Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Yankees totally ruling last night, Foo Fighters playing on Facebook, or the brilliance that is beef Wellington, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
It’s Halloween tomorrow and a fantastic time to scare the crap out of yourself with a good survival-horror game. The genre has gone through a lot of changes since it was made popular by the first Silent Hill and Resident Evil games. Somewhere along the line, survival-horror titles became shooting-the-hell-out-of-everything-with-a-large-arsenal-of-automatic-weapons games. Survival? Sure (as long as you don’t run out of bullets). Horror? Not so much.
Even though the games had a few issues, the Fatal Frame series is probably my favorite line of survival-horror games. Clever use of graphics and sound created a truly creepy atmosphere. Using a magical camera as your only weapon (as ridiculous as it sounds) added a feeling of helplessness. Mixing Shinto rituals with modern occultism gave the games a sense of believable fantasy. Fatal Frame has such a unique and fantastic mood — something most recent survival-horror titles have eschewed in favor of rapid-fire action.
On the eve of Halloween, I want to know what game or games you think are scary. What titles made you turn on the lights? Do you have any favorite “oh s&*t” moments in a game that you’ll never forget? Let your fellow RPadholics know (but try not to scare anyone too badly).
well, no game has ever scared me or made me jump or anything, but i thought that dead space was pretty creepy at times
no wait, im wrong
who wasnt scared after playing night trap?
agreed, deadspace was full of good atmosphere.
never played fatal frame. never cared for silent hill series.
RE was never scary.
This halloween I'm doing something super scary though…..I'm reading court cases of the IRS vs. John Q Public for my tax research project. Anyone want to come by?
@smartguy
whos bringing the non alcoholic beer?
@thundercracker
I was hoping you would. Don't forget the fat free dip either please. I'll make tofu dogs.
@Ray
Here ya go: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/to…
maybe we can watch deal or no deal afterwards?
howies so funny!
That would be a hoot!
Agreed on Dead Space being scary. I played it at night and with the surround sound up, the ambient sound is amazing in that game. Also, Resident Evil 1 scared me when the dog jumped through the window in the mansion.
I finally took Uncharted 2 out of my PS3 yesterday and played Tekken 6 and Brutal Legend.
I am a late comer to the genre as I've never played a silent hill game and was never interested in RE. Some games I thought were genuinely scary with surround sound and the lights out were definitely FEAR, Condemned, and Dead Space. also I thought the atmosphere along with many other aspects, made Bioshock a very creepy game.
These games, as with most, become a lot less scary the second time through though, so I like to have a game that is fun even after I'm not scared of it any more.
I loved Silent Hill back in the day (which is a Wednesday by the way).
Best Oh $h!t moment lately was on Uncharted 2. Did it not make anyone else jump when you are watching that little cut scene when you are about to emerge from the ice cave and the camera pans back and you are still watching Drake, but the the black background turns and looks at you. Man the first time that happened I literally yelled "oh fu%#". Then I intentionally died so I could go get others to come in and see it.
F.E.A.R. had some creepy as hell moments. Dead Space never really bothered me, I don't remember any stand out moments in Dead Space except maybe the first time that tings grabs you under the wall, but after that I was just expecting it all the time.
Silent Hill had those creepy children in the school, and stuff attacking you out of the fog.
@slicky – I nearly missed that part the first time I got there in Uncharted 2. I think it was intentional on their part but for me it was more "hey, what the hell was that"
@RROD – that part in RE1 freaked me out everytime I walked through that hallway. Even when I knew it was going to happen, I still jumped. The walking really pissed me off in that game too. I know it added to the atmosphere, but having to turn in one place and then start walking was completely off putting. I watched my brother play that game more then anything else.
Dude, back when i was 2nd grade, RE1 just came out. I checked it out, and i was like, oh, its a cool game, with clunky controls, and you get to shoot monster dogs. I never expected zombies form that game until i encounter the first one. The one, when he just turned around and loked at you, his mouth smothered in blood, with bug eyed scariness. That. scared. the crap. out of me. But the best RE games for me was RE 2, and 3
movies are a lot more scary. Poltergeist scared the hell out of me. It seems like paranormal is a movie that is scaring everyone right now. Other scary movies include Dracula and House on a haunted hill. There will be more scary movies coming out.
The first Silent Hill for the PS1 creeped the hell out of me. But overall the genre never appealed much to me.
@Dad – the Exorcist. Creepiest. Movie. Ever. Seeing that during the 25th anniversary when they rereleased it in the theaters was chilling as a teenager. Once you see Captain Howdy, scary movies are really never the same again.
I remember a game on Gamecube that freaked the hell out of me, I think it was like Eternal Darkness or something like that.
Yes, Eternal Darkness had the insanity meter. Sometimes you'd be playing for a minute or two…get ruled and then realize it didn't actually happen.
I just remember the volume going out on you, and it acting like the game had reset.
@RRODisHere I'm glad you brought up that dog. That was probably the height of RE's scariness.
Eternal Darkness; Sanity's Requiem was hands down the scariest game I've ever played. Its scares are original and clever and do not depend on the cheap scares like so many "scary games" have like Resident Evil and Dead Space.
-M
The scariest game I ever played was "Superman 64". All of my worst nightmares for what a game based on my childhood hero were soon realized.
@N8R That's an excellent pick.
Don't forget Vampire Rain
For pure comic relief, I posted an angry comment on the DJ Hero DLC article on TheFeed.