Most serious or gritty games

[the Revenator]

Really I've been wondering about this, and I'm really not sure like a lot of games are serious or try to be, but some that aren't supposed to be serious are. My vote is probably Gears of War, because even if you don't read the books you know that shit is serious, no break for humor, besides Cole. But really what do you think?

 

[Sleekgiant]

If you want serious games, STALKER or Penumbra gets my vote.

 

[AceAngel]

Comic Books Story > Game-story...

 

[Sn1P3r M98]

Gears of War 2, particularily when finding Tai, and

Spoiler

Maria. That part made me cry.

]

 

[Blue_vision]

If you want serious games, STALKER or Penumbra gets my vote.

STALKER's pretty gritty. Haven't heard of Penumbra...

What do you mean by serious or gritty? A game that takes serious subject matter serious? In that case, I'd call something like Bioshock incredibly serious and gritty. Or does it require that shell-shocked dirt-strewn landscape that so many war games have given us?

 

[Sleekgiant]

If you want serious games, STALKER or Penumbra gets my vote.

STALKER's pretty gritty. Haven't heard of Penumbra...

What do you mean by serious or gritty? A game that takes serious subject matter serious? In that case, I'd call something like Bioshock incredibly serious and gritty. Or does it require that shell-shocked dirt-strewn landscape that so many war games have given us?

Penumbra is from the same people that brought Amnesia, shits scary yo. Also very gritty scenery.

 

[the Revenator]

If you want serious games, STALKER or Penumbra gets my vote.

STALKER's pretty gritty. Haven't heard of Penumbra...

What do you mean by serious or gritty? A game that takes serious subject matter serious? In that case, I'd call something like Bioshock incredibly serious and gritty. Or does it require that shell-shocked dirt-strewn landscape that so many war games have given us?

I'm talking about things that really mean business like it doesn't need a blown up setting but it really is just like dead serious. Subject matter is definitely can make a game serious.

 

[Master Kuja]

STALKER, as mentioned before is pretty damn serious.
Devil May Cry 2 also had an air of "srs god damn bsns", there were no breaks for humour at all, just gritty "demons kill everything" sort of gag, largely why it wasn't well received.

The entirety of the Dawn of War series is so GRIMDARK serious that it gets depressing at times.
Then there's stuff like Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid and the like.

I tend not to count things like Gears of War purely because the whole over the top macho element is so laugh-inducing for me that I find it hard to take it seriously.

 

[ayylamao]

half-life, although it is very unreal, it seems very serious and gritty.
also, in comparison to other games, Batman: AA seems pretty gritty.

 

[Nouw]

Gears of War 2 and Batman:Arkham Asylum.

 

[thenamelessloser]

Serious doesn't necessarily mean no humor. I think in real life if one is a shitty serious situation, one is likely to use humor to cope (even if it is bad humor). I think lack of humor would strike me as less realistic and more boring to be honest.

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

Gears of War 2, particularily when finding Tai, and

Spoiler

Maria. That part made me cry.

Is it wrong that this game made me laugh so many times, due to the forced emotion? Especially the Maria part. Go watch it now on Youtube and try to watch it without laughing. I can't.

 

[Pingieking]

God of War. You know that Kratos guy really means business when he opts to rip a god's head off rather than cut it. And that part where he puts the woman under the lever for the door, which closes and crushes her, while she pleads for her life. Yeah...

EDIT: As for emotionally serious, Heavy Rain. Madison is the only video game character that I wish was a real person. And Ethan Mars is dedicated. If all fathers were like him...

 

[archvile93]

God of War. You know that Kratos guy really means business when he opts to rip a god's head off rather than cut it. And that part where he puts the woman under the lever for the door, which closes and crushes her, while she pleads for her life. Yeah...

EDIT: As for emotionally serious, Heavy Rain. Madison is the only video game character that I wish was a real person. And Ethan Mars is dedicated. If all fathers were like him...

I couldn't take that part seriously. What was stopping Kratos from using the readily available bodies of the dead bad guys?

OT: there's quite a few games like that, Half-Life 2 for one.

 

[Cogwheel]

The entirety of the Dawn of War series is so GRIMDARK serious that it gets depressing at times.

Wait, hold on. Dawn of War? Depressing? It's so dark/generally over the top that I assumed 40k is an elaborate self-parody. Found most of it hilarious, in any case. The orks helped.

Lessee... serious games that have yet to be mentioned? Let me throw in a vote for Planescape: Torment, then. Is it silly? Yes. Frequently. It's a very serious game with silly moments, basically. Let me put it this way - the protagonist wants to do two things: Find out who he is, and die. Think about that for a bit.

Most serious/gritty game I know, though? Tough call, but I'd have to say Imperishable Night. May want to look into it on Youtube or something.

 

[thenamelessloser]

The entirety of the Dawn of War series is so GRIMDARK serious that it gets depressing at times.

Wait, hold on. Dawn of War? Depressing? It's so dark/generally over the top that I assumed 40k is an elaborate self-parody. Found most of it hilarious, in any case. The orks helped.

Lessee... serious games that have yet to be mentioned? Let me throw in a vote for Planescape: Torment, then. Is it silly? Yes. Frequently. It's a very serious game with silly moments, basically. Let me put it this way - the protagonist wants to do two things: Find out who he is, and die. Think about that for a bit.

Most serious/gritty game I know, though? Tough call, but I'd have to say Imperishable Night. May want to look into it on Youtube or something.

Spoilers for Planecape: Torment-

Spoiler

I do not think The Nameless one wants to die but that he wants hwat is missing. But if he gains back what he is missing he dies. It isn't the actual death he wants but the thing he wants will result in death in other words.

 

[Boomah]

Heavy Rain.
One of the only games that made me really care about the characters, and actually feel some strong emotions towards them and their situations.

 

[Ashcrexl]

its a style. i like it, but will definitely not exclusively play grim games or exclusively avoid them.