Why is horror survival now associated with gore?

I really don’t get it.

With movies these days, horror is almost equivalent to gore. Why that is, is beyond me. Ripping a person’s limbs off is not horror, or scary. It’s just downright obscene. And sick. And twisted.

So when survival horror games have also gone the way of the movies, it’s time to re-determine if they’re actual survival horror games or just gorefests. This was actually very apparent in one of my favorite game series of all time, Silent Hill. Silent Hill: Homecoming was not developed by Team Silent, as in the past, but by Western developer, The Collective. And boy did it take on western horror film sequencing.

In this game, you actually have the option of seeing bodies ripped in half, limbs ripped off, mutilation, and all sorts of “fun” parts that are now associated with horror films. Which is really too bad, since the previous Silent Hill games were ones that were scary, but mainly because they toyed with your mind. They were psychological thrillers. They scared you in ways where your mind filled in the blanks. In fact, the most scary games that I’ve ever played never gave the actual act of violence. You always saw the aftermath or just a hint or something going on that let your mind fill in what might have happened.

And THAT is what’s scary. I think that story arcs now have gotten to the point where it’s getting ridiculous and people need to tone it down and remember what actually made the survival horror genre so popular. Believe me, it wasn’t the gore.

Here’s to hoping that Resident Evil 5 didn’t go through the same thought process. Because if so, then two of the best franchises in my opinion of this genre really let me down. And that’s just too sad to even contemplate.