No, "survival" should be a combination of fleeing/hiding, tactics, and fighting. Silent Hill always had room for a combat edge to it, because it was believable. If you were trapped in a fog-world with dozens of horrific creatures straight from your nightmares, you're survival instinct should tell you "find something to defend yourself with", because chances are pretty much definite that you'll need at least a knife or a wrench to brandish at creatures you may not be able to run from in time.
Sorry for going on a tirade about it, but only having a "flee" aspect to the game and no combat is out-of-character for Silent Hill. Have at least *some* defensive-combat. It's honestly more believable than having none at all if you really think about it in terms of realism.
And honestly, I didn't mind the fact that you could only get into certain locked rooms either in only mist-world or only other-world. It was frustrating as hell, yeah...but it added to the exploration part of the game. Never knew what nasties would be in a room that had been locked in a different phase of Silent Hill.