Horror Games

[Arius]

There's a lot of so called "horror" games out there that offer nothing scary. Or they downplay the horror parts in favor of the combat or gore.

FEAR2 suffered from this, because it basically was a shooter with flickering lights during a lot of it. Yeah, I'll admit that there were parts where my skin crawled, and I even applaud some of the little things.

Scariest part being walking through an empty subway train and the lights going out. A red light appears from behind you and you can see two shadows on the wall in front of you. That part had my pulse racing. Second scariest being in the opening mission, I was running around the apartment looking for anything and I turned around to see child Alma looking up at me. But those only work because you're defenseless against Alma, anything you throw at her won't faze her. Everything else is just a target.

But they ended up relying too much on the combat in the end. Then there's Resident Evil, which pretty much was never really horror.

But sometimes there's a game that will really get into your head and scare the hell out of you. Silent Hill 2 managed that. Scratches really freaked me out. But I really can't think of many others.

I got Penumbra off of Steam today, and it managed to freak me out during the couple hours I played before work. And I love horror movies and games, so it takes a bit to get to me. But, hiding behind a desk as something on the other side looked for something to kill. And I haven't even gotten a clear view of any of the enemies yet. I saw a light and part of one for half a second.

So, anyone out there got any good horror games?

[Dave-O_Boy]

"Call of Cthulhu(sp) Dark Corners" on the Earth was pretty good.

[Arius]

Ah, I'm actually reading a Let's Play of that. So, all surprises are being ruined.

[GoogleFett]

I tend to stay away from the horror genre, as they usually don't have mechanics that work in my favour and that I can be easily frightened by them..

[Hakaryu]

Condemned and Condemned 2 have stories that are pretty spooky and are fun to play. Eternal Darkness is also a good one to try out.

I'd also suggest Clock Tower or Fatal Frame

[octopimpostor]

yeah i don't play horror games. my bros used to play goosebumps: Escape from horrorland and turn all the lights off in a windowless room. THAT scared the crap out of me. i hated that game. i was terrified of it.

[elvor]

I'd also suggest Clock Tower

YES

[Stroggo]

I'd also suggest Clock Tower

YES

YESS!

Anyway, Penumbra (part one) Is great, it's one of the few games that made me genuinely "shit bricks". The ResidentEvil remake is another good one to look out for if you have a Wii or GC, also don't forget the classics System shock 2 I'm looking at you.

yeah i don't play horror games. my bros used to play goosebumps: Escape from horrorland and turn all the lights off in a windowless room. THAT scared the crap out of me. i hated that game. i was terrified of it.

Oh my god, sombody else on the planet played that, personaly I shat myself at the werewolf chase...

[Machalllewis]

Eternal Darkness is also a good one to try out.

I don't remember Eternal Darkness being that spooky. I mean the loss of sanity bits where cool and all but not really scary as such.

Maybe its cos I played it through multiple times (to get the super secret ending) and by that point nothing is able to scare you.

I loved the game to bits like, just not that scary thinking back.

[Ollie, don'tcha know!]

I'm no good with horror games. I'm alright with horror movies, but only when watching them with other people. And because most horror gmes are single-player, I tend to avoid them, as for some reason my friends don't think that watching me play games whilst they sit there and encourage me is fun. The scariest game I can play is BioShock, and I still have to have a 1-hour 'man-up' preparation session beforehand. I can't even play Res. 4...

[Genghis Ares]

Dead Space had a very good horror atmosphere, but more action gameplay, which is more to my style.

[Matt]

I totally disagree with the assertion that resident evil was never a horror game. The first few absolutely were, and if I weren't at work I could write an essay on the subject. Long and short, they were built around a sense of dread that stayed with you through the duration of the game. You knew that in any room there was something that could kill your ass, and you knew that there were never any guarantees that you could handle it before it handled you.

Late res games certainly font take that tack any more, as the improved control schemes have made it so that any failing to survive a scene is a failure of your skill, it evened the odds, and that takes the tension away. They've tried to replace it by placing you in horde situations, leaving you to frantically deal with dozens of monsters at a time, but this kills the tension between fights by letting you feel like the game can't toss you anything you can't handle.

Both eras of RE game try to maintain the horror element in different ways, and I'd say that the newer ones are largely unsuccessful, but to claim the earlier ones downplay horror in favour of action is, frankly, wrong.

-m

as far as suggesting horror games, has anyone mentioned fatal frame yet?

[Hakaryu]

as far as suggesting horror games, has anyone mentioned fatal frame yet?

Already mentioned it a few posts up.

As for the the old RE games being filled with tension and the new ones not, I loved the tension the old games created and thats why I still play the Silent Hill games. They keep the tension going since more often then not a silent hill monster can mess you up.

