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The 10 Scariest Games of All Time
What is horror? This is a question that has been the subject of voluminous tomes and endless documentaries and editorials. Horror is the psychological terror of Stephen King and the gruesome carnage of Clive Barker. Horror is the loneliness of Frankenstein's monster and the sadism of Freddy Krueger. Horror is a prison system that allows murderers to go free and imprisons marijuana smokers. For the purposes of the subject of this article, let's keep it simple--horror it that which scares you.
Unfortunately, even the best of computer games have been unable to evoke this seemingly simple emotional response on a sustained basis. Too many games go for the cheap, quick approach (i.e., the dogs bursting through the window in Resident Evil) rather than attempting to sustain and build upon a feeling of dread. Interactive adventure games are extremely immersive and time-consuming. An average of 30 to 50 hours may be consumed playing one game, as compared to an average movie length of two hours and an average of 8 to 10 hours to read a book. Computer horror also suffers in that the bond with that game is broken and must be reestablished every time that game is restarted. A good horror film is the equivalent of a two-hour roller coaster ride; a good horror game must whisper for your return to the monitor, regardless of the time of day. Yet the gaming medium has failed, with few exceptions, to elicit a strong emotional response. Once the industry begins to mature and realize that a great script should come before graphics and bloodshed, then, and only then, will computer games attain the level of respect that movies and books have obtained.
As is stands now, it is rare for a "game" to reach that level of emotional involvement.
The following ten games all have something in common. Be it an underlying Lovecraftian theme, computer technology gone mad, a plot driven by psychological horror or a story penned by a well-known horror author and translated to computer imagery. They have all transcended the limitations of the genre and are most assuredly games you should not play with the lights out.
10.
Alone in the Dark
Publisher: I-Motion
The granddaddy of action/adventure games. It has lost a little of its luster over the years, but it still has the power to emotionally involve first-time players. The plot did not always make sense, but what Lovecraftian tale ever did?
The French-spawned Alone in the Dark was the first game to involve the player in an immersive cinematic gaming experience. Camera angles and a 3D graphics engine heightened the suspense as you explored Decerto, a creepy old mansion rumored to be cursed. The previous owner has taken his own life, and you, as Edward Carnby, Supernatural Private Eye, have been hired to investigate a mysterious presence in the house.
What are those strange lights inside the house at night? What could account for the eerie noises you hear each time you approach the estate? What is Decerto's terrible secret? You are about to find out, for once you enter through Decerto's front door, the only exit is through hell.
Two excellent sequels followed (and a third will be released next year!), but none have yet matched the suspense of the first outing. An honored member of the Just Adventure Hall of Fame, Alone in the Dark is one game that must be played by every horror fan.
9.
The Lurking Horror
Publisher:
Infocom
Release Date: 1987
Proof positive that the potent combination of written word and vivid imagination are and always will be the best source of horror. Written by Dan Lebling, co-author of Zork I through III and Enchanter and author of Starcross and Suspect, The Lurking Horror is text adventure at its best. No small feat when one considers the impressive library of Infocom games.
The Lurking Horror casts you as a student at G.U.E. Tech. You have braved a snowstorm to get to the Computer Center to finish a class assignment. Beautiful snowflakes have gathered into a raging blizzard, and you are now trapped for the night in this complex of buildings. Did I forget to mention that G.U.E. Tech has the highest student suicide rate in the country? That large, underground tunnels connect most of the buildings and that several student deaths have been attributed to nocturnal explorations in the tunnels? That the tunnels are your only route to freedom?!
The Lurking Horror was the first of many computer games to be loosely built around Lovecraftian themes (Shadow of the Comet and, of course, Alone in the Dark being two other notable examples). That this game is still played and discussed almost 13 years after its release is an example of the ongoing influence the Infocom classics have had, and still have to this day, on the industry.
8.
Jack the Ripper
Developer:
GameTek
Release Date: 1995
A reconstruction of the actual murder locations and suspected haunts of Jack the Ripper. Long-lost photographs and blueprints authentically recreate the eerie ambiance of Whitechapel in 1888--Victorian London. Using the actual clues and evidence assembled by Scotland Yard, you can interview over 100 real people and suspects as you not only attempt to discover the Ripper's identity, but also try to stop him before he disembowels again.
