Horror games

holy guacamole

Deadly Premonition divided opinion when it came out, but I loved it. Graphically it was a mess (and this was in 2010) but it still managed to be incredibly unsettling and downright creepy for the duration. Loosely based on Twin Peaks it also matched that TV show for complete and utter strangeness, and when you add a fairly warped sense of humour it was definitely one of the more unique horror games of the last gen.

Iirc there was a new and improved 'Director's Cut' released on Steam a couple of years ago so that would hopefully have ironed out some of the game's technical issues.

Retr0gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Probably not. PT was a separate project from Silent Hills made with very little involvement from kojima and was mostly the work of a few Kojima Productions staff goofing around with the fox engine in their free time.

I don't know how you could stretch PT out to be a full game anyway. it only really worked because it was the perfect length as is.

Wasn't it essentially a tech demo for their engine?

Retr0gamer

Deleted User wrote: »

Wasn't it essentially a tech demo for their engine?

Nope, apparently it was just some guys doing something in their free time and it got noticed and fleshed out.

Azza

Robert ninja wrote: »

Graphics wise it's still pretty sharp. One of the fewer games where your body is rendered even in first person, shadows and all.





Lots of props with their own physics, decent gore. Jump kicking through a window at some guy's head while firing dual pistols in slow motion, seeing all the shards of glass, computer parts, papers etc fly through the air. Pretty damn graphically impressive. And still delivers on the horror.


I'd avoid The Evil Within if I were you. It's not scary, disturbing or interesting. Crappy corridor shooting and booh haunted house with edgy plot. I played it for free on a friend's steam shared library. Got about 75% through and just gave up. Not worth it for free let alone money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM3aZ-LUGcs

I'm always wary of those comparison gifs.

While F.E.A.R was amazing graphically for its time in terms of effects, lighting and physics even back then its environments were pretty bland and monotonous. I've seen F.E.A.R used in other comparison gifs before like showing how one phone texture was better in F.E.A.R then in the much newer game Rage but like the gif above it doesn't show how miles ahead Bioshock and Rage are in terms of the scale of the environments, textures, character models and art direction. All of Rage's texture are unique and hand crafted with not a single repeating texture. Those comparison gifs are worthless as a result because they take single graphical features in isolation and don't compare the whole product.

Likewise with the Evil Within video. The game has received a rather mixed reception. Opinion seem divided down the middle on it and I do understand why people don't like it. However that video was set up to make the game look bad. In the scene depicted I was not forced into using melee only (which in that game is a last resort), I had ammo at the time, I wasn't stuck in that one room, you can move around into wider area's. The idea behind this type of enemy was that you had to watch the environment to know where the invisible enemy was by seeing objects being knocked over or splashes appearing in puddles of water. Was actually quite a good bit of the game.

nix

I picked up the evil within for €15, ill let yis know how i get on

Id be interested in jumping into FEAR again and stalker, from checking steam they dont appear to come in a package. Maybe ill get lucky in steam sales next week, though they dont really put discounts on oldish games

lawlolawl

holy guacamole wrote: »

Deadly Premonition divided opinion when it came out, but I loved it. Graphically it was a mess (and this was in 2010) but it still managed to be incredibly unsettling and downright creepy for the duration. Loosely based on Twin Peaks it also matched that TV show for complete and utter strangeness, and when you add a fairly warped sense of humour it was definitely one of the more unique horror games of the last gen.

Iirc there was a new and improved 'Director's Cut' released on Steam a couple of years ago so that would hopefully have ironed out some of the game's technical issues.

Deadly Premonition was a work of art despite basically being a complete mess on a technical/game mechanics level.

It was just such an utterly unique experience and it is easily one of my favorite games of all time. It is the perfect example of how video-games can be more than the sum of their parts and it needs a sequel desperately.

It took the genius of Twin Peaks and spun it in its own direction and became one of the most memorable games i've played in 20+ years.

Azza

The Stalker Trilogy is on sale with 60% off on GOG.com. Costs €17.77 for the 3 of them. Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat cost €7.09 each and Clear Sky is going for €3.59.

F.E.A.R Platinum which include its 2 Expansions is €2.19.
F.E.A.R 2 and its DLC is €3.39.
Or its €5.58 for both.

Links234

You can get the whole FEAR Bundle for €4.99

I picked this up last year, but never got around to giving it a go.

Azza

From my understanding the first expansion to F.E.A.R is mean't to be solid if unspectacular but the 2nd one was suppose to be pretty poor. The sequels rendered the expansions non-canon. The sequels supposedly got worse as they went along.

Robert ninja

Azza wrote: »

Those comparison gifs are worthless as a result because they take single graphical features in isolation and don't compare the whole product.

