Cut and Dry

So I have recently started playing more horror games with a few I have yet to try (like Kuon and Clock Tower 3) but I thought I would compile a list of the ones I really love and give you a warning on the ones that were just god-awful. (They are in alphabetical order, not in where they fall on my list of favorite video games).

Platform: PC
Rating: M
Release Year for US: 2000
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_-3T1Tljw

This has become one of my new favorite games. The graphics are not the best in the entire world, about on par with early PS2, but the story is great and the gameplay is WONDERFUL. You play as Alice, a disturbed young woman now after the events of Lewis Carrols book. Her family died in a fire and she was the only one to make it out alive, forced to hear the dying, tormented cries of her family and being helpless to save them. Now Alice has been placed in a mental hospital/asylum due to her catatonic state, but the mind of Alice is still turning and she finds herself back in Wonderland. Instead of being the happy place she once remembered, the world reflects her metal status where everything is dark and broken. You are given a range of weapons, such as a knife, throwing cards etc… to help you take down your adversaries, the cronies of the Red Queen who has now viciously taken over Wonderland and rules with an Iron Fist. Meet up with old friends (a few who have now become enimes) like the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter. Even better news, in Feb. 2009 it was announced that a sequel is in the works! No one knows what it will revolve around, but it will be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Platform: PC/XBOX
Rating: M
Release year for the US: 2004
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhITk8_hv6w

This game scared the crap out of me and I wasn’t even the one playing. Id stepped up their game from the original Dooms and turned what was just a first-person shooter set in hell (albeit awesome, but not really the sort of thing to keep you awake at night) into a horror trill ride that makes you want to sleep with the lights on. With the inability to use your flashlight and a weapon at the same time, you can either see and be helpless for a few moments while you deperately pull out your gun or walk blind and pray none of the creepy-crawlies lurking in the facility will make you into a snack. Many of the classic bad guys make an appearance like the Pinkies or Imps but with a remake from their grainy, blocky origins. They scare and maim all in one swoop. Of course, Id is a powerhouse and has not yet stopped the Doom series, with Doom 4 announced for PC with a TBA release date.

Platform: PS2/XBOX
Rating: T
Release for the US: 2002
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUh9WNUkkOs

Possibly the scariest series ever to grace the video gaming world, this game will give you nightmares and make you sleep with the lights on. You play as Miku Hinasaki, the sister of Mafuyu (who you play as in the tuturial level) and you have come to the haunted mansion to come and search for your missing sibling. What you find is a house full of ghosts, including the people that your brother set out to find in the first place. Is he dead as well? And who is that woman in the white robes with the ropes all tied about her? Search through the masion and find the clues and piece together what horrifying events trapped all these souls to this house. Your only weapon-The Camera Obscura. A powerful camera able to pull the souls of the ghosts and essentially exorcises them for at least a little bit. The scary part? You have to let the camera charge up by keeping it aimed on them. The longer you let it charge, the more damage you do. For the tuly brave, you can wait until your charge turns red to get a super-powerful shot, but be warned, if you miss the split second you get to capture that shot, the ghosties will attack you. With a series this terrifying, of course they would make more…

Platform: PS2/XBOX
Rating: M
Release year for the US: 2003
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9czbIFtje3o&feature=related

Even more terrifying than the first, Fatal Frame 2 – The Crimson Butterfly brings horror to a whole new level. You play as the twins Mio and Mayu and become trapped in the Lost Village, who also has been trapped in time just like the first game, with the souls of its inhabitants trapped there for all eternity. You have to attempt to break the curse held over this village or risk becoming trapped there for all time. Just like the first, your only weapon is the camera and it has the same battle style as the first. By far the easiest of the series to find, it acctually doesn’t directly relate to the storyline of the first, so you can play either one first. The third installment however, pulled from both the first games and created a story of its own…

Platform: PS2
Rating: M
Release year for US: 2005
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsoPAhrCdF8 (The game is in english, even though the trailer still had Japanese dialouge)

Drawing the storylines from the first two games into its fold, Fatal Frame 3 – The Tormented takes horror to the places it should never go… sleep. When one of the main characters you play as (either Rei, Kei or Miku (yes, the same girl from the first game)) goes to sleep, they end up in this nightmarish mansion where a painful tattoo begins to overtake their body and will eventually claim their soul. It is another failed ritual just like the first two games, but they definately crank up the scary cutscenes and horrific torture the spirits endured in their life. This one is probably my favorite from the whole series, and even if you never played the first two games, you could pick up this game and follow along pretty well (you may want to read a brief summary of the first two games). Fatal Frame (or Zero as its called in Japan) is HUGE in Japan, hitting the Greatest Hits list there. They made another installment for the Wii, but Nintendo America and Europe deiceded not to release it to the states. A lot of us are REALLY pissed we all hope that Tecmo will go with Sony again, since they always give us our Fatal Frame fix. Heres for hoping that the US will see another Fatal Frame.

