Friday 29 July 2011

Horror Games: 13 most atmospheric

The games industry is now bigger than the film industry, but the relationship between the two has always been a little uncomfortable, with the history of films spun off from game franchises not a glorious one: Resident Evil and Lara Croft being prime examples of the sort of cheap schlock heavily reliant on a glamorous female to draw out the teen male gamer audience.
Can games ever truly compete though with the better end of the horror market? Will a game ever really better the still-influential cinematography that ensures that 1979's original Halloween continues to sell on DVD?
Here's a list of 13 'atmospheric' horror games (from the excellent site bloody-disgusting.com) that might point to the answer...

(NB: many of the stills featured from the listed games are gory!)

Source of following article: http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/videogames/1807


The 13 Most Atmospheric Horror Games
Posted By AdamDodd July 26, 2011 @ 11:58pm





Comments
Most games can cover up their flaws with jaw-dropping visuals, slick combat, or boobies, but horror games don't have it as easy. In fact, for a game in this genre to succeed there's one thing it always has to have, and that's a powerful atmosphere. An atmosphere is a compilation of a bunch of different things that makes the game stick with us long after we've played it. It's also a little different for each person since everyone experiences their games differently from the next.






For me, atmosphere is how the game looks, sounds, and feels. For example, if I'm walking down the rusted, broken halls of a long abandoned down mental institution with only my flashlight to illuminate the path in front of me as I instinctively jerk the beam of light toward what I could've swore was a shadow or the sound of footsteps - that's an experience I'm not going to forget any time soon. It's the atmosphere, or all the little details that sets the game apart from the rest and helps immerse you into the experience. So head past the break to see the 13 most atmospheric games I've ever had the pleasure of playing, and remember, these aren't in any particular order, so please don't freak out if your game is #5 while an obviously crap game made #3.