I have had this article on the back burner for a while and after posting the Game EXP article last Friday for Resident Evil 5, I thought that this would be a decent follow up seeing as how one of my complaints was the lack of survival horror that the series was based on.
Now, I am by no means an authority figure when it comes to survival horror games, or even survival horror games with an emphasis on stealth and weaponless gameplay. It was my original intention to look at the origin of these games which could be classified as a subset of the survival horror genre (a genre named by the creators of the first Resident Evil back in 1996) where the player goes through the game unarmed, with their speed and wits as their only defense against whatever is pursuing them.
Now, I am by no means an authority figure when it comes to survival horror games, or even survival horror games with an emphasis on stealth and weaponless gameplay. It was my original intention to look at the origin of these games which could be classified as a subset of the survival horror genre (a genre named by the creators of the first Resident Evil back in 1996) where the player goes through the game unarmed, with their speed and wits as their only defense against whatever is pursuing them.
Once I came up with this idea for an article, I began researching surivival horror games, which lead me to the Wikipedia article for this sub-genre of action games as well as the article for horror games in general. What I soon realized, was that there are literally dozens upon dozens of games that fit this critera that I both have not played or had never heard about. I then knew that my intended analysis about the history of this genre would either need to wait, or would require me to stop my job, forget any chance of having a social life, acquiring a number of older out of print systems, and spending my time playing games (or at the very least watching hours upon hours of gameplay videos on Youtube; assuming that videos of all the games were uploaded) and writing what could turn out to be a doctorate level thesis.
One other thing that I realized would be more difficult that I had previously thought when it came to classifying these games, was that there were a number that had weapons in them, but the weapons were either non conventional, such as the use of the camera in the Fatal Frame series, or were like the mattock in Penumbra: Overture and the sword/shotgun in Alone in the Dark which were functional weapons, but were often difficult to wield/aim and escaping from the attacker was often the easier of the players' two options. Then there was the issue of point and click games (The Uninvited, Clocktower), or text based games (Schoolhouse Horror Story, Anchorhead) where you might have weapons of sorts, but were not action oriented.
I orginally began this article by putting the games in chronological order, still believing that I would be able to either find a pattern or something might stick out to me as a catalyst for this ever growing genre of video game. I then decided to put a short classification system in order to better catogorize the games, such as no weapons, limited weapons, puzzles, stealth, speed, et cetera. The main downside to this system of classifying games, is that I was sometimes only able to do so from descriptions, or gameplay trailers. This lead to "no weapons?" or "limited weapons" when I was unsure if a game contained weapons that were functional, or maybe they could be only used to push back creatures which allowed the player to better make an escape. It was by this point that I had moved far beyond my original goal of talking about games which I thought were similar to Amnesia: The Dark Descent and KHOLAT, where running and hiding was the only option.
First off, before I actually get down to the massive list that I have, um, amassed, I want to emphasize that this is in now way an exhaustive list of horror related video games where you are unable to attack the enemies, kill the enemies, run away from the enemies, or anything else. This is a list of games that I have been able to find through the end of 2016, that I felt would be on this list if Wikipedia has a list for games that would fall under the makeshift definition that I gave in the first sentence of this paragraph. I know that I have left off some games and that was in no way intentional. I decided to leave the list in chronological order rather than say, in alphabetical order, mainly because I find it interesting to see when these types of games (the ones that could be remembered and recorded for later generations by the Internet) originated (earliest being 1981, unless you skip Nostromo because there might have been weapons and go straight to 1982's 3D Monster Maze, which is truly the first "run away from the monster before it kills you because you cannot even dream of killing it because weapons do not exist for you" type of game), then there being an uptick in 1995, and then just a couple of games here-and-there until 2008 when they became more popular with audiences (speculations abound). I also hyperlinked as many games as I could to either their Steam or GOG pages where the games can be purchased, but there were a handful that I could only link to their own Wikipedia page; this is looking back at 35 years of gaming history after all.