Short on graphics and long on text, the recreation of actual photographs and maps succeeds in immersing the player into the heat and the horror of this snapshot of history. Acting as an amateur Sherlock Holmes, the advantage of hindsight actually increases the tension as you slowly realize that some of the people you are questioning will soon be lifeless murder victims and you will find yourself whispering--"This is not a game."
7.
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
Publisher:
Cyberdreams
Release Date: 1995
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a Nazi doctor performing unethical operations on unwilling patients? I hope not, but this is a game that will force you into that uncomfortable position.
Based on a Harlan Ellison short story of the same name, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is one of the ten most-reprinted stories in the English language. You must assume the roles of five very different characters as you are plunged into their tortured and hidden pasts. Five souls who are trapped in the depths of an insane computer known as AM--as in I AM. A deranged AM has carried out the Prime Directive and started the Final War. These last five damned souls alive have been imprisoned in AM's underground domain for 109 years. Now they must outwit their captor in one last attempt to escape. But even if they do escape, the Earth was destroyed in the Final War. Or is that merely another one of AM's lies?
Featuring adult-oriented themes and provocative psychological plotlines, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is not for those timid few who demand a positive conclusion to their gaming experience. There is no winning in Mouth, only ways to lose either heroically, at the peak of one's humanity, or ignominiously--in a selfish, cowardly frightened manner. A must-play for the adventure gamer who demands intellectual confrontation.
6.
The Blackstone Chronicles
Developer:
Legend Entertainment
Publisher: Red Orb
Release Date: 1998
Psychological horror at its very best. Your son has been kidnaped by your deceased, despotic father and is hidden somewhere in the dank bowels of the shuttered Blackstone mental asylum. Tortured spirits from the asylum's bloody past are your guide as their disembodied voices direct you through room after room haunted by the unspeakable horrors visited upon their former occupants. Ancient torture devices share their shameful secrets as they simultaneously invite you to experience their misery.
This is a game that subtly plays upon your senses. Written by famous adventure game author Bob Bates, The Blackstone Chronicles breaks all of the rules of traditional computer gaming. There are no other characters with whom to interact, no shocking revelations or plot twists. You know what to expect every step of the way, and The Blackstone Chronicles does not disappoint. All the more testament to the power of solid writing in computer games.
Originally planned as a continuing series of games and add-ons, it looks as though Blackstone has forever closed its doors. That is a shame, for not only did The Blackstone Chronicles set new standards in computer horror but it also paved the way for other authors to hopefully enter the burgeoning field of computer horror.
5.
Bad Day on the Midway
Developer:
Inscape
Release Date: 1995
This is not so much a horror game as it is a bizarre, surrealistic fantasy world populated by characters who would do David Lynch proud. Lottie the Human Log, Dagmar the Dog Woman, the IRS Man and Oscar the Racing Rat are but a few of the warped personalities dwelling about the Midway.
Bad Day on the Midway focuses on character development and the life stories of these misbegotten creatures. We can choose who we wish to inhabit as we meet with other characters and examine the various midway exhibits. You can play as the same character for the entire game or "jump" into another character's body and experience the world from a different point of view. Each character has a specific role to play toward solving a twisted mystery of murder and intrigue, but the outcome of the story is flexible and varies as you discover new storylines and subplots. This game gets under your skin and causes major discomfort.
Inscape described Midway as an anti-game in that it focused on the darkness of its characters in order to exploit the negative or darker sides of their personalities. Survival is the only obvious goal of this game, and the reward for surviving is the ability to leave this doomed whirlpool of pain and depravity. Inscape's creative process was, and still is years later, light years ahead of what the computer field is ready to accept.
4.
Sanitarium
Developer:
DreamForge
Release Date: 1998
Part allegory, part symbolism, Sanitarium is one of those games that, like the movie The Sixth Sense, you cannot say too much about for fear of revealing the plot twists. A story that begins as a B-movie cliché--Who am I? How did I get here?--slowly evolves into a horrifying story of self-discovery. You will embark on a surreal journey through grotesque yet strangely familiar environments populated by freakish denizens. The strange becomes familiar and the familiar strange as you slowly reconstruct your past.
