For those of us who like our horror on PC and consoles.
1. Thief: The Dark Project
Wonderfully atmospheric steampunk FPS (first person stealth) game where you play as Garrett, a thief in the city who gets more than he bargained for. One of the first games I played where the background lore turned out to be a glorious plot twist. Furthermore, your character is hardly a battle wagon - you'll rely on stealth and speed to succeed, and in cases where neither works (in dungeons or catacombs where the enemies are... unnatural) you'll basically be running for your life.
This is the only game I've ever played that had me literally crying tears of relief. I was in the Cathedral level and something horrid heard me as I dashed into a room. It opened the door and stood there, scanning, but I was behind the door out of its view in the corner. After taking a few jingling steps into the room, the seeker shrugged and turned around. The door closed behind it. And I started breathing again.
2. Clive Barker's Undying
Set in post-WWI Ireland, this FPS game melds a fantasy-style magic system with solid firearms and a few more exotic weapons. The game has beautiful settings and gorgeous visuals for its time (1999), as well as a brooding and surprising instrumental accompaniment that is truly excellent. There are entire levels in the game where you encounter no enemies - you're just passing through, and admiring the scenery.
The story revolves around a family of grown siblings, most deceased or otherwise missing. You'll use occult and mundane weapons to find out their secrets and lay them to rest. The game is generally excellent, but the end boss is quite jarringly alien and does not fit in well with the rest of the game. I've tried mapping out the mansion wherein the game is set and failed.
3. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Perhaps the most ambitious of the games, and also (for the PC) the buggiest. The game has absolutely no HUD whatsoever. What you see is what you get, from the trembling hands holding your own weapon, to the visual effects of exhaustion, vertigo, and madness.
If you have an XBox (the original, not the 360) it's worth playing this on that rather than the PC. Two bugs in the game make it practically unwinnable without a cheat on the PC.
But the game is superb and the plot is very true to Lovecraft. How often do you play a game where your injuries ingame actually affect the way your character shoots, sees, and walks? With no handy number telling you your hit points, you're left guessing from your vision and your breathing and your agonized walk about how injured you are. Healing yourself requires some rest time as your character binds his wounds, using up precious supplies...
4. Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi
A retelling of the Dracula story, but with several twists. Your relatives are in the castle with you, and as the clock counts down, they can and will be sacrificed to Malachi's dark ritual. You can save them, which will have direct consequences on the final fight. Features a surprising degree of innovative item use, such as using a cross to both turn undead and to bless holy water (giving you a very powerful weapon).
Also, the location of key personnel and items in the castle is randomly generated at the start of each game. One of the first time challenges you'll face is finding a doctor to heal an injured ally within half an hour. Fail in this, and you'll lose the ally and a valuable item that will make the rest of the game much smoother.
Finally, the ending has a few surprises, perhaps in a show of defiance to winner-takes-all Hollywood endings.
Gothic Horror Computer Games
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Zettaijin
- Evil Genius
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- Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:30 am
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- Location: Himeji, Japan
Clocktower (SNES) (aka Clocktower: The First Fear on the PSX)
Inspired by the work of Dario Argento, this game borrows key aspects and scenes from some of his more celebrated films in order give it an atmosphere unlike that of any other horror games past and present. American fans were not given a chance to encounter this game until its sequel hit the shores of North America for the Playstation gaming platform. Entitled Clocktower, the sequel omitted the "2" to avoid confusion in the west, however an English language PSX conversion of the original Japanese only SNES game would later appear on the system with the title Clocktower: The First Fear.
You play the role of Jennifer (who obviously was made to bear a passing resemblance to Jennifer Connely from Argento's Phenomena), a young orphan adopted into a somewhat sinister Barrows foster home along with three other girls. One power failure later and Jen is left alone. With her new foster mother nowhere to be found and her friends missing as well, she has to venture into the foreboding mansion and uncover the truth before it's too late.
Although a simple point and click adventure game by design where one must elucidate countless trial and error/inventory puzzles, it also represents the other, less popular side of survival horror where the lead character is weak and faces opponents so powerful that they must use stealth and trickery as opposed to arms in order to survive (a tradition which finds roots in the venerable Halloween for the Atari 2600).
