The best Horror game of all time is not belong to resident evil or silent hills imo but..

[Denamic]

FEAR isn't even a horror game. It's an action shooter with some jump scares and occasional creepy atmosphere. I was never once made afraid by any of the FEAR games, only surprised.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Eh. I had a better time with Alan Wake... and Silent Hill 3 was better than that.

I don't really 'get' the SH series, but 3 was a masterpiece.

 

[Recusant]

Though the question of what is more or less scary is ultimately subjective, there are concrete elements of fear. And I only played the first FEAR, and missed the expansions, if there were any, so I'm hardly an expert on the game. But-
-STALKER (and Freespace) did atmosphere better.
-System Shock 2 (and X-Com) did tension better.
-Doom 3 (and Dead Space) did jump scares better.
Each of those is only a single element, of course, but Undying did all three better- though Undying only sold about fourteen copies, so I suppose I can't blame you for not recognizing it. But there're games out there a lot scarier than Fear.

 

[ZeD [taken 0]]

FEAR isn't even a horror game. It's an action shooter with some jump scares and occasional creepy atmosphere. I was never once made afraid by any of the FEAR games, only surprised.

Action horror game.
You personally not getting scared is irrelevant.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

Really, the thing that made FEAR worth playing was the weapon effects.

I've not played very many games where my shotgun could blow a guy in half or remove limbs, and FEAR was the first. My childhood is filled with fond memories of nailing dudes to the wall with the HV Penetrator, exploding them with the Repeating Cannon, or disintegrating them with the Type-7, leaving behind only a charred skeleton. Really, the only game that did it better was Bulletstorm.

As for the story and atmosphere...it kinda had the same problem Doom 3 had, in that any of the game's scares were offset by the comforting heft of heavy firepower. And while I would hesitate to call the game's story the best horror story in games, it is definitely head-and-shoulders above most of the competition.

Still, loved me some FEAR, and I still play it on occasion.

 

[archvile93]

I have to disagree with that. It's not that I consider FEAR to be a bad game by any stretch, in fact I enjoyed it a lot and still play it from time to time, it's that I don't really consider it a horror game. It certainly has horror elements, but it's first and foremost an action game, which to me is pretty apparent when you spend 99% of your time gunning down armed goons in motorcycle helmets in spectacular slow motion. In order to be a horror game I think it would have to give me more reasons to be afraid and to feel weak and vulnerable compared to what I'm up against, which games like Amesia do well since you can't fight the monster at all. With FEAR I never got that feeling since I was presented as an unstoppable, badass supersoldier and I knew there was no problem I couldn't solve by shooting or punching it, and even Alma ultimately turned out to be less resistant to bullets than she probably would have liked (granted it didn't actually kill her, but it drove her off just fine.)

 

[Denamic]

FEAR isn't even a horror game. It's an action shooter with some jump scares and occasional creepy atmosphere. I was never once made afraid by any of the FEAR games, only surprised.

Action horror game.
You personally not getting scared is irrelevant.

Just because you call Gone with the Wind an action movie, it doesn't mean it is. If the game isn't scary, it's not a horror game.

 

[Zombie Proof]

FEAR isn't even a horror game. It's an action shooter with some jump scares and occasional creepy atmosphere. I was never once made afraid by any of the FEAR games, only surprised.

Action horror game.
You personally not getting scared is irrelevant.

Just because you call Gone with the Wind an action movie, it doesn't mean it is. If the game isn't scary, it's not a horror game.

I found it scary at times.

We're all good now guys, I found it scary so it's horror again!

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Fear 2 is the better game, in every way. Though good horror none of them are when you get slow mo gun battles to weasel out of any scripted section. Great AI, that is what was most impressive.
Now Condemned is much more effective horror, everything is close quarters, visceral and full of creeping dread. The first half of the sequel was great too, before it ran out of ideas. Kinda why i like dying Light so much more now, on high difficulty setting it often reminds me of a freeform Condemned with everything cranked up to infinite. Probably not enough guns and "classic" gameplay for OP though.

From Heavy Rain onward, we are given a peek, a glimpse, into the 'creative' mind of David Cage. We get a view of how he sees the world, how he views women, how he views children, and how he views human interactions.

