[AFGNCAAP]

I considered tying the following to the horror games thread next door, but I realised it deserves its own. Just before the Halloween, Gamespy published The Top Ten Scariest Games feature. The charts are predictable with one Silent Hill here, one Resident Evil there and... And guess what? It contains TWO adventure games, and one of them text-based! Now, this site has been often criticized for dismissing our beloved genre, but you must agree they really did play fair. These are also not some random AGs, but the true classic of the horror games: Sanitarium (#4) and The Lurking Horror (#10).

Check out the list here.

Oh, BTW have anyone played Undying? I've been considering buying that game for quite a while now.

[mag]

Sanitarium was scary? I didn't notice. It's the only game on that list I've actually played, and I didn't think it was really scary at all.

I watched my brother play Silent Hill 3, and it seemed a lot like Silent Hill 2 to me--a lot of atmosphere with the potential for some really scary stuff, but it never follows up on that.

Actually now that I think about it, most of the scariest gaming moments I've seen aren't from horror games.

mag

[gillyruless]

Sanitarium is more disturbing than scary. I would have chosen Amber:Journeys Beyond or Blakestone Chronicles over Sanitarium but it's still great to see adventure games getting on a gaming list.

I have heard a lof of good things about Undying but I can't handle FPS so haven't tried it myself. System Shock 2 is the scariest game I have ever played but I wasn't able to finish it due to my poor FPS skills.

I see some other poor choices on the list. Silent Hill 3 isn't even the scariest Silent Hill game. The original Silent Hill is still the best and the scariest of the series IMO.

[SoccerDude28]

I know I was given a fright when I played Alone in the Dark back when it came out. And Phatasmagoria in my book is the scariest game I've ever played. There is one scene where I cringed and couldn't look at the screen.

[SamandMax]

If you don't play Silent Hill 2 in the dark alone, you're probably not going to find it scary.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by gillyruless

System Shock 2 is the scariest game I have ever played but I wasn't able to finish it due to my poor FPS skills.

I've only playe the demo, and that was insane! :eek:

Also, SS2 is ultimately an RPG, gilly, so you could have excellent FPS skills but those skills are only as good as you level them up to be.

I see some other poor choices on the list. Silent Hill 3 isn't even the scariest Silent Hill game. The original Silent Hill is still the best and the scariest of the series IMO.

Absolutely. Yeah. You need to play it alone, at night, in a darkened room, with the sound cranked up high.

[gillyruless]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Also, SS2 is ultimately an RPG, gilly, so you could have excellent FPS skills but those skills are only as good as you level them up to be.

I know it's an RPG Trep. That was why I decided to buy it even though to this date, the only FPS I managed to finish without using the god mode is Duke Nukem 3D. Even that game, I had to buy the player's guide before I can finish it. As you said, System Shock 2 is an RPG but it's built on an FPS engine so if you are lousy at FPS to begin with, you will have problems leveling up and suck at it.

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Absolutely. Yeah. You need to play it alone, at night, in a darkened room, with the sound cranked up high.

Sound played a very important role in making Silent Hill a scary game. The radio static you hear when a monster is nearby and the poor visibility you had in the game created some truly hair-raising moments. You know you are about to be attcked but you couldn't tell where the attck will come from! Every single time I had to run through a class room in the alternate school with those baby monsters, I just about soiled myself.

It was necessary for the game to have poor visibility and short sight distance, hence the fog and darkness throught the game, because of the technical limitation of PlayStation. Isn't it ironic that technical limitation of a gaming system actually made the game better?

[LeChimp]

Originally Posted by AFGNCAAP

Oh, BTW have anyone played Undying? I've been considering buying that game for quite a while now.

Get undying, it's really awesome. The end isn't as good as the beginning, but it's still a really good game overall.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Undying was an awesome experience for me, but yeah, the ending was disappointing and felt more like an afterthought, and the story itself is unimaginative and banal. And it never really scared me (the way Silent Hill and Blair Witch Vol. 1 did). But you should still get it, incredible gameworld, challenging gameplay, excellent sound design, and the general atmosphere is so enveloping.

[Tobbe]

Unduying had a really creepy atmosphere, and the architechture and paintings and stuff like that were really creepy..Also, the silent hills 1, scared the sh*t out of my a few years ago when i played the demo on ps1..I ran trough the fog and suddenly some creepy guy appeared in front of me..

