Recommend a good horror game please

[Liquid Evil]

Looking over the thread, seems like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Condemned: Criminal Origins are getting everyone's votes.

Some really good horror games that were also recommended are:
Silent Hill 2
Clock Tower 1 & 2
the Resident Evil series (I'd recommend the GameCube ports and prequel)
and the entire Fatal Frame series.

I'd also like to add some suggestions to the growing list:
the Aliens vs. Predator series for PC
the Alone in the Dark series (though it might be a little dated by today's standards)
and Limbo - more bleak than scary, but I liked it.

Happy scares an874
- Liquid

EDIT - How the hell could I forget Yume Nikki, that game is just insane.

 

[randomsix]

As said earlier, the STALKER games aren't all that straight up scary.... until you go underground. Any underground section in SoC is creepy to the max.

 

[Elegy of Fools]

Amnesia
Fatal Frame 1 & 2 (don't touch 3)
Silent Hill 2

These games embrace the proper elements of suspense and horror; birthing a veritable paranoia as one clings to the pittance they are supplied, culling the faint of heart and drawing in those that can withstand aberrations; survive in worlds shadowed, vile, putrescent and sepulchered.

 

[Fleischer]

System Shock 2, Eternal Darkness and Haunting Ground are some that I like but I'm not really a huge horror fan.

Seconding System Shock 2. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is also a winner.

 

[xochiquetzal]

penumbra black plague

 

[Liquidcool]

Fatal Frame terrified me when I was a kid. And that was just from watching my brother play it.

snip

Creepy avatar.

 

[The Lugz]

if you can play the penumbra series and amnesia without getting paranoid and turning all your lights on at night you are better than most.

 

[Stako]

The Suffering and The Suffering: Ties That Bind - my favorite horror games ever - with strong action and a very good story. You should try them, but I warn you that depending what are your fears, these games can get really scary. Also I agree on Amnesia - it's amazing. American McGee's Alice has a strong disturbing atmosphere, but I wouldnt call it scary, although it is somewhat horrory - you should try it too because no matter what it is it's firstly a nice game.

 

[TheKramers]

I know there's no shortage of them out there, but I want to hear from you so that I can focus on the best (or at least your strongest recommendations). Thanks in advance to all who reply.

But there is a shortage of them out there, from what I can tell (and I've done a LOT of research) the only remotely scary games are Amnesia and Silent Hill 2 (Silent Hill 1 is too primitive to be scary and Silent Hill: Homecoming sucked), other games try to be scary but do not succeed for a multitude of reasons (beit missing or failing at the creepy ambiance, non-scary soundtracks, poor graphics, bad voice acting, ease of difficulty, or missing those little background noises that plant fear in you like the sound of pyramid heads knife scraping on a nearby wall). There is one other scary game, cited by a website I did research on good horror games on once, however the horror was not in-game horror, the game reached into your life and faked computer crashes, corrupted save files, and blue screens giving you a momentary heart attack until you realized the game was just fucking with you. xD Too bad I remember neither the website I found that on nor the title of the game I'm referring to =/

And to everyone out there saying Resident Evil:
Don't be stupid Resident Evil is fun, and challenging on the hardest difficulty, but in NO way is it scary.

 

[bluepotatosack]

I know there's no shortage of them out there, but I want to hear from you so that I can focus on the best (or at least your strongest recommendations). Thanks in advance to all who reply.

But there is a shortage of them out there, from what I can tell (and I've done a LOT of research) the only remotely scary games are Amnesia and Silent Hill 2 (Silent Hill 1 is too primitive to be scary and Silent Hill: Homecoming sucked), other games try to be scary but do not succeed for a multitude of reasons (beit missing or failing at the creepy ambiance, non-scary soundtracks, poor graphics, bad voice acting, ease of difficulty, or missing those little background noises that plant fear in you like the sound of pyramid heads knife scraping on a nearby wall). There is one other scary game, cited by a website I did research on good horror games on once, however the horror was not in-game horror, the game reached into your life and faked computer crashes, corrupted save files, and blue screens giving you a momentary heart attack until you realized the game was just fucking with you. xD Too bad I remember neither the website I found that on nor the title of the game I'm referring to =/

And to everyone out there saying Resident Evil:
Don't be stupid Resident Evil is fun, and challenging on the hardest difficulty, but in NO way is it scary.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem did stuff like that. You had a sanity meter that would do things like make you hear voices, or distort the graphics.

Or resetting to the start screen with all your save files gone.

 

[Feylynn]

Amnesia and Penumbra are good.
Fatal Frame is my personal favorite, I recommend 3 but I hear the others are good as well.
I'm finding 2 far slower, less scary, and much easier.