And, it creeps me the fuck out.

Your Resident Evils, your Silent Hills, your F.E.A.R.s, your Amnesias, your...whatever, simply do not compare to the absolute terror one gets from playing a Quantic Dreams / David Cage game.

Spoiler

David Cage has literally adorned the walls of his development studio with posters and lettering that say "Emotion".

I'm not sure it gets any creepier.

Well, at least, not until you watch video of his interactions with Ellen Page, or almost any of his interviews. Then your skin crawls.

Holy fuckballs! I knew Cage had a serious creep factor, but those office signs are some whole next level shit! Please excuse french, but the tone i am getting from those images are like a society of robot alien squidlizards trying to learn how to blend in with humanity. Does he lead a cult? Because that is very culty behaviour.

 

[minkus_draconus]

Spoiler

No other Horror game engaged and addict me like this one. no amnesia, soma or other boring walking simulator or most overrated franchise like resident evil crap. This is the only Horror game that has a Great gameplay mechanics and combat. infact this game still has best combat/shooting in any video game ever. slo mo is so freaking cool it feel like Matrix the video game or Max payne in FPS with horror elements. its sad sequels are terrible compare to this masterpiece.

so do you think FEAR is still best Horror game ever??

Discuss

I think I would put Eternal Darkness just above FEAR.
FEAR mostly felt like military shooter with some good jump scares and a handful of creepy areas. It has good atmosphere but could have done more I think in the horror department. Sure what was done to that girl was horrific but you don't get the bulk of that information until the end. Also there is a difference to me when a game has horrific things and a game that is horrifying.

Eternal darkness was all about atmosphere to the point of messing with the actual player (flies on the screen, the fake erasing all saves, ect). I think it did a better overall job of horror being present throughout it's game play but that has probably much more to do with the subject matter.

I still love FEAR, I wish the multiplayer had a lot more of the scares that single player did to throw some chaos into it.

 

[minkus_draconus]

It was pretty groundbreaking at the time. Did slow mo shooting in FPS pretty much better than anyone else had... in fact had anyone else done it by that point or was Max Payne the only other shooter with slow mo? and that was 3rd person. I loved F.E.A.R and agree it was a phenomenal game that was quite scary in parts. But the first Condemned did the whole unsettling, tense, shit scary atmosphere even better in my opinion. I think it was made by the same guys using assets from F.E.A.R as well. I remember feeling far more scared and on edge during Condemned than during F.E.A.R (god thats a ballache to type out each time). Play through the abandoned department store level in Condemned and you'll see what I mean. Or at least, you'll never look at mannequins the same way again!

I say scared in relative/videogame terms though. I.e, not ACTUALLY scared.

Bioshock (2 I think) is what gave me mannequin nightmares. They were totally messing with you in that one area.

 

[Skatalite]

FEAR isn't even a horror game. It's an action shooter with some jump scares and occasional creepy atmosphere. I was never once made afraid by any of the FEAR games, only surprised.

Action horror game.
You personally not getting scared is irrelevant.

Just because you call Gone with the Wind an action movie, it doesn't mean it is. If the game isn't scary, it's not a horror game.

I'm just glad we've got you around to tell us what game is or isn't scary.

 

[cikame]

I like F.E.A.R a lot but there are certain things in the game which i didn't like, but they are things not many other people would take issue with, however, i would like to nominate another game.
It has many issues, it doesn't look as good as other games, the voice acting is rough but it scared the pants off of a lot of people, and that game is Cry of Fear. I generally hate the horror genre, but i forced myself through this game because i was so impressed with the quality of it, it falls short compared to other games but unlike other games it's free, the developer made enhancements to the Goldsrc engine which powered Half Life and it's impressive what they did, there really arn't many other game projects on this scale which are as successful.
If we're talking horror genre in general, and not necessarily terrifying games, then Resident Evil 4 might win by default.

 

[minkus_draconus]

Spoiler

I will always remember FEAR fondly, mostly because of a perfect moment of in game events, and out of game stuff going on.

So, when I first played FEAR, I decided I would only play it at night, in the dark, with all the lights off except one small light in the room to help with my sight, and headphones.

