Your vote for the scariest video game franchise.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Such a great game. Nothing else comes close.

[nullPointer]

I think between it being the Halloween season, and my recent minor diatribe over in the Games Unbeaten thread, I've been thinking a lot about Silent Hill again, and specifically Silent Hill 2. Some of the franchises in the poll are built wholly or in part around the idea of jump scares. And who doesn't love a good jump scare? But the thing about jump scares for me at any rate is that they don't necessarily equate to being scary. They are a temporary jolt to the system, a quick roller coaster ride, The empty calories found on the menu of Horror. No, actual fright is the stuff that sticks with you. The stuff that festers in the back of your mind, gnawing at your synapses long beyond the point that you wish it would just go the fuck away. I feel like Silent Hill 2 effectively evokes some of these feelings. I think its success is in how effectively it manages to stick in peoples minds. Here we aren't dealing with zombies cooked up in a bio-tech lab; but rather the demons residing in the dark corners of the human psyche. In no particular order this game delves into themes of

rape, depression, pedophilia, euthanasia, animal torture, the existential dilemma of being trapped in a loveless marriage, etc.

(spoilered for the benefit of those who haven't played it, and if you haven't played the game I would encourage you not to expand the spoiler) And what makes all of it so utterly effective is that it never beats you over the head with it. As the player you are left to connect the dots regarding much of the dark symbolism and what it actually means.

It also does a fantastic job of subverting the idea of 'video game protagonist'. Although this sort of thing is much more common these days (see also: the Together Retro game for October ), Silent Hill 2 was most likely the first game I played that fully turned the idea of being the 'in-game protagonist' on its ear.

The whole slow build up and reveal of, "Holy shit, it's not that I dislike the character I've been playing as; I think I might actually despise him!" is remarkably effective here. There are no 'good guys' in Silent Hill 2, and not in that 'cool edgy anti-hero' sort of way either. Here we run the gamut from the hopelessly despairing, to the full on sadistic monsters, but there's not a 'hero' in the bunch. In some ways it's like the video game version of a depressive black metal album. The juxtaposition of controlling a character whose actions, morals, and world outlook is largely opposed to your own is used to great effect here, and this in turn adds to the pervading sense of unease.

So I know I've blathered on about a single game in a larger franchise for a while now, but to be honest my vote goes towards Silent Hill largely on the back of that single game, but further backed by a handful of solid entries in the franchise (even if the others don't quite capture the lightning in a bottle found in SH2). As I mentioned in the other thread though, I'm a bit of a Silent Hill fanboy, so if the praise above seems too heavy handed, please take that into consideration.

[Xeogred]

Yeah, now I really need to replay Silent Hill 2 again.

[pierrot]

The Wii version of Fatal Frame 2 is the only game in the series that I've played, but I think it's enough for me to go with Fatal Frame on this one. I have to be REALLY in the mood to play horror, or "scary" games, usually. I wouldn't say I scare particularly easily, and it's not as if I avoid them, but it's often difficult to know where a game in the genre will fall on the spectrum of "scary." I'm not into torture/gore-fests, and certain kinds of attempts at manipulation.

The Resident Evil games are a little dark, and moody, but not really chilling. They almost feel like light, fun affairs. Fatal Frame 2 was seriously unnerving at times. At some points I dreaded having to go back through certain hallways, and really any time the game took me inside one of the houses, it was a very tense experience. Then, to make me realize that I'm not safe anywhere in the village, the game makes me cross a bridge--. The underground cave system was pretty nuts, and the final boss is pretty much a nightmare.

That game is great. It also has one of my favorite characters in a video game: Chitose-chan. She's the most adorable ghost ever.

[Exhuminator]

I'll talk about my history with each listed franchise.

Alone in the Dark
Strangely I beat AitD2 before AitD1. But I beat both of those games back when they first debuted for DOS. I also had AitD3 back then, but I didn't finish it. I think I was put off by the western theme (wouldn't bother me today). I loved both AitD1 and AitD2, but they weren't scary. I have AitD3 on CD-ROM, and I've got AitD:The New Nightmare on PS1. I've got the 360 version of the AitD reboot. I have not played AitD: The New Nightmare or the reboot yet.