 

[ManInRed]

Let see... my top three in terms of scariness would be:

1. Silent Hill 2
2. Resident Evil Code: Veronica
3. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Silent Hill after #4 aren't really scary, and Resident Evil 4 and higher are also not scary. Also, fair warning that Silent Hill 3 is a little less scary as the game goes on, but in a way that very cool, immersive, and goes with the whole series' story. Play Silent Hill 3 after you played rest of the series to restore some of your sanity.

Demon Souls is pretty scary too, for what is basically a hack and slash game, as the game constantly makes you look out for things that are going to kill you. The fact that online version lets players leave blood stain notes warning other players that pass by, doesn't put you any more at ease.

And to make a suggestion you aren't going to see here a thousand times: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. It is the closest any turn base RPG has come to the bone chilly lonely feeling that shrouds you in suspense like good Fear games manage. But I got to warn you, it is also one of the hardest RPG games out there. Also, it's a bit hard to find a copy of the game.

 

[Catalyst6]

"Horror" is a pretty broad genre, so if you're looking for...

Scary: Amnesia: DD, SH2, and if you'll accept partial answers, the goddamn famous We Don't Go To Ravenholm chapter in HL2.

Generally creepy: *American McGee's Alice*, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, STALKER, Scratches. I haven't played the last one, but I did go through a LP and... well, if the LP was terrifying, then I can't imagine what playing it in real life would be like.

"Hollywood Scary" aka Monsters Jumping Out Of Cupboards: DOOM 3, RE4, FEAR. Yes, FEAR, kids, it wasn't scary at all.

Make sure you play the games under the right conditions, though. Alone, at night, in the dark, with headphones on and turned up loud. Hell to the yes.

 

[pyramid head grape]

Everyone seems to be saying Amnesia, but I personally liked Penumbra (the other horror game from that same company) a bit better. Not sure why, but it was more engaging to me from the beginning.
I got stuck on Amnesia for fairly early on and I haven't played it in a while since that but Penumbra was a bit more fun and the story was more interesting to me from the start.

So yeah, as for now, Penumbra is my answer. That and Silent Hill of course :3

<.<
Mind reader.^^

OT: I say Penumbra Overture is better BUT this is a big BUT it has quite a few bugs. One of which forced me to start all over again (didn't have a back-up save you see) 5 hours just gone.
But quickly got back to were I was, with the help of inside knowledge and memory. ^^


I will also add not to completely write off Amnesia, its still very much worth your time as is Silent Hill 2 (dam, I promised myself I wouldn't say silent hill)

 

[Trishbot]

My top picks for horror games:
1) Silent Hill 1 & 2 - Give them BOTH a shot. SH2 is probably better, but Silent Hill 1 I found to be a scarier game.
2) Dead Space franchise - More action-driven, but loads of quality, good characters, horrific monsters, and expert audio, visuals, and pacing.
3) Resident Evil Remake - Amazing game that still looks fantastic and is probably the scariest in the series of scary games.
4) Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - One of the best psychological horror games with an epic story.
5) Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly - Possibly the scariest game ever made, or at least a front-runner with Silent Hill. Great game.
6) Condemned: Criminal Origins - I'd avoid the sequel and delve into this dark crime saga of murder and macabre.
7) Siren - From the Silent Hill folks, this game will sends shivers up your spine and haunt your dreams.
8) Amnesia: Dark Decent - Echoing what others have said. Amazing game with super-rich atmosphere and ideas.
9) Dino Crisis - An oldie but a goody. They don't make them like this anymore.
10) Alan Wake - more psychological action thriller, but it has PLENTY of survival horror moments, dark despair, creepy atmosphere, disturbing enemies, and supernatural chills to qualify.

 

[Cooklez]

-Silent Hill 1-4-
I know that seems unreasonable, but all of those were kinda jumpy. If you can only play one, I'd say Silent Hill 4... the hauntings will scare you to death... and kill you. I'm not even kidding.
-Amnesia: The Dark Descent-
You're weaponless and alone... it's dark too. Isn't that all we need for horror? Oh ya, and there is monsters... who you can only run from. It's... fun, if you don't die or pee your pants.
-Condemned: Criminal Origins-
If the creepy deaths, jump scares, and dead birds don't scare you, then you clearly are blind.
-Fatal Frame 1-2 (I don't recommend 3...)-
It's super Japanese horror. That's all you need to know... you know it's good win it's Japan.
-Deadly Premonition-
It's funny and scary. The secrets in this game are surprising also.. totally worth checking out.
-Minecraft-
Set it to hard, stand under a tree all night, then you'll understand why creepers are creepy.

 

[Cridhe]

Silent Hill 2

Nothing has ever made me feel frightened like Silent Hill 2, and it's a damned video game for crying out loud.