Her foe is a particularly unnerving and frightful character dubbed the Scissorman. Although the limitations of the 16-bit game system allow for little randomness, your first few runs through the game should provide ample scares through a veritable tour de force of mood and subtlety as the Scissorman chases you around his abode and into some particularly grisly situations.
The blood levels never reach anything beyond PG-13 levels, yet they don't need to. While the Scissorman's murders are vicious and shown quite graphically on the screen, the game skirts around the gore for practical considerations (16-bit gore isn't all that impressive and Nintendo wouldn't allow too much at the time) allowing for horrific shots that bear an eerie, disturbing naiveté.
Considering its unique status as the only game to blatantly make use of 70's Italian horror cinema and Argento's work in particular (despite said cinema and director having a profound influence on the horror genre in general) and a spooky 16-bit title, it is, at the least, worth a look.
Inspired by the work of Dario Argento, this game borrows key aspects and scenes from some of his more celebrated films in order give it an atmosphere unlike that of any other horror games past and present. American fans were not given a chance to encounter this game until its sequel hit the shores of North America for the Playstation gaming platform. Entitled Clocktower, the sequel omitted the "2" to avoid confusion in the west, however an English language PSX conversion of the original Japanese only SNES game would later appear on the system with the title Clocktower: The First Fear.
You play the role of Jennifer (who obviously was made to bear a passing resemblance to Jennifer Connely from Argento's Phenomena), a young orphan adopted into a somewhat sinister Barrows foster home along with three other girls. One power failure later and Jen is left alone. With her new foster mother nowhere to be found and her friends missing as well, she has to venture into the foreboding mansion and uncover the truth before it's too late.
Although a simple point and click adventure game by design where one must elucidate countless trial and error/inventory puzzles, it also represents the other, less popular side of survival horror where the lead character is weak and faces opponents so powerful that they must use stealth and trickery as opposed to arms in order to survive (a tradition which finds roots in the venerable Halloween for the Atari 2600).
Her foe is a particularly unnerving and frightful character dubbed the Scissorman. Although the limitations of the 16-bit game system allow for little randomness, your first few runs through the game should provide ample scares through a veritable tour de force of mood and subtlety as the Scissorman chases you around his abode and into some particularly grisly situations.
The blood levels never reach anything beyond PG-13 levels, yet they don't need to. While the Scissorman's murders are vicious and shown quite graphically on the screen, the game skirts around the gore for practical considerations (16-bit gore isn't all that impressive and Nintendo wouldn't allow too much at the time) allowing for horrific shots that bear an eerie, disturbing naiveté.
Considering its unique status as the only game to blatantly make use of 70's Italian horror cinema and Argento's work in particular (despite said cinema and director having a profound influence on the horror genre in general) and a spooky 16-bit title, it is, at the least, worth a look.
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Zettaijin
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 670
- Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:30 am
- Gender: Male
- Location: Himeji, Japan
Reaching back a long time here, but I think someone on the old mailing list tried to adapt The 7th Guest to RL once.
I had saved a bunch of material from the list on diskette, but with the advent of CD-R and DVD-R technology, my usage of these has dwindled into nothingness and I soon lost track of the cool stuff - unfortunately.
The archives available online only go back so far, hence the really older material isn't there and the old Alanik Ray's website found on the internet "way back machine" websites doesn't feature the last updates before it got swallowed by the mists.
I had saved a bunch of material from the list on diskette, but with the advent of CD-R and DVD-R technology, my usage of these has dwindled into nothingness and I soon lost track of the cool stuff - unfortunately.
The archives available online only go back so far, hence the really older material isn't there and the old Alanik Ray's website found on the internet "way back machine" websites doesn't feature the last updates before it got swallowed by the mists.
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Georg Kristianokov
- Criminal Mastermind
- Posts: 147
- Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:45 pm
- Location: Pennsauken (Darkon), near Camden (Necropolis)
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High Priest Mikhal
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 1642
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:48 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location: It's dark and I hear laughing.
"It burns, it burns! Oh, my God!" 
I loved the spraycan flamethrower just because I could burn people alive with it.
