A mate of mine is getting Condemned 2 for his 360. He's never played any survival horror games really, unless you count Dark Sector and about 2mins playtime on RE4. Anyways, to give him a taste of Condemned 2, I whacked it on my PC, and he had a quick blast. Well, he just about had a fucking heart attack TWICE, within the space of two minutes. I came close to shitting myslef laughing at the look of dread on his face! :lol: There was a bit where he looked over a stairwell balcony, and one of the phycho loonies popped up in his face, then two minutes later a ghostly flashback came on screen for a split second, and he hit the ceiling in fright! Anyways, pure class, I wanna scare him some more now :lol: :lol: :D He's a strapping 30 year old bloke by the way, which just makes it all the more funny :lol:

But what is the scariest game ever? You've got your Silent Hill series, Doom/Quake, System Shock 2, FEAR, Call of Cthulhu (which I'm gonna try on him next) and Penumbra Black Plague (which scared the shit outa me even!) But which is the most genuinely scary overall?

the one that makes you think!

no clue, wouldnt be dcote though, although the shoggoth pipe chase and the first escapes were hectic as hell. the fear flashlight was scary in that they thought a 17 second flashlight in a picth black game was a good idea lol (i actually timed it)

i'd say doom 3, cause it not only knew how to make you shit your HUGE GUTS!!! but it also pnished you for being a painfully obvious retard, going for the one armour shard in the enclosed room usually meant you had a monster closet surprise. its sad though, when you play resurrection of evil and prey, you can see how they upgraded the engine to use soft lighting, yet they never fixed that for doom original, meaning it still had pitch black drawn shadows everywhere that kind of ruin the game for me now, although were fun at the time. i play the game with narrow flashlights on some weapons now, i'd rather see where i am.

as if...



in game, even god cries

I think condemed 2 was a stupid game and they diddn't really use much physcological horror, just cheap scares, Then again, physcological horror doesn't get to me that much because I don't really think that often :lol:

Haven't played many horror games, but Penumbra (the tech demo one) was pretty creepy. It had a great deal of atmosphere, it only had 2 enemies, but was still pretty scary due to the atmosphere and how defenseless you are.

Well, judging by the examples put froward so far, we've got some really easily creeped out people on here! :lol:

But yeah, the Penumbra tech demo was good, the first episode of the game was definitely a big step up from that, then the next episode (Black Plague) really got my teeth ratling. Penumbra is about as un-mainstream as games get I reckon! I was suprised to see it on the shelfes in my local Curry's and Gamesatation. It's a very unpleasent experiance playing it actually. It's a computer game, but doesn't adhere to most peoples traditional idea of one. It's quite similar to Condemned (the first one) really. Condemned and Penumbra are spoiled by the fact you can easily save anywhere, removing much of the tension.

Penumbra Black Plague, and Condemned are the two I reckon are the scariest, a main part of this is because they aren't really like games at all really, there also kinda' unrewarding to play, as the scares just keeping getting slowly turned up a notch.

None of the RE's were ever really scary to me, they just had a few scary moments. Silent Hill is probably the next scariest, but because I outright do not believe in ghosts and stupid shit like that, anything ghost related in games mostly goes right over my head.

downloading penumbra 1 and two so i can see for myself, hadnt even heard of them before this thread, just hoping they have decent cntriols considering how small the torrents are, overtures not even 400 meg and looks incredible...it cant be that long.

i loved condemned, and to be honest i dont know what to make of 2 yet cause i', waiting for it to come on pc, but the graphics dont actually look as grimy from what i've seen, the grainy filter that made it look like there was dust everwhere seemed to be gone on the screens i saw and the textures seem smoother despite that everyones homeless and hardly in a clear mental state to shower.

loved yahzees review though

there was a Top 10
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mySDeYuJn2M
but i think it need to be updated now

Spot on top 10, cheers for that link mate ;) Probably the absolute best top 10 ten at the time it was made. Full of spoilers though, which severly pissed me off, as I have played a little bit of Eternal Darkenss, bu7 hav3 been saving it for a rainy day or when I'm stuck home ill or something. I've played/owned them all on that list,except for Clock Tower, which looked great for it's time.

@ el-b:

From what I know of you on here mate, you like well fucked up stuff, and Penumbra Black Plague is well fucked up indeed :D :lol:

Doom 3 is the scariest. No doubt.

Its enough to drive ya' crazy if you plunge into the story, listening to all the voice recordings and paying attention to the details.

*SLAP!*

I NEVER want to hear those words again! :angry:

and we all know there is no 'story' for doom3!

