Now before I begin I want to make the disclaimer that my idea of a horror video game compared to many other fan's views of horror video games is often different. To me a good survival horror video game will be filled to the brim with creepy atmosphere, anxiety ridden moments of tension, exploration/escape, and--of course--pee your pants scares. Too much action and too many overpowered weapons will instantly kill the true fear meant to be had in a good horror story. (I still enjoy action filled horror games but I much prefer the "creeping dread.") So without further ado: Here are my top ten survival horror video games.
Hello readers and welcome to the first edition of Top Ten Tuesday. I will be reviewing my top ten favorite (fill in the blank) on sporadic Tuesdays when I feel the horror itch. Earlier this morning I made a post about the recent announcement of Resident Evil HD for new gen consoles. Well, in honor of that announcement I present my top ten favorite survival horror video games! Now before I begin I want to make the disclaimer that my idea of a horror video game compared to many other fan's views of horror video games is often different. To me a good survival horror video game will be filled to the brim with creepy atmosphere, anxiety ridden moments of tension, exploration/escape, and--of course--pee your pants scares. Too much action and too many overpowered weapons will instantly kill the true fear meant to be had in a good horror story. (I still enjoy action filled horror games but I much prefer the "creeping dread.") So without further ado: Here are my top ten survival horror video games. Uninvited is a strange little game that was originally released on the Mac in 1986, DOS in 1987, and later released on Nintendo in 1991. It is a point and click adventure game that takes you into a haunted mansion after a car crash in the rain. The unnamed main character goes into the mansion to search for a lost sibling who disappeared after the car accident. For being so old this game was creepy and even a little gruesome. It was the perfect setup of the stranded stranger entering the creepy mansion. 7th Guest is very similar to Uninvited. In 7th Guest you play as a nameless character who has lost their memory and are now trapped inside of an abandoned haunted mansion. There is an omniscient voice that taunts you and speaks to you, laying puzzles and clues all around the house. It is a fun and creepy title that uses full motion video for its sequences with the ghost characters you encounter. It even has a sequel I have yet to play called The 11th Hour. By far the scariest game I've ever played Fatal Frame II gave me many long uneasy nights in my basement bedroom of my childhood home. Fatal Frame II follows two little twin girls who get lost in the woods. The sky quickly gets dark and the girls find themselves in the haunted Lost Village. The use of sound, imagery, and atmosphere all combine to give the player a run for their money. The only way to survive is to use a camera to capture the souls of the dead. Great game. It may seem odd, but I can not expresses enough how much I love Dementium: The Ward. It has one of the best atmospheres of any scary game I've played. The constant sound of rain, the shadowy and empty hospital corridors, the fear that some overpowered demon may be lurking just around the corner. All these elements put Dementium on my list of top ten favorite survival horror games. For a DS game it excels in the horror. It is fun, it is creepy, and it is portable. Amnesia: The Dark Descent has become sort of an indie phenomenon among gamers and around the web. It takes many of the great elements I love in Dementium and does them one better. In this game you literally have no weapons at all and your sanity quickly deteriorates before your very eyes. You spend the game exploring, solving complicated puzzles, and running for your life. It is the perfect ode to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The story gets more demented and dark as you go. And it is scary as hell. After the completion of Final Fanasy VII the team behind the game moved on to make a game that I personally enjoy even more than FFVII. That game is Parasite Eve. You play as Aya Brea, an NYPD investigator pursuing a murderous supernatural demon named Eve. It combines some of the best elements of the Resident Evil series with some of the ideas and mechanics of the Final Fantasy series. It is a mysterious and atmospheric game of biological horror. The original Resident Evil was released in 1996 and is still one of the best in the series. Taking cues from games like Alone in the Dark, it perfected the survival horror formula. You had very little amo and were stuck in a large creepy mansion that was crawling with zombies, spiders, snakes, and other horrible mutations. It is a great game that I find myself wanting to play again and again (despite the horrible full motion cut scenes and voice acting. Maybe it adds to the charm?) Silent Hill took the survival horror formula established by previous games and gave it a very demented and dark twist. You play Harry Mason who is searching for his daughter in the eerie and abandoned town of Silent Hill. But things aren't so simple. When the tornado sirens go off the down transforms, plunging into a hellish nightmare of rust and blood. Silent Hill is an amazing and groundbreaking game of pure horror. It has a sick and twisted story line, a great demonic atmosphere, and some really good scares that are sure to put the jump in your system. Resident Evil 2 made everything good about the first game even better. It moved the story from the creepy mansion and surrounding forest into the heart of a zombie infested city. Claire and Leon are some of the most engaging and enjoyable characters in the series. It has plenty of suspense, story, and jump scares. To this day, my favorite video game of all time is Silent Hill 3. Period. It was the first in the series that I picked up and I was completely blown away. I had never seen such horror, such tensions, such gore, in any video game before. You play as Heather Mason, a teenage girl who seems to attract horror. The hellish transformations follow her wherever she goes, not only in the town Silent Hill alone. This game has the greatest atmosphere and creep factor of any game I've played. It is sick and twisted and I love it.
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