Human beings are fragile creatures. We need the stability of our homes. Structures of brick, wood and metal provide a needed solidity from the surreal. But what if our world holds a secret darkness that sometimes escapes the grasp of it guardians and enters our feeble lives. What happens when the ordinary individual enters a Dantean realm? A Territory where monstrosity after monstrosity lay in wait, hoping to devour our very essence, willing to tear a normal man or woman from limb to limb.
The genre of horror video games has allowed us to better explore our greatest fears. Both cerebral and corporal fear is expressed in this style of game. Do we fight back against the terror or run at the very thought of the surreal? With Resident Evil 6 releasing in just over a month, I thought why not make a list of my five favorite horror games...
5. Dead Space
Dead Space is a survival horror third-person shooter and puts the player in control of engineer Isaac Clarke as he battles monsters created from corpses and an alien virus. The game takes place aboard an interstellar mining ship. The mutated dead crew seeks to eviscerate Mr. Clarke. The game is a great combination "Alien" and "The Thing." It succeeds in recreating the fear of being isolated from help and the claustrophobic atmosphere of "Alien." It takes the grotesque mutation aspect of "the Thing," and amplifies it. What helps the game from being a run and gun actioner is that you can't kill all of the creatures in the same fashion. Some must have their legs removed others their head. It is a simple gaming mechanic, but one that can create an adrenaline rush of fear.
4. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a psychological horror video game released for the Nintendo GameCube. Eternal Darkness was developed by Silicon Knights and published by Nintendo. The game is set in a mansion in Rhode Island. A mysterious book known as "The Tome of Eternal Darkness," sends the protagonist on a mysterious journey through time. The game utilizes unique "sanity effects" to enhance the gameplay and truly makes players question their own sanity. What really mad the game crazy was when it would make player think their TV or GameCube was messing up.
3. Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned: Criminal Origins made my heart skip a beat the first time I played it. The game is a psychological horror video game, developed by Monolith Productions and published by Sega. The game uses a first person perspective and melee combat to battle the crazed citizens of its world. Players solve puzzle by searching for fingerprints and gathering evidence, but that is the boring stuff. What really makes this game scary is how the enemies hide and jump out ambush you. Guns are in the game but are hard to find. So you really are relying on things like crowbars, baseball bats and wooden sticks.
2. Silent Hill
Silent Hill is considered by many as arguably the best survival-horror game of all times. Players take on the role of Harry Mason, who unlike earlier survival horror games that focused on protagonists with combat training, is an ordinary man. Harry fights against the demonic monsters with both melee weapons and firearms. He is easily susceptible to injury from the creatures. He also tires after sprinting like most normal human beings. Harry's lack of physical prowess and the game's dark and ominous atmosphere make it one of the scariest games ever made. Resident Evil may have had the cooler monsters, but Silent Hill had the scarier frights.
1 Resident Evil: Director's Cut
The original Resident Evil captured everything that is good about B-movies; graphic violence, rampant sexism, poor voice acting and an illogical villain. The game takes place in large mansion that is filled with puzzles, traps, and the walking dead. The creatures roaming the mansion and surrounding region are highly contagious and hungry for human flesh. The first encounter with an undead flesh-eater is classic. What makes the game great is even though you are a trained soldier unlike a certain guy on a hill, ammo is in short supply. Running out of bullets and having to flee is common ground. This is the number one horror game not because it was the first, but because it made the genre popular.
