The Madman said:
System Shock 2
It's challenging, has a great story, well written dialogue, and while the voice acting doesn't always nail it, when it does it's spectacular. It also does an amazing job of creating an oppressive atmosphere, which is something I find most modern horror games lack. Horror isn't about jump scares, being startled isn't the same as being afraid, horror is about creating a sense of unease and challenging the audience's feeling of safety either through effective atmosphere or through a chilling narrative. Then just to top it all off System Shock 2 also got two of the best villains in the entire gaming genre, SHODAN and The Many.
There have been entire articles written about how damned well done SHODAN is, that's how good she is. Heck, I'll link my favourite:
The Girl Who Wanted To Be God by Kieron Gillen, who retired from game journalism and now works as a writer for Marvel.
I actually never managed to finish
System Shock 2. It was one of those games that I tried to play when I was far too young, and couldn't cope with the very oppressing atmosphere. I should take another look at it when I have the chance. The
Thief series also had some very scary moments, such as the Catacomb level and the Shalebridge Cradle. Anyway, back to topic:
Amnesia: The Dark Descent: This is one of the few games I wouldn't change a thing, and I honestly can't pinpoint a flaw in it. Good story, threatening enemies, great world, great control scheme and an art style that, while a bit primitive at times, is quite good. Maybe it wasn't as scary as people make it out to be, but still quite creepy and very enjoyable. Unfortunately
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs failed dreadfully to match the original: the graphics, while improved from the original, somehow seems worse. Not scary, the lack of an inventory and proper enemies that you couldn't look at make it one of the most disappointing games of the year for me. I still haven't played the
Penumbra games yet, but seeing how marvellous the original Amnesia was, I feel very inclined to try them out.
Silent Hill 2: This game has a special place in my heart, for it was the the first horror game I completed, and more importantly it was the last game I played before leaving my country as a refugee. Excellent story, one of the most excellent characters and soundtracks and honestly one of the most compelling games I had the pleasure to play. Took a long time to beat too. Took me over a month to finish it! I wanted to play
Silent Hill 3 but I didn't find it as interesting as SH2, at least in the first hour. Most likely I'll give it another chance in the future. I also wanted to play
Silent Hill 4, as it seems to contain some very interesting ideas, but I cannot stand the gameplay, more specifically the controls. The 15 FPS limit on the cutscenes in the PC version also make it very tedious to play. No fix has been made, so unless I purchase a PS2 - which is very unlikely to happen - I will not play it.
F.E.A.R: Okay, it isn't really a horror game, but I love the very creepy atmosphere that kept me intrigued quite a bit.
Possible honourable mention goes to
Outlast, which seems to be a closer sequel to Amnesia than the actual sequel is. However, I only have played the first hour, but that hour left me very impressed. I look forward to completing it.