It's weird, ain't it? How much we love things which we are aware aren't good. "Clive Barker's Jericho" is definitely one of them. Repetitive, hard as hell and totally unenjoyable, yet so... I don't even know the word I want to use. It just got that thing!
My personal opinion is, though, that they could have done better by making a movie instead of the game.
What is your favorite horror game till the date.
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Grabthehoopka
- Posts: 316
- Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:16 pm
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
Shoot, I forgot! Two games that I love that I feel are underrated but were successful enough to spawn sequels that totally missed the point of the original and completely dropped the ball:
Condemned: Criminal Origins and Manhunt.
Condemned is an incredibly gripping, intense, and scary game that I actually got frustrated and gave up on TWO TIMES because of the really difficult combat, but luckily on my second attempt to give the game another chance, I finally "got it", and it was smooth sailing from there. Amazing game that understands how to balance in-your-face brutality with subtlety. Unfortunately, the sequel is a dumb mess. First, the first game ended without really explaining much or answering any questions, and I think it gives the game a more unsettling and uncomfortable feeling. In the second game, almost all of the unanswered questions are answered within the first 10 minutes of the game, in the first level. And the answers to all of the questions are all mundane and stupid. Second, they tightened up the combat and made it less difficult, which is good, but then they also expanded on it and added a combo system and special attacks and other stuff that really detracts from the scariness of the game. Third, it's less scary. They decided that they had to wrap this story up, so they throw subtlety completely out the window, and right from the get-go, there's supernatural stuff happening left and right and everything is screaming in your face. There are a couple moments of brilliance, but it seems too often that they are trying too hard to make something scary, and have no idea what actually makes things scary.
Manhunt is not necessarily a scary game, but it has its moments, and is undoubtedly an incredibly intense game with a dark, oppressive atmosphere with shades of the survival horror genre. I'll admit, it holds a special place in my heart. It's easily one of my top 10 favorite games of all time. It has one of the best soundtracks ever made, period, and it has one of the best boss fights of all time, in the form of a cat-and-mouse game with a monstrous serial killer in the creepiest creepy attic ever devised by man. One of the most underrated games of all time, in my opinion, since the game has a reputation that precedes it by miles and miles, and it seems like more people know about the controversy surrounding the game than the game itself. But they're missing out. Because what nobody seems to talk about is the fact that Manhunt isn't JUST a violent game, it's actually a very intelligent, very meta deconstruction on violent video games in general. And if you don't feel like reading the intelligent subtext, then there's a perfectly good and enjoyable violent romp on the surface that you can still enjoy on its own. It's kind of like the videogame equivalent of a Paul Verhoeven movie. And then the sequel came out, which threw all of the intelligence from the first game out the window. The violence was more over-the-top and exploitative. The controls and mechanics were marginally improved, but the shooting controls were somehow worse. And, to top it all off, the game's story was a techno-psychological thriller story that actually wasn't that bad, it was kind of like a Bourne movie or something, but meshes horribly with the game design and the vast majority of the locations and situations you find yourself in feel contrived and shoehorned in for the sake of serving the gameplay and generally being exploitative for purposes of pointlessly pushing the envelope and generating press. There MIGHT be some intelligent subtext lurking under the surface, but they did a really poor job getting it across.
Both of these games need proper continuations. PROPER continuations. Condemned probably needs a spiritual successor rather than a sequel, and Manhunt needs a sequel in the spirit of the first one.
Condemned: Criminal Origins and Manhunt.
Condemned is an incredibly gripping, intense, and scary game that I actually got frustrated and gave up on TWO TIMES because of the really difficult combat, but luckily on my second attempt to give the game another chance, I finally "got it", and it was smooth sailing from there. Amazing game that understands how to balance in-your-face brutality with subtlety. Unfortunately, the sequel is a dumb mess. First, the first game ended without really explaining much or answering any questions, and I think it gives the game a more unsettling and uncomfortable feeling. In the second game, almost all of the unanswered questions are answered within the first 10 minutes of the game, in the first level. And the answers to all of the questions are all mundane and stupid. Second, they tightened up the combat and made it less difficult, which is good, but then they also expanded on it and added a combo system and special attacks and other stuff that really detracts from the scariness of the game. Third, it's less scary. They decided that they had to wrap this story up, so they throw subtlety completely out the window, and right from the get-go, there's supernatural stuff happening left and right and everything is screaming in your face. There are a couple moments of brilliance, but it seems too often that they are trying too hard to make something scary, and have no idea what actually makes things scary.