Bioshock Infinite as a whole product is not worth much more, either. Graphically its only advantage over FEAR is it having hardware that is years newer than what FEAR had. Which is the bare min of how much a game could look better. It is graphically unambitious (although it performed pretty well I'll give it that). Objects casting shadows and light sources being dynamic, props with their own physics, explosions causing environmental effects beyond camera shake... these things aren't isolated. They're pretty standard and worth comparing. And I liked FEAR's deisgn. It was sleek and simple.

Azza wrote: »

Likewise with the Evil Within video. The game has received a rather mixed reception. Opinion seem divided down the middle on it and I do understand why people don't like it. However that video was set up to make the game look bad.

Not exactly a sherlock holmes case.

Azza wrote: »

In the scene depicted I was not forced into using melee only (which in that game is a last resort), I had ammo at the time, I wasn't stuck in that one room, you can move around into wider area's. The idea behind this type of enemy was that you had to watch the environment to know where the invisible enemy was by seeing objects being knocked over or splashes appearing in puddles of water. Was actually quite a good bit of the game.

The player in the video wasn't forced to do melee. They had 3 bullets. I didn't run out of ammo for every fight either but I punched everything aswell anyway. Why? Because I could, it's easy and it saved ammo for bosses. The main enemies are cheesable in the most obvious and un-scary way. That ruins the horror. The enemy being invisible wasn't smart or new as you're trying to make it out. I hear enemy, punch in that general direction, spot him, continue the melee cheese. This is how most of my game went until I uninstalled.

Also don't forget the chainsaw that can literally cut through a giant metal chain that the protagonist can carry completely unhindered. But then throws it away after he's done with the chain. I'm not asking for realism but you can't just break even practical immersion like that and expect to call it a good horror game.

jester77

I don't see Condemned mentioned here, really enjoyed that one

Azza

Condemned: Criminal Origins was suppose to be alright. I played it for an hour or two when it was released, can't remember too much about it but it left a positive impression at the time. Not sure why I stopped playing it.

kevovek

The best horror game I had played in years was PT and I only played it a handful of times in a friends house. That Allison road game that was on kickstarter looked promising but it got picked up by team 17 and then got cancelled recently

Azza

Robert ninja wrote: »

Bioshock Infinite as a whole product is not worth much more, either. Graphically its only advantage over FEAR is it having hardware that is years newer than what FEAR had. Which is the bare min of how much a game could look better. It is graphically unambitious (although it performed pretty well I'll give it that). Objects casting shadows and light sources being dynamic, props with their own physics, explosions causing environmental effects beyond camera shake... these things aren't isolated. They're pretty standard and worth comparing. And I liked FEAR's deisgn. It was sleek and simple.

I enjoyed both games, I think F.E.A.R is the better shooter on the account of its gunplay being better, a lot of people criticized Bioshock Infinites gameplay and to be honest I don't remember much about it one way or another but I do remember the setting and story much more than F.E.A.R. I thought its art direction was fantastic as well.

I wasn't saying the effects were a one off in F.E.A.R, but that the giff comparison only show whats better looking in F.E.A.R. It doesn't show the environments, the textures, character models, things that are a lot better looking in Bioshock.

I know those images are touched up but just do a comparison.
http://deadendthrills.com/gallery/?gid=90
http://deadendthrills.com/gallery/?gid=2



Not exactly a sherlock holmes case.



The player in the video wasn't forced to do melee. They had 3 bullets. I didn't run out of ammo for every fight either but I punched everything aswell anyway. Why? Because I could, it's easy and it saved ammo for bosses. The main enemies are cheesable in the most obvious and un-scary way. That ruins the horror. The enemy being invisible wasn't smart or new as you're trying to make it out. I hear enemy, punch in that general direction, spot him, continue the melee cheese. This is how most of my game went until I uninstalled.

Odd....in my entire play though I almost never used melee, maybe once or twice tops. I don't recall cheesing any enemies as well and I'm being honest on both accounts. Wasn't saying the invisible enemies were new but they were design to create tension by being difficult-ish to track.

Also don't forget the chainsaw that can literally cut through a giant metal chain that the protagonist can carry completely unhindered. But then throws it away after he's done with the chain. I'm not asking for realism but you can't just break even practical immersion like that and expect to call it a good horror game.

I can't recall that scene. Must of passed me by.

,

riffmongous

I replayed FEAR only a few weeks ago, very good game although it drags a bit in the middle with the office section and they lay off the scares a bit there too, but the first hours are great.

