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Old 05-05-2006, 02:24 AM   #1
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Default Is Alone in the Dark an adventuregame?

Since this 14 year old topic popped up in another thread I felt I could as well make a new post about it.

Alone in the Dark: 1992.
Alone in the Dark 2: 1994
Alone in the Dark 3: 1995
Resident Evil: 1996
Alone in the Dark 4: 2001

Alone in the Dark was the first adventuregame in which you could get weapons and shoot the monsters. Back in 1992 when the adventuregames was a dominant factor on the market the term "Survival Horror" was not yet invented, so there was no better genré to use than "Adventure". Some was original enough to call it "Action Adventure".

It would take another 4 years until Resident Evil came to establish "Survival Horror" as a genré in it's own. Nowdays when people are asked "what genré is Alone in the Dark", many will probably be quick to call it "Survival Horror", but when it was released it was an Adventuregame.

So the questions:
1. Is Alone in the Dark still to be considered an adventuregame?
2. If yes, is Alone in the Dark 4 also to be considered an adventuregame?
3. If yes, what about Resident Evil and Silent Hill?

Last edited by JemyM; 05-05-2006 at 02:40 AM.
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Old 05-05-2006, 02:38 AM   #2
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I've always considered the original alone in the dark an action adventure. The whole survival horror genre is a sub genre of action adventure, with some being more adventure (i.e. silent hill and alone in the dark) whilst others being more action (resident evil).

But, if it came down to a 'yes' or 'no' answer, then I would say 'yes'. I would also say 'yes' for silent hill. Resident evil would be a grey area...
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Old 05-05-2006, 02:44 AM   #3
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The first one is definitely a hybrid. It had lots of adventure elements (including some rather clever puzzles), and was in fact rather slow-paced most of the time. Quite a few "action sequences" were actually standard adventure puzzles, just with a little tension and timing (which is also something that existed in other adventure games at the time); it was sometimes possible to solve a puzzle to avoid a fight (in the dining room, for instance), and some sequences were just timed puzzles (the library). So there were many adventure elements.

Still, some of the action sequences went far beyond just adding a little tension; many of them were unavoidable, and could be very challenging and relying solely on dexterity (such as the sword fight with the pirate, or the underground sequences).

So I'd say the first one really was a hybrid (and great game too), which required the player to deal with elements of both genres, but often let him/her free to play the game more as an action game or more as an adventure game, depending on his/her preferences.

My memories of AitD 2 and 3 are much fuzzier, but I remembered them as not having really found the same balance, being much more action-oriented.

EDIT: Oh, and JemyM: If you think AitD was the first adventure game that allowed you to fight enemies, you need to play more old games.
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Old 05-05-2006, 04:44 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JemyM
Some was original enough to call it "Action Adventure".

Labelling something is far from being original.



All I can say is that "Alone In The Dark" wouldn't have been "Alone In The Dark" if it didn't turn out the way it did. I for one am glad that it did.
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Old 05-05-2006, 06:03 AM   #5
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Ive always seen Silent Hill as an adventure game.....well 3 was more survival than anythign since you spent most of the time running away from stuff, and 1 was allot more actiony than 2 and 3(havent played 4) but 2 I would say is definetly an adventure

IMO just cause a game features a little bit of action doesnt automaticly dismiss it from being an adventure
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Old 05-05-2006, 06:44 AM   #6
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I wonder what Wolfenstein was called when it was released. Probably "shoot'em up" or something, not FPS. It's pretty clear now that Wolfenstein kickstarted the FPS genre, just like Alone in the Dark started Survival Horror, no matter what it was called when released.
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Old 05-05-2006, 06:58 AM   #7
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AitD1 was defenetly an action/adventure in its classical, innovative form (same as Another World or LBA). AitD 2-4, Silent Hill and especially RE are all action games as they concentrate on monster killing. Good storyline is not enough to call a game an "adventure".
Some games, like Ecstatica 1 or the recent Call of Cthulhu also have a lot of adventure elements. And Clock Tower have almost no action in it. "Survival horror" is not about running and killing monsters, but sadly it's popular as it is..
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Old 05-05-2006, 06:59 AM   #8
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I subscribe to the theory that Alone in the Dark is very much a survival horror game. As others have said, it may have been known as an adventure at the time of its release, and it could be described as an action adventure, but the games it most closely resembles to me are Resident Evil and such, and they're clearly known as survival horror games .

Of course, that doesn't make it a bad game, and that doesn't mean that it can't contain puzzles .
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Old 05-05-2006, 08:08 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ariel Type
AitD1 was defenetly an action/adventure in its classical, innovative form (same as Another World or LBA). AitD 2-4, Silent Hill and especially RE are all action games as they concentrate on monster killing. Good storyline is not enough to call a game an "adventure".
Some games, like Ecstatica 1 or the recent Call of Cthulhu also have a lot of adventure elements. And Clock Tower have almost no action in it. "Survival horror" is not about running and killing monsters, but sadly it's popular as it is..
Silent hill doesnt concentrate on monster killing, infact you pretty much only have to kill the bosses. You can run away or avoid everythign else.

And its not just because it has a good story that I see it as an adventure, theres also the exploring, puzzles and the inventory.
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Old 05-05-2006, 09:05 AM   #10
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You have exploring, puzzles and inventory in Resident Evil too, and the same with Metal Gear Solid. Just calling it an adventure is simplifying a bit too much.

Alone in the Dark was a survival horror from the word go. But like every other new genre that's invented, they don't have a "correct" term for it at first. The term gets implemented after a while when there are more games that fits the description. It's not like they thought "let's make a surival horror game", because you can't have a name for a genre that has yet to be invented. I don't think I've ever heard of a genre term that was invented before the actual game/movie/etc.
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Old 05-05-2006, 09:08 AM   #11
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To me, Survival Horror is a different genre from Adventure, yet some Survival Horror games could be classified as either/or.