1981:
Nostromo (no weapons?; puzzles and stealth)
1982:
3D Monster Maze (no weapons; speed)
Haunted House (no weapons; dodging, speed)
1984:
Alien (no weapons?: stealth and puzzles)
1985:
The Rats (text based)
1986:
Uninvited (limited or no weapons; point and click)
1987:
[May 6] The Lurking Horror (text based)
Jack The Ripper (text based)
1989:
[December 15] Sweet Home (some weapons; emphasis on survival; permadeath)
1992:
Alone in the Dark (difficult to use weapons; emphasis on survival; here mainly because it's Alone in the Dark)
Dark Seed (point and click)
1993:
[April 7] The 7th Guest (no weapons?; point and click, puzzle)
1994:
Dr. Hauzer (no monsters; puzzles)
1995:
[April 5] D
[August 4] Schoolhouse Horror Story (text based)
[August 24] Phantasmagoria (point and click, puzzles)
[September 14] Clock Tower (no weapons; point and click)
[October 30] Bad Day on the Midway (no weapons; puzzles)
[October 31] I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream (limited weapons, point and click)
[November 30] The 11th Guest (no weapon?; point and click, puzzle)
[November 30] Dark Seek 2 (no weapon?; point and click, puzzle)
The Dark Eye (point and click, puzzle)
1996:
[March 22] Resident Evil (lots of weapons, puzzles; here mainly because it's Resident Evil)
[November 30] Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh (point and click, puzzles)
[December 13] Clock Tower 2 (no weapons; point and click)
1997:
[January 17] The Note (limited use weapons; puzzles)
1998:
[March 12] Clock Tower Ghost Head (Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within) (no weapons; point and click)
[April 30] Sanitarium (point and click, puzzles)
[June 11] Hellnight (no weapons; puzzles and speed)
Anchorhead (Text based game)
1999:
[January 31] Silent Hill (limited weapon use; puzzles, stealth and speed; here for the same reasons as Resident Evil)
2000:
[April 30] Martian Gothic: Unification (limited weapons; puzzles)
2001:
[March 21] Illbleed (limited weapon)
[May 11] Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness (no weapons?; puzzles)
[September 5] White Day: A Labyrinth Named School (no weapons; puzzles, and stealth)
[December 13] Fatal Frame (limited weapon; puzzle)
[December 12] Clock Tower 3 (no weapon until late game; stealth primarily)
2003:
[August 7] Gregory Horror Show (no weapons?)
[November 6] Glass Rose (no weapons?; point and click)
[November 6] Siren (limited weapons; stealth emphasized)
[November 27] Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (limited weapon: puzzles)
The Black Mirror (point and click, puzzle)
2004:
[August 5] Michigan: Report from Hell (limited weapons, stealth, puzzles)
[August 29] Dark Fall II: Lights Out (no weapons; point and click)
[August 29] Dark Fall II: Lights Out (no weapons; point and click)
2005:
[April; 21] Haunting Ground (no weapons except targeting dog; stealth and speed)
[June 9] Pathologic (puzzles?)
[July 28] Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (limited weapons; puzzles)
2006:
[February 9] Siren 2 (limited weapons; stealth emphasized)
[March 8] Scratches (stealth, puzzles)
[April 26] Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (weapons in late game; stealth, puzzles)
[April 26] Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (weapons in late game; stealth, puzzles)
2007:
[January 25] Vampire Rain (limited weapons; steath emphasized)
[March 30] Penumbra: Overture (minimal weapons with emphasis on stealth)
[October 23] Imabikiso (no weapons?; visual novel)
2008:
[January 28] Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (limited weapons; puzzles)
[February 12] Penumbra: Black Plague (no weapons; stealth only)
[July 3] Nanashi no Game (no weapons?; stealth)
[July 24] Siren: Blood Curse (limited weapons; stealth emphasized)
[August 28] Penumbra: Requiem (no monsters; only puzzles)
[September 11] Theresia (visual novel)
2009:
[March 18] The Path (no weapons; speed and stealth)
[December 8] Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (no weapons; puzzles, stealth, speed)
[December 22] LIT (no weapons; puzzles)
2010:
[April 21] Dark Fall: Lost Souls (no weapons?; point and click, puzzles)
[August 31] Kowa-Ota (no weapons; stealth, speed)
[September 8] Amnesia: The Dark Descent (no weapons; stealth only)
[October 12] Dead Space: Ignition (puzzles)
2011:
[February 8] Black Mirror II: Reigning Evil (no weapons?; point and click, puzzle)
[April 9] Black Mirror III: Final Fear (no weapons?; point and click, puzzle)
[August 2] LIMBO (no weapons; platformer, puzzles)
2012:
[January 12] Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir (limited weapons; puzzles)
[March 27] Lone Survivor (no weapons?; puzzles)
[April 15] SCP - Containment Breach (no weapons; stealth, speed)
[June 26] Slender: The Eight Pages (no weapons; stealth and stragety)
[June 28] Project Zero II: Wii Edition (limited weapons; puzzles)
[September] The Room (point and click, puzzles)
[December 7] The Cat Lady (point and click?)