Platform: PC/PS3/Xbox 360
Rating: M
Release year for US: 2005
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSme33E8uFM

Taking the first person shooter to a whole new level of horror is F.E.A.R. which stands for First Encounter Assault Recon. You play as a soldier who has been deployed when something horrid happens in a secret super-soldier project. The head person has lost his mind and started killing and EATING the scientists. And suddenly you find yourself in a whirlwind of terrifying images and massive shoot-outs. And whats more creepy than a children that kill? Nothing. The AI in this game is INSANE and will learn your patterns and adapt to them. Don’t plan on dying and doing it the same way again, the AI learns and predicts your movements. The game is CRAZY hard and I have yet to beat it, both because of the difficulty and how terrifying it is. I highly reccommend this game! There are other games in the series, such as sequels, prequels and add-ons. I need to play them too!

Platform: PS2
Rating: M
Release year for US: 2005
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c1Nr2C2TAU&feature=related (Its also goes by Demento)

Possibly one of the more challenging in gameplay of the games on this list is the jewel that is Haunting Ground. Most people haven’t played, let along heard of this horror game, probably due to the difficulty of the game. You have no weapons as you play as Fiona, a girl who has only fragments of memories of how she ended up in this huge castle staffed by some of the strangest and most disturbing characters. Your only help is a dog called Hewie who will defend you viciously against the attacks of those that pursue you, but hiding is still your best bet. Daniella, the maid, is probably the most beautiful and horrifying person I have seen in a horror game in a long time, and if only for her I would play the game. The story is deep and entralling, but I would reccomend using a walkthrough since it can be a little trial and error at times. Don’t get caught or you end up being lunch (or other various things) for the staff who for some reason, really like Fiona. Find out why as you play through this terrifying game.

Platform: Ps2
Rating: M
Release year for US:
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNgj9lfC_aw

You’ll notice this game is erriely similar in gameplay to Haunting Ground. You have a dog that acts as your proector and you end up in a huge house where you only have fragmented bits of memory on how you got there. In this game however, you can be armed with an array of weapons from pipes and wrenches, or even a gun if you can find one. You are the only real adult in the game, as most of the other characters are children, members of the Order of the Red Crayon. You have to play their sick, twisted games in order to make it out alive. Whatever they imagine becomes real, and your loyal dog is the only one really on your side. Battle through the Orphanage and various other locations to discover the truth behind what has happened here, and pray you make it out alive. A really AMAZING game and I would highly reccomend it. Again, you can’t get much scarier than children.

Platform: Ps2/PC/XBOX
Rating: M
Release year for the US: 2004
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATpxzgZlOCE

My favorite for the Silent Hill series, only because of the controls. I have never been a big fan of the SH series, but not because the gameplay isn’t great or the backstories are thrilling and intresting. Its the endings. They are always always always terrible, in a bad way. I never like them and they never seem to fit with the story. Silent Hill 4 is no exception either, and you find yourself dumbfounded at some of the stupid things the main character says and does. BESIDES that, the game is awesome with some of the scariest creatures popping out of no where, this installment of Silent Hill won’t disappoint, at least not gameplay-wise. Of course there will be a hospital level. All I can say is OMG check all the rooms because they have some of the freakiest, creepiest things I have ever seen in a horror survival game ever.

Well, thats my list for games I DO like, and yes I know, no Resident Evil. I just never got into them, but they are still a good series!  Heres a few I wouldn’t reccomend however:

Siren – This is a DREADFUL trial and error horror game, that honestly, wasn’t that good storyline-wise either. Not on Dani’s list of things to own.

The Suffering – While the enimes are terrifying, your side-kick that walks around insisting on saying THE most cleshay prison phrases and dropping the F-bomb WAAAAAY too much gets old, and the controls aren’t brilliant either. Good for maybe a rental, but to own, I wouldn’t go out looking for it.

So my phone broke last weekend, lucky for me I have AT&T and the sim card was fine so I just transfered it to my moms old phone since she has Sprint now. It’ll do for now at least, I can get a new one later.

I am so swamped at the moment. This week and next I am working props crew on one of the theatre shows. I have to be there every night from 5:30 – whenever they finish, which can be as late as 11:30. Hopefully I won’t get any big homework assignments >.>

Illindir is going super great, and it looks like we are on track for summer testing. Three areas are actively being built (Ana, the elf city, Danzibar, the human city and Puan/Fwi the daphinae cities). We are hoping testers will have all of those areas to poke about in when breaking things. I am eager to get the testers so we can figure out a few things with the code and how things work. That will be lots of fun. I’ll have to get the swing of all these imm commands too, but I already know how to use slay and force thanks to Gino <3. Hurray for hubbies that double as test subjects!

SO sleepy though since Gino got this second job. Since we share the car I have to get up early to take him. Poor thing, but this will really help us save up lots of money, both for Otakon and for the move next winter. Otakon this year is going to kick soooo much ass. Yay for celebrating my one year anniversary at the place we had our first real date <3