You never feel in mortal danger, like the other entries on this list, but that’s precisely the point. From the funky music to the hilarious blood-curdling screams, The Last Guy is just a fun arcade game about beating high scores and narrowly avoiding giant, mutated spiders. In fact, avoiding said mutants and racing the clock amount to the only tense moments of the game.
In just a few trivial months, our opinion has shifted quite a bit from calling the latest chapter in psychological terror the scariest game this fall. Frightening? Absolutely. Does it refine traditional Silent Hill gameplay, camera and combat? You betcha. Underwhelming and predictable? Hell yeah.
This too-dark game falls into the same rhythm we’ve come to expect from the SH franchise: dilapidated hospitals/hotels, twitchy nurses, bizarre “what’s going on?” storyline, clunky tank controls and infrequent scares. Unfortunately, we’ve come to expect this from the game and we can accurately predict with stunning regularity when some creature will jump out and go boo. It’s almost as if the series is content on making itself a cliché.
However, we must point out that the second half is far superior to the uneven first half. The story is tighter, the environments and pace feel quicker. And everything seems to come together relatively well. That said, Homecoming may not be the scariest thing out there, but it’ll make more than enough hairs stand on end.
Fright Factor:
At the time of our previous feature, Siren was disqualified because its release was the summer. Considering most of the games we previewed won’t make it out before the end of the year, we’ve decided to include this interesting blend of zombies, stealth and gunplay.
Shit goes down one rainy night when a TV crew witnesses bizarre cult-like murders. Split between a number of protagonists with varying play styles - including chapters dedicated to hiding and those for running like hell - Siren ratchets up your blood pressure despite being curiously split into 12 “episodic” chapters.
See, Blood Curse can only be purchased in packs of 4 episodes or as the entire 12-episode game. And while the episodic structure keeps the game from being bogged down in sluggish action, it also serves as a brief respite from the impending horror. That’s a good thing if you absolutely need a breather from the intense action (you pussy), but can also work against you by constantly taking you out of the game’s rhythm.
Despite the funky structure, slow start and oftentimes clunky controls, Siren is surprisingly good. We dare you not to panic when the screen starts flashing multicolored lights like you’re having a seizure whenever the ghouls - here called Shibito - are within reach. We’re still having a hard time shaking the warbly pitch of those terrifying ghostly shrieks.
Fright Factor:
