[Thoth93]

Hi, folks.

I'd be curious to know what your favorite horror/dark mystery-themed games have been over, say, the last five years. A bit of comedy is acceptable, but the full range of terror is accepted.

I recently bought Amnesia, but I haven't bought any other adventure-style games since about 2005. What's out there that's good?

Brian

[kuze]

Silent Hill 4 was decent, despite its many flaws. It's not strictly adventure, and the combat is tedious (use a gamepad!), but the setting and the plot are not bad at all. Also, the soundtrack is mindblowing.

Scratches was fun and scary with its infamous boiler room, but some of the puzzles were probably designed with hardcore adventure fans in mind; also, I hear there's another game coming out by the same developer, and its looking good (it's called "Asylum", if I recall correctly).

[Weare6]

I am getting into Barrow Hill which is really good and creepy..
but yeah scratches is awesome.
I am waiting in much anticipation for that Asylum game.

[Gabe]

Penumbra Black Plague.

[Mikekelly]

The best horror adventure game I've played recently is 'Thersia Dear Emile' - a really scary and long game.

Also - 999 and Ghost Trick are favorites of mine too and are horror related games.

I just finished "999" on the Dsi and I quite liked it - rather simple and old school but great fun with multiple endings.

I'd like to try 'Gray Matter' - Amazon.com just did a price cut on Gray Matter to $19.95. This game may have horror elements in it.

Thersia Dear Emily is a classic horror adventure -- pretty scary game and I'd recommend the title to anyone.

[SamandMax]

It sounds like you'd like The Lost Crown, an epic old fashioned ghost story with a dark edge.

[Oscar]

Definitely check out Baron Wittard. It was just released this year and is great if you like mysterious houses and hard puzzles.

[Arial Type]

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. All the horror you can get from a lovecraftian game.
And Scratches, definitely.

[Stonez]

Not recent, but Realms of the Haunting is on GOG for $5.99.

I loved this game bitd.

[Weare6]

Originally Posted by Arial Type

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. All the horror you can get from a lovecraftian game.
And Scratches, definitely.

Yeah I agree 100%. I was going to mention this but I didn't think it came under
the Adventure genre... Anyway I have to say I have not played a more terrifying
game as this one, although amnesia comes pretty close.
There are moments in that game I just had to stand up and leave the room.
Awesome.... couldn't recommend a better game for horror.

[Ascovel]

Personally I found Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth lousy and boring. Sloppily put together, visually primitive interactive movie created by people who don't know what suspense is.

But I didn't have the patience to go through even the first third of it, so maybe it gets better in the middle, though I doubt it.

Realms of the Haunting on the other hand is great, but much older than 5 years.

[Henke]

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is truly great with its clever use of the first person perspective and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is also a "must-play". The Lost Crown is the best "traditional" adventuregame I played when it comes to horror.

[Annacat]

The scary games I've enjoyed in the last few years (some of these will be repeats of what others have said, but by way of adding another vote) are Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches, Barrow Hill, The Lost Crown, and The Dark Fall series.

A note on Dark Fall - the first two games in the series were released before your desired time range, while the third falls within it. I think the third game would be far less effective if you hadn't played the first one, though. The second one, released in 2004, is entirely stand alone, but in my opinion it's well worth playing.

[Stonez]

If you have an XBox 360, Alan Wake is one of the best horror adventure games of modern time. A great story, beautiful graphics and amazing sound. It's a fantastic!

[rtrooney]

Barrow Hill is a definite yes. Scratches is a definite maybe. Make sure you read the system requirements on the box and make sure your system is up to speed with them. (My system was able to play the original demo, but I bought the "Director's Cut" and couldn't play the game because the requirements were different.

[Weare6]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

Personally I found Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth lousy and boring. Sloppily put together, visually primitive interactive movie created by people who don't know what suspense is.

But I didn't have the patience to go through even the first third of it, so maybe it gets better in the middle, though I doubt it.

It sounds like you were playing a different game. The Cthulhu game I played
was just awesome. yes its dated now but the graphics back then (2005) was pretty good and yes it was not without it bugs but to say it lacked suspense, lousy & boring. Ha ha... Your either smoking the bongo or you really only played the first section of the game. Because the game for me got better and more terrifying as it progressed... just like reading a Lovecraftian novel. So I would still recommend giving it another go cause further on in the game you will experience some awesome horror.

[Ascovel]

Thanks for the kind encouragement, but with all the negative reviews Dark Corners of the Earth received I rather trust my first impressions from 2005 or 2006 when I tried it. Currently I'd much prefer to return to far better Lovecraftian games from the past - especially Shadow of the Comet.

And by lack of suspense I meant that everything, from the very beginning, is literal, in your face. And there are far too many horrific elements all at once thrown at you - monsters, mutations, serial killers, angry mobs, physical effects of insanity. That's exactly the the opposite how Lovecraft wrote his stories and built up atmosphere.

[Weare6]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

Thanks for the kind encouragement, but with all the negative reviews Dark Corners of the Earth received I rather trust my first impressions from 2005 or 2006 when I tried it. Currently I'd much prefer to return to far better Lovecraftian games from the past - especially Shadow of the Comet.

And by lack of suspense I meant that everything, from the very beginning, is literal, in your face. And there are far too many horrific elements all at once thrown at you - monsters, mutations, serial killers, angry mobs, physical effects of insanity. That's exactly the the opposite how Lovecraft wrote his stories and built up atmosphere.

Well each to there own.... But i personally never trust reviews as I like to make my own opinion. And it sound like its all based on the first part which I believe is not a good representation of the whole game. It truly does get better though.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

Thanks for the kind encouragement, but with all the negative reviews Dark Corners of the Earth received I rather trust my first impressions from 2005 or 2006 when I tried it. Currently I'd much prefer to return to far better Lovecraftian games from the past - especially Shadow of the Comet.

And by lack of suspense I meant that everything, from the very beginning, is literal, in your face. And there are far too many horrific elements all at once thrown at you - monsters, mutations, serial killers, angry mobs, physical effects of insanity. That's exactly the the opposite how Lovecraft wrote his stories and built up atmosphere.

This is how I felt as well. The beginning has the appearance of suspense, but it doesn't last for long. When you are walking around the town at night there not much is hidden. Everyone tells you to go away, they all look like monsters and then try to kill you. There are rarely any "Dark Corners" - it's all brought into the light. Lovecraft never revealed more than a fraction of the enemy, our imagination did all the work.

[Agustin]

Originally Posted by Oscar

Lovecraft never revealed more than a fraction of the enemy, our imagination did all the work.

This quote right here should be as a kind reminder at the very top of every game design, movie script or book directly based on Lovecraft's work. They STILL don't get it

With just a few notable exceptions (Cthulhu maybe) Lovecraft never described his "monsters" in great detail.