[Intrepid Homoludens]

What level or part of the game was in the demo, t_manelius?

[MDMaster]

I admit I was hoping to find something a little more exciting at first place, but Alien vs Predator 2? Hmm, this sounds like a list of games to be scared if the only horror movie you ever saw was Scary Movie or Scream. Although Undying is one of the most satisfying FPS I played, way more fun and intriguing when compared to DooM 3 or Half-Life.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by mag

Sanitarium was scary? I didn't notice. It's the only game on that list I've actually played, and I didn't think it was really scary at all.

Not very scary, anyway... I think Dark Fall was much better in that departement.

[LeChimp]

Originally Posted by MDMaster

I admit I was hoping to find something a little more exciting at first place, but Alien vs Predator 2? Hmm, this sounds like a list of games to be scared if the only horror movie you ever saw was Scary Movie or Scream. Although Undying is one of the most satisfying FPS I played, way more fun and intriguing when compared to DooM 3 or Half-Life.

Yeah, AvP 2 is nowhere near the scariest game ever. In fact, I thought that AvP 1 was much scarier since it was a lot darker and if the aliens got close, the acid blood was actually a big threat.

[Renegade]

Hmm, actually I think the list is pretty off target overall. The original Silent Hill is easily the scariest of the series and the ONLY game ever to truly scare me out of my wits. Where they say "most gamers seem to agree that the third installment in the series is the one that will require the longest amount of time in therapy to get over", that's actually a complete lie. I'm quite sure most people agree the original is the scariest. I'm not saying Silent Hill 3 is not scary, because it certainly is, but it really doesn't quite reach the relentless terror of the original. I don't think my pulse was ever normal while playing Silent Hill. The foggy parts are suspenseful, but it's the alternate "nightmare" Silent Hill which is really unbearable. I remember a feeling of dread in the part where you're running along the road and it changes beneath you. Silent Hill also has the scariest music I've ever heard. It's absolute genius.

One thing I'll give to SH3 is the lighting. The shadows in some sequences were downright creepy, the way they swung around when Heather's flashlight moved.

I thought Sanitarium was more disturbing than scary. However, I think it's reasonable to put it in the list because it is quite creepy and the disturbing plot can be considered scary. I wouldn't call it the scariest game I've played, but it's one of the most memorable. Actually, the clowns are damn scary. And that pumpkin patch would have been if it wasn't for the awful controls. If ever there was an adventure game that deserves remaking, it's Sanitarium. Keep the story and locales, change the controls and voice acting, remove the 'action' parts and replace them with real puzzles, etc

I suck at System Shock 2, I never got far enough into it to be scared. I did enjoy what I played though. I was just crap at it.

Undying looks really good, and I'm not even a fan of FPS. I'd check it out if I found it cheap at a local store.

Of the Resident Evil games, I'd say they chose the right one, though perhaps RE2 might be scarier. The upcoming RE4 looks very good, and totally original. The series needs a change after RE1, 2, 3, Code Veronica, Zero... speaking of change, I think the Silent Hill series also needs to make a diversion.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by MDMaster

I admit I was hoping to find something a little more exciting at first place, but Alien vs Predator 2?

I've only the played the fugued demo so far, but it's actually quite good, I found. The marine campaign would easily be the most nervewracking out of all three, merely for that feeling of being a vulnerable human in an inhospitably extraterrestrial world. Playing the predator can be intriguing, if only for the cool visuals and invisibility. But the most fun was playing the alien, pretty wicked, and challenging - you have the advantage of speed and stealth, but running along the walls and ceilings is challenging from the constantly shifting perspectives, and you can die easily from a few shots from the marine's weapons. Nervewracking.

[Tobbe]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

What level or part of the game was in the demo, t_manelius?

Hi trep! Sry, i really can´t remeber which part ist was in the game..A long time since i played the demo..All i can remeber that it was really creepy!

[Royal Fool]

Some of the most memorable scenes in System Shock 2, IMO:

Spoiler:

When you finally 'meet' Shodan for the first time. It was a really awesome encounter, the way the room just disappeared into a void and all around you was Shodan. ****ing crazy scene, I still don't get how they designed that little thing.

Spoiler:

The monkeys. Ugh. The monkeys!

Spoiler:

"My cup runneth over!"

[Estoy Loco]

What, no Clock Tower?