The Horror Games "Play or die"

Mr GT Chris wrote:
Chaz wrote:

Started Silent Hill 2 last night. Emulation on the 360 seemed fine so far. Only got about a half hour in due to circumstances conspiring, but far enough to get my first weapon. I decided to set combat to easy and puzzles to normal. Thinking about bumping puzzle difficulty to hard, but I'm not sure if that'll just make them hopelessly obtuse.

I think those are good settings. Exactly what I played SH2 and 3 through on. It annoys me that the more recent SH games don't have an easy setting for combat.

Downpour has separate settings for combat and puzzles, and both can be set to easy.

Regarding the HD collection, Konami did issue a patch for PS3, but recently stated that the patch will NOT be coming to Xbox.

nel e nel wrote:

Regarding the HD collection, Konami did issue a patch for PS3, but recently stated that the patch will NOT be coming to Xbox.

Essentially, a patch for the Japanese market. That's too bad about the Xbox players.

Arise! I just finished Black Snow, a HL2:Ep2 mod on Desura. Neat little Amnesia-esque horror set in a research station in the arctic. Not perfectly polished in terms of gameplay, but works well aside from one or two moments of minor adventure game logic. Absolutely nails the cold/dark/alone atmosphere, would recommend trying it.

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If you ever play They Hunger from half life 1 how does this compare to it?

Been ages since I played They Hunger, but I'd say similar quality (relatively speaking) but quite different gameplay. They Hunger felt quite similar to HL1 but with different skins, whereas Black Snow has more in common with Amnesia than it does with HL2 - you're unarmed, light and darkness are important, that kind of thing.

Fellow horror fans I just noticed that there is a free new horror game on steam called cry of fear.

Cry of Fear is a psychological single-player and co-op horror game set in a deserted town filled with horrific creatures and nightmarish delusions. You play as a young man desperately searching for answers in the cold Scandinavian night, finding his way through the city as he slowly descends into madness.

Looks like it may be a little more action orientated than my usual horror taste but downloading now to give it a shot. If anyone else nabs it and wants to try coop let me know as I'm curious if they managed to pull off multiplayer horror.

Desura currently has a featured free game called Lumber Island. It's also on ModDB.

Lumber Island wrote:

You awake to find yourself in a life-boat ashore an island, and the last thing you can recollect is having fun at a great yacht party.

A bit of history:
Back in 1970s, this island was known as the "Lumber Island". It abounded in rare wood species of the highest quality, which were sought for by the craftsmen from all over the world — many of them took trips to the island in person, to pick the best material. The island thrived on private manufactures and tourism... ...until deposits of oil were found under it. This finding doomed the island: its inhabitants were made to leave their home land, the wood was chopped down to the ground. And after the oil had been pumped out to the last drop, the island was left abandoned and totally exhausted. This is the official story. The real truth lying behind it is for you to discover...

It's of the "guy with an axe is following you" variety of horror. Chapter 1 is out; I don't know when later chapters are coming out or what their cost will be.

RPS has a brief blurb on it

So Fatal Frame 1 and 2 are both on PSN now for $10 a pop, playable on PS3s. I intend to try one. First or second?

Both.

Chaz wrote:

Both.

What if I only had $10, and not enough time to play both?

The second one, but I still say skip a lunch out or something and buy both.

*an errant electric cable brushes against the twitching corpse of the half-dead thread, it's cadaverous hulk lurching bolt upright, still clutching at the half-eaten remains of a copy of Amnesia...*

So... Outlast is out today. Anyone else giving it a shot? I'm just under an hour into it and it's already showing a LOT of promise. It's a good deal less subtle than Amnesia was, but the atmosphere is great. And by great I mean I'll be playing this in small doses.

The main character (who I could have sworn was supposed to be female at one point? Or am I thinking of a different game?) is physically IN the world, unlike Amnesia which actually makes a big difference (He does this really neat thing where he puts his hand on the door frame as you approach an open doorway and peer inside - very cool).

My only concerns so far is that the "save and quit" option only seems to drop you back to the last time it checkpoints, which have been a smidge too far apart so far. Probably wouldn't notice it so much if I wasn't quittin' so often though

Another thing is that the motion blur effect is a little much. Making me more than a little head-achey.

Something that might be of concern...

Outlast contains intense violence, gore, graphic sexual content, and strong language. Please enjoy.

Given the setting (an asylum/laboratory gone very, very wrong) the context to what that could mean worries me a bit, but we'll see how it goes.

...anyway. I have a keycard I need to find and I have a horrible suspicion it's next to that thin looking gentleman sporadically twitching in a wheelchair...

stevenmack wrote:

*an errant electric cable brushes against the twitching corpse of the half-dead thread, it's cadaverous hulk lurching bolt upright, still clutching at the half-eaten remains of a copy of Amnesia...*

So... Outlast is out today. Anyone else giving it a shot? I'm just under an hour into it and it's already showing a LOT of promise. It's a good deal less subtle than Amnesia was, but the atmosphere is great. And by great I mean I'll be playing this in small doses.

