what's your favorite horror game and why is it scary?

[everennui]

Resident Evil 2 is mine. The jumps scares were expected a lot more than they actually happen...so when they didn't happen you expected it around every corner. Too many jump scares make gameplay predictable. RE2 also did a good job with tension, but wasn't completely obvious about how. The music didn't get tense, there were no visual cues, but somehow you knew when there was something spooky ahead. A lot of it was contained to the police precinct so opening doors always made you wonder. Finding yourself back in previously played areas was unsettling. The game was immersive. It felt like you were in the situation and that was emphasized by the limiting movement. I would never expect myself to like a game like this, but it has always kept a love for horror games alive in my heart.

What are your favorites?

[Inkie]

The first XCOM game.

You have 10 recruits and maybe a tank, and you just landed in the middle of nowhere. Everywhere is dark fog of war except the immediate area around the plane. There is tense MIDI music droning in the background.

There are enemies, but you don't know how many, nor where they are. But they are waiting, and they will shoot on sight. And their guns will one shot your troops.

[everennui]

A scary strategy game sounds fun. I never have played xcom. Always thought I should.

[RUSH]

Doom 3. Because it combines the atmosphere and horror of the original "Alien" and "The Thing" movies - two of the best sci-fi horrors of all time. That and the detailed ambience and sweeping dark shadows. Tense and creepy with enough action to still be enjoyable throughout.

[Azuruish]

I prefer more Silent Hill series of course... Especially Silent Hill 3. I so love soundtrack from there. And alternative hospital there is the most horrible and scary place.

[june gloom]

Afraid of Monsters Director's Cut is the last true scary game for me.

I grew up on the likes of Silent Hill, but the series went in the shitter with number 4 and has never, ever come back out, and I'm glad it's possibly finally dead now so Konami can't hurt it anymore. Afraid of Monsters came out just when I was completely sick of the direction Silent Hill had been going in; the Director's Cut just cemented my love for it. It's got no plot, but it doesn't need one, as it's just plain a terror ride from start to finish. I also quite like Cry of Fear by the same people.

Really, though, I've been playing horror games since the Resident Evil days; I like pretty much any of them that isn't an Amnesia clone (though SOMA is quite lovely for reasons beyond its gameplay) or otherwise completely broken or unfun (Call of Chtulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth for example.) If I had to pick something more recent, I'd say Alien: Isolation often has me wound up so tight that when the bug does get me I practically laugh in relief.

[Kontra Kommando]

Friday the 13th for Nintendo legitimately used to scare me as a child. But I wouldn't say it was my favorite.

[SFoZ911]

FEAR (2005).

[everennui]

Azuruish said:

I prefer more Silent Hill series of course... Especially Silent Hill 3. I so love soundtrack from there. And alternative hospital there is the most horrible and scary place.

2 was a good one to watch. Never played it myself.

[everennui]

SFoZ911 said:

FEAR (2005).

When the XBox one came out I bought a bunch of 360 games and that was one I got. I hear really good things about it, but still haven't gotten around to it.

[zap610]

SFoZ911 said:

FEAR (2005).

I enjoyed it as well, especially that it used clever tactics and didn't rely on jump scares. Like when you are about to go down a ladder, swing around to face it and climb down, and you see a ghost standing right at the top I thought it was so cool.

[Tracer]

I am thoroughly enjoying The Evil Within. The enemy design is freaky and original (See Reborn Laura, pictured below) and often times the objective isn't to kill them, but rather to run for your life. The best part is that there is nothing that explicitely tells you one way or the other. This game is very much a "leap of faith" kind of game.

And the SOUNDS. My God, the sounds are awesome. You'll hear whispering, children's laughter, death howls...and you never even see the source. They have literally put things in the game just to fuck with your head. I remember a part where I got bushed by several zombies, only to learn after my health reached near zero that it was a hallucination sequence that meant nothing. They suddenly vanished and my health was fine.

For best results, wear headphones while playing this game with the lights off.

Spoiler

Yeah, this bitch just manifests out of dead bodies without warning. All you hear is a chilling shriek and now she's chasing you. Fucking run. This demonic whore wants the D, and she's going to get it by any means necessary.

[Tritnew]

Oh, come on now. The first Resident Evil.

It's cheesy voice acting was the most hilariously scary part.

Seriously though, It's pretty moody and the soundtrack Is pretty much on PSX DOOM standards of greatness.

[Azuruish]

Tritnew said:

Oh, come on now. The first Resident Evil.

Not much. yeah... First video there and moment with meeting first zombie are pretty scary and that's all.

[kuchitsu]

I'm a wimp and I'll never get a game with the intention of getting scared.

The creepiest game that I've played was The Witch's House maybe. Played it mainly for the puzzles and story but I guess I somewhat appreciated the horror aspect as well. But I can play something like this only once in a long while.

Eversion was also kinda scary in a cool subtle way.

[Tritnew]

Basically, the game Is moody but with the cheesy voice acting It's just hilarious.

"You were almost a Jill Sandwich!"

[DoomzRules]

Doom 64.

The atmosphere, moodiness, and lighting all set the tone rather perfectly.

Plus...

Doom 64 Lost Souls

Need I say more?

