Halloween is approaching, and I want to celebrate a little early. A bunch of mirrors are around my room, the thermostat is down, and beta entrainment sessions have become routine. I want to play the most horrifying games I can find one after the other at midnight. 'Thriller' horror like in Doom 3 won't do.

So far, Silent Hill and F.E.A.R. is on my list, but I want to avoid mainstream horror titles. What do you recommend I play to reduce myself to a shivering, whimpering pile of tears? The more uncomfortable you are mentioning a game, the better. I want games that go to the level of August Underground Mordum.

I would especially appreciate info about games that revolve around asylums.

Checking August Underground Mordum, it doesn't look like a game, nor an horror movie, just a gore fest. Do you want horror or do you want gore?

Anyway, for scary feelings I suggest you try the Penumbra serie / Amnesia (their new game, but it's less good). It's scary, but not gory. Dead space could be good too, and just play dead rising 2 if you want free violence :).

To be honest though, no game ever scared me at all, it's just not the same.

System Shock 2

I'll add a few more if you accept older games:

Silent Hill 2 is probably the best in your interest
Call of Ctulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
The Suffering
Clive Barker's Undying
Condemned
Phantasmagoria?

Quote: Checking August Underground Mordum, it doesn't look like a game, nor an horror movie, just a gore fest.

Depends on your point of view. The staff wanted a movie that looked as much like a snuff film as possible, so I see horror in watching authentic looking murder. Although there is a certain charm in watching a body get torn, excessive gore is optional.

Quote: To be honest though, no game ever scared me at all, it's just not the same.

Although the horror element may be improved if the player was given an inevitable doom, that likely does not make for good game design. *Sigh*, gimme the shotgun. [smile]

Thanks very much for the suggestions guys. Looking them up.

Quote: Original post by Koobazaur
System Shock 2

Quoted for emphasis.

I vote for FEAR. I bought that game shortly after I got a projector, and I stayed up late playing it on the big screen until I was too freaked out to continue, each night until I finished it.

Quote: Original post by Dunge
I'll add a few more if you accept older games:

Silent Hill 2 is probably the best in your interest
Condemned

I second both these choices, and I suggest every game in the Silent Hill series except for 'The Room' which just doesn't seem to fit in the series quite as well as the others.

I've only played the demo, but if you have a PS2 or PS3 there's a game called Siren: Blood Curse which seemed pretty terrifying.

Make sure when you play you have high quality headphones, it'll make the experience much more terrifying. I've also noticed being closer to the screen actually makes it scarier (I've noticed PC translations are much more scary for me due to my distance to the monitor and the headphones I use). Any scary game can be bland if you're sitting halfway across the room with standard def audio.

Scariest game of 2010: Amnesia the Dark Descent

Quote: Original post by think_different
Scariest game of 2010: Amnesia the Dark Descent

I was just about to say [smile]