The main character (who I could have sworn was supposed to be female at one point? Or am I thinking of a different game?) is physically IN the world, unlike Amnesia which actually makes a big difference (He does this really neat thing where he puts his hand on the door frame as you approach an open doorway and peer inside - very cool).

My only concerns so far is that the "save and quit" option only seems to drop you back to the last time it checkpoints, which have been a smidge too far apart so far. Probably wouldn't notice it so much if I wasn't quittin' so often though

Another thing is that the motion blur effect is a little much. Making me more than a little head-achey.

Something that might be of concern...

Outlast contains intense violence, gore, graphic sexual content, and strong language. Please enjoy.

Given the setting (an asylum/laboratory gone very, very wrong) the context to what that could mean worries me a bit, but we'll see how it goes.

...anyway. I have a keycard I need to find and I have a horrible suspicion it's next to that thin looking gentleman sporadically twitching in a wheelchair...

I'm very eager to get into Outlast, but it won't be until next week that I can dive in. Trying to knock a couple of other titles off the pile of shame before firing that up.

Please keep posting your impressions as you continue through the game though

there's actually a separate thread for it now http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/115851

Still (slowly) making my way through it though, whenever I dare. Hopefully I'll get it finished in time for Amnesia next week.

Wow. I wish this thread existed in my memory before now. Subscribed.

So Outlast and Amnesia : Piggy in the Middle are down, defeated, crushed beneath my heel....

....need more horrors!.....

Routine

Routine is a first person horror exploration game set on an abandoned Moon base. Your job is to find enough data to uncover the truth behind the strange disappearance of everyone stationed on the Lunar Research Station.

U55 - End of the Line

U55 – END OF THE LINE is a survival horror game set in the subway of modern-day Berlin. Heavily inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, we aim to create an immersive urban horror experience. We want to recreate the classic “cosmic horror” setting of diabolical entities breaking into what we call reality. What humanity believes to be regulated by the laws of nature, is only true until cosmic forces start swaying over the world.

Dreadout (Indonesian Fatal Frame style horror)

When a group of high school students stray from their vacation trip, they discover an old deserted town. They begin to realize that something sinister is happening as soon as they enter the town. Linda, as the main protagonist, feels the stirrings of a strange and mystical power within herself. This spiritual power just might be the only way to save herself and her friends from an unknown evil..

Montague's Mount

Based on a true story, Montague's Mount is a first-person psychological rollercoaster ride through isolation, desolation and one man's tortured mind.

The mixture of cold Atlantic water and coarse sand in your mouth brings you back from unconsciousness. Surrounded by the wreckage of a boat’s hull, you can only draw one conclusion: your vessel has been torn apart by the submerged rocks. The secrets of the island must be uncovered if you are ever going to find a way to escape. Where is everyone; is the island really uninhabited; what is lurking within the isolated caves; and what is that building on top of Montague’s Mount? Can you handle the truth?

Claire

Claire is lost and terrified as she and her dog find themselves in a warped reality that is a nightmarish reflection of their own. Alone and hunted from an unknown force lurking in the darkness, Claire's only hope comes from helping the forlorn people she comes across. But as Claire searches for a way out, she begins to unravel a connection between herself, the people she is trying to redeem and the force stalking her from the shadows.

Neverending Nightmares

Neverending Nightmares is a psychological horror game inspired by the real horror of my battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. It features a truly interactive narrative structure allowing you to shape the outcome of the game. It will take the psychological horror genre in a new direction by eschewing many traditions that don’t contribute to creating an immersive horrifying experience such as limited save points, item collection/ammo hoarding, and puzzle solving.

Asylum (if it ever gets finished)

Decay surrounds you, dread around every corner. You feel imprisoned while traversing the endless corridors… Asylum is a chilling journey through the intricate floors of the Hanwell Mental Institute, in which unimaginable atrocities have occurred in the past. Over four years in production, this horror adventure aims to marry cutting edge visuals with thrilling storytelling to give you the ultimate experience in fear. From the designer of the award-winning and cult sleeper hit Scratches.

Thanks for updating with that list of upcoming horror games! Some of them look really interesting.

As for me, I'm trudging through the last game in the Penumbra series, Requiem. It's a real slog and to be honest, not very enjoyable, but I hate to leave a series unfinished. The first two Penumbra games were very good, but this last one is too puzzle-based and not "horror" in the least. I don't know what the developers were thinking.

I'm hoping to knock out Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Outlast in anticipation for Halloween. Woohoo!

Anyone tried Paranormal?

I just saw it on Steam today and added it to my wishlist. I like the idea of dynamically generated hauntings so that you never see the same thing twice.

I've played a few minutes of it but not enough to form an opinion yet. It's definitely an early-access title though; definitely some rough spots.

Meh - tried it but it just seems like a random series of moving objects & sounds with very crude graphics (and either a very short protagonist or rather oversized furniture). Maybe when it's polished up a bit there might be something to it, but for now it's probably worth a "wait and see" policy.

