Spoopy Horror Games

[Magic Sun Daddy]

Keeping with the spirit of Halloween, I thought it'd be fun to talk about frightening games. I'm not simply referring to ones that for within the horror genre, but games that one would generally consider disturbing.

One game I personally feels gets the shaft too often (mainly in part to it being YouTube LPing Jumpscare fodder) is a hidden gem called Power Drill Masacre.

There are two areas this game falls flat on and two it excels at.

The first two are its difficulty and its overrelience on jumpscares. Really, there's only one jumpscare in the game and that's when the killer is running at you screaming like a banshee. The sound he makes unsettling to be sure, but it's undercut by the aforementioned difficulty. If the killer is close by, the screen begins to flicker as a heads-up. This would be useful if it weren't for the fact that he doesn't make much noise to indicate what direction he's coming from, plus how hard it is to actually get away from him. When you take damage, the screen reddens and it becomes hard to see where you're heading as you're fleeing. I don't want to come off like a certain teacup hating 'journalist' but the threat posed to you in a horror game shouldn't come off as a chore.

The two areas it excels at? Atmosphere and presentation. You wouldn't think that a game that looks like something from the PS1 would be so lovely to the eye but you'd be wrong. For most of the game there is no music, save for a bit of ambient sounds. You traverse an abandon... radio tower, I think, and the environment you're in is dilapudated as hell, and wonderfully so. In spite of the retro style it goes for, there's a great about of detail in how utterly ruined everything looks. It really does give you the feeling of being alone where no one will find you should something happen. In fact, I'd say that most of the horror comes from when you're just walking along the empty hallways, the sounds of your footsteps echoing as you try to find a way out.

And of course, there's the ending to the game. I don't think I'm really spoiling anything, but if you're worried about that then skip the video and play it for yourself (it's free). I absolutely adore this ending for how gritty it is.

I won't lie, I mostly made this thread to gush about this game but I'd love to hear what type of games frighten you all. No need to bloviate like I did but if you want to just prattle on about a game, by all means go for it.

 

[SomethingWittyandBadass]

I'm going to sperg a bit about Silent Hill the franchise, what actually is a great game series of horror from 1-4. I say this because the gameplay or the fact that team of developers purposely made the animation and frames of doing certain things to defend yourself in a bad situation adds onto the horror atmosphere. Silent HIll 1 it's expected of course in the state of hardware that not every game is going to be fast pace like a particular demon slaying silver hair wearing red coat motherfucker. But the fact that the team of developers added onto Silent Hill 2 in fact of the main character being hard to work with when it came to killing enemies.

The Silent Hill series honestly messes with me the most because I'm from a small town in a blue collar working rural area, I've seen the shitty surroundings of horrible wilderness in a country town. The emergency fallout sirens ring out in the night and the morning mist/fog rings into the dead of night, you might as well play Thriller when you're outside and watch fucking zombies or demons of hellspawn coming around to fuck you seven times over. It's a scary game and I honestly would recommend for you to play 1 and 2. Not 3 and 4 if you're okay with mediocre gameplay and story wise.

 

[Autopsy]

Kanoguti has done some pretty unsettling stuff. Each mini-game tends to be quite a bit more singleminded than something like Silent Hill, instead focusing on a singular concept or pattern he explores.

 

[The Fair Lady]

The Fatal Frame series is really good. The first one in particular legit made me uneasy when I initially played it. It uses lots of creepy ambient sounds like Silent Hill and is pretty much a must-play if you're a fan of Japanese horror.

 

[HomeAloneTwo]

The Fatal Frame series is really good. The first one in particular legit made me uneasy when I initially played it. It uses lots of creepy ambient sounds like Silent Hill and is pretty much a must-play if you're a fan of Japanese horror.

Fatal Frame and Silent Hill have a huge part of my heart. Specifically 2 in both series. Ill never forget the doll room in FF2 or just how big the town in SH2 was, or having to row across Toluca Lake, which took forever.

 

[Magic Sun Daddy]

I'm going to sperg a bit about Silent Hill the franchise, what actually is a great game series of horror from 1-4. I say this because the gameplay or the fact that team of developers purposely made the animation and frames of doing certain things to defend yourself in a bad situation adds onto the horror atmosphere. Silent HIll 1 it's expected of course in the state of hardware that not every game is going to be fast pace like a particular demon slaying silver hair wearing red coat motherfucker. But the fact that the team of developers added onto Silent Hill 2 in fact of the main character being hard to work with when it came to killing enemies.

