Zoned in
DANCING
WITH ZOMBIES AT THE SILENT HILL HOTEL
We all love a good fright. I mean, they wouldn’t keep making horror movies if we didn’t. You never know what to really expect in a horror movie and this fact alone will have you on the edge of your seat wondering when the monster/killer/ghost/demon will pop up so suddenly you drop your popcorn. Yes, horror movies are a blast. So as a fan of horror movies, the survival-horror genre is just one of my personal favorites.
Since the first Resident Evil game down to the latest chapter of the Silent Hill games, survival-horror games have come a long way and are still able to produce some heart-pounding moments. Some might say that the genre is running out of steam, that it’s slowly losing the interest of hardcore gamers. But all you have to do is look at some of this year’s upcoming titles and its plain to see that the genre still has a following of fans that just can’t get enough.
So I compiled a short list of survival-horror games spooky enough to give gamers the creeps. The lights are flickering off again . . . I hope you’re not afraid of the dark.
1. FATAL FRAME 2: CRIMSON BUTTERFLY (PS2, Xbox)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: Truly one of the most scariest games to come along, the Fatal Frame series seems to base itself on actual incidents so this is really even more creepy. This second installment tells the tale of twin sisters caught up in a pretty scary situation. Dangerous ghosts are abound and the only tool they have to combat them is a camera.
FRIGHT FACTOR: And you thought taking pictures of your unruly nephews was hard enough. Behind the lens the ghosts won’t fail to make you shudder and that fact that you have to take a perfect picture and not a quick snapshot means you really has get a good look at them.
2. SIREN (PS2)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: The latest Hollywood trend is to bringing Japanese horror and suspense films and placing well-known American actors in their remakes. The Ring--Ringu in Japan--is an example and fans of the horror genre couldn’t be happier with the results. Japan knows horror and it’s evident the second the opening cinema starts up in Siren. The evil that befalls this Japanese village is startling and confusing and deliciously frightening. Through the eyes of different characters you’ll witness some truly frightening occurrences. Sadly, the game’s controls and Sight Jack feature were a mess but if you want to be chilled to the bone this is one frightening game.
FRIGHT FACTOR: Presumably too scary that in Japan the television commercials for Siren had been pulled out and never screened again.
3. SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM (PS2, PC, Xbox)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: The Silent Hill series has given the Resident Evil games a run for their money when it comes to frights. It’s a series that plays a psychologically mind-twisting game that has you questioning the sanity of the lead character. The Room, though, is the most chilling. Why? First off, lead character Henry Townshend is a prisoner in a nightmare he can never wake up from and much of what he encounters is grotesque and surreal. Secondly, the specters that haunt him and the only person that brings a spark of sanity to the situation are just too frightening to even look at. Play this one with the volume up and the lights dimly lit and you won’t sleep at night.
FRIGHT FACTOR: In the movie The Matrix, Morpheus asked an important question: What is real? In The Room, you’ll be asking yourself the same question over and over again. What is real and what is just a figment of Henry’s imagination? Is he dreaming or is he wide-awake in a living nightmare? Either way you’ll be afraid, very afraid.
4. CLOCK TOWER 3 (PS2)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: Lead character Alyssa Hamilton rushes home from boarding school after having received a letter from her mother. Finding nobody there, Alyssa goes looking for her only to find an unusual doorway that leads to time portal where the souls of those who were killed by lunatic serial killers must be lain to rest. The trouble is that the these lunatics are after you and all you’re armed with is your own two feet and powers you never thought you had.
FRIGHT FACTOR: Have you ever had a nightmare where something was chasing you and you had no idea what it was but it wasn’t a good thing? Clock Tower 3 is like that and many of the things that chase the main character aren’t chasing her down to get her phone number. No these things are spirits of murders long gone but still homicidal. Chilling? Oh, yeah.
5. THE SUFFERING (PS2, PC, Xbox)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: As if going to prison wasn’t frightening enough, inmate Torque is not only haunted by the murder of his family but he’s being haunted by the murderous spirits and the ghastly monsters that come to life in the little prison island with a supernatural history. Whether you had a hand in killing your family or are innocent of the charges (it all depends on your behavior and decisions), survival is your priority. Yet the ghastly visitors of Carnate Island won’t fail to pose a threat or scare the living daylights out of you.
FRIGHT FACTOR: The freakish monsters and the sounds they make will freak you out and the images of the grisly deaths of your family and the images of dead prisoners and guards will flash before your eyes. While the game is action at its finest, it’s the scares that make this one a gem.
6. ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY’S REQUIEM (GAMECUBE)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: One of the first Mature rated titles that the GameCube released, Eternal Darkness is big on the horror and only slightly light on the survival but you’ll love every minutes of it. Playing several roles, each character solves a troublesome riddle that begins with a young girl investigating the murder of her grandfather. What results is an epic battle against an ancient evil just waiting to be unleashed.
FRIGHT FACTOR: Inventive and genuinely entertaining, you’ll be caught up in the story of ancient evil that has touched the lives of each character from different time periods. Evil that has undead minions and other ghastly apparitions. It’s rare to find a game among the GameCube’s library that’s bloodcurdling.
7. RESIDENT EVIL REMAKE (GAMECUBE)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: Lately the Resident Evil games have been light on the chills and more about the action-packed thrills and thus making this a not-so scary series. Yet all we have to do is go back to the beginning when the game was all about zombie dogs jumping out at windows to tear you apart or giant creatures coming straight for you. Remember how scary it was when the shark came after you or when that giant snake came rushing out of the hole? It’s some scary stuff . . . and even scarier due to this remake’s improved graphics.
FRIGHT FACTOR: There was one time a long while back that I slept with the covers pulled up and wondering if that sound that came from outside my window wasn’t a zombie bird attempting to peck through the window. Resident Evil, it was your entire fault. If only I didn’t play this one all alone and in the dead of night. Even with the now crude original PlayStation graphics you managed to make me cower in my jammies. Now, on the GameCube, you’re even more frightening to play.
8. DOOM 3 (PC)
WHAT’S SO SCARY: The action-packed third game in the first-person shooter that literally changed the face of the FPS genre is not only a satisfying action game but also one of the most frightening ones. Doom 3 is filled with demons; monsters and undead comrades that jump out at you in the darkness or from the depths of the hell dimension that brought them here in the first place. If you have a good sound system set up to your system, crank that baby up and prepare to lose some sleep.
FRIGHT FACTOR: The PC original and its sequel were as frightening as a character from A Nightmare Before Christmas. Gamers were more pumped up by the action than the frights but all has changed with this third installment. We’re talking scarier monsters straight from the depth of a hell dimension and the sound you hear will certainly make you break out in gooseflesh.
I hope this short list of
horror-filled games will chill and entertain you like it has chilled and
entertained me while I was playing them. Hopefully the survivor-horror genre is
here to stay and looking at upcoming titles like Resident Evil 4, Dead
Rush and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth we have much to
cheer about. You might want to keep a light on when you play them and, um, some
fresh pair of undies handy just in case but never . . . never play them alone.
That is, of course, if you like staying up all night wondering if that strange
sound in your closet was real or just your imagination.
Oh and have a safe and horrific Halloween!
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