There are certain themes and aspects of survival horror games I’ve been noticing over the last few years, mostly negative.  I would like nothing more to play the ultimately terrifying, relentless, and unforgiving game of all time — sort of like a survival horror Dark Souls.  In this article, I list the top 10 qualities game developers shouldn’t forget when making a survival horror game.  This list also functions as what would make a perfect survival horror game in my own personal opinion.  
10. No Universal Ammo
If a horror survival game even has ammo, make it scarce.  If the monsters are something that can be easily fought, no matter how hideous they look, you are losing an essential fear element of the game.  Those four shotgun shells you found should be held onto tightly, like a loved one for that exact time you need them.  With that said, the idea of universal ammo in this sort of setting is insulting.  If you have multiple guns and you are trying to survive, making ammo universal takes the whole ‘stockpile’ aspect of the game away.  Most likely you will use the best gun you have for almost every situation.  When it comes to ammo, it should be about what you have and not about convenience.
9. Variety in Gameplay
It seems that a lot of survival horror games have a niche in their ‘fear’ mechanic, and they don’t really move on from that one thing.  So the first few times you experience it your heart may beat out of control, but towards the end of the game it has lost its allure; there are only so many creepy hallucinations you can witness or times you can hide in a closet before you become immune to it.  What I’m saying here is keep a variety in gameplay — keep the player guessing.  Horror games shouldn’t fall into a niche in their fear techniques.  As soon as a player adapts, the scare element will drop dramatically.
8. Memorable Monsters / Events / AI
I know this looks like a weighted point, but all three points tie into one another.  If I say names like Alma, Pyramid Head, or the Gatherers — most likely you are able to place what horror game they are linked too.  These are memorable characters because at one point or another they made you jump out of your seat or curse their names as you run for your life.  We have a tendency to remember the things that make us piss ourselves.  It’s not just the creature though — it is the event that occurs.  When you’re hiding in a closest, hearing the monster tear apart the room searching for you… you remember that.  If the AI of a monster isn’t good, it will take away from the total experience.  If the thing stalking you gets lost easily, runs into walls, or can’t figure out how to enter a doorway, the illusion will be lost.
7. No Free Save / Free Load Function
This may totally be my hardcore opinion, but when survival horror games allow you to save your game whenever you want and as often as you want, there is something lost.  It’s not just challenge; it is a feeling of safety. If you charge into a room knowing you can just reload your game outside of that room, the effect is gone.  I want punishments for players going through the game fast and loose.  In the original Resident Evil, you needed ink ribbons to save your game at certain locations.  If you didn’t have the item on you or if you saved too often, you were shit out of luck.  I like that feeling.  Even saving your game should be scarce and something you may want to think twice about.  It makes for a more ‘survival’ type of atmosphere.

Originals

Originals about 8 hours Ago

10 things survival horror games should remember

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6. Harsh Death Qualities
This point goes directly with #7.  If you are being reckless, you should pay for it.  If there isn’t any sort of death penalty, I feel you lose an element of survival and the fear of death.  Horror should be a main theme of the game; if death means nothing then what are you so afraid of?  If you are trying your hardest to cling onto life because you don’t want to have to replay a section of the game or not lose an item you may have… you suddenly have a lot more motivation to try harder.  This also immerses you into the game world more — after all, death should be scary.
5. No Cooperative Play
I can see people disagreeing with me on this point, but I stand by it.  Survival horror games should NOT have cooperative aspects.  It should be all about your personal experience in whatever nightmare you are in.   Besides trolls trying to ruin your experience, if there are two or more of you, then you will miss scares in the game.  The other player could trigger an event, see a flash of something both were supposed to see, complete puzzles before you even catch up, etc.  Most importantly, if there are two or more of you, you aren’t alone.  I know that’s a real ‘duh’ sort of statement, but there is so much more comfort in knowing there is someone friendly in the nightmare with you.  Comfort should be a rare commodity.
4. Not an ‘Action’ Game
Don’t misinterpret this as me saying there shouldn’t be any action in the game.  While a survival horror game still needs action in it, ultimatly the game is in the 'survival horror' genre and not the 'action' genre.  Someone picking up a survival horror game should know what they are getting themselves into.  You don’t need over-the-top weapons (you don’t even need weapons), cover-based shooting, action rolling, a full arsenal, swarms of monsters to murder your way though, vehicle combat, and other cliché action game themes.  I feel the more of these action themes that seep through into survival horror games, the more of the horror that is driven away.
3. Feeling of Helplessness
This is a big one for me.  One of my biggest fears is being completely helpless.  When a game can emulate this feeling is when terror begins.  In Amnesia, the first time you run and hide from a Gatherer is such an intense feeling.  All you can do is hide.  You have no way of combating such a monster.  This is helplessness.  When direct confrontation doesn’t work or isn't even impossible, I feel gamers become more creative in how to deal with problems.  Can you trick the monster?  Can you run from it?  Is there another route you can take?  The moment there is a slight possibility that a creature can be killed by you, you lose that sense of helplessness and begin to rely on skill.  If you feel vulnerable, you will become afraid.

