Summary
Survival horror games existed beforeResident Evilcame along in 1996, such asAlone in the Dark; however, Capcom is widely regarded for establishing modern tropes that are still used today in survival horror games, fromThe Callisto ProtocoltoAlan Wake 2.
Resident Evilwas like the prequel ofthe horror genre, but the franchise has had prequels internally. Other notable horror franchises have had prequels too likeSilent HillandDead Space. Do any of them make the cut as some of the best horror prequels of all time? Let’s take a look at how these games handled their stories and gameplay.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguiseis a prequel and sequel. The beginning shows two FBI agents appearing at Zach’s door who has aged into an old man from the events following the first game. The agents need his help unwinding a case that took place in Louisiana, and then the perspective shifts over to Francis York Morgan. His case in Louisiana was set beforeDeadly Premonition, meaning that there is still plenty of Francis York Morgan talking to Zach in his head aboutclassic horror movies.
For those unaware, Zach created the character of Francis York Morgan to cope with a tragedy that was undone by the events of the first game. Anyway,Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguiseis not the scariest game, as the town of Le Carre is rather colorful, although there are moments of terror when players get transported to another dimension. It’s also not highly rated on a technical level on Metacritic, but fans of the first game will love it. There’s just something so soothing about hanging out with this weird FBI agent.
Metacritic Score: 78
Silent Hill: Originshas one of the stranger protagonists in the series, Travis Grady, who was a truck driver who got stuckinSilent Hill. As he tried to escape, he kept running into characters from the first game like Alessa Gilespie, the young girl with the supernatural powers that the town’s cult was obsessed with. There were also plenty of horrific monsters to deal with in streets filled with thick fog.
While the fate of Travis in the Silent Hill series after this is murky, the game did shed some more light on the cult. For a PSP game, it was also a competent entry in the series with good lighting effects and well-balanced melee gameplay. It was ported to the PS2 a year later with some additional features and a graphical boost, but it has never been remastered.
What Happened Aboard The USG Ishimura?
Dead Space: Extractionanswers what happens to the USG Ishimura before Isaac and the rest of his crew make it there. What was once a prosperous ship underwent a drastic change when a cult started worshipping an alien object. This thing, The Marker, started turning people into Necromorphs which are undead mutants capable of quick regeneration.
The backstory isn’t as detailed as the prequel movie, but it still answers enough for a prequel setup. Alone or with a friend in co-op, players will go through levels automatically as this is a first-personlight gun game. It was a Wii exclusive at first but then it made it to the PS3 with some visual upgrades.
Resident Evil 0is naturally a prequel to the first game, but it was made following the GameCube remake of said original game. It used the same engine, meaning that it graphically looked stunning on Nintendo’s odd little console. Thestory followed Rebecca Chamberswho had arrived at the Spencer Mansion before Chris, Jill, and the other STARS members did inResident Evil.
Before she ran into them, she had a whole adventure involving an escaped convict, Billy Coen. Together, they had to escape a leech-infested train and then gather intel around a secret part of the Spencer Mansion. It does lead into the events of the first game nicely although it is weird how Rebecca doesn’t talk about Billy or the leeches. For those curious though, it is accessible now thanks to the remaster from 2016.
The Last of Us: Left Behindwas a piece of DLC for the first game that eventually came packaged into the story with later releases. Since it was released after the first game initially, though, it definitely counts as a prequel. The great thing about it was that it explained why Ellie did not like Joel or authority figures. It also shone light on Ellie’sfeelings toward women, romantically.
The biggest surprise of all was getting to see how she got bit, which was alluded to in the original game but was never fully explained. As a prequel, Ellie still didn’t know how to fight, so a lot of the gameplay was stealth-based when the Clickers came in. It was mostly a story-based exploration adventure through a mall with touching moments. As fun as those moments were, it was still terrifying trying to avoid Clickers, and that ending is gut-wrenching even though players knew Ellie, at least, would be okay.
