to reveal the collaboration that the two of them had been working on. Shadows of the Damned is billed as a new psychological action thriller that will follow a man named Garcia Hotspur (like it already) who travels into the pits of Hell to save his beloved. Judging by the title of the project, we’re guessing that doesn’t go so well.
Grasshopper’s website states that Garcia is a hunter of demons, and his wrath will bring Hell to its knees. Shadows of the Damned will combine visceral action with dark, grotesque horror to create a mind-shattering adventure that has to be seen to be believed. Garcia will be assisted by a former demon with the ability to transofrm into an array of vicious weapons to help Garcia rip apart the horrifying forces of the underworld.
F.E.A.R. 3
FEAR 3, F.E.A.R. 3, F.3.A.R. or whatever you want to call it is another big hitter. A horror series that has grown in this console generation, they now are bringing co-op play into this mildly convoluted franchise and aim to make it the scariest game ever. Big words to live up too. FEAR 3 does have a demented set-up, basically featuring the most interesting family reunion you could ever imagine (I mean who doesn’t look forward to meeting with their apparently back-from-the-dead telepathic and cannibalistic brother and powerful psychic and undead underage nudist pregnant mother?) and a ravaged town leading to doomsday. This game could either be very awesome or very meh. Embracing both FPS and horror gaming, what will co-op contribute and how will this compare to the past installments and stand among other horror titles? To be honest, we’re excited to find out as it comes out in May.
Did we mention if you get the collector’s edition you get a naked and pregnant Alma figurine whose baby inside her stomach glows in the dark? Originality points are deserved there, at the very least.
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
While it’s doubtful Resident Evil Revelations will see the light of day this year, we do have Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D to look forward too. Combining the popular Mercenaries mode featured in Resident Evil 4 and 5 with new additions like customization as well as new characters, being playable on the go, and one of the first (if not the first) 3DS title to feature online play. While more survival-action, it should be a lot of fun and those getting it should have an idea of what to expect. This sounds like a game many could waste many an hour on, alone or with friends.
Also keep your eyes out for the CG movie, “Resident Evil: Damnation,” coming out later this year.
Fatal Frame II Remake
Some of the best horror gaming experiences are ones that most of us never get to play. Fatal Frame IV was just one of those (*sniff*) and here’s hoping the remake of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly isn’t in the same boat.
The game is being developed by Techmo Koei and will be published by (obviously) Nintendo for the Nintendo Wii. We wouldn’t be worth our weight as a horror site if we didn’t say that we were looking forward to this, and keeping all of our fingers crossed that this will eventually make an appearance outside of Japan. That being said, there ‘is’ a patch for Fatal Frame IV that will let you temporarily localize so you can play it on your Wii without the risk of modding it. But we’d rather have an official release and not go through the trouble, wouldn’t you? RoH will bring you more information on this game when it becomes available.
Night of the Sacrifice
Night of the Sacrifice is as interesting as how crazy it currently sounds. Not an over-the-top crazy but with some design choices that you don’t see in many if any games these days. At least they dare to be different. Night of the Sacrifice is Wii title coming out in Japan this March (on the 24th to be exact) with no English release confirmed but one being likely. Featuring two conflicting art styles, much about this game remains shrouded in mystery. We know the Wii Balance board is an optional control setting. We also know the game features students exploring a location where sacrifices once happened. However still much is in shadows, though one thing we can say for certain, we’re intrigued.
A horror game that tries something new is cool in our book, and while so much is uncertain it is definitely one to watch the development as it’s release comes up in the next three months. How can something with ghosts, chainsaw wielding maniacs, zombified naked giants, and two girls in different art styles kissing go wrong? Probably the most original title on the list, who knows what Marvelous Entertainment’s game has in store for us?
Asylum
Now here’s one you might not have heard of, but we’re looking forward to all the same. Senscape is getting ready to launch Asylum some time in 2011. Trust us, it’s nearly impossible to do a search for information on the game without coming up with a dozen different entires for Arkham Asylum. Seriously. An indie developer with previous game Scratches under its belt. You really need only look at the trailer to figure out if this is a game you want to play or not. And it’s a game we want to play, even if it might only be an action/exploration game. What we know so far is that the ‘asylum’ the title is referring to is the Hanwell Institute, and just looking at the place you know something ain’t quite right here.
We’re hoping to hear something new shortly regarding Asylum, but you can bet when we get our hands on that information, we’re going to be passing it along to you!
Lucius
Another game on this list you have probably never heard of, Lucius by Lace Mamba Global and Shiver Games is basically Omen the game. You play as adopted son Lucius, who is the son of the devil. You must rid the mansion you live in of all of it’s occupants. You must kill them and make sure that no one suspects it is you. The more you accomplish, the more powers you can unlock including mind control and the ability to throw stuff around. A very interesting concept that comes out later this year for PC and Mac. Check out more about the game by clicking here to go to their website.
Frictional Games’ next project
While we’re pretty sure that we won’t be getting any releases in 2011, we would be exceptionally gracious fans if Frictional Games laid some new game information on us. We know from their blog that Frictional is working on a new game thanks to their newfound capital and confidence for the PC from The Dark Descent. If their new game has even half the freak-out factor as The Dark Descent, we’re going to need to be getting ourselves a whole lot of new pants.
Resident Evil: Revelations
And how can we forget about Resident Evil: Revelations. Even though we already noted how it may not come out in 2011, we’re still very excited for this game to release, for multiple reasons. The first, and most obvious one, is that Revelations is set to bring the franchise back to its roots. The other reasons range from the fact that Jill and Chris star in the game, akin to the original title, and also the fact that a good portion of the game will take place within the confines of a cruise ship that’s sure to have a lot of closed in corridors to remind us of the horrors we faced in the original game’s mansion.
It’s also worth mentioning how the plot of the game, while still being kept secret for the most part, seems very interesting, due in large part to an unknown figure being the focus of attention towards the end of the game’s trailer. To this day, fans are still trying to formulate theories as to who this mysterious person is. We’ll find out, hopefully, in 2011. And while the game isn’t confirmed to be out this year, it’ll make perfect sense to release it in 2011 due to Resident Evil’s anniversary coming up soon.
So there you have it, our most anticipated games of 2011. Which one of the above games are you guys excited about the most? Another good question would be, which one of these games do you expect to be delayed into 2012 or beyond? Sound off in the comments below.
