The 7th Guest (1992)
This one is definitely a nostalgic piece for me. I've owned this game ever since it was first released, back when I was two years old. I used to watch my mom play this game when it first came out, and then when I was old enough to play games myself, I started playing. It tells the story of a man named Henry Stauf, who was nothing more than a petty criminal, stealing just enough to get by. But, one day, when robbing an old woman, he accidentally kills her. Once he does, he starts to get visions of a beautiful doll while he sleeps. When he wakes, he constructs the the doll from memory, and sells it to a bar owner to get food and shelter for a while. Over time he builds more of the strange dolls, and starts up his own business selling them. The dolls are unbelievably popular among the children of Harley on the Hudson (the town he lives in), and he quickly becomes a millionaire. However, one by one, the children of Harlye begin to succumb to a mysterious, uncurable disease. When this happens, Stauf suddenly closes shop and shuts himself away in a big, mysterious mansion on a hill.
Cut to an unknown number of years later (presumably the 1930's, judging by the costumes of the characters), and six seemingly random people receive invitations in the mail asking them to stay the night in the mansion for a party. They arrive at the house and quickly discover that something's not right: the house is empty, their host is nowhere to be seen, and they have each been left individual letters telling them they are to play a game, one that involves a mysterious seventh guest that hasn't arrived yet. The letters promise each of them that they will be rewarded with their most secret desire if they win the game. From there it's a macabre ghost story, filled with murder, intrigue, and of course, lots and lots of spooky occurences. You play a mysterious entity (named in the manual as Ego) who arrives at the house with no memory of who he is and what he is doing there. You travel through the house trying to piece together who you are and what happened to all of the guests. Every cutscene you see is a memory, a projection made by the house that plays back events that occured.
This is a puzzle game, somewhat in the same vein as Monkey Island, but a little more basic. Instead of being given a series of tasks to accomplish through item collection and exploration, each room of the house has a logic puzzle to solve. Solving the puzzle unlocks a cutscene which provides another piece of the puzzle of what happened that fateful night. Some of the puzzles are easy, and some (such as an Othello-style game that pits you against the computer's AI) are insanely difficult. But all of them can be defeated with patience and a little note-taking.
The problem is: even though I said above that I would be talking about scary games, this game isn't very scary. The game is very tongue-in-cheek, and is more bizarre than actually scary. A lot of the ghostly events that occur are corny and silly (such as a skeleton playing an organ) and, especially since the game is nearing its 20th birthday, it's starting to look really dated. Also, the actors are all really, reaaalllly bad, and add to the game's camp value rather than scare value. Third, the story makes no sense. All of the cutscenes are shown out of chronological order, so you have to piece together exactly how the night progressed yourself. There are some holes in character progression (one character's death is never shown, and it's unclear whether Stauf killed her, or one of the guests did, or if she's possessed, or a ghost; it's weird). And the ending is random, doesn't make sense unless you look at online forums explaining it, and leaves it very unclear as to how exactly you "won."
Scariest Moment: Now, given that I said the game isn't very scary, why am I including it in a list of scary games? While it's true the acting is hammy, the effects are dated, and the story is confusing, there are still a few effective moments. One that really disturbed me when I was a kid happened about halfway through the game: after doing nothing but solving logic puzzles, you go down into the basement and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a massive maze. There is no map, and no help. Your only option is to descend into the darkness and find the exit. This part of the game really disturbed me as a kid for a number of reasons. The first is the eerie music that plays, which is ominous and oppressive. It adds to the sense of isolation the maze gives, and gives the impression that there might just be something waiting for you around that dark corner, or at the end of that hallway. The second is the maze itself which, with the exception of what's right next to you, is pitch black. It's a long, thin, dark, claustrophobic hallway, with no end in sight. It's also huge, and if you aren't prepared for it, you're going to be very lost for a very long time. The third thing that makes it scary is what happens when you hit a dead-end. Each time you do, the music becomes quick and panic-y, and Stauf's voice rings echoes through the empty halls, "Feeling.....loooooonelyyyyyyy....?" Kind of cheesy, but also kind of freaky. If you want to see the maze, it's here (the maze starts at 4:05). Now, this is a different version than what I grew up with, and as such there's a couple of unnecessary added effects (skeletons and booby traps), the hallway is better-lit than in my version, and the music isn't the same. What I recommend is to play the real music track over a muted version of the maze, and you might be able to somewhat recreate the experience.
That, and there's also this moment (6:15 in).
Silent Hills 2 and 3 (2001 & 2003)
Now these are some scary games. I first came across these games when they appeared on many people's Best Games list. Intrigued, I went searching and just happened to find copies at Entertainmart. I was not disappointed with these games.
These games are in the survival horror genre. For those of you who don't know what that means, it's basically an action game, but instead of focusing primarily on action, it focuses on unnerving the player. Weapons and healing items are scarce, and there's a constant sense of dread and menace. And, of course, some variation of monsters and/or zombies. These games are the epitome of the genre and, while I can't speak for the first game (I haven't played it yet), they're the most effective horror games I've ever played.
They accomplish this through both physical and psychological means. There are, of course, the monsters, which are frightening, but the games also employ bizarre, nightmarish surrealism such as impossible spaces (endless staircases, interiors larger than exteriors, etc.), sudden changes in scenery (transition between "light" and "dark" versions of the world), and grotesque imagery (wriggling, flesh-colored walls, to name one example). The music is also a huge factor in scares. The music, unlike most horror scores (which are full of blaring trumpets and shrieking violins), is grungy, dark, and industrial. Also unlike most horror scores, the music isn't meant to startle you, but to unnerve you and make you anxious. And it works. It really works.
