Poll: What Is the best survival horror game out there?

[GiglameshSoulEater]

Out of the games i'vbe played i would say Amnesia is easily the best in horror erms. Never played Silent Hill or Eternal Darkness. Only played RE5, which is a horrifying as a trip to Tesco.

 

[Ubermetalhed]

System Shock 2 is the only game that's ever gotten to me in terms of horror. It's just got this feeling of constant oppression and danger that digs at the nerves so that when finally something actually happens your heart is racing and you're near the point of panicking. I love it! The whole setting and story is also rather horrific and builds up fantastically without relying on 'gross out' horror tricks or jump scares.

SHODAN and The Many are also brilliant villains, easily some of the best in the entire gaming genre. For such an old game it's also got fantastic sound design, which is essential for any sort of horror experience.

God damn it, I clicked Resident Evil on the poll and then saw this. I can't believe it slipped my mind. System Shock 2 is the best survival horror/FPS/RPG game ever made, no question. The atmosphere is just phenomenal.

Ah well second place or accidental first is Resident Evil. Bit of nostalgia swayed it, I just love the way you always lack ammo or herbs, the creepy door opening loading screens, the array of truly disturbing monsters and the whole sinister story/backstories to the games. It's great fun and keeps you on your toes.

I mean Nemesis was scary as all hell. Why was that? HE COULD RUN THROUGH LOADING SCREENS.

 

[damselgaming]

Project Zero guys! (Fatal Frame for you Americanos) It was immense, probably some of the most fun I have had playing games with others. "Yougo through the door!" "NO. There will be a ghost." "You go through it then!" "I ain't touching that controller, you do it!" Totes hilar!

 

[Hiname]

Project Zero / Fatal Frame

Personally would say 2 is the best one, but they all are worth playing.

 

[martin's a madman]

Doom 3 was good.

I picked Amnesia though.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Doom 3 and Dead Space are not games that I personally would classify as 'survival' horror games.
The same with Resident Evil

Any game that claims to be about survival but lets you have guns and ammo ceases to be scary. Also, I could not find Dead Space scary. The vents which those Necromorphs burst out of like an aggressive gay man busting out of the closet are like giant sore thumbs. You can almost hear the stifled giggles as you walk past them as they wait to burst out and give you a hug.

The only time I was 'scared' was that tentacle thing grabbing you, and I though okay, that is different, but there is no context for it as I couldn't be bothered dragging myself through it to find out more.

 

[Stoic raptor]

In terms of being the best actual Survival Horror game on the list, I'd call it a tie between SH2 and Amnesia. Amnesia's better playability but relatively unimpressive plot vs Silent Hill's awful controls/camera & stupid puzzles but exceptional universe & well told story make it too close to call in my opinion.

My favourite Survival Horror game, though, is the Resident Evil remake for the GameCube. It's plenty scary, has hands down the best graphics of the last generation (I don't care if you consider pre-rendered environments cheating, they still look amazing) and, unlike virtually every other game purporting to be "Survival Horror", it's actually goddamn difficult - in fact, a constant struggle - to survive.

Say all you like about Silent Hill 2's psychological horror, it can't come close to being faced with an enemy you likely can't evade, probably can't kill, and will just get back up later as something much faster and very annoyed if you do kill it. The overwhelming dread induced the game's incredibly small ammo supply and extraordinarily powerful enemies is unlike anything I've experienced since.

While I still think SH2 is the better game, I also have to agree with the remake of resident evil. Low ammo, tough monsters, actually puts the survival in survival horror. You can't play that game and not freak out when you hear the moan of a normal zombie.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Silent Hill 2, not a contest.
Amnesia's a close second.
It is bloody hilarious that you actually put Doom 3 and Dead Space in the same category as SH2 and Amnesia.

I knew people would pick them, which is kind of pathetic

It's pathetic to choose Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Silent Hill 2 as the best survival horror games? When that is exactly what your thread is about? I don't get it.

OT: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

 

[TakeyB0y2]

None of the above.

I think the survival horror game I had the most fun with was an obscure 6th gen game called... ObsCure [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ObsCure_%28video_game%29].

It's styled like a B-teen horror movie. It's about a group of 5 high school students who get locked in their school after dark and find that their principal is experimenting on students and turning them into monsters that are weak against light.

Oh yeah, and it's two-player co-op. It's also pretty damn difficult too. If you thought ammo and health supplies were too low in Resident Evil and Silent Hill, then ObsCure will make you cry tears of pain and frustration...

But yeah, it's a really fun game to play, especially in co-op.

Oh, and as sort of a TAKE THAT! to Doom 3, you can tape flashlights to your guns.

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

Silent Hill 2, not a contest.
Amnesia's a close second.
It is bloody hilarious that you actually put Doom 3 and Dead Space in the same category as SH2 and Amnesia.

I knew people would pick them, which is kind of pathetic

It's pathetic to choose Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Silent Hill 2 as the best survival horror games? When that is exactly what your thread is about? I don't get it.

OT: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

I'm pretty sure he meant it was pathetic to pick Doom 3 and Dead Space...

For me, Eternal Darkness. It had a load of really innovative, cool ideas in there and freaked me out a few times, with a good enough story to keep me hooked.

 

[Ammutseba]

D:

 

[AzureWrathHal]

PFFFFFFFF-AHAHAHAHOOOOOHAHAHA-OOOOOH-HAHEHEHOHEHAHEHHOOOOooooh...

Yeah, not Doom 3.

I'd go with the Half-Life mod Afraid of Monsters. Scariest shit I've ever played ever.

I'm with you. The rest of the games on the list might as well be Sunday morning cartoons by comparison.

 

[EHKOS]

Condemned is my favorite survival horror game series. The first one really connected to me and I played through it all in one night. What a terrifying night. The last level had me sweating from fear. It was great.

 

[Lucyfer86]

I suppose Silent Hill 2 is the classic choice, tho i enjoyed first F.E.A.R even more, gameplay AND horror wise.

 

[Necroid_Neko]

I second Fatal Frame, I've only played the first one but damn was it scary.

 

[The Last Nomad]

Of those you mentioned, I'd go with Doom 3. But I wouldn't really call it survival horror, just plain horror, no survival elements to it other than don't get killed by monsters. Scariest game I've ever played is Condemned: Criminal Origins though (I would say Condemned 2 which I recently picked up, but the sound doesn't really work so well which really takes away from the scary-ness) It is sort of survival horror, more so than Doom 3 anyway as you do have to conserve ammo in the rare times you do get a gun. But I would really consider it just straight horror.

 

[Viral_Lola]

D:

Thank you so much for that. That made my day. But back on topic; Fatal Frame scared me, Condemned Criminal Origins scared me *shudders*, Amnesia scared me. Eternal Darkness just messed with me to a point that I was freaking out about my saves being lost.

Out of what I listed, I would have to go Condemned. The final level just freaked me out.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Silent Hill 2 or Amnesia. Its a toss up between the two. Both of them fuck with my mind too much to play alone.

 

[SquidVicious]

I ended up going with Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem however I feel it may have been a premature judgement. There are some really well done mods like Nightmare House 2 which manages to be the game F.E.A.R. wanted to be and failed at miserably. I forgot about games like the Clock Tower series or the 2005 cult game The Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. Still though, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was pretty revolutionary for it's time with the sanity meter.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Why did you put Doom 3 up there? I'll take it as comedic value.
And let me offer some of my own, Serious Sam is my favorite, ya you laugh now but go play it on the hardest setting and try to keep your hearth from exploding when you find a big stash of ammo, it's not easy my friend.