Horror games (it's that time of year again)

[Aqualung]

Whyyy is everyone saying Dead Space? D: I rented it last Friday and have been playing it in the dark with the surround sound very very loud, and it hasn't scared me yet. (Except for a freakish bug, where I zoomed out and this monster guy was kind of just.. standing beside me.)

Awesome suggestions. I'm already up to my nipples in Silent Hill 2. I've been wanting to play the Fatal Frame games as well, though those still sell for around $40. Dead Space kind of bored me after one night, but I did just play through Ravenholm in Half-Life 2 again. Talk about a swift shift in gears.

That's funny, I just got past Ravenholm myself.

[sub]How do you get down the mine shaft and past the headcrabs...?[/sub]

 

[Aesir23]

F.E.A.R. games are really the only ones that have ever made me scream. But then again, those are the only ones I've gotten with the intention of making myself scream like a little girl. Though F.E.A.R. 1 is much better than F.E.A.R. 2.

I've heard great stuff about the Thief games though, especially about a certain level involving a place called The Cradle. I've seen a Youtube video of the level and it is very scary, but I forget which one of the Thief games that level is in.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

While Silent Hill 2 is undoubtably the best game in the series, Silent Hill 3 is arguably scarier. OK, it doesn't have Pyramid Head in it (this was before he sold out and only appeared when he was actually relevant) but the monsters are just NASTIER (the Insane Cancers are particularly gross).

For my money, Forbidden Siren (just "Siren" to US gamers) is probably the scariest game I ever played. The fact that you're usually unarmed, lost, incapable of actually KILLING the enemies even when you can find a weapon and you have the ability to look through your enemies' eyes to see how close they are to finding you is terrifying. On the other hand, it isn't very GOOD from a gameplay perspective and the english dubbed voice acting does a LOT to spoil the mood (it's literally laughable) but it'll scare you if you can put up with it. I gave up on the game when I realised "you mean I have to actually attack one of those enemies to finish the level? Fuck no!" (The fact that I was only armed with a poker contributed here.) I just didn't have the nerve (and I had other games to play anyway).

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Dead Space
The Ravenhold level of Halflife 2
Saw the game when it comes out sometime in the upcoming weeks (I don't expect much competition)

 

[Chancie]

Fatal Frame
Haunting Ground
Silent Hill
Rule of Rose
Obscure
F.E.A.R.

All I can think of at the moment. All are pretty good. Even if they aren't super scary, they all have some good jumpy moments.

 

[Daniel Cygnus]

Its Ravenholme

You're both wrong. It's Ravenholdm. (Actually, it's Ravenholm.)

and that wasnt scary either.

Speak for yourself. Those fast zombies were pants-shittingly terrifying the first time through.

Try FEAR. Last night I had a nightmare where I was being chased by Alma, which is weird because the games never really scared me. Condemned 1 and 2 are both really good, too.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Dead Space, Dead Space Extraction, Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams, The Suffering, and although not very scary a list of horror games would not be complete without House of the Dead: Overkill.

Dead Space is pushing it,but Extraction? its an On Rails shooter with brain dead AI.

Dead Space
The Ravenhold level of Halflife 2
Saw the game when it comes out sometime in the upcoming weeks (I don't expect much competition)

Its Ravenholme, and that wasnt scary either.
Niether is House Of The Dead Overkill, are you just listing games that SOUND scary? Because only Silent Hill 2 was scary out of all of those.
OP Best bet is to rent the entire Silent Hill Collection, maybe REmake.

Look, the truth is that video games generally just aren't that scary because they either lack the realism necessary to be truly scary or that they require you to turn off all the lights and put on nice, loud, sterio headphones to get the sound to the best level. Dead Space (and yes, I played it) was probably the best attempt at this and anyone who has seen enough sci-fi horror movies knows exactly what to do with the tools they are given. Video games are a very hard medium to convey feelings of horror or fear because the jump-inducing cliches that work in films don't tend to transfer well to video games. FEAR and FEAR 2 tried with some sucess, but the only reason I felt any fear at all was because I played in the dark and the flickering of the flashlight flickered back into my dorm room. That was scary because I made the effort to try and experience said fear.

Do you want to know what the last thing that scared the shit out of me in a video game? The first Scarecrow experience in Batman: Arkam Asylum. It's not a horror game. That's just a scary experience not because it's out of your control, but you still have control and feel like you're helpless as you keep walking deeper into a nightmare with no idea when it's going to let up.

The only way you can truly experience fear in a simulated setting such as a video game is to either pursue it, otherwise you're wasting your time.

 

[Tsaba]

Resident evil 2, played it at a friends.. game still gets my pulse going remembering the blockish controls... and the environment.

 

[Christemo]

any of the Fatal Frame games will scare you brickless.

 

[Christemo]

Awesome suggestions. I've been wanting to play the Fatal Frame games as well, though those still sell for around $40.

they are worth 40$ if you want scares. but get ready for some nightmares, because this beats Silent Hill 2, Condemned and Dead Space in both Psychological and shock horror.

 

[Christemo]

From what I've seen, the Fatal Frame series looks pretty terrifying.

it is, trust me. i found it scary even during the day.

 

[Haunted Serenity]

Silent hill...those are about it. everything else except a couple of parts in the FEAR games is just jump out scary. from my expierence.

(that being said dunwich building and ayelid ruins from bethesda scare the crap out of me and i refuse to enter them unless really well equipped)

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Saw is being released soon but I don't have the highest of hopes for it ... Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is my recommendation

 

[gerrymander61]

Silent Hill is good. I'd honestly go for 3 first because, well, at least for me, the graphical and gameplay limitations in 2 were just bad enough to water down the experience, but 3 totally came alive for me. Also, Condemned 1 I can vouch for and is good, and Dead Space I can vouch for and is bad.

Oh, and this isn't a scary game per-say, but the Shalebridge Cradle in Thief: Deadly Shadows is scary as hell. Shame the rest of the game isn't as great, but hey, that one level makes me keep my faith in the Thief series.

 

[iriemage]

I was reading a feature over on gamefaqs about games that would have been amazing except for one gamebreaking flaw. Fatal Frame was on this list. The author of the article thought that the main character was too helpless, yet he praised the rest of the game for its terrifying nature. However, the game probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as scary if your character was more powerful.

 

[saintchristopher]

I've wanted to play that something fierce. If I don't have an xbox, what are my availability options?

 

[David_G]

You should play the Silent Hill series, they're pretty scary, especially the first time you see Pyramid Head, which, for me was the scariest thing that I ever saw. And people have said that you might want to wait for Saw, but it's already released, at least according to wikipedia. And also, you might want to wait for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, it's only a month a way, and it looks really promising.