You can't go wrong with Alone in the Dark (original). It's a bit fast-paced for Gothic horror, but it's still creepy. Koudelka for the PSX is Gothic at its finest. Illbleed for the Dreamcast is one game that still makes me jump at times. Then there are the Fatal Frame games; I still haven't been able to finish off the third 'cause I get too scared.
The Silent Hill games are Gothic horror defined: the hapless protagonist being thrown into things they know nothing about and yet somehow managing to overcome the darkness, exploring how sins of the past effect the present, and exploring our own dark sides.
I loved the spraycan flamethrower just because I could burn people alive with it.You can't go wrong with Alone in the Dark (original). It's a bit fast-paced for Gothic horror, but it's still creepy. Koudelka for the PSX is Gothic at its finest. Illbleed for the Dreamcast is one game that still makes me jump at times. Then there are the Fatal Frame games; I still haven't been able to finish off the third 'cause I get too scared.
The Silent Hill games are Gothic horror defined: the hapless protagonist being thrown into things they know nothing about and yet somehow managing to overcome the darkness, exploring how sins of the past effect the present, and exploring our own dark sides."Money is the root of all evil...I think I need more money."
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Ronia Sun
- Arch-villain
- Posts: 173
- Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Laramie, Wyoming, gearing up for another looong winter...
Thief was mentioned at the top, but I have to mention the second and third titles in the series, both fantastic additions to the gothic-atmosphere experience. Thief 2 had a simply fantastic, and chilling, story and villain. Though I have yet to complete Thief 3 all the way to the end (a damned bug got me close to the end, and I didn't have the time or the energy to start over just then), it has some really, *really* scary bits to it. For one, it has absolutely gorgeous graphics, with light and shadow so beautifully rendered, I occasionally got myself in trouble because I was loitering around staring. 
It also has a mission set in an old insane asylum/former orphanage that has to be one of the absolute scariest bits I've ever experienced in a computer game. Think the cathedral in the first Thief game was frightening? The insane asylum is absolutely terrifying. First you get the horrific, insane undead that announce their presence with flickering lights and chilling sounds (and are beastly hard to kill off). Then there's the ancient murder scene in the attic, complete with the ghost of a murdered child whose sudden, whispered entrance nearly sent me shrieking out of the room. Then there's the...shadow people...Brilliant bit of storytelling, and one I fully intend to steal for either my Ravenloft campaign or my upcoming MotRD run...
Anther game worth the having for it's various super-scary parts is Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. While in general I giggle at the whole White Wolf Vampire genre (oooh, the angst!), the game itself was both well-written and well made, with the possible exception of an overabundance of cleavage and profanity, both of which I find unimaginative. :p (Try playing a Malkavian, though. They're the "insane" vampires. It's hilarious.) There's a particular part of the game where your character (a newborn but tough vampire) is sent to an old hotel to excorcise a ghost there. Actually, there are several ghosts, one of them really nasty, and all of them frightening. Unexpected whispers, cries, giggles--not to mention the vases, pictures, chandeliers, and an entire kitchen's worth of items being flung at you unexpectedly--made the entire experience chilling and whimper worthy. (Oh, and then there were the phantom flames...) I don't scare easily, but I whimper every time I play through that part. (And it doesn't get much less scary with repetition. There's a lot to be said for effective sound editing!) A trek through ancient sewer tunnels later on in the game is not *quite* as frightening, but wonderfully creepy all the same.
I've recently picked up The Darkness Within: In Search of Loath Nolder, but have not had the time to really get into it. (And how d'you pronounce that name, anyway? No wonder the guy went insane...)The introductory dream sequence, however, is quite promising, though I've found the UI to be a bit frustrating. (Like most adventure games, really.) Another one good for atmosphere is Still Life, by Microids. Though the question as to the villain's identity is, frustratingly, never resolved (but I hear they're finally going to do a sequel!) , he is nevertheless a wonderfully macabre, frightening figure, dressed in a formal suit, top hat, and an ornate silver mask. It's also a fun "time travel" story, with a modern day FBI agent investigating a serial killer whose crimes eerily echo those of a killer who stalked Prague in the early 1900s and was hunted by her (psychic) private investigator great-grandfather. I've heard that the prequel game to Still Life (forget the name at the moment) is also quite good, and has as it's protagonist the aforementioned great grandfather.
