What horror game are you playing?

[Czernobog]

Since we have several other what _____ game are you playing threads, and I know there's a handful of big horror fans here, I was surprised we didn't have one of these already. Couldn't find one upon searching, so hopefully I didn't just miss it.

I'm currently playing Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth on Steam. Apparently it's riddled with bugs and you're better off playing the original xbox version, but I've experienced none of the bugs personally. If you're a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's literary works, as I am, this one is worth checking out. It's based off the short story Shadow Over Innsmouth, albeit with a different protagonist. You start out as an investigator checking into a cult, and end up in Innsmouth after regaining your senses some time later. The first bit of the game follows the short story fairly well with a couple added surprises. There's a really tense hotel room chase sequence in the short story and it's redone brilliantly in the game. Once this chase is over, the story diverges completely from the short story.

The game is mostly a first-person stealth based game and in true Lovecraftian style, your character's sanity drops whenever he sees something disturbing or something that should not be. The game is a bit difficult for me, but I mostly attribute that to how bad I am at stealth games in general. You do get some weapons later on from a police station, but it's still wiser to attempt sneaking. I'm currently at a car chase sequence where you try to escape Innsmouth, but I don't think I'm even at the halfway point. I've got some free time today so I'm going to get some play time in.

[Ack]

I would argue that you should avoid playing the Xbox version, because the PC version has access to unofficial patches that help fix a lot of the bugs. I beat this game in the late 2000s, and I absolutely loved it at the time, though I did encounter at least one game-breaking bug that required I replay about an hour's worth of the game. A switch refused to toggle to let me proceed near the end of the game.

Anyway, DCotE has a pretty obtuse healing system, but I liked it a lot for how specific it was. And I enjoyed how the game required you to learn and relearn areas at times while still making you work frantically to avoid being killed by whatever thing was following you. The chase sequence is probably the most memorable moment in my mind, but there were a few others later in the game where you encounter...things that stand out.

[Czernobog]

Anyway, DCotE has a pretty obtuse healing system,

Tell me about it! I'm color blind, and I barely notice the screen changes until I'm almost dead, so I have to really rely on the breathing sounds and movement changes and just hope I'm using medkits at the right moments.

The game certainly has been a welcome surprise for me, since I didn't know about it's existence until I saw it on Steam one day, but having read Shadow Over Innsmouth, I'm anxious to see how the game handles Devil's Reef and the big secret of the Cult of Dagon. I'm a bit curious to see what the game decides to show you outright, and what it will leave to the imagination as well.

[Ack]

The game certainly has been a welcome surprise for me, since I didn't know about it's existence until I saw it on Steam one day, but having read Shadow Over Innsmouth, I'm anxious to see how the game handles Devil's Reef and the big secret of the Cult of Dagon. I'm a bit curious to see what the game decides to show you outright, and what it will leave to the imagination as well.

Oh, you'll see some stuff, most definitely. I was surprised how some things look and how much they are willing to show, though keep in mind that even when they do show you something, looking at it directly will swiftly break your brain. So even when they do...you should probably avoid it.

[Betagam7]

Now that I have my GB Boy I'm going to have a go at beating Alone in the Dark: A new Nightmare.

It's technically very impressive for a GBC game...but the thing was always way too dark to even see on a regular GBC and i don't like playing GBC games on my SP.

[Czernobog]

I had no idea there was an Alone in the Dark Game Boy game! I'll have to look into that one. One of my favorite classic survival horror games is The New Nightmare on PS1.

[Betagam7]

I had no idea there was an Alone in the Dark Game Boy game! I'll have to look into that one. One of my favorite classic survival horror games is The New Nightmare on PS1.

It's well worth looking at. It's a very interesting game as they have essentially tried to make an (albeit condensed) replica of the console game. It's similar in design to the the canned Resident Evil GBC beta that leaked out. A very ambitious attempt for such a humble device when an easier option would have been some dumb action variant.

[Ack]

I hated the GBC port with the little I played(the tiny screen size being a big part of the issue), but then I didn't like The New Nightmare when I first tried it back around 2003. But then later I picked up the DC release and found it to have been a much better game than I remembered. Not without its problems, but far better than the later Alone in the Dark that pretty much killed the franchise.

[Cronozilla]

Does fighting with the controls and lock on mechanism in Metroid Prime count?
If not, nothing horror themed currently.

[noiseredux]

I'm currently playing Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth on Steam.

I really need to check this out. My favorite Lovecraft film adaptation is Dagon - which was Shadow Over Innsmouth of course.