Scariest horror games ever

[Indy13 5]

Just as the titles says, what is the best horror game in terms of terror-factor in your opinion? The story doesn't have to be all that great, nor the graphics, we're discussing fear here.

 

In my case I'll chose Clive Barker's Undying, a game released by Electronic Arts and having horror author legend Clive Barker as the plot creator.

Although the game wasn't that popular due to the fact that the plot was too complicated for a game and some long loading time, there aren't really any other flaws to it. Gameplay is good, graphics are good (Unreal engine, which was the best thing at that time) and awesome sounds.

 

So why do I think the game is so good? Because every detail in it is made to scare you to the bones (and will succeed at that). The action takes place in the 20s and revolves around a man trying to lift a curse that was cast upon one of his old friends. The location of this is in a gothic mansion and it's suroundings. The dark gothic architecture and the suroundings which consists in an irish countriside and ruins are made to scare you. The weather effects consist of thing like rain thunder and lightning. Again they are made to scare you (especially the thunder and lightning). The audio effects are by far the best thing in the game. Sound of doors sreaking, windows shatering, weather effects and most of all horific sound created by god knows what terrifying monsters and ghosts are all made to scare you.

 

This game could have no enemies at all and it would still scare you dead due to the terrorizing game atmosphere it has. But it has enemies and they alway apear when you least expect it. In this game you wont know what to fear most, the moments when you can clearly hear horifying sounds in the background or the moments of complete silence.

 

This is one of the few games that have really frightnened me and probably the only one that has made me say "that's enough for tonight, I'll play this tomorrow when the sun is up and filling my room with light". But also made me change my mind and say "the adrenaline rush is too good to miss, I'm only going to play this at night with lights off from now on".

 

 

And now it's your turn to share your horror game experience.

[Katran 0]

What was the best horor game two came in a second to mind and they are quite old:

 

A dead type of games for many years now.

 

1.Fantasmagoria

2.The Ripper

[myles 2]

Doom

[toret 0]

System Shock 2 is my favorite horror game. It's spiritual successor "Bioshock" will be released this summer. Really looking forward to it.

[Obsession 0]

First resident evil on ps one. Now that really is a scary game. Only game that can be really scary and difficult. Other "scary" games are just joke compared to it.

[gogoblender 3,071]

Good topic Indy.

And this is something that I actually did a lot of thinking about a while ago. I think the first video game that "scared" me was, lol, a star trek game! With Voyager, could it be? Star Trek Voyager2: Elite Force. But I found, like you mentionned Indy, that sound, suspense and "hints" was what was doing it. In fact, the suspense in this game when I was playing it was so high I even turned on my lights, set my exploration of hallways to a painful crawl and even turned down the volume! After analyzing my actions I realized that someone had designed this game differently. They had extended the "phsychic reach" of perviously conceived video games and decided to do something new. Scare us. And how did they do that? Surprises. Huge differences in sounds. Sounds that all of a sudden didn't attempt to shock us but scare us. The diference between shocking us and scaring us is that when we get scared, it lasts. There have been a few other games like this for me. Games that make me slow down and, somtimes, lol...turn on the lights.

 

1-Since that Star Trek Voyager 2: Elite Force game was first, with it's monsters bursting through walls as I explore, lighting that fails, and creepy screams, that game gets my big vote cuz it was first for me.

 

2-Doom 3 was fantastic. They really set out to "scare" us and it's mood, sounds everything...great new, future take on a horror movie. And scenes that really took us by surprise. Like falling upon a monster casually having a gnaw

 

3-F.e.a.r. This is a japanese horror movie cum video game. IT's got the feel of grudge but with zombies and unbelievably good graphics thrown in . Small girl laughing in the background. As you walk down stairs, the lights fade...turn on your light! And you see a hint, yes a hint of legs dashing off around a corner.

CREEPY!

 

4-Silent Hill. If you've seen the last movie you know that this movie is all about atmosphere, really wild, out there ways of expressing violence. And last but not least... Pyramid head.

Who can rip your skin off all at once just by tugging at it with one hard yank.

 

So now, here's an interesting question. Which of the two medias do you think would be a more compellling form of media in the future? You see, movies had what we all that it was all about at first. Best visuals, great sound, and this ability to take our dreams and put them up on the big screen. And now along comes videos. Videos have all of the above but something else. Your involvement in it's plot line. You see, going to the movies had a certain sense of horror-ride ticket experience to it. You payed your fare, and you got on the ride for better of worse. This stripping away of the rights of a viewer makes him feel helpless and gives even more to the treat of being scared. Now with a video game it used to be different. But for much longer I ask? Look now how they ask us to turn the lights off and turn the sounds up. In effect, the game has exerted a "real" effect on our real lives (heh, tricky word that was huh ) by asking/making (?) us do things so further amplify the scare/pleasure we will receiver.

Can you guys see a future where games, maybe plug in ones...matrix anyone? ... will NOT let go of us no matter how many times we press escape becuase the ten minutes this game/ride told us it would go on for hadn't finished yet?

