is dead space and left 4 dead survival horror?

i'm having a friendly discussion with someone in system wars whether or not dead space and left 4 dead are considered survival horror games, please i would love to hear from you guys wether they are or not, i say they are and other websites and even the producers of the games say they are, but alas. so guys what do you think, are they survival horror games and if not what are they?

Well, I'd call Dead Space survival horror because the enemies are pretty horrific & you're trying to survive. Left 4 Dead is a bit too comical to be horrifying, though the aim is to survive.

Well, I'd call Dead Space survival horror because the enemies are pretty horrific & you're trying to survive. Left 4 Dead is a bit too comical to be horrifying, though the aim is to survive.

Twin-Blade

Depends on how you look at survival. like is it the character your playing as is fighting for his/her life or survival as gathering resources using what you can find to stay alive. but I think you could call those games survival horrors

dead space is survival horror left 4 dead is more survival with a pinch of horror

The only real survival horror games I've played are Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. Everything else is pure action with horror elements.

The only real survival horror games I've played are Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. Everything else is pure action with horror elements.

UpInFlames

^^^ this.

If Dead Space is "survival horror" then Amnesia is on a completely different level.

What I look for in a survival horror:

For Survival, the player must collect and use the item the player gather to survive. Some can have ammo refill station but they can not have ammo, weapons and healing kits in one place for the player to get.

For the horror, it just needs to be in a horror like setting. Even if the game does not scare you, it can still be a horror setting.

Left 4 Dead is not survival Horror. It is a horror themed first person shooter. However, its atmosphere lacks the subtlties required by the genre, and the monsters are all in your face and stuff. Dead Space, however, is somewhat a Survival Horror. It nails the atmosphere, but is more of a strategic third person shooter, gameplay wise. However, it does effectivley convey a sense of dread, and has some very intense "holy crap, how am I going to survive this?!" moments.

Edit: Ultimatley, I would say that L4D is a first person survival game with horror elements, and Dead Space is a third person shooter/ survival horror hybrid. Games that are truly survival horror, to me, are ones like Silent Hill Shattered memories (I know it wasn't all that scary. However, you must run from your enemies, and use the environment to save your bacon. That is very survivalish.) And the old style Resident Evil games. (Particularly REmake.) They forced you to conserve ammo, and think about whether or not you should fight. I haven't played any of the old Silent Hill games, so I can't really say.