Why Most Survival Horror Games Make The Player Manually Raise Or Draw Weapons

Well, for this article in the second season of my “Horror Videogames Series“, I thought that I’d talk about one of the most common gameplay mechanics in many survival horror games.

This appears in everything from ancient games like “Alone In The Dark” (1992) to more modern “over the shoulder” survival horror games like “The Evil Within” (2014). I am, of course, talking about requiring the player to manually draw or raise their weapons before using them.

This is a screenshot from “Resident Evil: Outbreak – File #2” (2004), showing one of the main characters – Cindy – raising a pistol before firing it. In order to do this, you actually have to hold down one of the shoulder buttons, pivot on the spot to aim and then press “X” to fire. It’s more convoluted than you might expect if you’re used to action…