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Best horror games

Ranking the greatest games that scared us silly

Words: on November 1, 2012
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78 comments

  • r.c.leclaire - November 1, 2012 11:10 p.m.

    I really like this list - especially seeing titles like Amnesia and Fatal Frame 2 make the cut. Those games are all sorts of creepy. Dead Space and Silent Hill 2 are obvious great choices too, and deserve to be on this list. I would not consider Condemned or F.E.A.R. to be scary games though, but that's just me as I didn't personally care for either of those two titles.

  • r.c.leclaire - November 1, 2012 11:12 p.m.

    Lone Survivor was just on sale on Steam, so I picked it up - and I must agree with you wholly. Great game, very creepy and atmospheric.

  • r.c.leclaire - November 1, 2012 11:13 p.m.

    I wish they would have just kept it simple and visceral, focusing on crime scene investigations and such - instead of super powers and all that nonsense.

  • BladedFalcon - November 1, 2012 11:30 p.m.

    wait, so you're saying that there's a chance someone could find such scenario soothing? :P Also, I'm sorry, but how was my remark and absolute statement? Did I say, "This IS how it always happens" or "forests at night are ALWAYS scary, PERIOD"? hell, if he actually did spend his holidays like that, I would be genuinely impressed, where's the absolute there? I mean, if you're gonna treat any argument like that, then you might as well give up before you start. Dunno if you noticed, but I was mainly aiming it at the way he started his comment :P

  • Redeater - November 1, 2012 11:50 p.m.

    Surprise. The Rush Limbaugh of this site has told me I'm wrong because I stated my opinion. I was referring to the knee-jerk reaction at the end of the "soothing" video, not the actual content....though I should have guess you would have taken it the wrong way. Look up at your own comment "Not that scary, really." I suggest you take a dose of your own medicine. You love to preach to others about how their opinions are wrong yet you state comments which you regard as fact. I may have said that Slenderman shouldn't be on this list because it causes limited cheap scares.......but you're the one critiquing my statement while doing the EXACT same thing in your replies to other people's comments.

  • Redeater - November 1, 2012 11:59 p.m.

    But feel free to keep replying to my comments. Love ya pumpkin. :)

  • Redeater - November 2, 2012 12:01 a.m.

    Damn, my silly iPhone didn't post my comment. Long story short I suggest giving Amnesia a try. I played two of the Penumbra games and couldn't get through either one. Just make sure you have the lights off and the headphones on.

  • CitizenWolfie - November 2, 2012 1:14 a.m.

    While it's probably not as scary as the other games on this list, I thought Manhunt was pretty scary. Especially getting towards the later levels (like the White Rabbit mission and Starkweather's Mansion). I think it had a lot to do with the sound too - if you were unlucky enough to be on the run, there was this low hum which sounded like doom that instilled even more panic.

  • Hobogonigal - November 2, 2012 1:33 a.m.

    Usually find that a refresh or two in Chrome works fine :)

  • SDHoneymonster - November 2, 2012 2:33 a.m.

    Go and play Amnesia - you can get it well cheap on Steam nowadays and it'll run OK on a half decent laptop (just make sure you have a mouse), and then come back to me once you've soiled yourself! It's not just got a great atmosphere but the story is also absolutely fantastic, unlike say Dead Space or Condemned. It really nails that whole Lovecraft, Victorian style supernatural horror. I really can't recommend it highly enough if you're a fan of survival horror or old-school adventure games.

  • bass88 - November 2, 2012 3:54 a.m.

    That's why Android phones are better ;-) Okay, I'll give Amnesia a try. But be warned: if it sucks I'm coming for you. The next time you wake from hearing a bump in the night will be me. But you'll never see me until the final moment. And then I'll tell you that you are quite poor at recommending scary games.

  • AuthorityFigure - November 2, 2012 4:49 a.m.

    Eternal Darkness.

  • Stabby_Joe - November 2, 2012 5:03 a.m.

    Regardless to whether you personally find it scary or not, the game was to a wide group of gamers. I don't find most games scary at all but do give credit where credit is due nonetheless.

  • jamie5lpm - November 2, 2012 6:30 a.m.

    Hi guys, Love all your articles just thought I would make a suggestion to you, I would love to try some of the games you put up on here and thought it would be nice if you could include at the bottom each time maybe what system they were on and what system you can still pick them up for? I know I can just do the research myself but just thought it would be a nice touch for lazy folk such as myself. Many Thanks and again great articles guys!

  • BladedFalcon - November 2, 2012 7:23 a.m.

    Well yes, and like I stated, I do loved it, and i think it's a really good game. It's just that, again, It's not that I didn't find it had scary moments, but that the whole horror atmosphere was very uneven, specially when you took control of the later, more modern characters.(Such as the French soldier and the fireman.) At times it's not even that it's not scary, it's that it doesn't even TRY to be scary, and like I mentioned before, even the music in some stages sounded more like an action game or an adventure game than a horror game. Which is why I don't really feel it belongs at the top of the horror games list, not because it isn't a good, possibly overall better game than most others in this list, but because I don't feel it's that committed to the horror genre. Which is probably why RE4 isn't here either, despite being such a great and acclaimed game.

  • BladedFalcon - November 2, 2012 7:25 a.m.

    I don't really like playing on the PC, but thanks for the recommendation though ^^

  • bigwill1221 - November 2, 2012 9:42 a.m.

    Slender? srsly...

  • ThundaGawd - November 2, 2012 10:15 a.m.

    Well, since Slender got onto the list, I'd like to add the SCP series, particularly SCP: Containment Breach. Story aside, you're essentially running through a research facility - whose rooms are randomly generated - as you try to escape from SCP-173, who pops up in random rooms and will kill you if you look away from it. The catch is that you automatically blink every 10 seconds, or you can manually blink using the spacebar, so you have to manage your blinking properly otherwise you WILL get killed. On top of that, you have to scavenge for batteries to power your flashlight, otherwise you'll have to run blind, and certain rooms have chemical gasses, requiring you to wear a gasmask, which greatly obscures your vision.

  • HyperMemo - November 2, 2012 10:28 a.m.

    Finally someone who agrees! I'm the biggest wimp, yet I found this game not at all scary. The only reason its popular is because its a meme.

  • Sp3n - November 2, 2012 10:48 a.m.

    Clive Barkers: Undying was pretty sketchy, only game to make me save every 3 minutes and to actively fear opening a door. Also the booklet that came with it was a diary about the house, helped set the atmosphere "nobody goes in the basement any more". Towards the end was a bit silly but the first chapter was great.

Showing 41-60 of 78 comments

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