Manhunt is not necessarily a scary game, but it has its moments, and is undoubtedly an incredibly intense game with a dark, oppressive atmosphere with shades of the survival horror genre. I'll admit, it holds a special place in my heart. It's easily one of my top 10 favorite games of all time. It has one of the best soundtracks ever made, period, and it has one of the best boss fights of all time, in the form of a cat-and-mouse game with a monstrous serial killer in the creepiest creepy attic ever devised by man. One of the most underrated games of all time, in my opinion, since the game has a reputation that precedes it by miles and miles, and it seems like more people know about the controversy surrounding the game than the game itself. But they're missing out. Because what nobody seems to talk about is the fact that Manhunt isn't JUST a violent game, it's actually a very intelligent, very meta deconstruction on violent video games in general. And if you don't feel like reading the intelligent subtext, then there's a perfectly good and enjoyable violent romp on the surface that you can still enjoy on its own. It's kind of like the videogame equivalent of a Paul Verhoeven movie. And then the sequel came out, which threw all of the intelligence from the first game out the window. The violence was more over-the-top and exploitative. The controls and mechanics were marginally improved, but the shooting controls were somehow worse. And, to top it all off, the game's story was a techno-psychological thriller story that actually wasn't that bad, it was kind of like a Bourne movie or something, but meshes horribly with the game design and the vast majority of the locations and situations you find yourself in feel contrived and shoehorned in for the sake of serving the gameplay and generally being exploitative for purposes of pointlessly pushing the envelope and generating press. There MIGHT be some intelligent subtext lurking under the surface, but they did a really poor job getting it across.
Both of these games need proper continuations. PROPER continuations. Condemned probably needs a spiritual successor rather than a sequel, and Manhunt needs a sequel in the spirit of the first one.
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ranger_lennier
- Posts: 250
- Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 5:37 pm
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
This thread is reminding me of how many great games I've never played. Of course, as long as they keep making new games, it's hard to catch up. 
I'll add the GameCube remake of Resident Evil--the pinnacle of the old-school style Resident Evil games.
I'll add the GameCube remake of Resident Evil--the pinnacle of the old-school style Resident Evil games.
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
As silly as Condemed 2 was, that game still has some fun moments. The bear comes to mind...
"If you're going through Hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill.
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Grabthehoopka
- Posts: 316
- Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:16 pm
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
The bear, and that one part where you walk around the suddenly-abandoned police station.loudERIC wrote:As silly as Condemed 2 was, that game still has some fun moments. The bear comes to mind...
Still, hearing indistinct voices and banging around from distant parts of the building and murderous psychos that disguise themselves as mannequins will beat tar monsters screaming in my face any day of the week.
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
Oh, for sure. Condemned 2 is worth a play if only to learn from the games missteps. It works as a sign post of "how not to make a sequel."Grabthehoopka wrote:The bear, and that one part where you walk around the suddenly-abandoned police station.loudERIC wrote:As silly as Condemed 2 was, that game still has some fun moments. The bear comes to mind...
Still, hearing indistinct voices and banging around from distant parts of the building and murderous psychos that disguise themselves as mannequins will beat tar monsters screaming in my face any day of the week.
"If you're going through Hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill.
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
I've only played Condemned 1, but I played on easy, so combat wasn't very frustrating for me. It's funny because when I initially played the demo at E3, I thought it was just a first person bum killing simulator, but it was a pretty interesting horror game.
No one has mentioned Fatal Frame yet (at least I don't think so), but I loved 1 and 2. They were a bit too hard for me (I suck at games), but pretty darn scary. I think they had some of the best jump scares in all of gaming.
No one has mentioned Fatal Frame yet (at least I don't think so), but I loved 1 and 2. They were a bit too hard for me (I suck at games), but pretty darn scary. I think they had some of the best jump scares in all of gaming.
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
Funny you mention Fatal Frame 1 as I just started p laying it last night. It's alright so far. I think now that I under stand the mechanics better I'm oddly compeled to start over and get more pictures of the ghosts.
So odd to me more games haven't copied the Fatal Frame or Pokemon Snap formula. Something about taking photos In a game is just inherently fun. Especially when your throw in secrets like Pokemon Snap or use is as a means to unsettle the player by making the scary thing be in their face with a slow charging spirit trapping camera.
So odd to me more games haven't copied the Fatal Frame or Pokemon Snap formula. Something about taking photos In a game is just inherently fun. Especially when your throw in secrets like Pokemon Snap or use is as a means to unsettle the player by making the scary thing be in their face with a slow charging spirit trapping camera.
"If you're going through Hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill.
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
Fatal Frame to me just nailed a creepy atmosphere. I felt so tense! I thought it was really well done but not a perfect game. The puzzles weren't really interesting although i think the same could be said for pretty much every horror game. Silent Hill has really obscure puzzles. WayForward's discussion of their unreleased Silent Hill games and puzzle design was really interesting: http://www.destructoid.com/wayforward-s ... 3412.phtml
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Re: What is your favorite horror game till the date.
Guilty pleasures.Raziel_cz wrote:It's weird, ain't it? How much we love things which we are aware aren't good.
Yeah, or an actual book. For instance, I love the pulp fiction by Charles Grant, "Black Oak" 1-5 (3 and 4 are the best parts). They're trash, they're not that long, but they are surprisingly well written for their content and they are great escapism.My personal opinion is, though, that they could have done better by making a movie instead of the game.
...too bad the author died.
And he seemed to have such ideas for the overarching backstory of it, too... @Grabthehoopka
I don't own the appropriate console, so I couldn't play Condemned myself, but even just watching an LP of it was quite effective. Nice one.
@matt
Fatal Frame was interesting to me because of the very different approach to ghost/demon stories (interesting in regards to different cultural perspectives on that), but I didn't find it all that scary to be honest. Another LP-only experience for me, though, which could easily account for that. Not playing yourself makes a huge difference with such an interactive medium of course. Hell, this is even true for the NN-demo already.