Psychologically disturbing games.

[Octopod]

Anyone have an opinion on Cold Fear?

[Pulsar_t]

Anyone have an opinion on Cold Fear?

I have. It's a nice RE clone, it came out a few days before RE4 (outside Japan), but they're both quite similar in that they're TPS. I prefer CF personally, despite its lower production values. But it's not scary especially if you use the mouse for aiming.

[Ack]

Anyone have an opinion on Cold Fear?

I thought it was a decent Resident Evil 4 clone(released within a month of RE4). The setting worked well, and I enjoyed having to avoid waves and hanging equipment. I also had a wonderful experience with the first zombie in the game, where he just kept getting back up after I dropped him.

Seriously, I knocked him down five times, finally putting a bullet into his skull as he laid there. He didn't get up after that. From that point on, I'd knock an enemy down and put one in his dome just to make sure. At that point I decided I liked the game, no matter how bad it might be, so I am a bit biased, but I really didn't find it to be that bad. Not too terribly hard, either.

[J T]

Echo Night: Beyond is an interesting and sometimes scary first person adventure game on the ps2. It involves you exploring an abandoned base on the moon that's haunted.

I didn't recommend it because he said earlier that the wasn't into ghosts, but I did really like Echo Night: Beyond. It's a more mellow horror game, since there's no combat and really not TOO many scenes with hostile ghosts. More like the horror equivalent of a pleasant walk through a beautiful park. I enjoyed it highly and want to get a hold of the first Echo Night on PlayStation.

I remember I first heard about Echo Night: Beyond from you Ack. I like the idea of a survival horror game set in space and your description of it here makes me think I would really like it despite not being much for ghost stories.

My thing with ghosts is that I don't believe in them in real life, so these ghost games don't affect me the same way as people that do. If you do believe in ghosts, then you get yourself in this crazy headspace where any sudden movement can spook you and every noise and creek seems to be from some supernatural origin. For some reason, whenever I see horror movies with ghosts I just kind of role my eyes because I see people getting all worked up about it. I admit, that's a little inconsistent because I obviously don't believe in demons or warlocks or zombies or whatever else, and those can suspend disbelief in those kinds of stories. I just break out of the fantasy when it's a ghost. Also, most ghost stories are about ghosts that are not actually out to harm people, but are instead trying to communicate a message from beyond the grave. My friend told me the Changling was the scariest movie ever, but you find out early on that it is not an evil ghost and it is not going to harm the characters, so for me that makes it lose all its punch.

[J T]

10 posts and not a single mention of anything from the Silent Hill series

I think it's universally understood that Silent Hill is awesome. Especially part 2. It's a great survival horror game, but it's also very artistically well done. There's something so compelling about James' suffering over the loss of his wife that he know longer cares for his own well being. The hell of Silent Hill can't match the hell inside him.

Plus, the graphics still look good by today's standards.

[J T]

Anyone have an opinion on Cold Fear?

I bought it on D2D and it won't install on my Vista 64 machine.

[Ack]

You're right, I should have thought about something else beond your belief in ghosts: your attention to beauty and art in video games. For me, Echo Night: Beyond is a beautiful game. There's no combat, but there doesn't need to be. And the game even lets you know when you'll be entering an area where the spirits are hostile, but somehow it adds to the suspense.

And when you do encounter a ghost, while it may not scare you, it will force your character's heart rate up and his vision will swiftly black out, so you'll have to react quickly. It stresses you, the adrenals kick in, and you'll sometimes find yourself panting after fleeing from a ghost, or holding your breath as you sneak past it.

Plus, you're freeing spirits while searching for your lost love, hoping that somewhere in the facility she's still alive but realizing deep down she's probably not. But they keep you hoping just the same. It reminds me of Dead Space in that aspect, though Echo Night: Beyond bothered me more.

After a while in Dead Space I got so desensitized, I'd just walk in, blast whatever I needed to blast where I needed to blast it(take a leg, then an arm, then the other arm. Works every time), and didn't ever really feel scared. In Echo Night: Beyond, every hostile encounter phased me, if only because every encounter was a threat that I had to overcome.

And then there's the sanctuary room in Echo Night: Beyond...a strange room that makes little sense in terms of the game, but somehow works. Like a little representation of personal Heaven.

Yeah, go play it JT.

[Octopod]

Thanks for the info on Cold Fear guys. Since I am almost finished with FO3 Mothership Zeta I decided to start a new console game. I am going with Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth instead of Cold Fear since I am a huge HPL fan(in case my location did not give that away). To stay on topic, I am hoping this game is very psychologically disturbing.