Really, out of nowhere there’s a wave of survival games (some more realistic and complex, others a bit less complex, but survival games nonetheless)
That I can recall right now:
- The long dark
- The forest
- Stranded deep
And there are probably more, I just haven’t come across them.
BUT, they are all the same style, one man “you’re stranded somewhere now survive”, which kinda goes a bit: “me Tarzan, there’s no Jane or John or anything…just Tarzan.”.
Let’s take The Forest as an example, a plane crash and: 1- there’s a single dead body in the plane (with an axe stuck to it no less) and 2- you’re the only survivor, well at least the only survivor that survived until after your char wakes up.
What are the odds of that in reality?
So I have a deep love for a slightly more realistic scenario for survival games.
Something along the style of the PS2 era Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series (for us not in Japan, Disaster Report/*whatever it was here in Europe…SOS something, was it?*/Raw danger)
A natural disaster occurs, you are for some reason stuck there and along the way you come across other survivors, some in the same situation as you, others who are there because they felt like it.
But that would pretty much leave no room for gratuitous violence, would it? (if you think I’m anti-violence in videogames, you’re very wrong, I just don’t see it as an intrinsic, unexcludable part of games)
Also I’m not implying the survival games I listed have senseless violence, I’m just saying that a survival game with no/minimum violence would be an welcome change in my opinion.
Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4 for the PS3 was looking great, but then 2011 Tōhoku earthquake happened and…cancelled. Fooking earthquake, destroying everything, even games!
Think how fun that kind of game would be with less strictly programmed events, instead of stuff just falling exactly when you step into X area, it would do it after random(5) seconds of you stepping in there.
Obviously in this style of gameplay, it would have to be like Zettai Zetsumei Toshi, where there’s basically no penalty for dying, you just hit continue and are set back to the last checkpoint.
If I recall correctly (haven’t played it in a while) in Raw Danger (Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 2) you even have to worry about body temperature, which since it’s a game where you spend most game either knee deep in water or in the rain is a really useful (as in challenging) game mechanic.
If anyone actually reads what I write in this site, by now they know I’m already armed with a pencil and a paper pad sketching a scenario and mechanics for such a game, right?
Yes, yes I am. Not that I have any illusion of it ever leaving the paper, but I love to spend a bit having ideas before going to sleep, it helps me fall asleep easier, the innumerable game ideas are just great for that.
Well, that’s my useless rant for now, back to listening to the Conan The Barbarian Soundtrack (the 1982 one with Ahnold), love Anvil of Crom and Riddle Of Steel/Riders Of Doom, would — figuratively — give my left testicle to ride a horse while blaring Riders Of Doom, bonus if I could wield a sword while doing it.
For now I’ll have to be happy to have it as alarm clock tune on my phone.