The Silent Hill series honestly messes with me the most because I'm from a small town in a blue collar working rural area, I've seen the shitty surroundings of horrible wilderness in a country town. The emergency fallout sirens ring out in the night and the morning mist/fog rings into the dead of night, you might as well play Thriller when you're outside and watch fucking zombies or demons of hellspawn coming around to fuck you seven times over. It's a scary game and I honestly would recommend for you to play 1 and 2. Not 3 and 4 if you're okay with mediocre gameplay and story wise.

Oddly enough, 3 is my personal favorite out of the four. 2 is objectively the best, but Heather is a great protagonist.

Kanoguti has done some pretty unsettling stuff. Each mini-game tends to be quite a bit more singleminded than something like Silent Hill, instead focusing on a singular concept or pattern he explores.

This is the kind of stuff I was hoping to see. If I never made this thread, I probably would've never heard of Kanoguti.

 

[LofaSofa]

First playthrough of Resident Evil 7, when the scares are fresh and you never know when an undying rambling redneck is going to come out of nowhere and murder your ass.

 

[SomethingWittyandBadass]

First playthrough of Resident Evil 7, when the scares are fresh and you never know when an undying rambling redneck is going to come out of nowhere and murder your ass.

Jesus man if I wanted to be reminded of my father, I would go call him.

 

[Autopsy]

This (Kanogutisoft) is the kind of stuff I was hoping to see. If I never made this thread, I probably would've never heard of Kanoguti.

In particular, [Walking] (on No.10) is the game that caught my attention. It's one of his 'bigger' games, too, with a lot of fun stuff to see.

Spoiler: spoiler for pussies

Keep the necessary tools ready to kill the client OR obey the rules.

 

[A Beached Whale]

Just played Layers of Fear with my fiancé and we had an absolute blast. Great atmosphere, great theme to it, good scares, I could go on. The mystery of what's going on pulls you in very quickly and you want to see it through to the end, even if you're spooked.

 

[Detrogen]

Playing Resident Evil 6 for the sake of festivities. It's not exactly scary and doesn't really fit the bill as a horror game, but the monster design and body horror elements are top notch.

 

[Francis E. Dec Esc.]

I've been hooked on the Ravage mod for ARMA III. You're basically dumped on a rainy, foggy island full of zombies and the only real goal is to survive as long as you can. Also, some parts of the island are irradiated, and if you don't have a geiger counter you won't know it until you keel over.

 

[MrTroll]

Scariest game I ever played is Condemned: Criminal Origins. Pipe-wielding hobos, man.

 

[Corsola]

Only horror series I've really played is Resident Evil, but I've played the fuck out of it. Beaten almost every game in the series. 1, 2, 3, Code Veronica, and 0 are all great horror games imo not even because the enemies or setting or whatever is so spooky, but more because the way the game is designed. Each box of ammo, healing item, or ink ribbon (item needed to save the game) is so precious because there is a limited number of them. So you're constantly making decisions, "Which path do I take? Do I fight these enemies and use my ammo or try to play it risky and run past to save bullets for a boss fight? Should I head back to the last save room and use an ink ribbon or try and push on to the next?" Game is full of stuff like that, and death always pushes you back to your last manual save regardless of how long ago that was. Situations can turn bad quickly because your characters aren't exactly durable or great at combat and the inventory space is pretty limited so you can't really be well prepared all the time. It makes playing really tense and nervous, which is good for a horror game imo.

4 is more horror themed with its visuals and settings, not quite as much gameplay anymore. Still a very fun game though. Same with Revelations 1 and 2. 5 is a lot of fun but not really horror at all. 6 is not a horror game at all either and even the gameplay os kind of bad here, but you can have some stupid fun with it. 7 is a return to form and replicates a lot of the gameplay elements that made the older games cool, especially on the high difficulty, as well as having a pretty legitamately scary setting and setpieces. Not even a huge a fan of first person games but I'm really proud of what they did with RE7, I recommend it highly.

I could sperg out about RE for hours, its one of my favorite series even if its a clusterfuck sometimes.

 

[KimCoppolaAficionado]

Horror, huh? Well, I'm a fan of the unsettling, disturbing, and surreal (why the hell would I be on this site if I wasn't?), so I think I'll throw some recs out there. Putting most of these in spoilers so I don't take up too much space:

