
She can’t jump, can barely run and isn’t even very good with a gun. However, she cannot throw a punch to save her life. Jill Valentine is an elite member of the task force S.T.A.R.S, a strategic rescue unit highly trained to deal with all manner of dangerous activity. While not 100% true in all cases, there are ten important golden rules that a survival horror ought to acknowledge if it wants to be truly terrifying.įrom they who brought you the ten golden rules of online gaming, and the ten golden rules of Japanese RPGs, we now present to you the gory, the grim and the grotesque, with ten golden rules of survival horror.ġ: Main protagonist must have zero fighting ability, even if a highly trained professional: In general, they follow a set of distinct rules. Unlike movies, a survival horror places the player directly in the thick of the terror, directly in the eye of the storm, where fight our natural instincts are not only brought out, but actively required.īe it Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark or Clock Tower, there are many frightening examples of interactive horror to choose from, where the primary goal is simply to get out of there alive.

Horror taps into a need to be scared, a need to keep one’s “fight or flight” programming well-honed and finely tuned. It is no surprise that horror is such a popular genre, where we can explore our grim compulsion to view carnage and experience fear in the comfort of our own homes.įear is a powerful motivator, and an instinct that we like to keep well sharpened. We may not like to admit it, but our macabre instincts thirst for blood, as we find ourselves morbidly drawn to brutality and violence. By our very nature, we as people are drawn to the dark.