Stalker is one of my all time favourites but it's not really horror I feel, very atmospheric and tough but the scary locations are the exception to the norm really. The sequel Clear Sky loses a bit of the atmosphere but it does have the Red Forest which is the scariest location in the series for me

Dead Space is another favourite of mine and thanks to this thread I am going to give Soma a go this weekend

Liamalone

jester77 wrote: »

I don't see Condemned mentioned here, really enjoyed that one

Only game in recent memory that gave me a few frights

jester77

jester77 wrote: »

I don't see Condemned mentioned here, really enjoyed that one

That scene with the locker and the mannequins.

F*ck that game.

Hamhide

Silent Hill, my favorite game series. pity its dead now but the first 3 are just masterpieces, still hold up very well as of today and are all on the PSN. My heart snapped when they cancelled silent hills. I don't know how I feel about Kojima's new "norman reedus and the crazy fetus"

Links234

Hamhide wrote: »

I don't know how I feel about Kojima's new "norman reedus and norman fetus"

ftfy

bigphil2

Tried Playing Outlast (headphones and lights out)... was in the asylum about 40mins.. just went "eh..Nope!"

Havent played it since..

Azza

riffmongous wrote: »

I replayed FEAR only a few weeks ago, very good game although it drags a bit in the middle with the office section and they lay off the scares a bit there too, but the first hours are great.

Stalker is one of my all time favourites but it's not really horror I feel, very atmospheric and tough but the scary locations are the exception to the norm really. The sequel Clear Sky loses a bit of the atmosphere but it does have the Red Forest which is the scariest location in the series for me

Dead Space is another favourite of mine and thanks to this thread I am going to give Soma a go this weekend

I think you might be right about Stalker. Been a good while since I played it but its probably not a full on survival horror game and more like a really good survival FPS with some brief but excellent horror sections.

sweetie

The metro games are pretty scary in parts too.

riffmongous

sweetie wrote: »

The metro games are pretty scary in parts too.

The Tunnels in the first few chapters are great, and the Librarians can give you a few jumps, but I always felt a bit disappointed that they didn't carry this through the full game

Mal-Adjusted

Azza wrote: »

From my understanding the first expansion to F.E.A.R is mean't to be solid if unspectacular but the 2nd one was suppose to be pretty poor. The sequels rendered the expansions non-canon. The sequels supposedly got worse as they went along.

I'm currently playing through them. They seem to get progressively less scary as you go with F.E.A.R. 1 being excellent and Extraction Point almost as good. Persius Mandate suffers from being too short and having friendly AI that doesn't die ten seconds in destroys the feeling of isolation. I'm currently in the hospital section of F.E.A.R. 2 (about an hour in) and it's insanely creepy with some horrifying visual imagery, though i hear it gets a bit crappy later on.

sweetie wrote: »

The metro games are pretty scary in parts too.

Funny enough, Metro was made by guys who left GSC after doing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and basically wanted to do their own version.

Alan Wake has some brilliant horror elements to it around it's twin-peaks style town.

Robert ninja

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

Alan Wake has some brilliant horror elements to it around it's twin-peaks style town.

Deadly Premonition takes the cake of twin-peaks town :cool:

Links234

I can't believe I still haven't played Alan Wake, next month it'll be 3 years ago I bought it during a Steam Summer sale.

Mal-Adjusted

Robert ninja wrote: »

Deadly Premonition takes the cake of twin-peaks town :cool:

Iv'e never played it (yet). It seems to really polarize people.

riffmongous

Links234 wrote: »

I can't believe I still haven't played Alan Wake, next month it'll be 3 years ago I bought it during a Steam Summer sale.

Well worth playing, especially if you liked twin peaks. The combat was also pretty interesting, I really hope they bring out a proper sequel sometime.

I am just realising from this thread that horror/atmosphere seems to be my favourite game genre

nix

I've been playing the evil within, taking it slow, 1-2 save points a day.

I got to the mansion and it is growing annoyingly tedious, instant deaths, put into scenarios where surviving would be dumb luck. the dude suddenly appearing on me when im in a room with one exit which he happens to be coming in, no escape, just walks up and touches me for instant death erasing 10mins of effort, this has happened a few times now and its highly annoying when no element of skill will result in your survival, and then the trap which drags you across the floor

took me two go's of trying to shoot the rope to assume its the red light ive to shoot

then walk into next room and get cornered by that annoying twat again, i know its likely gonna happen a few more times but its getting to the point where the constant load screens and re-tracking what ive done numerous times just isnt worth the ****ing effort.

Links234

Hey Nix, you just hide from him. Duck under a bed, or into a closet, and he disappears. Either that or just run away from him, he only follows you quite briefly, but hiding is definitely the most reliable.