Sanitarium is a story that propels you forward to piece together the unsettling answer to who you are and how you came to be an occupant of the sanitarium. A nice, tidy finish removes some of the game's edge, but overall Sanitarium is a well-constructed game that entices you to empathize with its main character.
3.
System Shock 2
Developer:
Looking Glass
Release Date: 1999
The genres collide! Adventure meets action; RPG meets first-person shooter ... and the world still spins on its axis. System Shock 2 is the only game in this revered group to successfully combine not only all of the genres but also to utilize 3D sound and music to create the total horror experience.
In the original System Shock, we battled SHODAN--a computer with a God complex--and as with any sequel worth its salt, SHODAN is back--and of course this time she is stronger, smarter, and has brought along some help. The first System Shock is widely considered to be a minor classic that was limited by the technology of the time. Well, technology has finally caught up, and System Shock 2 exploits it to the fullest. 3D sound swells from the appropriate speakers, be it during combat or as you pass a whining piece of machinery that emanates only from the left speaker and is hauntingly sparse when traveling down the deserted ship corridors. Your efforts to hack a door lock will quicken as you hear footsteps shuffling from behind. The plot is basic sci-fi/horror. After attempting to contact an unknown planet, your space ship is attacked. When you awaken amid the ship's ruins, the entire crew seems to be dead or missing. You must now explore the deserted hull for clues. Sometimes simple is best.
Bodies swaying from nooses, a strange noise above that you cannot identify, ghostly apparitions reconstructing their death throes--these and much, much more contribute to your plight. Trapped on a spaceship billions of miles from earth with a mass murderer on the loose. Not to be played in the dark.
2.
Amber Journeys Beyond
Developed
by: Hue Forest
Release Date: 1996
Amber is without a doubt the least-played but most widely known horror game ever released. Created by a husband-and-wife team, Frank and Susan Wimmer, Amber is one game that should be experienced by all true fans of the horror/adventure genre.
Your friend Roxy has been conducting paranormal tracking experiments and has contacted you for help. Upon finding her unconscious, you explore the old Victorian house she has been monitoring and discover a headpiece that allows you to experience in-depth encounters with the supernatural. You will take an unprecedented journey into the world beyond as you unlock the mysteries of the past and discover the secrets of life after death by possessing the spirits of dead souls still not at peace with their situation.
If the thought of inhabiting the spirit of a dead child searching for his beloved teddy bear gives you a chill, then this is the game for you. Play Amber with the lights out, and snatches of the game will haunt your memory for months.
1.
The Dark Eye
Developer: Inscape
Release Date: 1995
Inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe, The Dark Eye is a descent into the madness and mayhem of one man's twisted world. More of an experience than a game as you explore the minds of murderers, madmen and their terrified victims as almost every animate and inanimate object you touch draws you deeper into new levels of intrigue and horror. And what is it precisely that instigates this journey? A sniff of paint thinner.
The incredible 3D animated stop-motion characters that populate the multiple story paths are so lifelike and quirky that you can easily imagine them having a separate life outside of this game. Four separate stories cross paths numerous times and are eventually resolved in one satisfying, yet troubling, conclusion. The Dark Eye features the voice of legendary author William S. Burroughs and features memorable characters developed by animator Doug Beswick, who also worked on The Addams Family and Aliens movies.
How scary is The Dark Eye? (Major spoiler ahead!) It has the power to so involve that you forget you are playing a game. One of the multiple story lines concerns a woman who has a sleeping sickness and, mistakenly diagnosed as dead, is buried alive. As you are occupying the character's body, you are not aware of your desperate situation. All we as the player see is a pitch-black monitor screen, and all we as the player hear is our fingernails scratching the inside of the coffin. It was right at this point of realizing that I was buried alive that my son entered the dark computer room and, since I was wearing headphones, tapped me on the shoulder. There is still to this day an indentation in the ceiling from my head.