Yes there is! That was part of the problem for me. The original Doom slapped you in a situation only, with zero storyline as you progressed, just pure action from start to finish. I like Doom 3, but it merged into Quake long ago really. Compared to the original, It gained tons of scares, but lost most of the action :(

It combines horror and fear WITH 'ballern' (german word, but there's no english word for it...ah yes, shooting).

Its got lots of action and violence. Ok, not as much as its predecessor but who cares, do people buy Doom for the hardcore shooting action or for the scares? What would you think in the store staring at the game?

And its a very 'cool' game. Lets see Silent Hill or RE come up with a cool-ass theme song like that!

ok here comes my list:

Silent Hill 2 was creepy but in a "mild" way and after playing SH2 I expected something like that for SH3...stupid me - SH3 gave me somewhat around 12 heartattacks on my 1st playthrough (one in each hour ;) ).

Condemned 1 is the most scary 1st-person game in my eyes...haven't got the chance to play 2 yet.

rufus, what did you mean by whacked it on your pc? I thought there is no pc-version... :huh:

place 3: now it gets difficult. There are so many good games: I shot every corpse in Cold Fear, cause I was affraid it will stand up; then RE1-3; Alone in the Dark ; of course Penumbra - but I have to add 1st episode was better in my eyes, cause I dislike being completely helpless against the enemies <_< (yeah, I know you fight them with puzzles but in episode1 you had at least some weapons); does someone remember Nocturne?; the thing from another world; Darkseed; the suffering....*sigh* so many games I like :rolleyes:

well i'm at that room in penumbra where you find reds ultraviolet rantings all over the walls, awesome game, and i love the mechanic for opening and using things, it only needs to do one or two things better.

when you holster you weapon you have to reequip it at the inventory again, thats kind of irritating since you can really do anything while holding it, even go through doors...thats both at once.

for such a small game the graphics are great, and you can see some of it is low poly modeled and they rely on mapping and lighting effects to make it look like it does, i'm probably playing it too bright cause i never really need the glowsticks and torch, although the torch has a good beam. playing black plague when i'm done with this and hopefully episode 3 will be out soon.


does anyone remember that poem red says when yoru at the metal monster....totally awesome.

and rufus...yes i am lol.

FATAL FRAME, :o

its scary because its not an action game but it still has the ghots,

u have to time the pictures perfect to kill them, scary as hell and i couldnt even finish the game

@CoughCoughShitShit: Doom 3 is a weird one. I know people who love FPS, but are to shit scared to play Doom 3, and I know people who love creepy/gory games, but find the game extremely difficult, and this ends up turning them off. I really find it hard to pigeon hole Doom 3 fans!? Doom 3 is truly a landmark game, I just can't think of it as the true spiritual sucessor to the original Doom. I still love it though ;)

Hey Cerberus, you can get the first Condemned game on PC, that's the one I'm playing through right now! It looks fantastic too, although I need to lower the res down a bit, but the nice graphical effects more than make up for that. If you want use the joypad, you have to map the mouse and keyboard controls with an external app though, such as xpadder. It suits the old xbox pad perfectly :D

You can get it really cheaply now for the PC too!

The rest of the games you mentioned are all class, and some of my faves actually. Nocturne is a game I've just recently started playing again. I have fond memories of Darkseed on my old Amiga, lots of disk swapping, but it was still a class game! :D

Anyone remember Waxworks? Man, that was the first game that really showed me that games can actually put the shits up you!


Waxworks


@el-b: man I knew that game was 'you' all over :D

@Ratede91: Fatal Frame was a great game, and I loved the concept, but Ghosts just don't do it for me.

)

The scariest game, if talking about anything interactive, would be the Screamer Maze. But if your talking about consoles, I'd say some moments in HL1, no matter how bad the scientist deaths seem in today's gaming society, they're still creepy.

condemned on pc is amazing, the only problem i have with it is something similar to fear, an odd mechanic they added that just seems out of place or in fears case, can fuck up the game...i am talking about the 17 second flashlight lol.

i love how condemned flashlight not only lasts ages, but fades out and flickers and can make you really dread the next room, cause you know your light could dim at the wrong moment and a fireman rapes you with a two by four.

in condemned the mechanic isnt as bad as that, its just how he moves so slowly, a blessing in this game really, but can only sprint for a second before running out of breath, isnt this guy superhuman or something? lol.

...yeah, but obviously not superfit! :lol:

That Scary Maze prank thingy you mentioned RedAsylum, is not a scary game! Funny though :lol:

Screamer maze isn't scary lolsicles!

It makes u jump the first time but u know... It gets boring after that.

P.S Hello Kitty Island was scarier than doom 3 :lol:

i bet you played the game with the gamma right up, the sound way down and all the lights in the house on.

its a game designed to be cranked!