It also has a mission set in an old insane asylum/former orphanage that has to be one of the absolute scariest bits I've ever experienced in a computer game. Think the cathedral in the first Thief game was frightening? The insane asylum is absolutely terrifying. First you get the horrific, insane undead that announce their presence with flickering lights and chilling sounds (and are beastly hard to kill off). Then there's the ancient murder scene in the attic, complete with the ghost of a murdered child whose sudden, whispered entrance nearly sent me shrieking out of the room. Then there's the...shadow people...Brilliant bit of storytelling, and one I fully intend to steal for either my Ravenloft campaign or my upcoming MotRD run...
Anther game worth the having for it's various super-scary parts is Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. While in general I giggle at the whole White Wolf Vampire genre (oooh, the angst!), the game itself was both well-written and well made, with the possible exception of an overabundance of cleavage and profanity, both of which I find unimaginative. :p (Try playing a Malkavian, though. They're the "insane" vampires. It's hilarious.) There's a particular part of the game where your character (a newborn but tough vampire) is sent to an old hotel to excorcise a ghost there. Actually, there are several ghosts, one of them really nasty, and all of them frightening. Unexpected whispers, cries, giggles--not to mention the vases, pictures, chandeliers, and an entire kitchen's worth of items being flung at you unexpectedly--made the entire experience chilling and whimper worthy. (Oh, and then there were the phantom flames...) I don't scare easily, but I whimper every time I play through that part. (And it doesn't get much less scary with repetition. There's a lot to be said for effective sound editing!) A trek through ancient sewer tunnels later on in the game is not *quite* as frightening, but wonderfully creepy all the same.
I've recently picked up The Darkness Within: In Search of Loath Nolder, but have not had the time to really get into it. (And how d'you pronounce that name, anyway? No wonder the guy went insane...)The introductory dream sequence, however, is quite promising, though I've found the UI to be a bit frustrating. (Like most adventure games, really.) Another one good for atmosphere is Still Life, by Microids. Though the question as to the villain's identity is, frustratingly, never resolved (but I hear they're finally going to do a sequel!) , he is nevertheless a wonderfully macabre, frightening figure, dressed in a formal suit, top hat, and an ornate silver mask. It's also a fun "time travel" story, with a modern day FBI agent investigating a serial killer whose crimes eerily echo those of a killer who stalked Prague in the early 1900s and was hunted by her (psychic) private investigator great-grandfather. I've heard that the prequel game to Still Life (forget the name at the moment) is also quite good, and has as it's protagonist the aforementioned great grandfather.
Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual. --Terry Pratchett
while in no way gothic- the remake of Resident Evil was very scary. Excellent sound, great graphics and some of the goriest and most disgusting zombies I've seen in a game. Crimson Heads---->nuff said.
Eternal Darkness: Sanitys Requiem was a good game to with plenty of psychological horror. If you have a gamecube or wii: pick both of these up.
Eternal Darkness: Sanitys Requiem was a good game to with plenty of psychological horror. If you have a gamecube or wii: pick both of these up.
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Georg Kristianokov
- Criminal Mastermind
- Posts: 147
- Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:45 pm
- Location: Pennsauken (Darkon), near Camden (Necropolis)
Thank you. The level select is "spielberg", or so cheat code central (cheatcc.com) says.HuManBing wrote:You have a glitch. I don't remember what the solution for it is, but there is a level cheat you can use to get around it.
Or maybe the patch will work?
Blood is an awesome game too. The pace was excellent, and the violence could be utterly chilling at times.
Death to the salad eaters!--Verbrekian War cry
I can post almost everything I've written, just PM me!
I can post almost everything I've written, just PM me!
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Jack of Tears
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 306
- Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:25 pm
re
The Cradle (insane asylum) in Thief 3 was one of the single scariest settings I've ever encountered in a computer game ... it kept you on the tips of your toes and the edge of your seat the entire time. Best advice, if you go in, don't expect to fight ... but if you do, stock up on mines.
