Compiled by Ben Salter
No, I’m not talking about games that were so bad you exploded in a fit of murderous rage (see Superman 64). I’m talking about games that were actually scary; games nobody in their right mind would want to play alone on a dark stormy night.
I’m sure there are heaps of others out there. Unfortunately, I don’t get to play as many PC games as I do console, so no doubt this is a relatively untapped medium for me. As such, post any of your scariest games below!
5. Dead Space
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Release: 2008
Dead Space is the most recent game on my freak out list. It takes the best of the survival horror genre, throws you aboard a giant spaceship infested with a bunch of monsters that have a thing eating your face, and creates an extremely tense atmosphere.
I expect some people to yell (or type loudly) “weak”, but play through Dead Space on a lonely winter’s night and you’ll see what I mean. Its relentless scare tactics have you on the edge of your seat until the very end, making it one of the scariest games released this generation.
4. F.E.A.R.
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Original Release: 2005
At first glance, name aside, F.E.A.R. doesn’t appear to be all that frighten. It seems to be a stock standard FPS, and you can’t be scared in a game where you can let the bullets fly, right? Wrong! Apart from the fact enemies are near impossible to defeat on the hardest difficulty, you’ll soon discover that F.E.A.R. is an FPS if with an extreme horror twist.
The game designers have said F.E.A.R. was inspired by Japanese horror, and that they wanted the atmosphere to get under the player’s skin. The central scare tactics are focused around a little dead girl, who’s far too lively to be dead for my liking. The whole thing has a “The Ring” feel to it, and I for one will take a giant fire breathing monster over a freaky undead girl any day of the week.
3. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Platforms: GameCube
Original Release: 2002
Any game that tries to trick you into believing you’ve deleted your own save file means trouble. Eternal Darkness is another one of those games that tries to scare the living daylights out of you by getting into your head. In fact, it came complete with a sanity meter that measured the mental state of the protagonists onscreen. You could actually watch, almost helplessly, as your onscreen avatars took another step towards insanity.
The sanity effect had you (or your characters) hearing things that weren’t really there; they saw things like the walls bleeding and all of a sudden the volume would drop and a fake television volume indicator suggested everything was fine. Then, of course, the game pretended to delete your save file. Nintendo liked the idea so much that they actually went out and patented videogame insanity, and have recently renewed their patent for Eternal Darkness.
2. Resident Evil
Platforms: PlayStation, GameCube, Wii, PC, DS
Original Release: 1996
In a top 5 list of the scariest games of all time at least one Resident Evil game had to be here. Compared to some more recent titles perhaps it isn’t as pants soilingly scary as it once was, (perhaps it’s because I’m an RE fanboy) but it’s the series that started the horror craze, and deserves a spot in the list.
When I reviewed the Wii port of the GameCube remake I criticized the game’s poor controls and terrible camera angles. Today we expect survival horror games to scare us in a range of diverse and interesting ways that don’t impact too heavily on the gameplay experience. However, back when Resident Evil was released these things are what made the game so intensely frightening. You often had no idea what you were walking into, and when you finally released the clumsy controls often made it impossible to escape. Furthermore, Resident Evil gave everyone a temporary phobia of jumping dogs. The second you heard the sound of a zombie dog preparing to pounce you knew it was all over.
1. Silent Hill 2
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC
Original Release: 2001
I can’t quite put my finger on one specific aspect, but Silent Hill 2 is the scariest game I can remember playing. Its relentless psychological scare tactics have you almost crying for mercy. Like Resident Evil the Silent Hill series is largely responsible for the success of the survival horror genre today.
Silent Hill 2 had an extremely engaging plot for a horror game. You wanted to find out what would happen next, but most of the time you were too fixated on surviving to pay it the attention it deserved. Horror games are all about atmosphere, and Silent Hill 2 had a great one. Like most of the other games I’ve mentioned, it’s mostly psychological; there’s nothing scary about about 100 enemies on screen, it’s all about the unknown.
Notable Mentions
- Silent Hill (1999 / PS1)
- System Shock 2 (1999 / PC)
- Doom 3 (2004 /PC/Xbox)
08/03/2010
It's been a rather slow week in the gaming world, giving you all a chance to catch up on those games you haven't finished before the end of year season is upon us.
Many of you have already finished this title, but Batman: Arkham Asylum has kept me rather busy the past week. I've really enjoyed my time on Arkham, and this is a surprise hit title for me! Still sitting on the fence after playing the demo? Why not read our feature review? Batman: Arkham Asylum.
I was one of the many lucky folks who snagged a Uncharted 2 beta code last week from EB Games Twitter give-away so I'll be waiting to get into that this Tuesday! Those who pre-order the game from EB also get access to the beta so if you can't wait to get online with this game, head down to your local EB today.
This weekend I got the chance to go through the paces of the DLC pack for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. Reborn runs a story parallel to that of the main game, and while it doesn't do anything to expand the story or the universe, it's a decent addition to the already great game. If you already own F.E.A.R 2 and want to extend it another 2-4 hours, then check out our review here.
So now I'm just counting down the days till Scribblenauts, Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2!
What are you guys and girls looking forward to playing?
14/09/2009
The Voice
The fourth episode of The Voice is now here!
In this weeks podcast, Tano and Heller discuss the release of GTA IV: The Lost and Damned, the latest Dead to Rights and the upcoming release of the DSi. They go through some of the latest reviews, covering Street Fighter IV, The Lost and Damned and F.E.A.R. 2, and discuss the importance of a game console being an "entertainment" system.
For the next podcast, we will be giving you the opportunity to have your reviews read out and discussed on the show. All you have to do is submit a review to one of our sites. Five will be chosen from across MyMedia to be included.