[Deleted_Account]

Silent Hill 1-3 are downright horrifying. Honourable mention goes to Afraid Of Monsters and Cry Of Fear which I play back to back every Halloween.

[hex11]

No "pure" horror games, but maybe Quake is close enough. It's not scary aanymore, but it was.

[Bucket]

I thoroughly enjoyed Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. But I'll always be loyal to my old creepy graphic/text adventure games from the DOS/C64 days.

Asylum
The Institute
Last Half of Darkness
7th Guest

[Doominator2]

I enjoyed System Shock 2 for the unique way it dealt with Horror, with hybrids, AI,and getting cybernetic implants against your will were all elements I've never seen before and it makes me wish for more Sci-Fi horror themed games and movies instead of the generic ghosts and demons we see in horror today.


Amnesia was good at causing anxiety when being chased or spotted by monsters, but the story was pretty cliche and also relied alot on generic gore to creep you out.


Finally, Condemned Criminal Origins was genuinely disturbing, when i first played it I though it was going to be a scary crime drama that was scary but still stayed realistic, until I got near the end with the anorexic-metal jaw stick wielding guy. Ya the game was pretty fucked up.

[MistAche]

Penumbra
Penumbra II... Psychotic atmosphere, constant stress, dark as hell...

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs... LOVED the story, has an old English Victorian horror vibe, reminded me of Jack the Ripper or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Intelligent, obsessive, the morbid mystery pervades.

When I was a kid RE II scared the fuck out of me, was the first horror I'd played.

Shadowman on PSX also hit me big time. I heard Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata played backwards when you enter the cathedral of pain, and visit the Ripper's room. In fact the music all throughout the game was fucked up, look up 'Playrooms' on youtube. You listen to babies screaming and being chopped up by bonesaw's while traversing a blood flecked dungeon in the underworld.

Call of Chtulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth... being a huge fan of Lovecraft and cosmic horror, this definitely fucked with my head. It does the lore justice, and the in-game Innsmouth is pure chaos.

SOMA had it's moments, but wasn't as deep as Amnesia. It had too much pseudo-intellectual nonsense, and I don't give a fuck about existentialism.

Outlast was also good, in the sense that it buries details in darkness as any good horror should.

[SFoZ911]

I played the first 4 Silent Hill games and to be honest, none of them really scared me. The atmosphere is superb no doubt but they didn't actually made me want to stop playing. With FEAR I remember a couple of times where I just couldn't go on and had to take a break from it. I guess I was so scared of it back then was because it reminded me of the US version of The Ring and that movie gave me trauma when I first saw it on theaters.

Also I played the first Alone in The Dark with my mother when I was little and the game also gave nightmares, I still remember the point-of-view shot in the beginning of the game with a demonic hand waiting for the player to enter the manor.

[MistAche]

hex11 said:

No "pure" horror games, but maybe Quake is close enough. It's not scary aanymore, but it was.

This gave me nightmares as a kid. It was literally a hostile take over of my entire imagination and sub-conscious mind. I'd dream about trying to escape a pixelated Shambler chasing me down rusted, bloody corridors... didn't help that I had just discovered the short story 'DAGON' by H.P Lovecraft.

[Chezza]

Clive Barkers' Undying is probably the only game that truly frightened me. Any game with scare jumps or admiring heavy gore is not included in my books. While the famous Amnesia did a decent job it morso gave me the urge to run away instead of scared to progress. Granted, I was much younger when playing Undying, Amnesia could of scared the crap out of me if it was out back then.

[MistAche]

Chezza said:

Clive Barkers' Undying is probably the only game that truly frightened me. Any game with scare jumps or admiring heavy gore is not included in my books. While the famous Amnesia did a decent job it morso gave me the urge to run away instead of scared to progress. Granted, I was much younger when playing Undying, Amnesia could of scared the crap out of me if it was out back then.

Did you try the second Amnesia, A Machine for Pigs? definitely has a Clive Barker darkness about it, and much less like the first installment. Far better background/story too.

[HorrorMovieRei]

Tritnew said:

Basically, the game Is moody but with the cheesy voice acting It's just hilarious.

My favorite is "I have THIS!" *cue 5 fps animation of Barry raising his gun*

Anyway, while not really the type of horror game that's meant to make you shit yourself with terror, I love the shit out of Splatterhouse, specially Splatterhouse 2. The whole game is just a huge mix of horror references and awesomely gruesome monsters. Plus, you play as not-Jason, and you punch zombies in the face.

Now, if there's a game that never fails to make me tense, it's Clock Tower, the SNES one. Jesus Christ, what a spooky game.

[YukiHerz]

I don't really get scared, but i gotta say i love the atmosphere in Echo Night Beyond, you move slowly and your view is somewhat restricted by a space helmet, ghosts in the fog are violent, man, From Software really likes that damn fog.

[june gloom]

HorrorMovieGuy said:

Splatterhouse

Splatterhouse 3 has one of the greatest intro themes I've ever heard.

[Li'l devil]

Thief: The Dark Project. Not the entire game, but in some of the levels the game puts you against the undead or some scary monsters. That's where the game becomes terrifying. Basically, if you want to know what i'm talking about, play (or watch on YouTube) level Down in the Bonehoard. And that's not even the scariest level, imo..