Happy Halloween!

In the spirit of the holiday, I’ve made a list of the top 5 scariest games. Hold on to your candy bags because you’re in for a treat. The countdown begins!

#5 – The Thing

Set as a sequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 film of the same name, the story focuses on Captain Blake, a member of a U.S. Special Forces team sent to the Antarctic outpost featured in the film to determine what has happened to the research team. (Reference – Wikipedia)

 

I played this one a long time ago, but I remember it could be quite creepy at times. I don’t think there were any scenes that made you jump, but the atmosphere and suspense could give you the chills. Especially when you never knew when the Thing would show itself.

#4 – Cold Fear

In a ferocious Arctic storm, distress signals are sent from a mysterious Russian whaler. As leading Coast Guard veteran Tom Hansen, you board to investigate — and discover unthinkable horrors lurking beneath the ship’s bloodstained decks. (Reference – Steam)

I didn’t get to play the whole thing, but I watched the videos and I have to say, I’m glad I didn’t get to.  Freaky.

#3 – Thief

Garrett, the Master Thief, steps out of the shadows into the City. In this treacherous place, where the Baron’s Watch spreads a rising tide of fear and oppression, his skills are the only things he can trust. Even the most cautious citizens and their best-guarded possessions are not safe from his reach. (Reference – Steam)

I’ve played every game in this series. All the games have at least one area that puts you on edge. I thought they had hit their creepiest part in the last game Thief: Deadly Shadows (it took a lot of courage to open that banging door in the orphanage turned insane asylum).

But nope, they topped that with a new level in their newest game Thief. There is an area where you go to an asylum (again). But this time, it was way worse. Even the beginning gave me the willies, so I decided to watch a video on the level first. I jumped while watching the video of someone else playing it! Knowing what would happen didn’t help much, so the only way I got through it myself was playing in broad daylight with the sound muted. Bye-bye scary level. There were a few other dark and foreboding areas, but nothing tops the asylum.

#2 – Slender: The Eight Pages

The game is based on the quasi-folklore meme figure known as the Slender Man, who is depicted as a tall man with a white face with no facial features, who wears an all black suit with a red tie around the neck area. He is known for the ominous abduction of countless children in dark mysterious settings, such as deep forests and abandoned buildings. (Reference – Wikipedia)

I never had the courage to play this game myself, but I watched videos on it and I’m sure glad I did.

Slender: The Arrival

You’re on your own. No one to come for you, to help you, or to hear you scream. Slender: The Arrival is the official video-game adaption of Slender Man, developed in collaboration with Eric “Victor Surge” Knudson, creator of the paranormal phenomenon that has been terrifying the curious. (Reference – Steam)

I think this is the newer version. If it’s anything like The Eight Pages, it will freak you out.

And #1 is…

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*Drum Roll*

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#1 – The Silent Hill series

P.T. (Silent Hills)

Unlike the third-person perspective in Silent Hill games, P.T. uses a first-person perspective, which centers on an unknown protagonist, whom the player controls, who awakens in a haunted suburban house and experiences supernatural occurrences. Available areas to explore in the home consist of an L-shaped corridor with two rooms adjacent to it: a bathroom, and a staircase which leads to the room in which the player starts a loop, or a continuous reincarnation of the corridor. The only actions the player can use are walking and zooming. To progress, the player must investigate frightening events and solve cryptic puzzles. Each time a loop is successfully completed, changes appear in the corridor. Additionally, the player encounters a hostile ghost named Lisa. If she catches the protagonist, the player experiences a startling jump scare and is sent back to the beginning of the current loop. (Reference – Wikipedia)

Video of the game-play

I started watching the video for this… and then had to stop. Turn off the lights, blast the sound, and see how long you can last.

If you make it through the whole thing, kudos to you! In the spirit of Halloween, maybe I’ll try again. Maybe.

Note: I don’t go out of my way to play horror games. This list is what I’ve come across over the years, and I don’t especially enjoy horror. I’m sure there are even scarier games out there. Doom might have made it on my list, but I had neither played far enough into it nor watched any videos to know for sure.

If you have a favorite horror game, or a game you think is scarier than any on this list, please share.

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!