For example, whereas Resident Evil could not be an adventure game, Alone in the Dark could be. Another series that I would consider also adventure games would be the Clock Tower series (Based on the SNES and first PSX games I've played).

Another game labeled as Survival Horror that I would also label an adventure game would be "Haunting Ground". Although it's got a fair bit of running away from dangerous monsters, there's not much actual combat. There's also some great puzzles in it (Not your standard "Find the Key/Gem for the Lock/Slot"). Another reason I would classify it as adventure is because the main character can examine practically anything in the house. Although it's not point and click, it has more interactive objects than Syberia.
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Old 05-05-2006, 09:19 AM   #12
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It is a survival horror game. There is already a genre for those.

Not every game that has puzzles in it is an adventure game. KOTOR for example had some puzzles (some are even mathematical puzzles I get asked in interviews), but it is still an RPG. Same goes for God of War and Prince of Persia but they are Action-Adventures. Hell even Half Life 2 has some puzzles in it. I think we should look at a game and categorize it in the context of what it is trying to achieve. Dreamfall for instance is trying to tell you an interactive story, with less emphasis on the fighting and more emphasis on the story, characters and dialogue, so I think it is an adventure. Alone in the dark however is not much about the story as it is about instilling dread and fear in you. There is limited ammunition, and you have to use wits as well as brawn to "SURVIVE".
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Old 05-05-2006, 10:48 AM   #13
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Resident Evil is no more or less an adventure than Silent Hill and AITD. They're all equal parts action and adventure. You walk around in the dark killing things and solving simple puzzles.
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Old 05-05-2006, 10:51 AM   #14
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I didnt say my own opinion when posting this since I did not want to poison the well.

If you look up Adventure in a dictionary you find "To take a risk", "An exciting or unexpected event or course of events" or "To dare to go or enter".

In other words, what defines a game as an "adventure" would be a focus on delivering a course of events or an opportunity to explore.
Either the game deliver an interractive story, or it simply delivers a chance for you to explore a virtual environment.


But "Adventure" is a loose genré, often used to describe a game that doesnt quite fit the other kind of games.
Game's that offers you the opportunity to build your own character is for example known as Roleplayinggames. Oblivion, that offers a heavy focus on ways to define your character, is a roleplaying game, despite it's tremendous amount of exploration.

Half-Life 2, despite it's numerous puzzles doesnt really focus on delivering a story or exploration. Instead it put all focus on delivering a fast-paced adrenaline-pumping action experience. Thus, in an actiongame even if it contains both puzzlesolving and a (weak) story.

I say that an adventuregame is an interactive story or a virtual environment (to explore).

If there's anything that can be discussed, it's the narrative in how you progress the events... In some adventures it's really obvious what to do and you just have to use the tools around you to deal with your issues (King's Quest 1).
Some adventuregames you get to progress if you know what you are doing and is thus educational (Police Quest / C.S.I).
In some adventuregames the most obvious solution isnt always right. A such adventuregame is more focused on puzzlesolving where you get to solve the puzzle to progress the story (Gobliiins). In some adventuregames you actually spend all of your time solving real puzzles (Myst).
Some adventures have inventory, some do not (Myst). Some adventures are point and click, some are not. Some adventures is in 3rd person, some are in first person. Some adventures are in 2d, some are in 3d. Some contains actually killing monsters, arcade situations or buttonmashing although that's not the experience the developers have tried to deliver.


As long as action comes second and the game is about pushing through a course of events or delivering an opportunity to explore a virtual world, it's an adventuregame in my book.

Is Alone in the Dark an adventure game? Well, if I would advertise the game I wouldnt push on "fast paced adrenaline pumping action" or "create your own virtual character"... The focus is to explore an old house which also contains a story for the player to progress through, not through building up your character, but through solving puzzles. Killing monsters is just a minor part of it and not the major focus of the game.

Last edited by JemyM; 05-05-2006 at 11:25 AM.
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Old 05-05-2006, 12:16 PM   #15
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Quote:
Silent hill doesnt concentrate on monster killing, infact you pretty much only have to kill the bosses. You can run away or avoid everythign else.
And its not just because it has a good story that I see it as an adventure, theres also the exploring, puzzles and the inventory.
It is actually easier to kill things than to run away.. And there are many monsters, which becomes rather annoing for a slow adventure experience.
Most of "survival horror" games have inventory and puzzles (even awful ones, such as Eye of Isis). In SH most of the puzzles are of "a door locked with a tricky puzzle" variety, and they are poorly integrated imo. There's hardly anything innovative or "deep", apart from interesting story. I think Silent Hill is rather overrated, all this "close to adventure genre" statements..
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Old 05-05-2006, 12:54 PM   #16
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Im really focusing on SH2 here cause I cant remember the first one and I know the third one was just focused around surviving and running away.

There was allot more puzzles than "open the locked door" for example
Spoiler:
theres something jammed in the trash shute and to get it out you need to drop a six pack of orange juce down to knock it out.


and as for monsters, I cant remember there being that many in SH2, you could be running around the town for ages and never run into a monster, and even if you did you could just keep running and they wouldnt catch up to you

And I didnt think of the puzzles as being poorly intregated, they were just fine.
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Old 05-05-2006, 07:39 PM   #17
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I think the first 2 games were action adventures. The others were more resident evil like. I dont think Resident Evil is even close to an adventure since it is simply killem up. The few items you have are all obvious in what to do with them.

Hell, Indiana Jones Last Crusade, and FOA all have action.
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