[octopimpostor]

yeah i don't play horror games. my bros used to play goosebumps: Escape from horrorland and turn all the lights off in a windowless room. THAT scared the crap out of me. i hated that game. i was terrified of it.

Oh my god, sombody else on the planet played that, presonaly I shat myself at the werewolf chase...

Haha yeah, i know that always scared me. when she came out of the freezer and got chased. i remember that scene, the place with the pumpkins, and the one with the brother locked up.

[iEatNinjaZ]

Im installing Dead Space right now, I'm pretty sure I'll get a thrill from it. I doubt it will scare me as much as Penumbra Black Plague did.

[InsaneFool]

I agree that FEAR2 was definitely inferior to the first in terms of scariness...it relied on the shooty parts a lot more than the creepy parts...that being said the creepy parts were pretty damn creepy, there just weren't enough of them when compared to the first game.

System Shock 2 is a classic game that still gives me the jibblies when I play it

[iamafish]

I agree that FEAR2 was definitely inferior to the first in terms of scariness...it relied on the shooty parts a lot more than the creepy parts...that being said the creepy parts were pretty damn creepy, there just weren't enough of them when compared to the first game.

i played the demo to FEAR2 and found it really atmospheric, very well done with good gameplay. then i got the bit where you jumped into a giant mech and shot everyone to shit. I didn't buy the game

[Arius]

I totally disagree with the assertion that resident evil was never a horror game.

Maybe I should have said it differently.

When you're laughing yourself to death over the horrible dialogue, it's difficult to get scared.

I agree that FEAR2 was definitely inferior to the first in terms of scariness...it relied on the shooty parts a lot more than the creepy parts...that being said the creepy parts were pretty damn creepy, there just weren't enough of them when compared to the first game.

i played the demo to FEAR2 and found it really atmospheric, very well done with good gameplay. then i got the bit where you jumped into a giant mech and shot everyone to shit. I didn't buy the game

The game is actually good. The combat is solid and it's fun to play. They just let the fear part kind of lack. But the few scary parts in there do manage to scare you.

[InsaneFool]

The game is actually good. The combat is solid and it's fun to play. They just let the fear part kind of lack. But the few scary parts in there do manage to scare you.

QFT
If you're looking for a game that does nothing but scare you, stick with something like Penumbra. However if you're looking for a great action game with a decent enough story and great atmosphere then give it a shot.

@Arius (or anyone else who bought FEAR2)
Did you try the "Reborn" DLC at all? I played it for a few minutes, but had to stop for RL related reasons but never started it up again. The intro that I did play was pretty awesome.

[Arius]

I played it, it was alright, but pretty much all action.

[Machalllewis]

I remember being a kid and playing RE 1 on the Playstation and getting nightmares over one memo where a guy was making journal entries as he slowly became a zombie. I think the last one was something like "Hungry, itchy" or something similar.

Now bear in mind I was at the tender age of 8 when first playing this game, and it was pretty much the first game I played on the Playstation apart from Fifa titles. But yeah, at the time it really shit me up. Naturally nowadays I'm all like "Master of Unlocking?!" like everybody else.

[Matt]

I remember being a kid and playing RE 1 on the Playstation and getting nightmares over one memo where a guy was making journal entries as he slowly became a zombie. I think the last one was something like "Hungry, itchy" or something similar.

Now bear in mind I was at the tender age of 8 when first playing this game, and it was pretty much the first game I played on the Playstation apart from Fifa titles. But yeah, at the time it really shit me up. Naturally nowadays I'm all like "Master of Unlocking?!" like everybody else.

"itchy... Tasty."

-m

[Machalllewis]

I remember being a kid and playing RE 1 on the Playstation and getting nightmares over one memo where a guy was making journal entries as he slowly became a zombie. I think the last one was something like "Hungry, itchy" or something similar.

Now bear in mind I was at the tender age of 8 when first playing this game, and it was pretty much the first game I played on the Playstation apart from Fifa titles. But yeah, at the time it really shit me up. Naturally nowadays I'm all like "Master of Unlocking?!" like everybody else.

"itchy... Tasty."

-m

Urgh, so creepy. It was a dudes diary as he became a zombie guys! Imagine it happening to you! IMAGINE IT!

[Arius]

I prefer to imagine myself as one of the psychos who hole up in a gun shop.

---

I beat Penumbra: Black Plague & Requiem. Damn good, had me jumping a lot. Requiem had me paranoid the entire time. I don't plan to get Overture, because from what I've read, it's combat heavy.

I'll look up Clock Tower next.

[ThrashJazzAssassin]

When you're laughing yourself to death over the horrible dialogue, it's difficult to get scared.

*cough* Parasite Eve! *cough*

But then, what else would you expect from a horror JRPG?