In addition, the storylines for these games (especiall 2's) are very rewarding. They're layered, complex, and filled with symbolism. The characters are all dynamic, flawed, and go through major growth. The writing is far, far above par for a video game, and almost every line of dialogue is important in some way. Even though the voice acting is beyond terrible, this is probably the only time I'll say that it's a good thing. The stilted, not-quite-normal way everyone talks intensifies the dream-like feel of the games, and serves to further unsettle the player.
Silent Hill 2 is about a man named James Sunderland, who has come to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his wife, Mary, beckoning him to the town. The only problem with this is that Mary's been dead for years. Naturally, he's confused, but intrigued, so he goes to the town to find her. When he arrives, he finds himself sucked into the nightmare of the haunted town. On his journey he meets many strange people who have also been called to the town for an unknown purpose, and a woman named Maria who, strangely, is an exact doppelganger of Mary. It'd take too much time to explain every facet of what's really going on, and I've already kept you for a very long time, so I'll leave it at that.
Silent Hill 3 takes a more classical horror approach. Whereas 2 was more melancholy, a sojourn into James's inner darkness, 3 is more straightforward. You play Heather Mason, a high schooler stalked by the evil power haunting the town. Eventually she learns that she is the chosen vessel to birth the God of Silent Hill, that will essentially turn the whole world into a nightmare. Spooky thought.
Scariest Moments: Now these scary moments I can actually show you. The first takes place in Silent Hill 2. At around the halfway point you're exploring Silent Hill's hospital. The scene in question takes place at around 8:45 in this video. At the end of a long staircase you find yourself in a long hallway. You run towards the camera, so you can't see where you're going. When you round the first corner, you suddenly hear a low roar and heavy footfalls coming from behind you. Panicing, you begin to run madly at the camera, but there's another turn ahead. You take those few slow, painful seconds to turn around, all the while the monster lurches closer and closer. You can only catch glimpses of it occasionally as it chases you, but you can hear it coming for you, and all the while a low siren is sounding that slowly gets louder and louder as you run faster and faster, and the hall keeps twisting and turning and you can't get away until, finally, the elevator out of there looms out of the gloom. But it's still not over. You make it into the elevator, but Maria doesn't. And no matter how much you struggle, you can't save her from the monster. It's an absolutely terrifying, frantic chase, and one of the few times that a game has ever made me feel real panic.
Silent Hill 3's scary moment is a bit longer than 2's. In this part of the game, Heather finds herself in Silent Hill's amusement park. She wanders into the Borley Haunted Mansion, one of the park's attractions. If you want to follow along, the sequence starts at about 3:25. At first the house seems like a typical funhouse attraction, with a cheesy announcer and spooky sets. But as you continue further on into the house, everything begins to deteriorate and become more sinister, until you're walking through a hellish, bloody, industrial version of the ride. But, you finally reach the end, and the voice beckons you to exit the ride. But when you do, there's only more house on the other side. The voice comes back on: "That was supposed to be the exit. It seems no one wants you to leave." This part is very much like Silent Hill 2's chase scene, and carries the same sense of fear and panic, except this time you're chased by a mysterious red light. One of the few things that legitimately freaks me out is the idea of a funhouse that's actually haunted/dangerous, and this game tapped right into that fear.
Scratches (2006)
This is another haunted mansion story, like The 7th Guest. You play Michael Arthate, a writer suffering from writer's block, who moves out to the abandoned Blackwood mansion to finish his book. When he arrives he slowly begins to uncover the history of the Blackwood family and their dealings with an ancient, malevolent African spirit. And then, there's also the strange scratching noises that echo throughout the house when the sun goes down...
This is quite the chilling game. It's short, and not very difficult, but it's got quite the atmosphere, and a moody soundtrack to complement it. The scares are your typical "Boo!" variety, but here they really work, because the scares are actually scary (like an African mask that likes to move around on its own and float behind you menacingly. Trust me, it's effective).
It's a puzzle game, like 7th Guest, but this is more about clicking on everything you see until you pick something up, and then using that item on everything you can until something happens. It's not the most brain-bending of games.
I don't have as much to say about this way, but then there isn't much to say. It's just a short, sweet, creepy little story.
Scariest Moment: The ending. Pulling off an ending in a horror novel/movie/game/anything that somehow manages to be scarier than the beginning and middle is almost impossible. Off the top of my head I can think of only one movie to ever pull it off: The Ring. So it's a real treat when it happens. Here you go, if you want to follow along. At the end of the game, you think you've finally unraveled all the mysteries of the house, and you've exorcised the evil spirit. As you start to leave the house, flush with victory, you suddenly hear the scratches again. Investigating, you find they're coming from one of the fireplaces. You go down into a secret door at the bottom of the fireplace and find a hidden room filled with gnawed bones, a table and chair and, most perplexingly, a chewed-up teddy bear. You notice a large hole in the wall and go to investigate and when you do, out jumps the son of the Blackwoods, hideously mutated and savage from the voodoo curse. He moans and lunges at you, trying to attack you. It's sudden, startling, completely unexpected, and absolutely terrifying. Personally I think the most chilling part of the whole scenario is when you're staring into the hole and his eyes suddenly open, glowing eerily in the darkness. This ending really stuck with me, and still freaks me out whenever I play the game.