Needless to say, this amped up the creepiness for me considerably. And I had reached a point in the game, where I was then going against nekked Samara, when something happened that freaked me the fuck out.

My girlfriend at the time (now wife), is a tall woman, with looooong dark black hair. She was asleep, as it was late at night. Now, in the game room, the computer was at a table in the corner. If i looked to my right, I was able to see straight out the doorway, to the connecting hallway, that was perpendicular to the room. This hallway lead between our bedroom and the bathroom....and my wife, sleeps in the nude.

So...at a point in the game, when it was no longer a shootem up, and was going for the "Samara is around fucking with you." with the audio feedback sounds in the headset, and the HUD fritzing out, and her giggling....I see movement out of the corner of my eye, and in the dim glow of the one lightsource, I see a tall naked woman, with dark hair covering her face walk past the doorway and out of sight, right as Samara is giggling in my fucking ear!

Needless to say, I freaked the fuck out, and screamed in sheer terror, even though my brain knew it was my wife. My hindbrain didn't give a fuck. It just kept screaming "OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK!! IT'S HER SHE'S HEEEERE WE GONNA DIE!!! FUUUUUUCK!" It took me a good five minutes to calm down, and then I proceeded to playfully berate my wife by thumping her on the chest and telling her she shouldn't scare me like that. Of course she had no clue what happened, being half asleep, and oblivious to what she did by walking past the room.

So that game will always have a special place in my heart.

Sorry for double posting but this is absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing Ninja. I would have shit my pants if that happened to me.

I had one of those moments in AVP2.

During the early marine mission the whole place is just a big haunted house, but because of knowing what goes on in this universe as you are exploring the colony and find the entrance to the area the Xenomorphs have colonized your previous experience (from games, films and other media) starts to mess with you (I'm pretty sure this was intentional). You go through the whole area with not a sign of anything (throughout the first area there are always animals, or other things that briefly trip the motion tracker). So I am leaving and I make it to the hallway leading out which has some steam or fog blowing out a broken pipe and I got a blip on the motion tracker at the same time it jetted out steam. I was so amped up that they were going to spring my first Xenomorph on me that I was sure I saw it moving in the fog/steam so I screamed and unloaded my pulse rifle all over (including spinning around just in case) held down the mouse button way to long. My wife was laughing her ass off at my reaction. Good memories.

 

[minkus_draconus]

Really, the thing that made FEAR worth playing was the weapon effects.

I've not played very many games where my shotgun could blow a guy in half or remove limbs, and FEAR was the first. My childhood is filled with fond memories of nailing dudes to the wall with the HV Penetrator, exploding them with the Repeating Cannon, or disintegrating them with the Type-7, leaving behind only a charred skeleton. Really, the only game that did it better was Bulletstorm.

As for the story and atmosphere...it kinda had the same problem Doom 3 had, in that any of the game's scares were offset by the comforting heft of heavy firepower. And while I would hesitate to call the game's story the best horror story in games, it is definitely head-and-shoulders above most of the competition.

Still, loved me some FEAR, and I still play it on occasion.

I could be wrong (memory not what it used to be) but I got my first taste of that in the Soldier of Fortune games. you could shoot off limbs, make them drop weapons or react depending on where they got shot.

From wikipedia:

Soldier of Fortune was best known for its graphic depictions of firearms dismembering the human body. This graphic violence is the game's main stylistic attraction, much like the destructible environments of Red Faction or bullet time of Max Payne. The GHOUL engine enables depiction of extreme graphic violence, in which character models are based on body parts that can each independently sustain damage (gore zones). There are 26 zones in total: a shot to the head with a powerful gun will often make the target's head explode, leaving nothing but the bloody stump of the neck remaining; a close-range shot to the stomach with a shotgun will leave an enemy's bowels in a bloody mess, and a shot to the nether regions will cause the victims to clutch their groin in agony for a few seconds before kneeling over dead. It is possible to shoot off an enemy's limbs (head, arms, legs) leaving nothing left but a bloody torso. In the last mission there is also a fictional microwave weapon, causing the enemies to fry or explode, depending on the firing mode. However, nonviolence is a possibility, if the player is a good shot it is possible to shoot an enemy's weapon out of their hand, causing them to cower on the floor to surrender.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Discuss? Discus!