2013:
[March 26] Slender: The Arrival (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[April 12] Anna: Extended Edition (no weapons; point and click, puzzles)
[May 16] The Starship Damrey (no weapons; point and click, puzzles)
[September 4] Outlast (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[September 13] Doorways: Prelude (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[September 10] Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (no weapons; stealth)
[October 4] Knock-knock (no weapons; stealth)
[October 16] Eleusis (no weapons; point and click, puzzles)
[December 12] The Room Two (point and click, puzzles)
2014:
[May 15] DreadOut (limited weapons; puzzles)
[May 29] Among the Sleep (no weapons; stealth, puzzles)
[August 12] P.T. (no weapons; puzzles)
[August 14] Five Nights At Freddy's (no weapons; point and click)
[September 16] Neverending Nightmare (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[September 17] Doorways: The Underworld (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[September 26] Kraven Manor (no weapons; puzzles)
[September 17] Doorways: The Underworld (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[September 26] Kraven Manor (no weapons; puzzles)
[September 27] Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water (limited weapons; puzzles)
[October 7] Alien: Isolation (limited weapons; stealth)
[November 10] Five Nights At Freddy's 2 (no weapons; point and click)
[December 22] One Late Night: Deadline (no weapons; point and click, puzzles)
My Father's Long, Long Legs (text based)
2015:
[March 2] Five Nights At Freddy's 3 (no weapons; point and click)
[March 3] White Night (no weapons; stealth)
[March 4] Tormentum - Dark Sorrow (no weapons?; point and click)
[March 13] Hektor (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[February 3] Astray (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[February 27] Belladonna (no weapons?; point and click, puzzles)
[February 27] Belladonna (no weapons?; point and click, puzzles)
[June 5] KHOLAT (no weapons; speed and stealth)
[July 23] Five Nights At Freddy's 4 (no weapons; point and click)
[July 28] Spooky's House of Jump Scares (no weapons; stealth and speed).
[July 28] Spooky's House of Jump Scares (no weapons; stealth and speed).
[August 27] Fran Bow (no weapons?; point and click puzzle)
[September 15] Albino Lullaby (no weapons?; stealth)
[September 22] SOMA (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[November] The Room Three (point and click, puzzles)
2016:
[January 24] Oxenfree (no weapons?; puzzles)
[February 15] Medusa's Labyrinth (no weapons; stealth, speed)
[February 16] Layers of Fear (no weapons; puzzles)
[March 10] The Guest (no weapons; puzzles?)
[March 18] Shadow's Peak (limited weapons)
[March 28] Dead Secret (no weapon; puzzles)
[March 29] NightCry (no weapons?; puzzles)
[April 26] Left Alone (no weapons; puzzles)
[June 6] The Hat Man: The Shadow Ward (no weapon; stealth and speed)
[August 8] Exisitentia (no weapons; puzzle)
[August 16] Doorways: Holy Mountains of Flesh (no weapons; stealth and speed)
[October 7] Five Nights At Freddy's: Sister Location (no weapons; point and click)
[October 13] Blameless (no weapons; point and click; puzzles)
[October 13] Blameless (no weapons; point and click; puzzles)
[October 27] Through the Woods (no weapons)
[December 18] Resident Evil 7 Teaser: Beginning Hour (no weapons?; puzzles; point and click)
[December 18] Resident Evil 7 Teaser: Beginning Hour (no weapons?; puzzles; point and click)
Currently Unreleased:
Agony (no weapons?; puzzles?)
Forgotten Memories: Alternate Realities (screenshots show knife and pipe as possible weapons?)
Outlast II (no weapons; stealth and speed)
Pathologic (remake of 2005 game of the same name)
Shadow Over Isolation (Lovecraft inspired first person perspective)
Well, hopefully if you have come upon this list, that it has served you well in some way. Be it introducing you to a single game you were previously unaware of, or commented about a game that should be on this list, thus introduced us to a game we were unaware of.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I Ain't Got A Thing To Prove To You
Sources:
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