Best Ever Scary Games
Whether they’re cheap scares or more thoughtful frights, we look back on some of the greatest examples of spooky games.
By 1UP Staff
What is Best Ever? “Best Ever” is the 1UP team’s attempt to establish, well, the “best ever” videogames (or gaming moments) in history through a series of semi-regular features. We’re not ranking them, but we will try to tell you why they’re important, sometimes including more personal reflections from the 1UP staff. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to leave a comment below.
For our first edition, we’re focusing on the Best Ever Scary Games. And we do mean genuinely scary, whether it gave us the startling of a lifetime or made us feel a little uneasy inside.
<!– 10. –> Alone in the Dark
Infogrames | PC | 1992
You console kids always make Resident Evil your “oh crap, a monster jumped through the window game”, but this polygonal PC wonder did it earlier. While actual scare moments like when the possessed dog jumps through a window are a bit far and few between, the game models the sort of dread you get when reading an HP Lovecraft story. As you read more books, learn about why the house is so darn evil, and continue to dodge dogs, zombies, and even tentacled monstrosities, the game just builds and builds and builds dread until the point when some bizarre beastie shows up, you’re just as freaked out by its otherworldness as any fool in an HP Lovecraft book would.- Ray Barnholt
<!– 10. –> Alien Trilogy
Acclaim | PlayStation | 1995
Released on the PlayStation and Saturn back in ‘95, the underrated Alien Trilogy was often viewed as a standard Doom clone with the Aliens license, which was absolutely selling it short. Loosely based on the first three Alien movies, developer Probe perfectly captured the mood and intensity of the films. And for fans of these movies, the game was frightfully authentic — from the accurate sound effects to perfect recreation of the LV426 colony setting. It was clear the developers understood what made the Aliens films so chilling: the pacing was just right to always keep you on your toes (and hearing an alien crawling near you and then seeing your motion sensor start to light up was completely unnerving). Alien Trilogy also featured one of the best soundtracks of its time — completely moody and atmospheric, it made use of such samples as a heart beating or various alien sounds to keep you spooked throughout.
Unfortunately, the game did suffer a tad from the technology at the time — the facehuggers appeared as giant pixelated blobs when they attached themselves to your screen. And yes, a lot of the gameplay was modeled after Doom, which was the hotness at the time (’sup, exploding barrels?). But what Alien Trilogy got right — capturing the spine-chilling mood of the films — more than made up for any of that.
- Sam Kennedy
<!– 10. –> BioShock
2K | Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC | 2007
Is there a sound more frightening than grinding, bending steel when you’re on a plane 30,000 feet in air? It’s not an unearthly fear, it’s something that you can imagine happening every time you step onto a plane. And that’s where BioShock starts: you’re stranded in the middle of the ocean, and your only salvation is in a claustrphobic elevator that extends down to the ocean’s surface. In those opening, helpless moments, you’re assaulted by freakish, blade-weilding monsters. And, even though you’re safe, their impish voices don’t make your first step into the underwater city of Rapture a pleasant one.
But BioShock isn’t frightening just because it looks good, or because the only denizens you meet are deformed creatures who want to harvest the life-giving “Adam” from your dead body. BioShock works because the narrative is so good. As much as you might want to leave Rapture, you also want to find out what the hell’s going on. Like most horror games, as you get farther and farther, you grow increasingly more powerful, diffusing much of the fear and tension. But those dark, early moments haunted me throughout my entire journey, no matter how much I wanted to turn back.
- Justin Haywald
Tweet This Post
Nostalgia does not make a good first impression. After a rousing opening, the viewpoint shifts to aspiring adventurer Eddie, whose father has recently gone missing. Before he can set off on a globetrotting adventure to rescue his dear old dad though, he has to take a page directly from the “Big Book of Japanese RPG Clichés” and kill some rats. Eddie’s early sojourn into the London sewers does not inspire confidence.