2. Survival Horror Games Should Have Survival and Horror
Again, this whole point seems like another ‘duh’ statement.  It is.  But, it can’t be ignored.  A survival horror game needs to emulate the sense of horror and the sense of survival.  The feeling of safety should be a rare luxury.  If you are not tense and on edge the entire time you are playing, the game is doing it wrong.  This genre should really draw you into its realm so you forget about reality or sanity.  You should never feel confident and you should not trust anything you come across.  Your senses should be working against you and making you question any action you take.  Locations you’ve already been to or cleared should not be assumed as safe at later times.  Scavenging for food, water, and bullets between running and hiding for your life are all encouraged qualities.
1. Don’t Lose the Roots Your Fans Love
This last one, and this is the most important point, only applies to games with sequels, series, or games created by developers known for their works in the survival horror genre.  Quite simply, don’t carve away from the aspects of your games that your fans fell in love with.  I understand new technology comes out and developers want to apply new features to IPs; that’s fine, but don’t go too far off in different directions than where you started.  Fans of series want new experiences, but they also want more of the aspects of the game they swear by.  I hate to think this move is a push to become more commercialized and standard for a wider range of gamers… but that is most likely the reason.
A quick and popular example would be a comparison of F.E.A.R. to F.E.A.R. 3.  Back in 2007, the impossibly built office labyrinth of F.E.A.R. was pretty terrifying for its time.  The gruesome and cheap scares in the game advanced the horror genre.  By the time we got to 2011 with F.E.A.R. 3, the game moved more to a cooperative action game than horror.  I still enjoyed the title as an individual game, but not as a F.E.A.R. game that came with some expectations.  F.E.A.R. isn’t that perfect example since it is a horror and not a survival horror game, but it’s the theme I’m trying to illuminate.

From :
http://xbox.gamezone.com/products/dead-space-3/originals/10-things-survival-horror-games-should-remember/1

