Scariest/Most atmospheric game

[xawery 0]

Hello all,

I did a search before posting but did not find any thread that would address my question. Hence this new thread.

I'm interested in hearing your opinion on what are the top 3 scariest/most atmospheric games out there. I realise that "atmospheric" doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with "scary": Red Orchestra is very atmospheric and tense, but not scary at all. My question pertains specifically to games that are scary because of their atmosphere.

I always enjoyed games that kept me on the edge of my seat and were able to evoke that tight-wound feeling in the pit of my stomach. Let me start off with my own top 3:

1. Penumbra Overture. The excellent sounds, the gritty graphics, the evocative lighting model and the sheer sense of abandonment make Penumbra not only the scariest game out there, but also a very good game as such. Playing this game at night in a darkened room really gave me the chills. The innovative interface (where you interact with the environment in a realistic, physics-based manner instead of just mashing the use key) really pulls you into the (sadly ethereal) body of the main character. The sheer immersiveness is amazing.

2. Penumbra: Black Plague. The sequel to Penumbra Overture ostensibly offers more of the same, but is actually quite different from its predecessor. It's as scary as Overture, but unfortunately feels a bit rushed. Penumbra was supposed to be a trilogy, but due to budget constraints the devs crammed the remainder of the story into part 2. Still, excellent chills and very good puzzles.

3. System Shock II. Until Penumbra came along, SSII was at the top of my list of scary games. I don't think it's necessary to elaborate upon this game, as any self-respecting pc gamer should know it. The sounds, the theme, the environment... Outstanding. Bioshock was nothing in comparison. It's a shame the game is so dated by today's standards.

That's my list. Let's hear it from you chaps!

[kegetys 2]

System Shock (the first one) and Thief 1 & 2 come to my mind first... Fallout 2 is rather atmospheric too.

[alext223 0]

My three games

1. Diablo

2. Doom

3. Quake

Sorry if I am showing my age, but nothing has come close to the experience those games gave me. ( Crysis is up there, and the Total War series have a home on my HDD. And how could I forget, ArmA! )

It just seems to be the same stuff over and over for me.

Just a bit more dressed up each time.

[ade_mcc 0]

Scariest/Most atmospheric games for me

Thief 3 - The Cradle / Thief - Return to the Cathedral

OFP - After Montignac

Stalker - Various

[Balschoiw 0]

Not so easy...

Alien vs Predator

Thief series

System shock

OFP

and the award for the maximum effect on my stomach goes to

Descent

Edit:

Add Stalker,

Prey for the weird concept and the scenarios and locations. It really made me shiver at times.

...and of course this scream always made me pee my pants...

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Doom 3

[mr burns 131]

Clive Barkers Undying

OFP Mission After montignac

FEAR

[bonko the sane 2]

- Stalker (underground evil mutants spotted under the flashlight made me jump off the chair)

- Bioshock, just the whole concept and characters

- The Sims series, which i had to endure quite a few times when my missus went on a sim spree

[xawery 0]

Ah, AvP is a very good example indeed. The sound of that motion detector picking up something was a pants-filling experience.

So is Stalker. The game practicaly oozes atmosphere. Bonko, the moment you mention was what also what gave me the worst fright of my life haha.

Funny you should mention Fallout 2 Kegetys, I would say that part one was vastly superior when it came to the atmosphere. Not scary at all though. Perhaps this will change with Fallout 3...

[smellyjelly 0]

I'm very surprised no one has mention Condemned, which relies greatly on the atmosphere to be scarey. It's by far the scariest game I've ever played.

[Sheps 0]

Virtua Fighter 5 when your 2-2 and if you lose the next round you get demoted :P

Bioshock had me tense at certain bits.

As did Condemned.

[Commando84 0]

resident evil 2

command & conquer 1

c&c red alert 1

c&c tiberian sun

Ofp

Fear

Silent Hill

Metal Gear Solid

Alien vs predator 2

[Q1184 0]

Original Half-Life, that episode when you have to fight with a giant spider in a dark hall. Brrrrr...

[moricky 210]

Fear:

Stalker (night village with mutant vampires breaking off a doors and running towards me)

The Sims 2 (especially Nightlife expansion, when two or more girlfriends/boyfriends meet together on community lot)

Atmosphere:

C&C: Tiberian Sun (I was 10 and planned every operation on paper with my friends ).

MGS 2 and MGS3 (love these cutscenes).

OFP missions Hawk In Nets (love these MGS like cutscenes ) and Abandoned Armies

BFME (battle for Helm's Deep on hard difficulty)

Mafia

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

first Ghost Recon (especially Kazachstan and Red Square)

Fun:

No One Lives Forever

[tirramissu 0]

Scary:

Half-Life (1998. It was really scary to walk through some levels, opposing to quake for example, which was nothing but fun.

Resident Evil series on PS.

Most atmospheric:

Shadowrun (only on Sega, released 1994).