The entire Thief series is well worth a look ... I've been meaning to run a game based on the setting for some time.
There were a few freaky scenes in VtM: Bloodlines, though the haunted mansion never really got to me. (the madd old scientists house, however ...) And I agree, if you're going to play the game, you have to go through once as a Malkavian. (I loved argueing with the stop sign and talking to my television) The games primary failing, though, is that the last quarter turns into nothing but an endless slug fest and the original release is so full of bugs that it was virtually unplayable without the community made patches.
Otherwise I have to second the Fatal Frame games, while I haven't played the 3rd, the first two were very atmospheric and frightening. (though each had a problem, the first had too much combat and the second lacked some of the tension of the original)
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The entire Thief series is well worth a look ... I've been meaning to run a game based on the setting for some time.
There were a few freaky scenes in VtM: Bloodlines, though the haunted mansion never really got to me. (the madd old scientists house, however ...) And I agree, if you're going to play the game, you have to go through once as a Malkavian. (I loved argueing with the stop sign and talking to my television) The games primary failing, though, is that the last quarter turns into nothing but an endless slug fest and the original release is so full of bugs that it was virtually unplayable without the community made patches.
Otherwise I have to second the Fatal Frame games, while I haven't played the 3rd, the first two were very atmospheric and frightening. (though each had a problem, the first had too much combat and the second lacked some of the tension of the original)
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Rotipher of the FoS
- Thieving Crow
- Posts: 4683
- Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2003 4:18 pm
I mostly play puzzle-games like Myst, but I did pick up the Director's Cut of Scratches this summer. Quite tame by you guys' standards, I'm sure, but it was pretty creepy to me.
Who'd have thought a little trick like having doors always open away from you would suffice to keep you wondering what's hiding behind each one of them, ready to pounce...?
Of course, I did play the whole thing at night, alone in the house with all the lights switched off.... 
Who'd have thought a little trick like having doors always open away from you would suffice to keep you wondering what's hiding behind each one of them, ready to pounce...?
Of course, I did play the whole thing at night, alone in the house with all the lights switched off.... "Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
CALL OF DUTY 5: WORLD AT WAR
'Eh', I hear you ask? Well, if you finish the campaign mode, you receive quite probably the best 'extra' ever in a video game. The bonus level is called:
NAZI ZOMBIES
You just have to play this game online! You're stuck in a dilapidated building, there's a full moon, mist in the air, and you have to survive a zombie onslaught. Gain points by rebuilding windows with planks of wood, extra for headshots. Very addictive and the ambient haunting music is just brilliant! I know what I'll be playing next Halloween!
'Eh', I hear you ask? Well, if you finish the campaign mode, you receive quite probably the best 'extra' ever in a video game. The bonus level is called:
NAZI ZOMBIES
You just have to play this game online! You're stuck in a dilapidated building, there's a full moon, mist in the air, and you have to survive a zombie onslaught. Gain points by rebuilding windows with planks of wood, extra for headshots. Very addictive and the ambient haunting music is just brilliant! I know what I'll be playing next Halloween!
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Ronia Sun
- Arch-villain
- Posts: 173
- Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Laramie, Wyoming, gearing up for another looong winter...
Oh, hey, I never tried arguing with my tv in VtM: Bloodlines. I'm gonna have to try that!
Finally got the time/energy to go through Thief 3 again, and I'm back at Shaelbridge Cradle. Yep, it's still the scariest thing I've ever played. I don't generally scare easy, but I have to play that level in the morning, and even then I'm finding myself required to walk away every so often and do something else so's I don't get the super-heebie-jeebies...
I do hope those rumors of Eidos Montreal doing Thief 4 are true...
Finally got the time/energy to go through Thief 3 again, and I'm back at Shaelbridge Cradle. Yep, it's still the scariest thing I've ever played. I don't generally scare easy, but I have to play that level in the morning, and even then I'm finding myself required to walk away every so often and do something else so's I don't get the super-heebie-jeebies...
I do hope those rumors of Eidos Montreal doing Thief 4 are true...
Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual. --Terry Pratchett
