411 Top 5 Games Edition 08.18.06: Week 4
Posted by Steve McHugh on 08.18.2006
Top 5 Scariest Games
Before we begin this week we'll be going through feedback we've received.
To begin with some feedback about the Top 5 superhero games as I forgot to put it in last week's column because I'm an idiot.
Joshua wrote
I know it's been a long time since I've played X-men Arcade, but I always thought that Colossus was the best player in the game. I mean he could take the entire screen of enemies. Oh well, I love the columns guys, keep it up.
Thanks for the kind words Joshua
Now on with the feedback for last week's column. To begin with our very own Sean McCabe gives his top 5.
the last of the Fatal Furies, the best of the Fatal Furies. The game that finally perfected the 2D formula that Streetfighter 2 started, Garou offered an awesome roster of fighters (including the freaking hot Bonne Jenet). It had some of the most beautiful background art, and Hi-Res sprites that actually look great even by today's standards. A truly exceptional game, all things considered.
4. Dead or Alive 2
the best of it's series so far and my favourite 3D beat em up, Dead or Alive married simplicity, something too many beat em ups forget, with fact, hi octane and heavy hitting arena combat. Some people call this game shallow. Some people don't know what they're talking about.
3. King of Fighters XI
I only got 25 minutes with a copy of this game. But it was enough to know it's the pinnacle of one of the greatest game series of all time. A true modern classic. This combines an impressive roster with the usual, complex yet intuitive KoF fighting system. But it's been taking steroids.
2. Streetfighter 2
mainly putting it here in recognition that it pretty much started it all. It's still a perfectly playable game over 15 years on, which is a testament of its timelessness.
1. Capcom vs. SNK 2
This game lets me but together match-ups like Ryu vs. Kyo, Ken Masters vs. Terry Bogard, Morrigan vs. Nakoruru, Akuma vs. Iori and M. Bison vs. Geese Howard. Only disappointment was the lack of Felicia, Whip, Leona and Mary. I really hope that there will be a Capcom vs. SNK 3 one day.
Also Todd Vote had a few questions about my insane decision to include Eternal Champions over Mortal Kombat.
did you just put Eternal Champions in the same league as Mortal Kombat? Now I will admit the characters are interesting, but the actual gameplay? Some of the death sequences were fun, as long as you could get them to work. I think I remember reading in a copy of EGM that Sega was spouting this as the MK killer, no way. I was as excited as anybody about this game, but was disappointed with the grainy look and sub par sound the game offered. Plus it moved really slowly. It was an entertaining game at times, but I would not put it up there with MK. Did you know there was a sequel to this game for the Sega CD? Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark side
I see your point Todd but I thought the original MK was all style over substance and whilst the second game was great I just always had a soft spot for EC. They had more interesting and varied characters for one. Yes I knew they remade the game for the Sega CD and apparently it was a much better game, unfortunately I didn't own a Sega CD and as such had to use a friend's so I only ever really played such epic games as Night Trap.
And now on with this weeks Top 5 scariest games.
Steve McHugh
5. Doom 3
This game wasn't that scary until the lights went out. It's just you and a bunch of monsters and although you've got a gun you can't see anything if you equip it. So you use the flashlight and hope to God you gave enough time to switch back when something attacks you. The very definition of a jump out of your seat game.
4. Project Zero
Three words mean it makes this list. Little girl ghosts. That's right scary assed little Japanese girl ghosts. As scary as the rest of the game is, and it is very scary, those little girls will haunt you.
3. Silent Hill 2
The whole game is messed up. But then you go to the other world and everything is just so wrong. It doesn't help that the story is messed up too but it means that this isn't a nice game at all. Not one to play alone in the dark.
2. System Shock 2
It's a RPG FPS and it's awesome. Weapons are in short supply and ammo even more so. As you play through the game you learn more about the horrific things that happened to the crew of the spaceship. Then you hear them. You freak. Finally you see them in their grotesque glory and you shit yourself as you realise you're going to die a lot. One of the few genuinely scary games that doesn't rely on shock tactics, it relies on pure psychological terror to make you scared. The fact that this was never ported to a console is awful. Well done EA.
1. Resident Evil 4
The game is fantastic but to describe how I feel about it I'll explain what happened the first few minutes of my first go. You go into a village and are attacked by the residents. You kill them all and you hear it. The chainsaw. You look around and see the chainsaw holding maniac coming at you. You empty a clip into him and he falls down. And then gets back up. You reload and empty more bullets but it's too late and he's close so you try to run and he decapitates you. Game over. Welcome to Resi 4. You're gonna love it.
Honourable mentions;
Resident Evil remake. – Still a gloriously good game and now fantastic to look at too.
Steven Masters
5. Doom 3
This game scared the crap out of me. Holy crap. I mean, it was like this monster's main mission was to hide somewhere. Wait till you got within hugging distance then BAM, you're a fillet on a monster BBQ.
4. Silent Hill 3
One Scene does this for me. Walking into the room with a bathtub. You know the one. I hate it, but love it at the same time.
3. Shadow of the Colossus.
Scary for a different reason. I love this game; I own it and have only beaten it once. Scary that some little guy can run around and climb up these things that can destroy you with a booger and take them down to save someone he loves. Human Spirit presence in a game at it's greatest.
2. Aliens VS Predator 2
Holy God, I still shudder when I load this game up. Sitting there, frantically trying to figure out what's coming at your from where in the dark, surrounded by face-huggers and spleen-cutters, knowing you're screwed.