But something happens as Nostalgia rolls through hoary old clichés. Stick with the game for a couple hours, and you’ll find that you can’t help smiling at the silly conventions and tired mechanics. Play a little longer, and you’ll get a genuine case of the warm fuzzies, even if Nostalgia itself is hardly on the same level as the games it borrows from. Like the name implies, it’s a trip down memory lane for JRPG fans who have fond memories of Skies of Arcadia and other RPGs from the mid-to-late 90s.
Tweet This Post
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 is a pretty fantastic real-time strategy game; it’s a shame that it has a bit of a repetitive single-player campaign. As much as I love the ground level, tactical small-squad combat, I do grow weary of how the campaign generally devolves into a series of “go from point A to B, and lo and behold, a boss encounter! Now just spam your abilities to take the boss down.” That right there is one of the first things being fixed with the upcoming expansion pack, Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising; this time, Relic is working to make sure every one of the 15 missions in the single-player campaign has distinct objectives and no feelings of redundancy.
That’s one of the main additions in Chaos Rising, along with an entire new army (the Chaos Marines), and a slew of new units to the existing armies. The Chaos Marines were present in the original Dawn of War, but were dropped in favor of adding the Tyranids in Dawn of War 2. If you don’t know your Warhammer 40K lore, you just need to know that the Chaos Marines are Space Marines who worship the Chaos Gods; essentially, they are twisted and daemon-possessed Space Marines. They make the single-player campaign a bit more interesting due to the fact that they have about as much firepower as you do, but they also fight dirtier; expect the A.I. to ambush you or use teleportation abilities or daemonic weapons and items to mess with you more often.
Tweet This Post
It’s appropriate that Halloween is tomorrow, because we’re approaching the scariest time of the year for game reviewers: November. Despite some delays from publishers, this year is still chock full of new games that threaten to cause sleepless nights and deadline headaches. Even this week saw ten new reviews, and we expect to be even busier heading into November. While our reviews staff cowers in a corner, check out this week’s scores below.
- Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (PS3) – Sam Kennedy: “I’ll admit that there might not be enough to tempt you here. But know this: I’m a casual fan of the series and I still found myself excited to get home and play the game each night the past week. It may be a lot of more of the same, but more of the same has never been so darn addicting.” (A)
- Marvel Super Hero Squad (Wii) – Tina Sanchez: “Ultimately, though, all that really matters here is if you like the idea of a very simple, kid-oriented brawler featuring cute versions of Marvel characters. The rest of the game falls in line adequately.” (C+)
- The Wizard of Oz Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (DS) – Alice Liang: “The graphics and soundtrack warrant a look for their own sake, but it’s a light-on-story alternative view of a classic, that’s sometimes too easy, sometimes too hard, and never quite the enchanting game I hoped it would be.” (C+)
- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky (DS) – Jeremy Parish: ” If you want a challenging RPG, you’re better off with Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (still available for DS); if you want a superior Pokémon experience, you should opt instead for Pokémon Platinum. And if you’ve already slogged through Explorers of Time/Darkness, the small additions on offer here aren’t really compelling enough to make the game worth playing again.” (C+)
- Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony (360) – Mike Nelson: “With The Ballad of Gay Tony complete and available for download over LIVE (or in the Episodes from Liberty City bundle pack that includes both The Lost and Gay Tony) GTA IV’s final expansion sends itself off in style in some of the most ridiculous ways possible; I think that’s why I like it so much.” (A-)
- DJ Hero (360/PS3/Wii) – Richard Li: “DJ Hero attempts to mold turntablism into a mainstream medium. It succeeds, but stumbles along the way. I didn’t experience the sensation of scratching and mixing, until I turned it up to Expert difficulty. Beginner is way too easy, and Hard is lackluster. Expert difficulty, however, mimics the actions of a DJ…” (B)
- Tropico 3 (PC/360) – Scott Sharkey: “In fact, it’s very tempting to call Tropico 3 “edutainment,” and I only hesitate to do so because the word has long since been synonymous with “no damn fun.” In this case, however, the challenges the game presents are personally involving rather than being all teachy for its own sake.” (B)
