Horror games without supernatural elements

[varulfic]

So I played a bit of Condemned, and found my enemies not to be zombies or demons, but rather psychotics and crazed junkies. This approach to horror intrigues me. I find coked up gangmembers much more terrifying than zombies, partly because of their unpredictability (they might attack, or they might just mutter to themselves and ignore me) but mostly because they actually exist. Still, Condemned seems to have some supernatural elements to it (haven't gotten far enough to know what yet), which I find a bit disappointing and got me thinking.


Horror games without any supernatural elements. Are there any out there? Bonus points if they are any good.

 

[Captain Pirate]

None immediately spring to mind.
Now that I think about it, that's quite a good observation on your part.
There really aren't any are there? Or at least, very few.

 

[Corven]

To bad they ruined the whole idea in the second game...

 

[GiantRaven]

So I played a bit of Condemned, and found my enemies not to be zombies or demons, but rather psychotics and crazed junkies. This approach to horror intrigues me. I find coked up gangmembers much more terrifying than zombies, partly because of their unpredictability (they might attack, or they might just mutter to themselves and ignore me) but mostly because they actually exist. Still, Condemned seems to have some supernatural elements to it (haven't gotten far enough to know what yet), which I find a bit disappointing and got me thinking.


Horror games without any supernatural elements. Are there any out there? Bonus points if they are any good.

My god. You may be on to something here. There are plenty of horror films without supernatural elements, why not games?

 

[wammnebu]

Titanic Adventure out of Time isnt a horror game-per say. but there is this ever constant feeling that time is running out and that you are out of your league. you play a secret agent, but you are given no weapons, and there is this constant feeling that you could fail at any given moment.

 

[Ekonk]

Korsakovia, it's about someone with Korsakoff's psychosis. And pretty damn scary.

 

[Rad Party God]

If by supernatural you mean ghosts, demons, monsters and the like... well... Resident Evil is pure "science", there are no ghosts, just abominations of science, including zombies.

I was going to wrtie about Stalker, but then I remembered the "geists", wich aren't technically ghosts, but they are pretty close.

Silent Hill 2 is about James' inner demons, rather than being directly demons summoned from hell or "real" ghosts.

Other than that, I'm pretty dissapointed by realising that none of my favorite horror games is abscent from supernatural thingys

 

[Darth Rahu]

Korsakovia, it's about someone with Korsakoff's psychosis. And pretty damn scary.

Yes, this, a hundred times. The Dear Esther mod is arguably horror as well, depending on your interpretation of events.

 

[Gentleman_Reptile]

I guess the closest you might get is a game that sees events through the eyes of the hero who is contextualising his world by use of something supernatural in his own mind, ala Black Swan and Scott Pilgrim, or Silent Hill 2.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I would say that System Shock 2 counts but Irrational threw some ghosts in there for the lulz. I think that Resident Evil is mostly about viruses and things but it gets pretty fantastical.

 

[Balls Mandingo]

Dead Space. After all the necromorphs technically are aliens

 

[Goldeneye103X2]

Okay, so Silent Hill: Shattered Memories may have the monsters and the creepy events, but it is still a good non-supernatural horror game if you ignore those parts......oh who am I kidding? It's still cool though.

 

[wolf thing]

system shock 2. the ghost in there are not ghost but you remembering things that other people did throw your mental implant. it is a pretty weak excuse but it is better than just having ghosts.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

As many have said, I think you're on to something. It would be really hard to pull off though. The best point of comparison I have is Dark Corners of the Earth. In an early chapter, you're chased from your hotel room by (what seems to be) the entire town of Innsmouth. You are unarmed and can't really do anything but lock and barricade doors behind you.

I think the Resident Evil 1&2 approach would be the best to take when it comes to a horror game based firmly in reality. By which I mean limiting your supplies and making your character easy to kill. Now that I think about it more ya know what would be a great template for a game like that? House of 1,000 Corpses.

You would play as a teenager or young 20-something stranded in the middle of Texas a little too close to the inner sanctum of Dr. Satan. I can't remember what that little town was called but it would basically be you trying to keep your dumb ass alive and looking for your friends (I suppose) You would have little/ no access to weaponry and would have to rely on not being seen unless you like over-the-top execution animations.

 

[Gaderael]

Manhunt perhaps? It's more survival/gore than horror, but it can have some pretty tense moments.