Scary yet clean games

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I just finished Thief 3, and my favorite mission was the Cradle -- absolutely terrifying. It had perfect atmosphere, great lighting and sound effects, an engrossing story, and very few enemies. I must've been saving my game every sixty seconds, I was so scared. I haven't played anything quite like it before -- except, maybe, Thief 1 and 2.

My question: is there a similar game I could play? Sure, there are horror games, but those rely on gore; and games like Doom3, which live and die by the ambush. That's cheap and contrived -- anyone can splash blood on the screen or shout "boo!". The Thief series managed to be creepy, cautious, and clever all at once. There must be something else out there with a similar style.

 

DL System Shock 2 from www.the-underdogs.org and then get the rebirth mod for it to give the graphics a facelift.

It's an awesome yet extremely scary game, what with the lab monkeys, ghosts and hybrids. It's also part RPG so it's really got every base covered.

 

Aliens Versus Predator 2


Scariest game ever.

 

AvP 2 as the Marine. Yes, one of the freakiest games ever, especially the first two human levels. Atmosphere goes downhill with the Alien and Predator campaigns though. Still fun, just not scary.

System Shock 2 is one of the best games available. I do reccomend the Rebirth mod, but also make sure to get the Rumbler and monkey parts of it. They aren't available with the current beta release, but can be found here: http://musicexplosion.net/shock/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=32&sid=c94c10945ad3301980da904ba4701658

and here: http://musicexplosion.net/shock/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=6&sid=c94c10945ad3301980da904ba4701658

Hope these help get another convert for System Shock. In related news, Irrational Games just announced the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, BioShock. Most of the original SS 2 team is working on it, as well as several members of the Thief team.

 

Just play the original as it was. The dated (now) graphics actually make the game scarier.

 

@ Grey,

I highly, HIGHLY recommend Aliens vs. Predator 2. I've been playing Doom3 for a week now and I think AVP2 is much scarier (and that's saying something - Doom3 is no picnic). There is indeed some gore and violence in AVP2, but the suspense and terror come in different ways and doesn't rely on the gore to be frightening. In Doom3, there's an Imp or Zombie lurking in every dark corner. In AVP2, not so. You'll go for long periods of time on the edge of your seat convinced something is about to happen to you...and then the minute you relax, it does. The mood that is created in this game is truly terrifying. You really do know what it would feel like to be one of those marines. "Terror" is waltzing into an alien hive unchallenged to find a comrade and find yourself quickly retreating, knowing 5 or 6 aliens are nipping at your heels, and if you turn around to fight them off, you're screwed. Part of why they're so scary is because they're faster than you, and in seemingly endless supply. *shudder*

As was said above - playing as the Marine is the best way to go for scariness and, IMO, is less "gory." Playing an Alien or a Predator involves lots of decapitations and stuff. They're fun, but go Marine. Very suspenseful, and well worth it.

Trust me - you won't be disappointed. Plus else...it's CHEAP now ($20 at Fry's for the Gold edition w/ expansion) and has decent system specs. If your machine runs the Thief games, this'll be no problem.

 

I downloaded System Shock 2 from the underdogs but it won't work. No music and when I load the game the screen stays black. If I return to windows it says: Error: direct3d driver does not accurately report texture memory usage.

It does play the intro movie with sound though.

 

It's a CD rip, so make sure you run the HoTU installer and everything. That *Should* get things working.

 

Never mind it works now. Added a line in the shock.cfg and it runs smoothly now, with music.

This is one scary game, I have a nice little sound system and the first time a zombie came screaming with his wails to kill him, brrrr

[ October 13, 2004, 12:13: Message edited by: Apeman ]

 

Yeah, those hybrids are scary. The main reason I'm taking a break from that game, actually.

I wonder if it's less scary in Co-Op mode, especially over a LAN.

 

AvP 2 - definitely.

Also (although it doesn't meet your criteria of "not gory") is Clive Barker's Undying - very creepy and atmospheric.

 

For that matter, AvP 2 doesn't meet the "not gory" requirement--but the gore isn't excessive in the marine missions, and it's plenty creepy

 

The old RPG games by Horrorsoft. THough they toss the "no gore" condition out the window

Both System Shock games are great.

 

Yeah, good old RPG games...

I remember playing some scary games with my cousins many many years ago. (They might not be scary to you though due to age.) Shivers (surprise but cartoonish scary) and Laura Bow (murder mystery where you just get the feeling you will be the next victim).

 

Ooh, Laura Bow...I remember when I first entered the dollhouse in Colonel's Bequest and saw my friend sitting there...AAAACCCCKKKK!

Shouldn't have been playing that at midnight...

 

That new Silent Hill game looks scary... I found even the screenshots disturbing. But I'm a wuss. I don't really play any scary games.

I'm sure System Shock 2 is great, but I can't get it to work. It refuses to play the cutscenes, and when I try to play the game it gives me a black screen. I ran the install thing. Why doesn't it work?

 

Did you remember to delete the files specified?

The videos aren't necessary, although the readme says DivX 5 will get them working, so I'm going to try that right now.

 

Oh, I thought it was just saying that to save me hard drive space. Deleting them makes the cutscenes run! But for some reason, the game itself still won't.

 

And you ran the oggsetup too? Phreaky....

I ran out of bullets and was killed by hybrids just now, this game is tough.

 

How could I forget... the original Alone in the Dark !

Great gameplay, great atmosphere, lots of violence but 100% gore-free. Very clever use of ambushes, though they're infrequent. Lots of (optional) reading that greatly adds to he suspense.

I never liked any of the sequels (though 3 was ok), but the first one is a great game. Where to find it and how to make it run under XP is another matter...