Horror games can conjure a wide range of emotions, from disgust and panic to the lingering pangs of existential dread.
The scariest games excel at nailing just one or two of these feelings really well, or send us on an unrelenting rollercoaster fueled by all manner of terror. With that criteria in mind, we set out to name the top ten scariest games ever made. Let’s begin.
Necromorphs define the terror of Dead Space with their gruesome designs and unpredictable natures. Unlike the foes of most horror games, these guys don’t go down with a bullet to the brain — sometimes their heads aren’t even located where they should be.
But even with a “strategic dismemberment” system that lets us rip enemies apart in creative ways, wandering the corridors of that desolate starship is never not scary. That’s because Necromorphs are creative too, adapting to a sudden lack of limbs in disturbing new ways that keeps the stakes high and the fear factor even higher. — Destin Legarie
The little-played early survival horror game Enemy Zero forces you to explore a dark, lonely starship armed with an audio-based sonar device. As invisible enemies stalk you in the dark and the tension slowly mounts, your heart actually begins to sync with the pulse of your detector.
Enemy Zero's mechanics helped inspire games like Alien Isolation, but none of its imitators have ever quite captured the same consistent sense of terror. — Jared Petty
Outlast tasks players with investigating the unnerving depths of an overrun psychiatric hospital, home to a host of ghastly secrets and lots and lots of dead bodies.
But what really prevents the player from ever feeling comfortable is an unrelenting onslaught of exhilarating chase sequences, cheap, yet effective jump scares, and a risky dependence on your camcorder’s night vision to even see where you’re going — a handicap that Outlast capitalizes on to outstandingly chilling effect. — James Duggan
No amount of scripted jump scares can amount to the sheer, heart-pounding tension we’ve encountered in DayZ’s hostile open-world. But it’s never been the game’s zombies we’ve had to fear. In DayZ, the scariest thing of all is the unpredictability of other human players.
Unforgiving permadeath, a scarcity of resources, and other brutal design choices all work in horrifying harmony to bring out the absolute worst in the people playing, making DayZ one of the most stressful and scary video game experiences. — Chloi Rad
Unlike the run-and-hide trend of modern horror games, Fatal Frame 2 forces you to face your fears. In order to survive, you have to point your camera straight at the encroaching horrors and snap a picture. It's a wonderful subversion of our natural desire to turn away from danger, and provides some of the best horror game jump scares out there as a result. — Jared Petty
This article passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
Recommended article: The Guardian's Summary of Julian Assange's Interview Went Viral and Was Completely False.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire