Give yourself chills: Horror games that get it right.

Something you need to know about video games if you don't already, if there is one thing that a video game can do better than any movie or book is to throw you into an experience much deeper than a movie or a book. This applies to horror, and horror games have the potential to be the ultimate form of horror out there and if you don't believe me - play this little gem.

It's gained a reputation and let me say that every word of it is true. I bought it day one mainly because I applauded Frictional Games previous work, Penumbra (I'll talk about it more later) but while that game was creepy and occasionally frightful, it was nowhere near as terrifying as Amnesia. Amnesia does everything a horror game should, and here's a brief list of WHAT it does right:

1. Atmosphere - The dark, dank and unnerving halls of the ancient castle are unnerving and yet inviting and mysterious. You never feel safe due to Eldritch horrors that already chased you out of the woods and very well may be stalking you. Sanity depletes and even stranger hallucinations and spooks appear...

2. Combat - Guess what? There is none! And that is just peachy, because it only makes it more terrifying when you do encounter one of the lurking horrors. You have only one thing to save yourself: Your wits. Hide in the darkness, sneak, bar doors... just remember one thing - never look at your foes. They will suck away your sanity, and they have a third eye and can feel your gaze. It's worth a little sanity to cower in the dark, you may just live another day.

3. Story - Do you like H.P. Lovecraft? If you like horror and are on the internet, you probably do. (Of note, my given name Kadath is indeed from the poem by H.P. Lovecraft, The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath.) Then you will like Amnesia. Of all the tributes to Lovecraft's work, this is the best I've seen - it remembers what made Lovecraft memorable and doesn't just spew guts and gore like a lot of lame Lovecraft adaptations did post Re-Animator. (Before you get angry, I love Re-Animator, but it kind of typecast Lovecraft films to follow.)

I know a lot of Silent Hill fans who will probably ask me why SH3 is higher than #2, and let me point this out - I am ranking this based on scares, not solely on the story and to be honest while SH2 was a much more emotionally disturbing (and affecting) experience that chilled me to the bone, it didn't literally terrify me. Silent Hill 3 did.

The last true Silent Hill game, SH3 has amazing visuals even for today (Get a PC copy, hack it to run in HD, *beep* pants.) and the visual design is the most distinct, sickening, foul, disturbing, and downright brilliant in any horror game. If Amnesia hadn't swooped in last year, this would've topped the list. Everything about Silent Hill 3 will make you cringe, jump (And there's only one, maybe two jump scares.) and wish to god you could wake from the nightmare, only to find out that you haven't even entered the nightmare yet - I was just describing the "Foggy World" segments. The Otherworld segments truly take the cake.

Storywise, yes, it is inferior to Silent Hill 2 - but I still feel SH3 is also a strong game on its story elements, they really fleshed out the evil cult only touched upon in Silent Hill 1 and the mythology is genuinely creative and fascinating. If you love horror games, have a strong stomach, and love the occult - this game will earn a place in your heart.

UGH. Dammit IMDb, why do you only have the PlayStation game? =( Okay - don't get me wrong, the PlayStation game; known as "Clock Tower" in America (Clock Tower 2 over here.) is a great game, but honestly the original 1995 Super Famicom/SNES release is the one that takes this slot. But I might as well stuff both of them into one.

Clock Tower is to this day a unique experience. Modeled after Italian Giallo films (The first game alone would make a Dario Argento fan orgasm at the tributes, homages, and surprisingly good mimicry - but not outright plagiarism.) Clock Tower can only be described as an interactive mystery slasher film. Played with the SFC/SNES mouse, it is a point and click game where some of the time you are solving puzzles and exploring, and the other half you are frantically having your character panic sobbing as she runs away from a deformed child named Bobby wielding giant scissors with a thirst for the players blood.

It's very much the coda that made Amnesia work, you can't fight with anything but your wits. And despite being only 16 bits with primitive stereo sound (Play it with headphones) the original Clock Tower is still genuinely terrifying, and it paints an interesting mystery. Either learn Japanese, or download an English translated rom - it is an underrated Gem.

The playstation game is more well known in the US, and it IS good - but it doesn't affect me as much as the original does. The PS game falls into more standard trappings, with more liberal uses of gore for cheap shocks rather than the elaborate and bizarre deaths Bobby thunk up in the original, which made it feel closer to its Italian inspirations. The PS Game also had a less interesting story by virtue of being totally *beep* and while unique, the multi-character style and the inclusion of several endings that can be reached in as short as 2 hours really makes it a bit too confusing and even annoying at first. Still, it did still shine in terms of simulating the fear of being chased by a deranged murderer.