Fallout 2

Silent Hunter 3

[opteryx 1562]

Resident Evil 2 (spooky)

Silent Hill (spooky)

Final Fantasy 7 (Awesome atmosphere!! )

Alien Trilogy (spooky)

Tetris (most nerve wrecking game ever made)

[kavoven 4]

Thief - I was really scared sometimes!

OFP - You almost forgot your RL enviroment when the BMP drove just a few meters next to you! (Best example the mission after the failed escape from Montignac or all the BlackOp missions)

HL2 - Great story!

Freelancer - Great Story and quite "real" universe.

[Clavicula_nox4817 0]

Call of Cthulhu-Dark Corners of the Earth

[Daniel 0]

Atmospheric and scary:

OFP - Certain campaign missions and even more co-op missions over the years

Purely atmospheric:

Final Fantasy 7

Mech Warrior 2: Mercenaries

FarCry - The novelty of jumping into realistic water

Metal Gear Solid

ArmA is starting to lean towards the atmospheric and scary, but still isn't quite as immersive as OFP.

[sanctuary 19]

Silent Hill was a great experience for the 1st time i played it in term of fear factor, the fog hiding most of your possible attempts at trying to figure out where you are and the "surprise" attacks when you are not prepared for them are a great variable for the fear level.

On the atmospheric games, Ghost recon and expansions has always been great, i replay some missions often and i am always immersed even after all those years.

Thief 1 and 2 are another atmospheric games, after a while you are really hding from the guards/monsters patrolling while trying to complete missions unseen, you are not just hiding a piece of polygon. Fantastic immersion again.

OFP, especially when i first played the campaign was highly immersive, the atmospheric part was enforced by the weather and specific sunset during the well built missions of the CWC campaign, "simple" discussions between npc like in before the combat takes really place was really helpfull.

The first demo with the famous Ambush totally convinced me to get the full game, i replayed this one so many time that i was sure the complete thing would addict me for years.

Freespace 1&2 campaigns have some very atmospheric missions, this is enforced by the fantastic music (one of the greatest ambiance ever in a space combat game) and very good voice acting of your HQ and squadmates, wrapped around a very good story, you are immersed.

Dive ! dive ! dive ! if you remember this

[4 IN 1 0]

Atmospheric and scary:

OFP - really after all those years there i still still cant find a game that makes my heart pump as fast when a T72 or BMP is rolling down the field trying to kill you

BioHazard/Resident Evil(1 and 2 on PS and C:V on DC) -

classic, no need to say more

Silent Hill - yet another classic, as scary as BH, but on a different way

Atmospheric:

Stalker (well you know the story)

Fallout 1,2(if Stalker is what happened, Fallout is what will be happen)

Metal Gear Solid - yet another classic

there is a lot more

[sickboy 13]

Atmospheric and Scary: The Suffering (Though I don't know if they released this on other than Xbox1)

And maybe: The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

Deep, complicated and interesting Story: Legacy of Kain Series

Most actionful, and also atmospheric to my opinion: Devil May Cry 4

Atmospheric: ArmA with AACF SoundMod v2.0 and up

[Black Sphere 0]

Hm, many scary and athmospheric games I played so tough to choose from but if I must :

Scariest: Alien vs Predator

Most atmospheric: Deus Ex

[Wolfrug 0]

Ooh, nice:

Scary:

Thief 3 (I think) : The insane asylum level. Oh man, dodging invulnerable monster-thingies in straightjackets all electrified from "shock therapy" with all that flickering lightning and...yeah.

Also other Thief games, particularly the zombie missions. Me no likey non-killable enemies that go "braaaainnsss"

System Shock 2: "Meat for the babies...!" Or whatever the robo-nannies would say. AAAH. Gathering ammo, solving puzzles, listening to recordings...good times. Scary times.

Alien versus Predator (only as a marine): -Amazing- NV goggles effect, still haven't found a single game out there able to imitate it. And yeah: ALIENS! Although playing as predator/alien was very atmospheric, it wasn't exactly hard.

Atmospheric:

ArmA/OFP, NIM weather, early morning mist, some kind of High Dispersion mod, and a lot of forest and a lot of random enemies. Helicopters overhead, tanks burning in the distance...you can practically smell the burnt flesh ^^

Fallout/Fallout 2: Incomparable RPGs. 'Nuff said.

Half Life/Half Life2/Ep.1/Ep.2/Portal/Zombie Panic/etc sundry HL/2 mods : Beautiful engine, wonderful gameplay, excellent NPC interaction and acting, unique situations (remember fighting the three beak-stalk things in the missile silo in HL?), and especially in HL2 fantastic use of random crap + physics engine. Ahhhh, gravity gun, I miss thee...

Honorary mention: Halo (one), up to the Flood. And that one flood-escaping level afterwards. But yeah, after that? Meehhh.

yay! Fun thread.

Regards,

Wolfrug

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]yay! Fun thread.

I actually already jumped into my big box of games and searched for System Shock, Deus Ex and Thief series to reinstall them