5 Survival Horror Games That Missed the Mark

Some survival horror games keep players up all night long due to their excellent designs and well-placed scares. Others mimic the classics but end up feeling like hollow imitations. Many more fall in between, being decent horror experiences that just don’t stand out.

Then there are these.

Let’s take a look at five survival horror games that tried to do something special but, for one reason or another, completely missed the mark.

The Letter

Not to be confused with the visual novel of the same name, The Letter is a horror game released exclusively for the Wii U. You receive a letter from your missing father and set off in search of him, looking for clues along the way. When you start it up, it’s clear they wanted it to be atmospheric and mysterious. That could have been great–the Wii U library could have used another exclusive horror game–except not only wasn’t it scary, but it also wasn’t fun, either

There’s no threat in The Letter. There are no real puzzles. There’s nothing to do except look for the items you need in each area, and although a walking simulator disguised as a horror game can pull it off with a good enough narrative, The Letter doesn’t have that either.

I’ll give the developer the benefit of the doubt. They wanted to create a unique mystery game that would stand out from the rest of the genre. Well, The Letter certainly stood out… just not in the way they intended.

Resident Evil 6

The Resident Evil fanbase had already fractured due to Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 shifting the series toward, and so Capcom came up with the perfect solution for the next mainline entry: instead of choosing one side or the other, they’d create a Resident Evil game that would appeal to everyone.

This was not a good idea.

Resident Evil 6 is split into four campaigns. Leon’s campaign is dark and atmospheric, imitating Resident Evil 4 despite Capcom’s initial claims that it would be a return to true survival horror. Chris’s campaign is focused on action, similar to Resident Evil 5 if not going a bit further. Jake’s campaign adds a new style for the series, involving lots of chase sequences and set-pieces. Finally, Ada’s campaign brings in puzzles and stealth, in a second attempt to convince disillusioned survival horror fans that it’s just like the old games, honest.

I can see how, on paper, this looked like a good idea, but trying to include all of these different styles resulted in the mess that is Resident Evil 6. Still, its dismal reception led Capcom to shift back to horror for Resident Evil 7, so maybe this failed experiment was ultimately a good thing.

Vaccine

There’s no doubting the goal the developers had with Vaccine. It’s supposed to be a throwback to classic survival horror games. As soon as I started it up, I felt like I was looking at one of the original Resident Evil games. Visually, it’s a perfect tribute.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same of the gameplay beyond the surface level. Those classic games have excellent level designs that let you gradually open up new locations as you solve puzzles. Vaccine, however, drops the classic survival horror approach in favor of challenging you to make it through to the end on a time limit, with permadeath and procedural generation. Did you spawn with powerful enemies in your way before you’ll find any weapons? Are the next few rooms repetitive and bland? Is that ammo for a weapon you’ll never reach in this run?

Welcome to Vaccine, a game that had a definite goal in mind, but failed to bring it together into a cohesive experience.

Amy

I legitimately, unironically enjoyed playing Amy. Judging by its review scores, that puts me in a very small group of people.

Amy follows a woman named Lana who is protected from the zombie-like infection sweeping the city due to her proximity to Amy, an autistic 8-year-old with burgeoning psychic powers. Lana can fight physically and sneak past zombies while infected, and Amy can use her powers and heal Lana when they’re together. Using the two characters to solve puzzles is actually pretty fun… except the game has some awkward design decisions (such as not letting you carry over items from chapter to chapter) and generally just feels unfinished.

I’m certain Amy was intended to have a sequel. Without that sequel, however, all we’re left with is a game that just couldn’t quite fulfill its great potential.

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir

But if there’s one game that embodies this idea, it’s the Fatal Frame spin-off Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir. An augmented reality horror game is a fantastic idea, but Spirit Camera has a fatal flaw: it’s a 3DS game, which means its AR features are entirely reliant on the 3DS camera.

Using the 3DS’s camera to recognize the small book that comes with the game, Spirit Camera attempts to bring you into direct contact with the creepiness of the Fatal Frame series. There are glimmers of brilliance in this design. For example, there’s a genuinely creepy moment early on where you place your hand on the book and a ghostly hand closes over yours. But no matter how unsettling it is to interact with the game’s world or spin around to attack a ghost behind you, it all screeches to a grinding halt when you see the most dreaded phrase of all, “The AR book could not be found.”

My 3DS failed to recognize the book on a regular basis. You see, you need to have a good source of light for the camera to reliably pick it up. That’s exactly where you want to be while playing a horror game, right? Sitting in the brightest room in your house?

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir has a disturbing story and a premise that would have made for a great horror game if it worked properly, but between the necessity of light and the frustration whenever you lose your connection with the AR book, it ends up being annoying, rather than scary.

In Conclusion

These are some of the top survival horror games I feel missed the mark for one reason or another. I almost put Illbleed on this list, but I think that game actually did accomplish what it set out to do (and personally, I’d like to see a port or remake). Which failed survival horror game ideas stand out to you the most?