Are you a PC gamer? Do you like horror games? Do you thirst for something unique? Do you have the 3 STALKER games? No? Then get off your ass and BUY THIS NOW. OPEN STEAM. SELECT GAME. BUY. MACH SCHNELL!

This is a game unlike any other. This is not so much a survival horror game in the traditional sense as it is a survival simulator. What will you survive? Well, everything from bandits, to radiation, to hunger, to nuclear blowouts, to deformed animals and bloodsucking mutants. I'm going to draw controversy here, but while Fallout 3 is a great game - this is the true Post Apocalyptic survival game. Plus Fallout isn't scary (Not that it's trying to be with all its fun silliness.) but STALKER is. Just TRY to get through the X-8 labs or the Brain scorcher without getting chills and then jumping when an invisible bloodsucker pins you to the ground or a genuinely disgusting giant amalgam of flesh peels you apart, all as a mysterious growth on the ceiling poisons your blood with radiation.

Again, I know someone is going to ask "Why is this higher than #2!!??!" but again, it is for the same reason as #3. While not as outright terrifying as #3, I still felt that #1 was scarier and more frightful. Again not as emotionally fraught or deep as #2, but I am ranking this based on the nightmare fuel provided to me. If I were wearing my Nostalgia Goggles, this would be #1 - I played this game when it first came out, and despite the woman who is now my wife sitting next to me in the dark - the game terrified me. Oh, and did I mention I was only 10 years old when Silent Hill came out? Yep. Yet even as an adult, its still scary even if I can't say "OMG SCARIEST GAME EVER D:" like I could when I was a bit younger.

The story is a bit... off though. It is interesting, but it's really awkwardly written and it wasn't until Silent Hill 3 that I really understood what happened in #1 and felt that it had any weight.

Ahh, the original System Shock. Yet another example of a game so unique and ahead of its time that you can play it now and whilst you may scoff at the graphics, it will still give you something unlike any other game and oh - it will also scare you, hence its ranking. Its sequel has garnered a bit more recognition and cult status, but I prefer #1 for its bait and switch buildup.

See, for the first bit of the game you do get a few chills and build up some atmosphere; but the tecno soundtrack is upbeat (and annoying) and you are having fun bashing funny robots with a pipe. But when you start hearing screams of pain and moans of agony and you see a group of humans sewn together ambling towards you with gory, freshly implanted, spidery cybernetic legs - you realize that this isn't a cyberpunk robot bashing sim, this is balls to the wall terror. A classic in every right.

This game is weird, one of the strangest ever made - but in many ways that is what makes it so genuinely disturbing. I wouldn't say its the kind of the game that makes you have full on frights and scares, but it earns a high spot because the way it gets under your skin and then crawls and scratches is so profound that it is still one of the most chilling and unique horror games out there, and an underrated one. For the time it was also quite shocking, dealing with themes such as torture, rape, murder, etc. - yet it is never exploitative. Also if you are a sci-fi fan and the name is familiar, this is indeed an adaptation and extension of the story of the same name by Harlan Ellison.

How and why did I forget this little gem when making the original version of this list? I sadly missed out on the games first run as I didn't have an X-Box 360 at the time but I bought in the second the PC version came out - and I loved it. This was a freaky ass experience and quite unique. It focused on melee based combat, but the combat was very... real feeling, there was genuine impact and while it was still satisfying to crush your opponents - the flying teeth, viscera, and brutality of it managed to disturb you and occasionally question your sanity.

Then the actual atmosphere and horror aspect worked perfectly, the game had an excellent story that had you solving a bizarre string of murders whilst running from your former employees at the FBI as you were framed by the killer you were chasing for killing an innocent police officer. It felt surreal, both realistic and unreal and that made it scary and not unlike a nightmare. Also - mannequins scare me. I remember freaking out and waking up my wife in the department store the second I saw an already creepy ass Santa mannequin walk off and vanish, only to creep up on me and shove his half plaster half gory face into mine, assuring I didn't sleep for at least 3 weeks.

