[Bellzemos]

Phantasmagoria 1 & 2, Still Life etc. I recently finished Gray Matter and liked it too, but the old ones I like even more. So, anything in this vein but with recent & decent graphics please (after year 2000 at least). Thanx for the suggestions in advance!

[zane]

have you played scratches?

[zoecastillo]

Did you already play all of the Art of Murder series? There are three of them - Still Life and Gray Matter are two of my all time faves - and I really love AOM - esp. 2 & 3. Some people don't like the voice acting - but it doesn't bother me... Also Secret Files 1 & 2 are really good and similar to what I think you are looking for.

[Monolith]

Got to warn you about the AOM series. The games are very underwhelming in terms of story, You'll be severely disappointed with the endings.

[zoecastillo]

I disagree re: AOM - I loved both stories in 2 & 3 (liked the first one too - just a little less smooth game play). I hope there is a 4th soon! I am also rarely underwhelmed by an ending - for example - most people complained about the ending of Alter Ego (another the poster might like) - I thought it ended perfectly - didn't feel left hanging at all - it seemed to be poetic justice. To each his own!

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by zoecastillo

I disagree re: AOM - I loved both stories in 2 & 3 (liked the first one too - just a little less smooth game play). I hope there is a 4th soon! I am also rarely underwhelmed by an ending - for example - most people complained about the ending of Alter Ego (another the poster might like) - I thought it ended perfectly - didn't feel left hanging at all - it seemed to be poetic justice. To each his own!

Actually, the issue wasn't the whole leaving anything hanging, or poetic justice. They do a great job building up to the finale, then once you hit it, it becomes a, "oh, okay?" moment. It lacks the fine points of storytelling. Thats why I still feel that nothing can match Still Life or Post Mortem....actually thats another game I could recommend.

Post Mortem is the first game in the Still Life series. May not be directly connected, but a lot of connections can be made to this game in Still Life. Def check out Post Mortem. Surprised it hasn't been suggested yet.

[michael1123]

Art of Murder 1 is one of the worst adventure games I've ever played. Thought the writing was horrid and there was no atmosphere to speak of. The plot is completely stolen from every serial killer movie ever made.

The screenshots look pretty, but I'd avoid it at all costs.

[Arial Type]

I would suggest The Lost Crown (detective/paranormal), Dracula 3: Path of the Dragon (mild horror) and Black Mirror 3 (thriller).

And of course Scratches for all the reasons above.

[Bellzemos]

Thank you all for your suggestions, I will check all thoes titles out and see what I like. I would also like to play a game like Realms Of The Haunting but with updated graphics. Is there anything like that out now?

[Arial Type]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth are the only good action-adventure games in recent years that come to mind.

[cbman]

Originally Posted by Monolith

Got to warn you about the AOM series. The games are very underwhelming in terms of story

And in every other respect.

[SamandMax]

If you want a good dark and grisly adventure game, Amnesia is a fantastic choice. It makes the Phantasmagorias and Still Life look like Putt-Putt games.

[Axelfish]

Originally Posted by Arial Type

Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth are the only good action-adventure games in recent years that come to mind.

Good choices.
Sanitarium is another great game, though it's not exactly recent(1998). It's got an excellent soundtrack too.

[Bellzemos]

I played Sanitarium back in the day, a good game, great atmosphere, especially in the second level with the tree/mother thing.

[Axelfish]

Originally Posted by Bellzemos

great atmosphere, especially in the second level with the tree/mother thing.

Indeed. Sorry if I'm derailing, but the music in this game is so good. I was thinking about it, and immediately recalled these pieces:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGZKCmYMzuw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n81x...eature=related

[gray pierce]

Originally Posted by Arial Type

Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth are the only good action-adventure games in recent years that come to mind.

I found Call of Cthulhu to be quite horrid. Sure it has a nice Lovecraftian feel to it but there was far to much action and far to little story and character development which I find is a problem with most action-adventures. That's why Dreamfall for me was such a breath of fresh air. Not that it's anything like Still Life and probably not like Phantasmagoria either.

Of the AoM games I've played the first and third(wich is the last in the series btw) and they're quite nice as long as you don't expect to much.In both cases the story was rather unrealistic and the ending not so great but they're fun to play in your in between hours mainly because there's very little level of immersion. And in that respect I think they beat every HOG I've played.

If you liked Still Life you should definitely try Overclocked. It's just as dark if not darker with characters you can really emphasize with and root for and a brilliant story. I highly recommend it. One of the best thrillers I've played

[diego]

Art of Murder games are not bad but they're not top of the genre also. Their main problem is somewhat "bland atmosphere" and dialogs, but they're actually playable mystery games with the third one being quite long and slightly harder than predecessors.

When speaking about "similar to Phantasmagoria" titles, it's very hard to come up with something since original is unique despite it's cheesiness. Black Mirror is probably the closest to that concept, or even newest Alpha Polaris.

Still Life on the other hand has a lot of "followers". Beside mentioned AOM and Chronicles of Mystery series, there's Memento Mori also.

If you're fan of the Sherlock Holmes, you can try Awakened.

[gray pierce]

Originally Posted by diego

Still Life on the other hand has a lot of "followers". Beside mentioned AOM and Chronicles of Mystery series, there's Memento Mori also.

The second installment in the Chronicles of Mystery series: The Tree of Life is actually very good but it doesn't remind me of Still Life at all.

If you're fan of the Sherlock Holmes, you can try The Awakened.

Definitely a great game, in my opinion even better Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper. A very dark, very stylish crime thriller very much in the vein of Connan Doyle's stories with a deep immersive story and a brilliant and haunting ending.

[marshal99]

Sadly , know nothing much about pc games after 2000.

But for old gory horror pc games , you can try

The pretty disturbing game - Harvester

[cbman]

Originally Posted by michael1123

Art of Murder 1 is one of the worst adventure games I've ever played. Thought the writing was horrid and there was no atmosphere to speak of. The plot is completely stolen from every serial killer movie ever made.

The screenshots look pretty, but I'd avoid it at all costs.

Seconded word for word.