Throughout video gaming, there have been a fair share of genres. Rising from the 1990s came a spread of horror games such as Doom but ultimately went in to a form of decline due to the fact that many of the games were too creepy and banned in many countries and the increasing sales of first person shooters have pushed it in to a sort of PC realm for many companies and the audiences who are willing to finally find their horror game. The only horror series surviving were the well known brand names. However with the huge support for these type of games at these current times and the many possibilities ahead, it seems like it's inevitable that we may see a surge of these games right on to the home console rather than just within the computing system medium due to the funding and support for indie companies lately.
However what I would like to talk to you about today is what themes within these genres, particularly in the horror universe and one that has seemed to have taken the world by storm is the Zombie entity based in forms of media from TV series like The Walking Dead or video games such as Call of Duty's Zombie mode and Resident Evil. Over time, this seems to have been a hit in terms of sales and will likely carry on in a form of a multiplier effect. Now I don't mean anything complicated or to make your brains overload explode or fall even drowsy after a Maths class but a multiplier effect in which it will keep on producing more and more sales of Zombie games and even with many people saying that it is a dead genre and has been run to the ground from the Zombies we see, these games are still making more cash and thus companies keep on making more games.
It's possible that the Doom name fit the name which meant that the Zombie genre would eventually be doomed by this. I have seen many new things being done by developers by exploring new paths within their series or designing brand new IPs and starting anew. Starting fresh. For example, games like Dying Light are using more features not seen in other games and platforming elements but is this really enough for horror games? In my opinion, absolutely not! There are many things that would be a horror fans dream and would see great potential if it was made right... lets just hope they don't make a about a hundred games a year about that one too.
So here's just a few of which I think could replace a Zombie game and become an amazing horror survival series (especially if it's for the MyIGN console) with a few of my ideas added in the process. 
The lucky first up is...
Aliens!
Now before I proceed, I must tell you, this isn't me on a Saturday morning. This pic is slightly more odd. Just a bit. Just so we're clear.
The Alien genre has had an explosion especially during the height of the Cold War where people feared the worst of a World War 3 attack between the United States of America and the Soviet Union or to put in to less of a mouthful, the USA vs the USSR. Although during that time and even after this fragment in Human history, it has survived in the form of it's own mythology and folklore with numerous abductions by people who certainly don't want to show their teeth, strange disappearances, injuries and even deaths by bizarre events which can only refer to lights in the sky at many times. We also have the Alien Autopsy movie...
In the video game genre, this has been attempted. Lets see... the game known only as Destroy all Humans seemed at the time like a UFO Grand Theft Auto as it seemed like you could do anything you want as an Alien. I was never allowed to play it but that didn't stop the hype of the school playground at the time whereas it has still survived even until now with XCOM games which has maintained some popularity but... would many of these games fit for a survival game? Probably not. The UFO and extraterrestrial belief has become prevalent in society but if we base the game on aliens that we have seen and heard about in UFO claims and reports, should there really be guns and various types of enemies? Very likely it would seem absurd. From watching many documentaries, it would seem that what we call Greys are much more different. They are more mysterious and we never really understand their motive and even though with one punch, they'll fall on the floor with their brains popping like Explosive Sugar but for a video game, they would probably use telepathy or anti-gravity powers. To them, using guns is way too 1200s.
There's no reason it would tie in with other factors as well like the Men in Black. I'm not saying that Will Smith will yet again, become the star of another movie but many topics that fit in with Aliens or rather the Grey theme has seemed to have been just to... cheesy and just make everyone laugh rather than feel anything else. In a way it's had an early grave with not much sight of it becoming a Zombie but this is why I made the Isonlery game idea. To represent many topics in a darker light than you would see them in other media and most importantly, it's effects on the characters. The way I see it, Aliens aren't the necessarily the main form of horror of the series but what it creates. Wherever the characters may go, they will be found. Whether they try to protect themselves by any means, they will caught by the aliens or even tortured by the government and this would create a somewhat driving force of conflicting emotions which would in turn, affect the player. We have no idea what happens if the player fails, Maybe just keep it a secret, maybe the characters suffer a fate worse than death. Just stop with all the phaser guns, we haven't reached the use of Lightsabers yet. No more LOLs at the screen. It's time the Alien abduction theme is turned around for what it truly deserves.
Paranormal
After probably just writing half a blog about Aliens, it's time to see what other forms of the paranormal are out there and I would like to start of with are... Vampires and Werewolves. Okay, many people may be shouting out Twilight and there are plenty of other things that have seemed to have become novels and dramas portraying these beings as a result which isn't necessarily a bad thing but how could it be played out? Like Aliens, it's difficult when you have an audience that believes it is a genre that is just doomed to fail. (No Doom pun intended) However there are many ways to get around this. In affect, I can't really say I know any Vampire dramas these days that would directly link to something of Transylvania or any dark castles. When I was small (as in smaller than my height now), I always thought that castles with only candles for light were pretty creepy. No one would really knows what's around the corner and what if the Vampire had the power to just blow out the candles with just the snap of their fingers. Then the player would have to adapt to the situation or face the consequences. Something that involves teeth to the neck that is. Maybe set it as an open world game in some way. It's not very new in the horror genre but this could take a turn around with strange rooms transporting the player to gain a new perspective of the horror character to a more personal side before he/she were turned in that blood sucking being. Then again... we could always change it to easy difficulty with a necklace of Onions.