1. Resident Evil 2
I first played this game when I was seven or eight. I beat it in 12 hours. And I didn't pick it up again until about two years because this damn game was on my subconscious the whole time. The week after I beat it, I was scared shitless of the dark. I didn't go anywhere alone at night, nor without a weapon of some sort, hoping to everything holy a licker or Birkin himself wasn't after my organs.
Sean McCabe
Honourable mentions: Kuon, Doom 3, Fatal Frame and Clock Tower
5. Silent Hill 2
Only game in this series I've beat, since I'm not really a fan of its style. However, this was a pretty disturbing game, and the story was quite beautiful.
4. The Suffering
Way superior to the Ties that Bind in my opinion, this game was scary as hell. The voices always got me, as did the general atmosphere.
3. Resident Evil Remake
This game was just gorgeous, but also dank, creepy and the crimson heads were quite an evil addition. It was genius though, just like the original.
2. Clock Tower 3
The main reason this game is so high, is I believe the murder scenes in it are some of the most shocking and unpleasant ever put in a game. Seeing a 12 year old girl being killed with a freaking mallet will give you nightmares.
1. Haunting Ground
Clock Tower 4 in all but name, this is the best horror game ever created, and the most underrated. The storyline is pretty odd, and not really conventional horror, but man, I get the heebee jeebees from thinking about it. The game uses innocence and sensuality in a Kubrick like way to, so Capcom are perverts, but they know how to translate that to horror.
Vincent Chiucchi
5. Exmortis - This isn't exactly a video game, but rather a flash game you can find on newgrounds.com. I played this for a couple minutes and then just stopped because it looked really freaky and I was for sure that whatever was coming up later in the game would make me jump out of my chair.
4. Zelda: Wand of Gamelon - When Link looks like a lady; it scares me to think how bad this game can truly be.
3. Big Rigs - What scares me is that there are actual people out there who actually get paid to actually create the worst "game" of all time. Giving these people the right to make games almost makes as much sense as the plot of any horror movie with "of the dead" in the title.
2. Silent Hill series - I never did play the Silent Hill games, but just by looking at all the freaks of nature and the fact you barely get any weapons in the game makes me want to stay far, far away from playing this.
1. Resident Evil series - There were times where I would attempt to play this game, only to just stop and turn it off because I was that scared of what would actually happen. I had an easier time with Resident Evil 4, but even then I was freaking out sometimes of what was going to happen next.
Frank Mohr
Honourable Mentions: Clock Tower 3, Silent Hill 2
5) Illbleed (DC)
I hadn't ever played a survival horror game until this. Aside from the controls being slightly wonky, the game was beautifully designed, and even the graphics' were pretty good for the time. The sixth sense thing was pretty cool, too.
4) Fatal Frame 3
simply put, this game is the most disturbing game I have ever played. Twisted, claustrophobic, and horrifyingly atmospheric, this game really has it all if you want sheer scare factor.
3) ObsCure
the game is basically a carbon copy of Resident Evil 1, with mediocre graphics, gameplay, and story. What makes it so great, in my opinion, is three things. First, the game's protagonists are all pulled directly from high school stereotypes; you got the jock, the rebellious little sister, and, my personal favourite, the stoner, among others. Second reason this game is good? It has the ability to duct tape a flashlight to any of your guns. Just think about the brilliant simplicity of that in a dark, spooky setting, and think of why it's pretty much never been done before. Third reason? Co-op. Nothing else to say.
2) Dead Rising
I've had it for a day, and I've spent just about every hour since purchase playing it. The cinematics are worthy of any horror movie I've ever seen, especially the opening sequence in the helicopter. Nothing in the game is underdeveloped; even NPCs all have a unique personality and model. All in all, one of THE best horror-style games I've ever played.
1) Resident Evil 4
I've always been a huge fan of the RE series. Aside from the gun survivor and outbreak games, I've gone through every iteration, and I can easily say RE4 is the most engrossing, fun-to-play, and detailed horror game on the market. And it has some of the most badass creatures ever. The fight with the first Garrador almost left me permanently scarred.
Brandon Ratliff
5. F.E.A.R. (PC, Xbox 360) - I don't think I even need to say why this game is scary, but there were several times where I uttered the phrase "oh fuck this" and stopped playing it, only to start it up again within a few minutes, because the game was also that good. One of the best horror games in recent memory.
4. Resident Evil 4 (GCN) - Like Frank, I've always loved the Resident Evil series, and while this one isn't quite as scary as a couple of the other ones, I remember many times feeling real fear and terror as I would hear that weird assed chanting coming up behind me...and that thing you have to fight in the power station...the thing where you shoot the tanks that slow it down...that thing scared the bejesus out of me the first time I saw it.
3. Fatal Frame (PS2, Xbox) - I'll admit...I got about an hour into this game (in the dark, alone, no less), and stopped playing and never touched it again. *shivers*
2. Condemned (Xbox 360, PC) - Just way too much shit jumping out at you...enough said.
1. Silent Hill 2 (PS2, Xbox) - No other game has made me so afraid to continue in so many points as this. The graphics, story, everything about it still rules today. Remember that long staircase down to the prison? It took me damn near an hour to work up the courage to walk down it. Remember when the triangle dude comes out of nowhere and impales Maria? I ran out of the room. This game is scarier than a vast majority of horror movies out there, which says a lot. The ambient noise too...gahhhhh.
Well as per usual if you have any comments or if you think we're wrong then let us know.
Next week it's the top 5 Games we'd like to see remade for the Next Gen.
