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Happy Halloween: Let's play some spooky games.
Sterica
YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
If you want to take the coward's way out, then local forumite @Helloween lives up to the name and has done several Let's Plays of horror games. Watch another human being suffer instead of you.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
This seems to be fairly universal in the "Holy crap this is terrifying." opinion, but a handful of people quickly see past the facade and remain unmoved by the premise. The idea is that you are dude with no weapons and have a lantern. So you have to perform heroic acts such as "cowering in a closet" or "wetting yourself quietly in a dark corner." The issue is that darkness is not good for your character's mental state (and, you know, it's hard to see in) so you have your handy lantern to calm your tortured nerves. The issue with THIS is that illumination makes for poor hiding spots, so you have to carefully decide what is more important.
Dead Space
Resident Evil meets Event Horizon for terror-filled times! You play as an engineer who is checking out a huge space station that has gone unresponsive. It turns out that, naturally, a particularly malevolent breed of thing has taken over. In this case, it's a species that turns human corpses into Giger-esque sins against nature. You're a goddamn engineer, so your weaponry is largely limited to turning your toolbag into makeshift armaments. The game's fear factor comes from a knowledge that fear and dread of the unknown is more terrifying than the actual confrontation. So the soundtrack itself is filled with deceptive noises that lead you to thinking something is in the room with you. And sometimes there is! That's the scary part: sometimes it's the audio guys fucking with you, and other times it's something with a genuine desire to break your LED spine.
Silent Hill
For the old series: general advice is 1 and 2. Maybe three, and possibly the Room? After that I think it's Shattered Memories and little else. Silent Hill has always been the Pepsi to Resident Evil's Coke, but whereas RE tries to go down more of a B-grade zombie flick route, SH attempts something a bit more meaningful and symbolic with the monsters. Most will agree that Silent Hill, in general, tends to have the stronger story and characters than Resident Evil. Gameplay-wise I won't get into it, especially since Resident Evil has moved away from its roots into more of a third-person shooter deal. I will note that Shattered Memories is a bit different from the rest in that it's broken up into noncombat exploratory/puzzle sections punctuated with "run the hell away from monsters" sections. Like Amnesia, there is no combat in Shattered Memories.
Resident Evil
I'll be brief because I know 99% of the people here at least know OF the series. The older games will probably be lacking in scares due to the outdated graphics and awful voice work. The remake of RE1 probably still delivers (FUCK crimson heads), and I don't think I need to waste time explaining how good RE4 is. I WILL say that RE4 is a giant shift from the survival horror into more actiony stuff. Ammo isn't that scarce, you are encouraged to shoot your way out of situations, and so forth. It makes for great gameplay, but the sense of empowerment may reduce the scares. Anything beyond RE4 is dubious territory. I am hearing bad things about RE6, so bewaaaaaaare.
Slender
I am including this because I will be yelled at by SOMEONE if I don't. It's an indie project. A first person exploratory...thing that pits you against the internet sensation Slenderman. I've heard reactions range from pants-wettingly terrific to rubber-masks-on-actors bad. I think it's free, so decide for yourself.
Doom 3
Including this because of the re-release this month, which is apparently not good? I guess...buy the original if the reviews SCARE you. This is a classic corridor shooter: it's basically Doom in high definition with voice acting. If you are expecting hours of painstakingly crafted set-pieces, then walk away, as Doom 3 was released when that shit only started gaining traction. I won't lie: the game relies on cat scares via monster closets almost the whole way through. If you are expecting horror cerebral than a skeleton busting out of nowhere yelling "BOOGA BOOGA," then this might not be your cup of tea. You may still enjoy the mindless shooting, however.
F.E.A.R.
With a name like F.E.A.R., it has to be good nightmare-inducing. And for you, dear reader, it just might be. The game has you as some military guy dealing with shit while the cliched spooky little girl fucks with your head. You want those handcrafted set pieces? Here you goddamn go, as you will run through a gauntlet of set pieces designed to reduce you to a puddle of tears. You hear a noise, turn around, and HOLY SHIT SPOOKY LITTLE GIRL. Complete with equally cliched sting in the music. Yet it still fucking works for some reason. I haven't played all of these, but I hear the quality goes down with each sequel. One and two seem to be worthwhile, but I didn't hear much at all about the third.
The Walking Dead
Based on the hit comic book series, the game doesn't require any foreknowledge to be enjoyed. You play as a poor schmuck caught in the middle of the zombie uprising. So, pretty standard. It's by Telltale Games, and thus an adventure title. The clincher is that there are quick time events, but they are actually WELL-DONE, tense, and require something that tends to be more context-sensitive and flavorful than "press sequence of buttons." The game is episodic, and each choice you make in one episode will have consequences down the road. In episode four, I was reeling from decisions I made in the first episode. I dunno how scary zombies are these days, but the game manages to be tense.
Clock Tower
HORROR...ON THE SUPER NINTENDO. Yeah, an older series that I never played but was always intrigued by. Mainly because the SNES ones still manage to scare you just a wee bit even if it is woefully outdated in the looks department. Also they managed to make comically oversized scissors somewhat threatening. I hope to god you aren't running with those!
Costume Quest
Heeeeey, this isn't scary at all! Yeah, but it's a game that is actually HALLOWEEN-THEMED and thus is the only game here that you might feel odd playing a month from now. It's from Double Fine, and has some DLC to go along with it (free to PC buyers!). It's a charming little title that is perfect for someone that wants a Halloween treat while not in any of need of waking up at three in the morning in a cold sweat.