Spoiler: The Flagbearers

Of course, I couldn't start making this list without briefly touching on some of my favorite games that have penetrated the mainstream, either through being big-name games, or through being classic LP fodder.
-Amnesia: the Dark Descent. This one's a personal favorite of mine, as it's the first horror game I ever played. You wake up in an abandoned castle with no memories, a letter telling you to escape before a dark presence consumes you, and acute nyctophobia. You're forced to struggle against both horrific monsters (who you cannot injure in any way) and your own fear of the darkness as you try to find your way out of the crumbling keep. The controls are a bit clunky, and the graphics were a bit dated even when it came out, but the game is astounding at building mood and playing with light and shadow.
-Outlast 1&2: Two games that, while they don't have anything to do with each other story-wise AFAIK (disclaimer: haven't completed 2), work from the same formula: you're a combat-shy journalist trapped in an environment full of violent lunatics who want to kill you and a supernatural presence. Escape and look for the truth along the way. The original has a BAFFLING plot twist in the final act that doesn't really have any lead up, but I'd still recommend giving it a try regardless. Both games look good, although 1's graphics are a bit dated.
-The Evil Within: First off: this is a 3PS with horror aesthetics, not a horror game. I'd still recommend it, if only for its graphics and a plot that is very... Japanese. A bit like if Silent Hill borrowed Resident Evil's zombies and control scheme and then did some meth. Has some good horror moments in between the hordes.
-Alan Wake: an oldie but a goodie in my opinion: simple-yet-enjoyable mechanics, a self-referential plot that draws a fair bit from Twin Peaks, and even a couple great metal tracks buried in there. It's a shame the proposed sequel got torched when the company went under.
-Bioshock and Bioshock 2: Classic stealth action gameplay with clever writing and a great aesthetic (if you hate Art Deco, replace "great" with "awful"). The game is so popular I hardly need say more.

Spoiler: The Indie Darlings

Buying indie horror games can be like playing Russian roulette, only instead of a bullet, you're eating a piece of buggy programming and sawdust-stale writing. Fortunately, you have someone willing to bite the bullet and play them! Here's a few:
-Kholat: EXTREMELY Russian horror game about psychic experimentation and the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident. The game's chilling landscapes and top-notch sound design create a feeling of isolation that's almost calming. WARNING: the translation of text in this game is questionable in places.
-Soma: Veers between walking sim and survival horror seemingly at random, but its fairly well-crafted narrative, novel setting, and frankly some of the most unsettling bugaboos I've seen in my life make it a winner in my book.
-The Doorways Trilogy: really one game released over many years, about a special police investigator who solves the crimes of serial killers by going into their psyche and prying secrets from their inner world. A product of Spain, I believe. Graphics are good enough, narrative is good, and gameplay is engaging enough to justify the price IMO.
-Conarium: I won't pull any punches here: it's a walking sim with some optional puzzles. If you love Lovecraft and have a GPU capable of handling its demanding graphics, get it on sale; otherwise, it's probably not your speed. An ambitious plot that attempts to tie a lot of Lovecraft's work into a coherent narrative makes the plot fairly difficult to follow for anyone not versed in his tales.

Spoiler: The Outsiders

These games, while not traditional horror games, and in some cases aren't horror games at all, are fitting for Halloween:
-Doki Doki Literature Club: This looks like one of those VNs where you fuck underage girls. It isn't. Best played blind, although this may cause some frustration if you're a completionist. Free on Steam!
-OFF: Possibly the greatest contribution France has given video gaming (to my knowledge, at least). A highly unsettling RPG in which you play as a man with a baseball bat out to destroy evil spirits and purify the world. Free, although the English translation is a bit wonky.
-Axiom Verge: Metroidvania meets H.R Giger. Runs well even on shitty computers. Pretty enjoyable, if a bit standard for the genre.
-Antichamber: you are trapped in a giant extra-dimensional maze that doesn't obey most laws of physics. Your goal: to escape. Good luck! Scary in a creeping way.
-Darkest Dungeon: a roguelike/hero management game that plays very heavily with Gothic Horror tropes from beginning to end.

Spoiler: Honorable Mention

-Deadly Premonition. It was an ambitious game: a genre-bending tribute to Twin Peaks involving evil trees, a schizo FBI agent, and more outlandish character and plot twists than you can shake a stick at. Unfortunately, the game is somewhat hard to come by, and cannot, repeat, cannot run on a PC due to deep magic. There are plenty of playthroughs on the internet: watch one of those unless you're sure you want to get this game for yourself.

 

[io02]

Silent Hill isn't scary but I really liked 1-3. the scariest part is the hideous tank controls. FAKE DIFFICULTY RAARAGH

 

[Quijibo69]

There's a Snoopy horror game?

 

[McAfee'sCorpse]

Outlast is still very underrated. If you haven't played it, you should give it a try because its a genuinely scary game that does a great job at making you feel powerless. Evil Within 2 is in the same boat as Outlast, except now you get to use guns.

 

[Clockwork_PurBle]

Anybody remember the classic former-mod PC horror game Cry of Fear? Yeah that was great. Really nostalgic since it's from the golden-era of Let's Plays on YouTube.

I have a very dangerous opinion re: Silent Hill. Homecoming is my favorite.