Clock Tower
I played the SFC original a lot, didn't like it. Yes the graphics are great, but the game plays so slowly it's like torture. I never bothered playing the other Clock Towers after that. I did play Haunting Grounds, and it was OK, but I never finished it. Got tired of running and hiding all the time. Not really my kind of gameplay. I may go back and try to beat Haunting Ground and Clock Tower 3 someday though, I like playing as female protagonists and I like PS2 games. Clock Tower didn't scare me, nor did Haunting Ground.

Dead Space
I've beaten Dead Space Extraction on Wii twice. It's great as a co-op experience. I own Dead Space 1-3 on 360, but I haven't played them yet. Dead Space Extraction was fun, but not scary.

Fatal Frame
I played the original Fatal Frame on Xbox, didn't beat it. I liked the premise, but got aggravated with not knowing what I was supposed to / where to go. Fatal Frame did creep me out a little bit. I've also beaten the offshoot Spirit Camera on 3DS. I own Fatal Frame 2 on Xbox and Fatal Frame 3 on PS2. I have not played those yet. I do plan to play more of this series soon. FF1 deserves a second chance.

Forbidden Siren
I have not played the Siren games. I've got the first two PS2 games. Don't have the PS3 one though.

Frictional Games
I beat the original Penumbra, it was unnerving at times, and fairly fun. I haven't played the Penumbra sequels. I put a good amount of time into the original Amnesia, it was neither scary nor fun. I have not played Amnesia: AMfP or SOMA yet. I own all Frictional's games on PC.

Resident Evil
I have beaten very many Resident Evil games, for the most part they were all fun. REmake came the closest to being scary, just because of how vulnerable you are, and how scarce supplies are. This is a fantastic game series overall, but not scary. I own a lot of Resident Evil games, quite a few I haven't played yet.

Silent Hill
The first Silent Hill is a lot of things, but fun is not one of them. SH1 can be creepy at times, but it never scared me. I have not played any of Silent Hill's sequels, but I own most of them.

The Evil Within
I own the first Evil Within on 360, have not played it.

As for the scariest video game I've played, I'd say parts of the original Thief: The Dark Project truly unnerved me. Mostly due to the incredible sound design. That same engine and those same sound mechanics helped System Shock 2 also be very tense to play. Not long ago I beat Yomawari: Night Alone, and parts of it were legit freaky, but mostly jump scares which don't count really. Overall I struggle to think of a video game that has truly horrified me, but there's plenty of horror games I have not played yet.

[pierrot]

I remembered that Eternal Darkness is a game that exists. I didn't think it was too scary, though. Slightly unnerving at times, but generally pretty tame, like Resident Evil.

However, there was one spot that legit scared the hell out of me the first time I saw it. It was the mother of all jump scares, but it freaked me out for a bit, after the fact. I think it can be completely missed, but I went back to it on both of the subsequent playthroughs, just for lulz, I guess.

[Xeogred]

Frictional Games
I beat the original Penumbra, it was unnerving at times, and fairly fun. I haven't played the Penumbra sequels. I put a good amount of time into the original Amnesia, it was neither scary nor fun. I have not played Amnesia: AMfP or SOMA yet. I own all Frictional's games on PC.

Worth noting that Frictional Games themselves did not develop Machine for Pigs. The Chinese Room did that one. It has split the fans pretty good too, haha. They took out all the gameplay mechanics of Amnesia and it's just a walking simulator basically. But that was a plus for me and the setting was very similar to Thief, so I really liked that too. It was about 3-4 hours long.

[Tanooki]

Ex: Dead Space Extraction doesn't have any chilling or unnerving moments in the least bit about it. It's just a bone stock so-so horror looking rail gun shooter just like the Res Evil shooters and the rest. Dead Space sadly really is notable for hitting a high note with the first release and getting less spooky and more average as they continued. DS1, is the one you should start with anyway, but I don't think you'll find the sequels having anything near the same impact.

[nullPointer]

Yeah, now I really need to replay Silent Hill 2 again.

Dude me too! The trouble is that I don't currently have a CRT television to use with my PS2, and I just can't glom with crazy stretched out graphics. What's the current consensus on the HD remaster? I haven't heard super great things, but I suppose it beats not having access at all.

[Kuruwin]

I'm not sure about whether they made the SH2 port serviceable in the end (i'm sure that the XBOX 360 wasn't fixed) but the third game is god awful because of the new dub.