Final Fantasy XIII-2

When Final Fantasy XIII was released in 2010 it caused some concern for the series. Good and bad ideas were infused in the staple Japanese RPG franchise that caused fans to speak their disappointment with game. On one hand it looked brilliant, with the typical great Square-Enix art and one of the fastest battle systems to ever feature in the games to date. None of that was the problem though, what annoyed people was the fact that the game took too long to open up. It was extremely linear, so much so in fact that you spent 20 hours walking down closed corridors until you reached the 11^th chapter out of the game’s 13. Vital aspects were also missing, like full towns and shops, a world map and other things that you assume should be in a main Final Fantasy title. Square-Enix said it wanted to create a cinematic experience as an excuse for the linearity.
It’s not often a Final Fantasy title gets a direct sequel that involves the same world and characters. I feel the reason behind this is Square-Enix felt the outcry from the fans, and felt like they needed to do correct the wrong doings of XIII.
And for the most part they have.
XIII-2 continues from the events of the XIII by setting the story three years after. Lightning is no longer the star of the game as this flame has been passed on to Serah, Lightning’s younger sister. Serah is in a bit of a state because she seems to have memories of Lightning returning home, yet no one else believes this and understands her to have died. After waking up from a dream of her sister her village is attacked by monsters, during this she meets Noel, a person from 700 years into the future who has been asked by Lightning to bring Serah back to her. It also seems that the time where Noel comes from isn’t very pleasant, with no humans alive save for him, so together they go on an adventure through the timeline to resolve paradoxes and hopefully change the future for the better.
The tone of the story in Final Fantasy XIII-2 is light hearted, feeling less serious than its predecessor for most of the time. This is also somewhat of a problem too because the story feels disjointed. Serah and Noel do a lot of side tracking due to the time travelling. This can lead to the story being pushed to the side while you do the smaller quests. To get the most out of the story you are going to have to do all the optional side quests and find all the multiple endings that are featured. Even if you don’t do this it is still an enjoyable playthrough, if somewhat forgettable.
Thinking about it, the story is probably the weakest part of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Square-Enix has certainly taken the critical feedback from fans to heart as the mechanics behind this game are much more open-ended than XIII ever could be. There’s no world map still, instead you traverse to different locations using the game’s Historia Crux system. You use this to jump through various time gates allowing you to visit drastically changed locations from the present, up to 700 years into the future.
Time travelling adds the much needed nonlinear gameplay due to branching paths that open up. Some might criticise it as an excuse to reuse some of the area assets, but I found it genuinely compelling to see how an area had change over the course of time. Found in areas are fragments that are necessary to open up gate portals to other areas, with certain types needed to activate different gates. Each zone has a limited amount of these gates and fragments to amass. In total there are 120 fragments to hunt down in the entire game.
After the initial few hours have passed it becomes clear that Square-Enix tried to capitalize on the game’s improvements. A large amount of the locations are much more open than the corridor running adventures of Lightning in XIII. Most feature a lively town and multiple areas to explore with their own set of tasks to complete.
Fresh additions to XIII-2 include a feature called “Live Trigger,” a gameplay element that allows the player to ask questions and pose reactions when speaking to characters. There are normally four options to pick from and they will play out differently depending on what you pick. You also gain items for taking part in the live triggers, so answering “correctly” will get you the best items.  If you’re a bit of a completionist or hate missing out on all the possible outcomes from taking part in a live trigger, then you’ll be happy to know that the Historia Crux grants the ability to reset an area you’ve already explored. It allows you to revisit situations or changes things if you didn’t like how you did it the first time.
Battle mechanics are an improvement; some slight changes to the system make them flow more smoothly. For example, the Paradigm Shifting transitions much faster, allowing for you to swiftly move between Paradigms. Auto Battling is still featured, but just like XIII you aren’t forced to use it. To be honest, Auto Battling in the game is only useful for battles that you know you can win. If you are far into the story then the feature essentially becomes pointless as it focuses on picking lower-level skills more often than not. Repeat is still in as well, so you don’t have to keep selecting the same skill if you plan on to using it again.
Apart from the initial Lightning fights at the start of the game, Noel and Serah are the only two characters you control throughout the whole game. I was a little disheartened with this as I would have loved to play other characters. Players still take on the role of one hero while the A.I controls the other, but you can switch between them if you need to use another character’s skill. Thankfully you also don’t get a ”Game Over” splash if the party leader dies. If someone is unfortunate enough to perish then the game moves you to the other character to take control.
Random battles make a return, but the “Moogle Clock” system is a pleasant difference from the norm, and may make people who dislike that feature in Japanese RPGs a bit happier. When an enemy randomly spawns near you the clock will appear and a large circle will form around the base of your character. If you manage to hit the enemy in this circle before the clock transitions from green to yellow then you’ll get a preemptive attack. Yellow just makes the fights normal, but if runs out of time then you will go into a fight with the retry option disabled, meaning if you die you get a Game Over without the luxury of being allowed to spawn back to the same location prior to engaging in battle. Running away from battles are only done in the Moogle Clock, just run away from the enemy so that he’s far enough to be out of the radius of the circle and it will vanish.
Brand new to the battle system is the use of Monsters. Only one of them will fight in battle with you, taking up the third character slot, but you can have three equipped at one time and switch between them by using the Paradigm Shift. Acquiring Monsters requires you to fight and beat them, although you aren’t always guarantee to get it since there’s a percentage chance involved with each unique monster.
Monsters are never playable; they are controlled by the A.I and are associated with one of the six paradigm roles. Each one comes with its own particular set of skills and a powerful move called Feral Link that builds up over the course of battle. Using the Feral Link will require the player to take park in quick time event (QTE) that will buff the Monster’s attack if you press or do the motion correctly. Out of battle, Final Fantasy XIII-2 has combined these QTEs into scenes called “Cinematic Actions” that attempt to immerse you with well produced Square-Enix cutscenes. Sometimes there are options that allow you to change the outcome of the scene, for example using magic instead of shooting. I’m a fan of QTEs when they are done right, and I never felt once that I was handicapped when trying to press the on screen prompts as they gave me plenty of time to react.
Monsters can level up and gain new abilities; it’s slightly different than how the playable characters do it. Instead of spending Crystarium Points you will find materials as rewards at the end of battles that will allow your monster to level up. Their level mechanic system is identical to how Noel and Serah’s works. If you’ve played XIII then you’ll know all about the Crystarium.
Completing the main game took me just over the 33 Hour mark. That was with only collecting 67 out of the 120 fragments that are available. After beating the game you’ll no doubt be somewhat annoyed at some certain words plastered on the screen (best give me some closure in the DLC Square-Enix!) but after you are greeted with the chance to carry on playing to do all the other side quests in the game. There are rare monsters to find, chocobo racing, puzzle solving, plenty of paradox endings to discover and hidden bosses to fight, doing it all will double the amount of time you spend with this game.
Final Fantasy XIII-2’s graphics look attractive, but that surprise you got when you first saw XIII in action somewhat diminishes the shock feeling in the sequel. There also seems to be a drop in frame rate sometimes. It’s mainly noticeable in some of the close up scenes of the characters and occasionally pops up during heavy content-filled towns.
I can commend Square-Enix for what they were trying to do with XIII-2. I personally didn’t think much of XIII as it abandoned the stuff I liked about the series. XIII-2 brings some of it back, making it a great compelling JRPG, but what it brings most for me is that I found it much more fun to play, and that’s a correct thing for any game to do. It won’t be remembered as a classic, or be on a person’s top Final Fantasy game list as it falls short from being a superb game. It’s different than what you expect from a Final Fantasy title, but it does wash away some of that bad taste that came with XIII, and that is something I can get on board for.