Yeah Requiem was (by admission of Frictional) very experimental and I don't typically recommend it unless someone is specifically seeking a sort of Lovecraft-esque portal. Stick to Overture, Black Plague, Amnesia, and Machine for Pigs.

stevenmack wrote:

Meh - tried it but it just seems like a random series of moving objects & sounds with very crude graphics (and either a very short protagonist or rather oversized furniture).

Heh. I noticed that. ("Why am I shorter than the sofa?") The devs have actually said to assume that you are holding the camera at your waist for now.

As I said, definitely some rough spots.

Oho! - A new Icepick Lodge game...

Knock Knock

There is a wooden house standing in the thick of the forest. A single man resides there.

As of late the house is visited by unusual Guests which knock on the window shutters inviting the hermit to take part in a game of hide-and-seek. The winning condition is simple, you have to remain alive and to retain your sanity till sunrise...

Another one I missed which just popped up on Steam...

Doorways

Downloaded, so I'll give it a shot. Looks like it might be interesting

And another...

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

In The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, you play as Paul Prospero, an occult detective who receives a disturbing letter from Ethan Carter and realizes that the boy is in grave danger. When Paul arrives in Ethan’s home of Red Creek Valley, he realizes things are even worse than he imagined. Ethan has vanished in the wake of a brutal murder, which Paul comes to see might not be the only murder to investigate. Using both regular and supernatural detective skills, Paul must figure out what happened to the missing boy.

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I'm a big wuss and have no stomach for horror games, but I thought I'd share this:

Ludwig over on the joystiq podcast described machine for pigs as

Spoiler:

hamnesia

You're welcome.

juv3nal wrote:

I'm a big wuss and have no stomach for horror games, but I thought I'd share this:

Ludwig over on the joystiq podcast described machine for pigs as

Spoiler:

hamnesia

You're welcome.

Funnily enough, was JUST listening to that

* * *

I've played a bit more of Doorways, and by a bit I mean I'm half way through the two chapters currently available, so it's a pretty short game (if chapter 2 is around the same length, then we're talking a couple of hours, tops).

It's ok, but it's really just a horror themed puzzle game with fairly simple environmental/object puzzles and a couple of jump scares (which, to their credit, work because it uses them sparingly). Good, dreamlike atmosphere to it but the content is very sparse.

Really starting to get a bit tired of collecting notes in games though. I realise it's a cheap way of getting exposition across if you don't have the budget for elaborate cutscenes but still...it's a CHEAP way of getting exposition across.

Okay, I'm dropping Penumbra: Requiem. I'll just Youtube the ending to see how the trilogy turns out. It's god-awful and boring and my gaming time is too valuable to spend on crap like that.

Finished Doorways Chapter 1 & 2. It's...interesting. It's got a nice creepy atmosphere and I like the theme of wandering through the subconscious of serial killers. The puzzles are simple and reasonably satisfying but even for less than £10 it's a stretch to call it worth the money ( I clocked in at just under 2 hours for both chapters, including some back and forth solving puzzles on the second chapter).

When all the chapters are released it might be worth a look but probably one that can be skipped for a sale.

Also, probably a stretch to call it a horror game. Definitely more a puzzle game with a horror theme.

Just to add a couple of games stuck in development hell:

The Last Crown : Haunting of Hallowed Isle.

Hallowed Isle lies just off the coast of Saxton, on England's windswept coast. It is a moody, melancholy place; haunted by those who lived, worked and died there. That, in itself, is not unusual in this uncanny landscape, where everywhere has a supernatural tale to tell… should you be brave enough to delve deeper.

Hallowed Isle is different. It hides its secrets well, buried beneath centuries of bizarre history. Nigel and Lucy will need to use ALL of their new found ghost-hunting skills to unravel the mystery of who, or what, haunts the small, pine ridged island, four miles out at sea.

There's no trailer for this one yet, but here's the trailer for the first game in the series: The Lost Crown.

And it looks like he's also working on Dark Fall 4, using Unity....which is cool.

and another one that's been in development for AGES that might turn up this year. Maybe.

Braken Tor : The Time of Tooth and Claw.

The Bloodmoon has risen. Something is stirring, something feral, ancient and terrible. It began many years ago, with the discovery of the livestock, ripped to shreds, torn apart and devoured. The beast now has a taste for blood...our blood...there has been a murder - a vicious, brutal killing - out there on the mist shrouded moorland. A lone hiker, exploring our ancient land, has been discovered... mutilated and bloody. The beast struck at some point just after dusk, ripping out the throat. Our land was once the hunting ground for many vicious carnivores, but they have long since disappeared, hunted into extinction. Could those beasts have returned, to seek their revenge? Where or when have these monstrous creatures come from?

No gameplay video (if it's anything like the first, it's a 1st person Myst style adventure game)
but here's a couple of teaser trailers:

Yeah, I've been waiting for both The Last Crown and Braken Tor forever too. I had fun with both Lost Crown and Barrow Hill and have wondered why both have been held up. It's been a couple of years since they were supposed to be out.

*sharp intake of breath*

Next Frictional Games, game teased.

Bring it.

Maybe its just an homage, but the font and style of the message is very reminiscent of System Shock 2.