Now on to Werewolves. Now this is a little different. There have been many incarnations of this particular being. Some will look exactly like a Wolf when transformed. Many will look slightly like a Human but I could imagine a game like this would take place in many dark forests, lakes and of course, a night with some moonlight... the waiter hasn't arrived with the dinner yet so we're gonna have to put up with a Werewolf chasing us to certain death but then again, in the bright of day, it could be anyone. Someone on the street. Maybe someone even close to the character by these light sequences could allow you to buy equipment to help you out but then again you may suffer other problems. No money!!! In that case, you might have to steal and if you're caught, people will be chasing the character down the road with shotguns and all. Then it turns back to night time and we're back to running from that furry creature but then again, the Werewolf could pretend to be harmless and even look like it's moving away from the characters but if you see it, it should be a time for run. You have no idea if they'll return back in a few seconds for a little nibble.
There is one more I would like to talk about an this one might be a little surprising but... Zombies. Ever heard of them? Although what do we think of a Zombie now that is so different from so many years, even centuries ago? Well there is a very simple thing. The old meaning of the Zombies... were in fact the real undead. So many games these days just show a virus of some sort of Humans turning in to a cannibalistic killing machine that is similar to a Zombie that the developers just call it that so it can sell. In reality, they're just people altered in many ways by the virus which begins to frustrate me on how the true Zombie has just disappeared. I could imagine a game going to the Zombie roots set in all out black and white where the dead will rise yet you don't know anyone you can turn to. The character doesn't know whether his/her family or friend have been killed or corrupted and thus the character will need to avoid large swarms of enemies and try to lead them off somehow. A bit like an Assassin's Creed chase scene that just goes on for minutes on end... if not hours! I won't talk anymore of how long I had to escape without going down the quick and easy route of just jumping in to a haystack and mysteriously, all the guards assume the character has somehow disappeared from existence.
Monsters
If horror games have shown us, it's one of the few genres that actually has monsters aside from the metaphorical meaning of course. Games have delivered many varied Robots, Aliens, etc. Yet it's difficult to find monsters outside of many forms of gaming and what I like about many horror monster villains, is that they're almost never the same and it's what has been unnoticed by many gamers. One will have their eyes on their hands with a creepy smile yet another will simply claw out everything in a room while the character awaits for it to leave in order to run from their hiding place.
However there is one that seems to have existed for many centuries before a time of video gaming (yes there was a time before video games) and Television (yes, there was also a time before TV... I think) that has intrigued yet frightened Humanity. It's known as mythology. A time when we started hearing about all these Gods, supernatural powers and most importantly, Monsters and many mythologies are riddled with them. Lets use Greek mythology for an example. A being like Medusa would be amazing for a game because you would have to utilize the power of the mirror to see where she is but in doing so, she may see your presence. Turn around the wrong way and you could be the next victim to turn to stone... and no one can eat Ice Cream while in stone form. Lets just hear out for those hissing Snakes.
Howe about a game with many mythological monsters, not just in Greek but also in many others too. Who knows? Maybe it could promote lesser known mythologies out there like the Philippine or the Celtic. We just have to make the mythologies look interesting and not something they'll go screaming at the sight of. How about other forms of folklore that have frightened the wolrd like the Blemmyes?
This brings us on to one of the final themes of my list. There are so many other themes out there so maybe I should turn this in to a blog series... but for now we'll see what the last one is.
Real life
There are so many horrific monsters out there in the entire survival horror genre that we sometimes forget that sometimes even real life is full of horrors and dangers. Lets start off with nature itself. Say a game or a series takes place in the underwater world. A vessel has plummeted miles under the point of sea level and all of this will set in a whole chain of problems which seem impossible to find a solution but the character will just have to cope the best he/she can. So what would the character have to cope with. For one, the pressure. Even in a pressurized suit or vessel, it might not be enough to help you survive and if it's neck breaking pressure, the glass and systems are gonna go haywire. By the way, if you don't know what pressure is, it is simply the amount of force on you so as you go further underwater, the pressure builds and blood must be maintained at a certain pressure. Even if you rose quickly to the surface after miles of underwater, your blood can't cope with a heavy to a lower pressure and your blood will make clots in muscle tissues and eventually your brain which is why it's always the safe option to rush over to your nearest pressure chamber.
So after a little science lesson, there is also the possibility of running in to an unfriendly creature along the way, depending how far below the character is from the normal sea level. What if Sharks or Jellyfish rise out of nowhere and especially in those conditions, if the light goes out, there's nothing. No one would probably know if they're upside down or not and use creature's light to get by but even if they're no incredibly deadly, the character's suit probably won't be teeth proof so if a fish with big gnashers or just a big mouth, never mind a small scratch to your body. If the suit punctures, it could be game over.
Now lets look at an example of a Human survival in the real world. A conspiracy of somesort of the government, mafia or even back to the MIB, it would seem for the character like there's no means of escape unless they became a farmer somewhere in Europe but they'll probably still be caught. You know. Telepathy and all but what if a game was set around that the he/she would be free as long as they got to a certain point or bit of evidence that proves their innocence. This could just delve in to a driven story yet with the character ever watching and having to listen in to government radios they might pick up along the way.
There are many others that I could list like a haunted house or a single character after the other. I do thoroughly believe that the survival horror genre is becoming way too involved on Zombies and needs a break for about a century or 2. I can't even list any alien survival games or horror games based on mythological monsters. I haven't actually played many survival horror games but I have been very interested in the concept of how the creatures would urge the player to move the character forward in terms of both freaky gameplay and it's story but I hope with the use of my ideas, that it seems like other themes would be pretty neat to explore and who knows? Maybe I will buy a survival horror game for once (sees audience cheer).
Well I hope you enjoyed this blog. Thanks for your time to read and if you have something to say, please don't hesitate to write in the comments below. 
Hope you enjoyed!