- Tekken 6 (PS3/360) – Richard Li: “Rather than spending resources on an updated Tekken Force, Namco Bandai should have spent more time on Tekken’s online matchmaking. Currently, online is too inconsistent to be taken seriously. Without the quality online play, the Tekken community will have to take their battles offline, limiting the potential for community growth.” (B+)
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii) – Alice Liang: “Still, even if you’re not a fanatic about 100% game completions and unlocking every piece of clothing (which only Miis, and not the licensed characters, can wear), sports equipment decals, Mario and Sonic related music tracks, or ranking first in the events, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games offers enough motion-controlled distraction to keep you busy.” (B-)
- Critter Crunch (PS3) – Steve Watts: “Critter Crunch is one of the more clever puzzle games I’ve played recently, and it has charm and personality to spare. The numerous modes grant it a longevity that makes the $6.99 asking price easy to justify even for the tightest wallets.” (A)
Tweet This Post
Critter Crunch includes, among its 40-plus stages, a “Barfing Tutorial.” To be clear, this is an entire stage designed specifically to train you in how to spew rainbow-colored vomit. Critter Crunch is also one of the most adorable and beautifully animated games available on the PlayStation Network — even the barfing is kind of cute.
The major Critter is Biggs, a rotund furball on a remote island, single-handedly responsible for keeping its complex food chain in check. The game is a high-definition version of the well-received mobile phone title of the same name, but Capybara Games obviously put a lot of extra work into this version. The lavish character design is a great example of how good 2D art can look on a modern-day system.
Tweet This Post
Just in time for Halloween, Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil Zero has been given an official release date. Capcom has announced that the updated prequel will be out on the Wii in early December.
Like the first game in the Resident Evil Archives line, Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil Zero is the original 2002 GameCube title with added motion control support. The original isn’t extremely hard to find, but if you haven’t played it yet, you might want to wait for the release.
Tweet This Post
Thanks for your patience. The WiiNintendo forums are back online.
Special thanks to hey_suburbia, who did everything worth mentioning while I sat around pretending to help.
Tweet This Post
At a Nintendo meeting today, Kotaku has learned that Miyamoto is working on the new Zelda Wii title, which will sport swordplay with the MotionPlus feature. He is also working on a “DS game to play at home” and is interested in how the DS can be used in “public spaces”.
Nintendo mentioned that the company was not against HD, and Miyamoto pointed out that a title like Wii Fit would not benefit greatly from HD, but the Nintendo creator added that a game like, say, Pikmin would.
[Kotaku]
Tweet This Post
Come to Nintendo World between 11am and 3pm on Sunday, November 1 to be one of the first to play Band Hero for the Wii and Nintendo DS! Rock out to 65 of the biggest chart topping hits, get Band Hero giveaways, and enter to win raffle prizes.
Tweet This Post
The game is a standard mascot kart racing game, very similar to other games in its genre like Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing. Characters race through various race circuits themed on different Sega franchises and collect power-ups to boost their speed or hamper their opponents. Like Sumo’s previous Sega game, Sega Superstars Tennis, each character has a special ability (called an “All-Star Move”) unique to them that they may use to their advantage (such as Sonic transforming into Super Sonic and AiAi riding in marbles), which they can obtain if they are running behind in the race.
Vehicles are separated into four different categories: racing, off-road, bike and hovercraft. As the terrain on the tracks will vary, vehicles can be either assisted or hindered by the surfaces they drive upon. For example, racing-type vehicles perform best on hard surfaces such as wood or concrete, but are hampered by soft terrain such as mud, sand or snow. The opposite is true for off-road type vehicles.
The game will have multiplayer options for up to four players on split-screen and eight players online. There will also be missions and an arena battle mode.
The game was showcased at E3 2009, where it was stated that the final version of the game will have over 20 different characters.
Tweet This Post