Don't forget to email us your suggestions, opinions and topics you'd like to discuss to podcast@mymedia.net.au.
Download the MP3
http://resource.mymedia.net.au/podcasts/TheVoice4.mp3
Listen to it online
Subscribe to it via iTunes
26/02/2009
F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin has simply grabbed me by the throat and dragged me in this week. I've been creeping down hallways and blasting my way through this horror FPS for this whole week and I'm still loving it! Monolith have proved once again that they are masters when it comes to creating atmosphere. Check out our full review for the PC version over here
Exciting games are starting to pop up this week with Street Fighter IV making a rather positive impression on me. It has a way of bringing about a nostalgic feeling, yet manages to stay fresh and exciting. Street Fighter IV drops for the Xbox 360 and PS3 this Thursday.
And last but not least, the one thing that is going to keep me occupied, at least until Killzone 2 drops next week, GTA Lost and Damned for the Xbox 360. This piece of DLC is sure to blow us all away! Sorry PC/PS3 fans, you miss out this time around. So glad I got that Xbox after all!
So what is keeping your attention at the moment kiddies? Let me know :)
17/02/2009
Some of you have seen the Justin Potter videos floating around the site, and while I have got some great feedback on what people are taking away from them, I thought it was time that I explained my motivations for making these videos.
We are one of the only developed nations NOT to have an R18+ rating for video games. This is a worrying trend, studies have proven that the average gamer is aged in their late 20's in Australia, and with games becoming more complex, the lack of an R18+ rating could slowly stifle what games we actually get out here
In 2008 alone we saw games refused classification, and these weren't just small games, these were huge titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3, Silent Hill Homecoming and many more. Instead we are given watered down, censored versions, which essential take away from the developers intention on how the games are meant to be played.
There have been many discussions about implementing such a rating, but one man stand in the way, Michael Atkinson, and by the looks of it things aren't going to change.
So I guess I made the first video mainly as a way to vent my frustration, but as I started to write down my ideas, news that F.E.A.R 2 had been refused classification broke and the material just started pouring out. I was at the chemist and I saw a black rimmed pair of reading glasses for $14.95, Justin Potter was born.
I intentionally made Justin with an American accent, to show that an American is working for an Australian board of classification. In theory he is not Australian, so he doesn't know what the Australian public wants or needs. This was done to highlight the fact that even though the OFLC have the information to see what the Australian people want, nothing is being done about it.
Also the videos were to show the inadequacies for the boards approval ratings. One minute F.E.A.R 2 is banned, the next week the exact same copy is put to the board and it is passed, inconsistencies don't stop there people. GTA IV was banned for consoles early 2008, we received a censored version, that's fine the damage is done we can deal with that. In November 2008 the game is released on PC, totally uncensored and no question of the board. WHY IS THIS SO? If they try to use the argument that children have easier access to consoles than PC's that is bogus!
That would be just like saying that it's ok to have R18+ Porn movies on Blu-Ray but not on DVD as more children have access to DVD. Time and time again the OFLC fail us, and it's about time things change.
So that is what Justin Potter is meant to represent. I hope now after reading this, you will go watch the videos and leave some comments
21/01/2009
Fighting The Good Fight
Season 1
Episode 2: Endgame
Written and Directed By: Stephen Heller
Starring
Cameron Ford (Cammza21) as Doug LeRoosh
Stephen Heller (Heller) as Justin Potter
Keenan Bird as Cameraman Doug
Watch in High Quality and show your support by commenting at
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=tE1yc6CInkw&feature=channel_page
19/01/2009
Hey there guys and girls, and welcome to another edition of the Heller's Desk Blog. This week has been a bit of a quiet one to be honest, no major releases so I'm still catching up on the bevy of great titles that have been released of late.
Prince of Persia has been getting a spin in my Xbox 360 this week, and I must say I'm actually rather impressed by this title. I've never played a PoP game before, but it has a unique visual style that makes me just want to stare at the environments for hours. The story is solid, and the platforming elements are great, my only gripe is the combat in the game, it's not my style. Overall though if you are sitting on the fence about this game like I was for a while, I'd say go hire it out and let me know your thoughts!
The OFLC has finally decided to over-ride their decision after Warner Bros appealed against the refused classification for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. This is fantastic news as I was rather annoyed that we'd be seeing another edited game coming to our shores. I was so angry in fact that I made a video about it, which I might add will be coming to this site in the next few days (currently editing it now) so please, keep your eyes and ears open for it and post some feedback, I like having youtube fans ;)
EDIT: THE VIDEO IS NOW ONLINE
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=hMKpbPubpJo
Tano and myself are getting ready to record the second podcast for the site, working through the feedback and requests we have received and taking them all into consideration as we write up the outline for the show. Might I add that the whole thing is done in one take and we don't have a script, basically we just choose some topics we want to talk about and then we wing it. Make sure you all subscribe to The Voice on iTunes to show your support.
So what reviews have I completed that are coming out in the next few days? LittleBigPlanet will be coming to the featured reviews on myps3, and Disney Sing It! High School Musical 3 is also on it's way this week
And last but not least, HOME is finally here. Fanboys and Fangirls across the globe are currently partying it hardcore in their digital world, that is when they can actually get online on the damn thing! I must say I haven't spent a great deal of time in HOME (around 40 mins) but I'm not impressed and I don't see what the huge hype and fuss is about. Please, could someone enlighten me?
So until next week, let me know what's going on in your lives, what games are you currently really getting into, or what is the ONE game you want this Christmas?
17/12/2008