How's them crackers

 

 

gogo

[myles 2]

You are being paranoid gogo... That's like the comparison of TV vs Radio. Which is better? Depends.

 

I don't see how these two media contradict each other. We like games, we love movies too. We just won't choose one over another, at least not as an either or choice.

 

Btw, I still think Doom 3 sucks big time.

[gogoblender 3,071]

Paranoid?

Ahh, Myles..but did I say I was scared of having my rights taken away in that kind of a way? Or even had a problem with being made to feel so helpless? The answer to that is far more insidious. Consider. Consider honestly, in fact. Let's analyze WHY exactly eveyrone goes to the movies.

 

1-Get scared...to raise adrenaline levels. This produces a feeling of euphoreo. Pure biology here.

2-To peak the experience, then finally, ahhhhh...that rush of ...you've gotten away from the monster, the bad guy...this time. So, in fact, you have escaped. Relief.

3-Sharing the experience with your friends. When we walk out of a movie theatre with our friends, what do you we do? We chat about how gory x and x scene was. We say how grossed out we were by x doing x number of things to her...Can this be compared to ancient tribesman sitting around the fire at the and of a dangerous hunt celebrating their victories? Reminicscing the adrenaline high, now cavorting with their friends about the experience and, knowing that tommorrow will be another way to "hunt" for that "feeling"?

 

The search for a high, Myles.

Biology, pure and simple. Movies have given it to us with such great effect lately. Perhaps there are other ways that can permanently jack us into a heightened state of elevated heart-rate, respiration and euphorea.

 

Enter video games.

Enter the nascient matrix

Plug in folks, this ride could be long

 

 

gogo

[myles 2]

I disagree, I don't watch much scary movie at all.

 

I'm one of those who always seek the truly good film, those that may not be popular even but have a good script or/and artistic value.

 

Its like how I think of fastfood restaurant, yes they serve poisonous things to people. But on the reverse, they exist because people demand them.

[gogoblender 3,071]

How bout yer matrix experience bein at MCd's 24/7

would that classify as a horror-eating experience?

 

gogo

[Katran 0]

Gogo you are making an intersting point. Mixing up game with movies. What kind of mix can you make to give people the best rush. If you ask me they allready made it and allmost 10 years ago. It was in the two games that I gave above. I guess that no one has played then and I dont think you can find then now.

They were the best of the groups of games know as interactive movies. They were in basic a movie made with problem solving and choises making. You get a full actors cast the play act the game and you are in position to make the choises were to go or how to solve the porblems.

In "The Ripper" you were a detctive in a future I dont know how far in the future and you were working on a serial killer case. Just think you were in first person visiting cases from CSI and the cool part is the serial killer has it in for you likes to call you something like the future for of jack the ripper and you are in the middle of it. What made it really work was the fack that you could never in one second say that the grafics were bad because there was no graphics it was a real movie put I, the havey problem solving and the mix and you get a great game. Just think you are solving a puzzle and a realy hard one an in the mix you get a call from the serial killer or called yo a crime scene or what not. That is what really worked. So what happend? Why isnt the world today full of this games why are they a dead kind.

The answer they came before there time. The PC users were not ready to sit and solve heavy puzzles and in a hard surounding. Plus if we get the fact that all of this games were 18+ age groups took them down.

 

P.S.:How much was invested in this games. Well one of the actors in "The Ripper" was christopher walken.

 

P.S.S.:One of the best games of this type for me was Star Trek Klingons. Just think of it you were playing an episode of star trek you were a young klingon finding his way and avengeing his faters death.

[gogoblender 3,071]

k, here's the thing Kat, and it's very interesting now that you've brought it up. This entire choice thing mixed with the realism of movies is what I think we are talking about. See a few years ago when these games you mentionned came out, the idea of giving choice to horror video game watchers existed BUT...the only way to make it look decent was with real life actors, a huge expense to the pockets of any video game company, I think, attempting to come up with a new way of involving consumers in this kind of a horror setup. Now...I rembmer a while ago, many years ago in fact, that there was an interview with one of the directors of the kind of videos you're talking about. He went on and on about how "his" types of horror games were the "best" way of doing it.

Why?

Because he said that technology could never get to the point where we would be able to emulate a convincinng human being. You know, I read that review so many years ago now, and even then it was almost impossible for anyone to force any kind of "absolute" down my throat and in my head as I read that interview I was thinking, that I didn't believe it and that one day we WOUkD get to the point where "convincing " likenesses of humans could be manifested on screen.

And...it looks like we are getting there. As computer operations become faster and faster, a lot of ideas that people may have had from the past and quickly became more expensive, now...with the aid of of new techniques...come to life.

Hence...the rebirth of these really creepy movies, perhaps, where you actually feel like you have a "choice" now and aren't driven down a linear path like in a movie. But the advantage NOW..is that graphics are SO good that we don't need to hire Christopher Walken anymore...we just have to "replicate" him from a database of actors... !

The marriage of the flexibility of video games with the picture perfect imagery of the movies.

We're almost there.

This time, our screams will really be that much louder.

There's that rush folks

 

 

gogo