This list is not comprehensive. I'm missing shit like Fatal Frame, Left 4 Dead, Killing Floor, Condemned, System/Bio Shock, the Suffering, Alien vs. Predator, and so on. Some are straight-up scary games, some aren't designed specifically to scare but to just be unsettling and creepy. A whole gamut to run across.
One thing I will note: multiplayer games are almost historically NEVER scary. I am a chief authority on cowardice, and I have never been scared by a multiplayer horror title. A buddy not only removes the sense of isolation, but two minutes of casual talk will yank you out of the immersion faster than anything else. I was pretty spooked by Killing Floor's trailer, but the gameplay itself has never left me scared for the aforementioned reasons. The games are still FUN, but avoid multiplayer if you are looking for a scare.
So, suggest some titles and go into detail on moments that left you scarred for life. Just remember to spoiler your stuff liberally.
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If you ask me, this thread should start as soon as October begins! I dedicate all of October to spooky games every year, and it kills me that I don't have time this year now that I'm living a college life. More work than when I had a full time job.)
Non-game related, there was a documentary about mermaids last night on Discovery that was compelling as hell.
Oh, and this:
http://jayisgames.com/games/deep-sleep/
Not this year though.
This year I won't be disappointed. I've got Dead Space 1 and 2 waiting for me on my shelf.
Yeah, I'm thinking it might be a Dead Space 1 Halloween for me.
edit: I enjoyed a good night of DoomRL a few years ago, too. http://doom.chaosforge.org/
Lets face it those games will make even the most hardened of gamers cower in fear.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
Also yeah, it's not scary but costume quest is excellent. And if you get the PC version you get the dlc free with it which is perfect for Christmas.
Dead Space - I already finished last week. Everything positive said about the sound design is true. Brilliant work . Even scarier than the sound design? The port.
Costume Quest - I'm currently playing this for the first time and it is just adorabley awesome.
Amnesia - ok so it won't be in October proper, but first weekend in November the GF will be out of town, allowing me to play this in total darkness and uninterrupted .
The Secret World - it's an MMO that has some Lovecraftian influences I hear. So I'll be playing that at the same tone as Amnesia, thanks to @AnteCanteloupe
But my ultimate Halloween game is Undead Nightmare. It's just the perfect mix of eery and corny and I love it so much. I've played it 2 years in a row during Halloween and I plan on keeping up the tradition.
I have never worked up the nerve to finish any game in the Fatal Frame series.
If you've never played STALKER, go and buy Shadow of Chernobyl and a pair of new pants.
Does anyone have favorite scary multiplayer games? The Hidden: Source could be pretty creepy. [url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/90044/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1Zombie Panic[/url] got kind of scary too sometimes and although I never played it, perhaps the Source sequel lived up to its predecessor. Playing as a marine in Natural Selection could have some scary moments when the aliens had cloak and silence and you were in a dark part of the map and you were along and the map was making noises and you were waiting to get eaten. Natural Selection 2 recreates some of that: what it loses in loneliness, because the maps are smaller, it makes up for in having some parts get pitch black when the aliens cut the power, which can be terrifying. I never played the Aliens vs Predator games online - maybe those were pretty freaky too. Multiplayer horror in general is pretty tough: stuff like L4D doesn't even try for "scare you" horror very much, instead preferring to go the B-movie gorefest route. Sometimes you get some jump scares, but heck, those can even happen in Counterstrike. True fear is pretty uncommon in multiplayer.
Dead Space 3's coop seems like a pretty bold move. I'm looking forward to seeing whether that's scary at all.
Luckily Amnesia pretty much constantly terrifies me.
I'm all about fatal frame this year.
weeeee! click.
edit: also that thumbnail is fucking dumb
I still have not played that Thief 3 level. Dagnabbit!
But seriously, Eternal Darkness is worth this hassle if that's what it comes to.
Because...that's a thing the game likes to do to fuck with you.
Edit: Since I'm having these save issues, I might as well ask; Do I need to have a backup save? Can you make the game unwinnable where you'd want to revert back to a prior save (I'm likely not going to be able to save with all the juggling I have to do)? I'm not really looking for any spoilers, just a yes/no if I should double the already lengthy time I spend saving.
Scary!
I actually just started playing Corpse Party today. I don't know if I'll finish it, though, because I am a giant baby and scary games are....well, scary to me.
I also have Costume Quest from the PSN Halloween Sale. I might try to balance things out with that since I imagine the adorablility of the game will keep me alright.
- Dark Souls (not really a horror game, but some of it fits thematically. Plus I need to finish it)
- Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
- Quake
- F.E.A.R.
Not much time left in October, so I'm going to have to get to it!
YES!!
I have the thief Gold disks sitting right in front of me, waiting to be installed.
I like the character slenderman, I don't like that game. it actually has decent atmosphere, which is squandered by shitty mechanics. it does build tension well, but christ is it janky. more than once I died seemingly for no reason. apparently it's easy to accidentally back up into slenderman which is an instant game over (and isn't scary, just lame).
it sucks because it's almost good, the effects when he shows up are okay; the dramatic chord that plays when you see him is also a nice touch. not to mention the poopface model on slenderman.
anyways if the update fixes things it really could be an amazing horror game.
I never finished the first one. I made the mistake of playing on hard and not saving enough. Ended up in a situation I couldn't get out of. So I'll probably just watch a play-through or lets play of the end. Any suggestions?