As ever with B-Cell threads: utterly pointless/worthless to blurt out "best evaaaaah" - only valuable to discuss favourites. I've never liked Resi or Silent Hill at all, but they're doing things differently to each other and to F.E.A.R. 1, so a comparison based on 'best horror' isn't remotely logical or productive.

F.E.A.R. remains my favourite, er, horror/chiller-shooter-thing, largely for the strength and detail of its story, as well as the often immaculately rendered atmosphere. As I mentioned in another recent thread, I feel that from its DLC on everything else in the 'series' was a shitty, crass, money grabbing betrayal of what made the first such a great game. Was 2 a tighter, slightly more varied shooter to actually play? Sure, but for me F.E.A.R. never stands out for its core shooter gameplay, so in a way I couldn't care less about that.

F.E.A.R. 2 - given it had no new story to tell[footnote]Though the sequence in the school - that was featured in a tweaked form in a demo - was superbly staged, and the compulsion for Alma to essentially replace her children was disturbingly intriguing.[/footnote] - turned Alma into a bland Hollywood monster, whereas in the original the mystery of her origins and the eventual reveal/s gave her a sympathy that was touching even as she was trying to kill me... No other game has quite made me feel so apologetic to what was ostensibly the antagonist (she deserved [almost] every ounce of her vengeance).

I've not played the original for absolutely years, though, so I'm not sure how well it would hold up now.

 

[minkus_draconus]

Were they ever?

I mean, by rights, a 'horror game' is one that actually scares you. Makes you feel uncomfortable, paranoid, afraid, or puts you on edge. Those games were spooky, even grotesque, but not really 'horrific'. They weren't really true horror. However, by that metric, David Cage games are in the upper echelons of horror.

From Heavy Rain onward, we are given a peek, a glimpse, into the 'creative' mind of David Cage. We get a view of how he sees the world, how he views women, how he views children, and how he views human interactions.

And, it creeps me the fuck out.

Your Resident Evils, your Silent Hills, your F.E.A.R.s, your Amnesias, your...whatever, simply do not compare to the absolute terror one gets from playing a Quantic Dreams / David Cage game.

Spoiler

David Cage has literally adorned the walls of his development studio with posters and lettering that say "Emotion".

I'm not sure it gets any creepier.

Well, at least, not until you watch video of his interactions with Ellen Page, or almost any of his interviews. Then your skin crawls.

I'd say Omikron: The Nomad Soul demonstrates it all, not only does it have David Cage and his strange reality, it had David Bowie to weird up (in a good way, story and music wise) the atmosphere some.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

I could be wrong (memory not what it used to be) but I got my first taste of that in the Soldier of Fortune games. you could shoot off limbs, make them drop weapons or react depending on where they got shot.

Eh, I never got the opportunity to play that when I was a kid. The only reason I got FEAR was because I bought it off of my friend on the down-low. My parents were smart and paid attention to the games I played, so I had to be careful about games I purchased when they weren't around.

 

[wings012]

FEAR was great, but not because of the horror really. A lot of it is super telegraphed oogie boogie. Here's some static, then the lights will flicker and some shadow might walk past. And sometimes you aren't even looking at the right place.

There were two jump scares that really got me though. The one in the demo, where you climbed down a ladder. Just as you swivel around and get down the ladder, Alma is standing where you were. Then you go down the ladder thinking well that was the scare, it's over. You turn around and Fettel is in your face.

The other was when you were crawling down somewhere and Alma goes all spider girl in your face.

And those two scares lose their value in subsequent playthroughs.

And here I thought this would be about Alien Isolation or something.

 

[Vigormortis]

I'd say Omikron: The Nomad Soul demonstrates it all, not only does it have David Cage and his strange reality, it had David Bowie to weird up (in a good way, story and music wise) the atmosphere some.

Hmm. A fair point. But Bowie's weirdness is a sort of upscale weirdness. It kind of 'classes up the joint', if you will.

Cage's weirdness is just...creepy. Certainly not the 'fun' kind of weird.