This game stands in for both Black Plague (The second episode) and the original episode Overture. I mentioned Penumbra above, and it is the spiritual predecessor to Amnesia. The game isn't quite as terrifying as Amnesia, but it does provide primal scares and it provides plenty of chills and thrills. It also gets the atmosphere down pat, the setting here being a lonely fortress built beneath the Antarctic wastes and a mysterious mine filled with a terrifying plague slowly eating you away from the inside. Definitely check it out, it's a nice little indie gem and now that Amnesia has garnered a near-mainstream acknowledgement (In PC games at least) more people should check out this cult classic.

Okay SH fans, here is SH2. Huzzah! Okay yeah, so as I said - this one doesn't genuinely "terrify" me as much as the first and third games (Though it has many terrifying moments.) - but it does succeed in being emotionally disturbing (and affecting) and still, it is quite nightmarish, scary, and chilling in its own right. Much has been said about its treasured story, and so I won't say anything other than everything you've heard about it being one of the best in video games history is true. This is a must have for any horror game fan.

This is what you'd get if you took STALKER, toned it down a bit and made it a more linear, plot driven experience. That is in no way an insult to this fantastically underrated gem. From the gorgeous graphics (Well, in DirectX11 anyways.) to the surprisingly faithful adaptation of the Russian novel of the same name, this is a game that deserves a look. The atmosphere is perfectly executed, especially when you go on the surface. Those parts absolutely shine - the game becomes a bit less linear on the surface, and it becomes about pure survival. The world has been frozen over and only monstrous animals and mutants can survive, and you have two indispensable tools: Cunning and your gas mask. Yes, you have a gun - but bullets are a rare currency and I mean that literally, bullets are also your money in this dark world. So only shoot if you genuinely can't hide or outwit a monster.

Just remember, your filter will run out soon - so check your watch. If you are smart, you bought a couple extra filters at the shop. If not, frisk a corpse. You might also want to get a new mask, that crack the demon left in it is looking pretty nasty and if your mask breaks - you are in trouble. Now, head in the library - where you will face a nigh invincible monster who will only let you pass if you prove you are worthy of its beastly stature.

System Shock 2 has gotten a bit more repute than its predecessor along with a slightly larger cult audience, so much so that if you weren't already aware - the now massive "BioShock" franchise is the dumbed down, somewhat awkward child of System Shock 2. Now before I get beaten to death by BioShock fans, I LOVED BioShock - but it isn't System Shock 2 by a stretch. It isn't as terrifying, it isn't as deep and complex, about the only area BioShock succeeds in surpassing System Shock 2 is the story; and even then the story in System Shock 2 is pretty damned good, and SHODAN and The Forgotten are some of the most terrifying villains and enemies in video game history.

I still prefer the first game because the first game genuinely gets me to jump and gives me images that can be very haunting and sick, yet while it still has plenty of genuinely scary moments; SS2 is 90% more atmosphere than anything with only a couple moments that could be called terrifying. Granted it has some excellent atmosphere, and that goes a long way - but in my mind, it isn't quite as frightening as its predecessor was in its later stages.

I will be honest, this game isn't scary - but it piles on the atmosphere so thick and tells a chilling enough story to be considered genuinely creepy as hell and it deserves a spot on a great horror games list, even if it is at the bottom. This is what a re-imagining should be, and the story is one of the best in the series; it's right after Silent Hill 2. I normally don't go for "What a twist!" endings, but the ending in Shattered Memories isn't as inane or silly as other twist endings. It's actually a very smart, unpredictable, yet understandable ending and more importantly - it is a very, very emotional one. The fact that the Americans managed to get one Silent Hill game right is worth quite a bit in my book, and I pray that if Silent Hill HAS to go on - they give the talented writers behind this yarn another chance.

This had every right to be better than it was, but it was still good - at least for the first 2 and a half acts. The gritty realism really helped make Condemned 1 stand out, so the fact this game delves into the supernatural a bit more actually detracts from the experience. It's also a shame that the final acts are nonsensical, stupid, lacking in scares and remove any tension and fear of death thanks to stupid ass guns and a stupid ass scream that busted heads. But for the first parts, it retained what made Condemned 1 good, harsh and brutal Melee combat so intense and disturbing you could practically feel the impact of your hammer when it causes your foes elbow to compound. These parts were still scary, surreal, and twisted - and as much as I hate some of the sillier, later acts when it comes to the horror aspect - they are still "fun" even if there is so much to be desired.