Any good examples of Lovecraftian horror in a game?

[Andrew Giarrusso]

I'm a budding survival horror designer and I'm looking for good examples to borrow from and possibly improve upon. I would also like to see good examples of monster design, and, possibly, a good example of cel-shading in a horror and how to use it in such a game.

 

[Mikejames]

Examples of the game style in general?

Well, I guess the Silent Hill series is an easy place to start. There's a plethora of unique/strange designs to see there.

 

[shrekfan246]

Well, there's always Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Cthulhu:_Dark_Corners_of_the_Earth].

I think that might be as close as you're going to get.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare for the PS/PS2 was pretty heavy on Lovecraftian atmosphere. I remember it had a very dank, Gothic setting. Lots of mists and swamps.

 

[The Madman]

Lovecraftian horror doesn't work well in games (Or movies for that matter) because it's core principle is the fear of the unknown. That of our insignificance in a greater universe, of the sheer magnitude to which we are outmatched.

To that end it's rarely well done in either games OR movies simply because both are visual storytelling medium, and the instant you *show* a Lovecraftian terror it's not really Lovecraftian anymore. People think 'oooh, goopy weird tentacle monster = Lovecraft' and they're wrong. Probably some of his most compelling horror such as Colour Out of Space has no real 'alien' or monster, not one that we can understand anyway.

Still if you want its best presentation in games Dark Corners of the Earth as mentioned above is quite good, and Eternal Darkness is another. Oddly enough Mass Effect 1 as well, but only 1. Your initial encounter with the Reapers is very Lovecraftian in nature; a creature of unimaginable size and scope completely foreign to human comprehension working for reasons we cannot fathom.

Unfortunately in the later ME games that Lovecraftian vibe was dismissed, but for the first game at least it was definitely present.

 

[Tallim]

Shadow Of The Comet is probably the best Lovecraftian game I've played. Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is also very very good.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

If you mean mainly as in the whole fear of the unknown thing, I'm afraid the closest you may get is Amnesia. That concept probably doesn't do well for games, especially action focused ones.
Amnesia encourages you to avoid monsters as much as absolutely possible; you're completely unarmed and looking at them or being around them for too long causes your character to go crazy. It's entirely possible to play for hours and not actually not what the monsters are or what the hell is going on, giving the game a very creepy, mysterious vibe.
It also makes really good use of shadows, spooky noises and whatnot too.

 

[Vorlayn]

The Secret World has some nice Lovecraft elements-and some things that show you how NOT to do it too.

 

[Amanda Diamond]

Eternal Darkness and The Secret World.

 

[Lieju]

Lovecraftian horror doesn't work well in games (Or movies for that matter) because it's core principle is the fear of the unknown. That of our insignificance in a greater universe, of the sheer magnitude to which we are outmatched.

To that end it's rarely well done in either games OR movies simply because both are visual storytelling medium, and the instant you *show* a Lovecraftian terror it's not really Lovecraftian anymore. People think 'oooh, goopy weird tentacle monster = Lovecraft' and they're wrong. Probably some of his most compelling horror such as Colour Out of Space has no real 'alien' or monster, not one that we can understand anyway.

True, but there are also other themes to Lovecraftian horror, like humankind being insignificant, and at the mercy of things that don't care about you any more than you'd care about an ant.

Eternal Darkness did capture that. The forced linearity worked well in that context (something that is often a problem in game-storytelling)

 

[Sethzard]

Amnesia and eternal darkness

 

[CriticalMiss]

I don't mean to be a *****, but if you're a budding designer wouldn't it be better to design things the way you want them to be rather than copying other people or being derivative? It's much better to do your own thing than to make a few changes to what has already been done. Obviously inspiration is a good thing but I think you would be better off reading Lovecraft stories and designing something yourself just from the writing rather than altering an existing character that someone else came up with.

The best Lovecraft style games I've played in terms of being Lovecraft-esque are Dark Corners of the Earth and some of the Amnesia games. Amnesia worked well because it made you avoid enemies, so the actual design wasn't that important just that you know they are a threat and should avoid them at all costs. And really Lovecraft isn't about having spooky monsters at all, his best works are mostly about mind-fuckery, human insignificance and unfathomably dark entities nibbling at our sanity.

 

[Weatherking]

I know of a whole bunch, only all of them that haven't already be mentioned are all in my head

 

[Westcliff]

One of the best horror games i've ever played is SCRATCHES. It's also the best conversion of Lovecraftian horror in a videogame i'd ever seen. The upcoming game ASYLUM from the same developer looks also promising. But these games aren't action games or have animated monsters. They are more like point-and-click adventures like the classic Myst. Nevertheless the atmosphere of the game is stunning!

The Penumbra series are also worth mentioning. It#s from the same developer which made Amnesia.

 

[hazabaza1]

The Reapers from the first Mass Effect were kind of that before the ending sequence and the other two games.
Seriously, shit was creepy.