@ rufus: ...ah, ok I thought you meant condemned 2. I own Condemned 1 since it was released.
Now it got forbidden in germany: you are allowed to own it but its forbidden to buy or to sell it...just like the book from A.H. <_< ....stupid german laws :rolleyes:

Dr. Helpful says: Germans Are From Germany

:huh: ..?? which means / what do you want say with that statement ??

lol watch this baby its kinda scary but watch and see how scary.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHCuXPPQLo8


also im sorry i had to show you :(

You mad man,You Doomed us all (no pun interned )

i warned you!

Watch this (freaky looking!) lad playing Condemned: Criminal Origins, at night, in the dark!? :lol:

Shitting bricks!

what the fuck is with that kids face? seriously lynching him would be a mercy killing.

the only bit that made me jump in that movie was the teacher in the locker when you take that pic, my brain had kind of shut off and i shoudl have seen it coming, probably would have jumped anyway though.

Ohman yeah. That kid looks like a deformed cartoon character or something. I wanted to tape his horrible gob shut.

But yeah, that bloke in the locker did not make me jump. By that point in the game I was already suspicious enough to have a hunch he may not be dead. The one bit that really jarred me bad, was early on in the game where your in the abandoned office building, and you look over the balcony, and this nutter springs up at you outa nowhere! This is why I had my mate play through this section of the game so's I could see his reaction, and it was better than I was hoping for! :lol:

I played Condemned 2 last night. My mate and me were both in agreement that it just isn't as good as the first. Still a good game though. The gfx are better, it has a combo strike system, which is good but kinda distracting. Overall they've just copied parts of the first game a bit to much and they don't suprise you the second time around. Condemned kept it simple and raw, the new one just adds loads of unoriginal stuff which just seems to clutter the gameplay and also serves to remind you your playing a game. Also, Ethan Thomas has undergone a full body transplant complete with Emo hardo, which peeved me off :angry: He was a very average likeable bloke in the first, now he's Brad Pitt in beard mode! <_<

If you haven't played the first you'll probably be mighty impressed, but fans of the first game will probably feel a little let down. It's still good overall though.

omfg :lol: nightmares

the metro station balcony bit was kind of cool, but the bestest thing about condemneds breed of maniac slaughter is it doesnt use retarded loud noises to make you jump as much as most things do, it uses evil homeless people with space aids and crowbars.

i had to reload one bit a few times cause i acually thought it was funny where that homeless guy in the station is asking for change and a guy jumps of the corner pole and scores the kill.

on condemned 2 does the screen still blur slightly when your instincts are going off? i think when that happens it actually makes the graphics better, its how they made penumbra look so good and have it relatively low spec in comparison to others with such effects.

Sadly no, bEcase ther specal abilites are fucin void and you have, as yahtezee called themt, DBZ powers insted, in the form of this super loud killer shout, I kid yu not? :o It's so fukn stupd I laighed like fuck first time it happend, after thayt it just gkeds stupd

I think ibetr not type much more tynightas i'v vbeen out on the piss an Ican tell my tuypin in totalt fucked up beyond recginiton

soz :P

indeed your typing tells all, say no more...seriously its embarassing:P

Yeah, soz about that last night :unsure: At least you can get the gist of what I said :D

Moving on quickly, I seen gameplay footage of a Korean Horror Game named WhiteDay on Youtube, and it looks fantastic, moreso, since it's 8 years old! It looks like this was a big inspiration for Penumbra if you ask me. Even the sound fx and music are good, something that seems an afterthought in many games.

WhiteDay - PC Game

Penumbra style chase?

I'm currently searching for an English patch/transalation, but so for nothing, so I suspect none exist :(

Here are some others I've come across and/or own myself. Some new, some old, some unreleased as of yet:

Dead Space - Event horizon meets Doom?

Obscure II

Jurassic Park - Trespasser - Unreleased, but still managed to influence Half-Life and many other games. Physics engine was unbelievable! You can find the BETA version if you search ;)

Nosferatu: the wrath of Malachi - Underrated little game

Waxworks - Scariest game ever!?

System Shock II

Clive Barkers Undying

Hes fucking crazy.

For all owners of the PC version of Condemned: Criminal Origins.
I found this excellent little utility that allows you to mess with the Aspect Ratio. It essentially stretches the viewable area of the screen to fill the black bars, top and bottom. They were seriously getting on my tits :P

Anyways, here it is: conFOV5.zip

Just run it before you start the game, or alt+TAB out of the game, run it, then Alt
+TAB back in, it works just the same either way ;)

@ rufus:

sounds promising. ...instant-download + instant-try-out