More at :

http://darkzero.co.uk/game-reviews/final-fantasy-xiii-2-ps3/

Review: The Dream Machine – A Surreal Stop-Motion Point and Click Adventure

Developer Summary

You play as Victor and Alicia, a couple who’ve just moved into a new apartment. While trying to get settled in, they soon discover that all is not as it seems in the quiet, unassuming apartment building…

What We Think

Among the dozens of interesting games I saw at IndieCade 2011, I happened to stumble upon one of the finalists in a quiet back corner room where a few computers were tucked away, though their screens were being washed out by the sun blasting through a window in the later part of the afternoon.
Liking stories that explore the landscape of the subconscious and dream-states, and a long time fan of “Psychonauts,” naturally, I was immediately intrigued by the name “The Dream Machine” and then subsequently delighted by its unique look. The graphics you see, comprise hand-made stop-motion animation of clay, Popsicle sticks and other found items handled with painstaking care that would make the Quay Brothers blush.
The amount of creativity, and time that went into this is unlike any other I have yet seen. Whereas Telltale adapted the famous claymation franchise Wallace and Gromit for the PC with 3D graphics resembling clay, Dream Machine is literally to claymation what Dragon’s Lair was to Saturday Morning cartoons, except that it has much greater interactivity than the cut-scene style of Bluth’s standup arcade title. But I felt the same sense of awe as I did then.

read more:
http://www.indiegamereviewer.com/review-the-dream-machine-a-surreal-stop-motion-point-and-click-adventure/

Resident Evil 6 Announced

One of the most popular survival-horror series ever, the Resident Evil games had sold almost 46 millions units as of last September, in addition to spawning movies, comics, novels, and even action figures. And we're happy to report that the rumors swelling around for the past few days are true: Capcom has announced that Resident Evil 6 will be released on November 20, 2012!
Rather than tell you about the game, we'll let it speak for itself: You can view the intense-, 3-minute-plus reveal trailer on Capcom's Youtube page.
There's been a site that many assumed was teasing the game live for about a week now. A mysterious site, NoHopeLeft.com, popped up with a number of photos of grafitti with a modified "biohazard" symbold. And in Japan, Resident Evil is known as... Biohazard!