Atmospheric Games

[Nak Nak]

...are the best. The ambience of a game does it more for me than any amount of prettiness. Especially good horror games. I completed FEAR recently and it was probably one of the most well constructed games I've played, although it was so short, like 10 hrs. Admittedly I bombed through it on moderate difficulty. Not the scariest game I've played (that goes to System Shock II) but certainly one of the best examples of a unification of aspects in games.

Moving away from horror games, I think that Wipeout Pure is the coolest looking game around. Hopefully it's really the future of hover racing.

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

The whole story of System Shock is pretty creepy. That Voice :scared:

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

The scariest game for me was Project Zero. Known as Fatal Frame in the States.

[Nak Nak]

The scariest game for me was Project Zero. Known as Fatal Frame in the States.

I remember reading about that, but never played it. I bet there's a sort of feeling of helplessness engendered by the fact that you only have the camera.

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

Partly that, partly you play a school-girl, but mainly because all the ghosts have a horrific back story that you get indulged in in full gory detail. So you really do feel up against proper restless souls rather than just resi-evil style superficial zombies.

[Tago Mago]

Shadow of the Colossus.

[Herr Lipp]

Silent Hill.

Me and my friend had to close his open bedroom window when we started to brick it at about 1am as he lives in a big open area, we were about 13 at the time but I was still chilled to the proverbial.

[Zen Acolyte]

can anyone go back to Shadowgate on the NES? That was one of the first ambient RPG's that I can think of. What about Maniac Mansion?

Nak Nak, did you play F.E.A.R. on the 360 or pc? I played the demo of it from XBL and it was pretty awesome. Seriously, that game made me jump a couple of times. ...and the bullet time rocks.

There is another game, it's kind of a knock off from Silent Hill, I think it's made by the same dev's, but it's like you're stuck in an old haunted hospital. It was REALLY good/scary too but I cannot think of it's title for the life of me.

I just finished Gears of War and that shit was amazing. It's one of those rare games that has such a unique artistic style that makes me want to play thru it again and again. There is so much detail into everything I know I missed half of it.

[Zen Acolyte]

The scariest game for me was Project Zero. Known as Fatal Frame in the States.


werrd, It took me a while to figure out the gameplay on that one. Armed with a camera just wasnt my thing.

[Nak Nak]

can anyone go back to Shadowgate on the NES? That was one of the first ambient RPG's that I can think of. What about Maniac Mansion?

Nak Nak, did you play F.E.A.R. on the 360 or pc? I played the demo of it from XBL and it was pretty awesome. Seriously, that game made me jump a couple of times. ...and the bullet time rocks.


PC of course. FSAA baby.

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

There is another game, it's kind of a knock off from Silent Hill, I think it's made by the same dev's, but it's like you're stuck in an old haunted hospital. It was REALLY good/scary too but I cannot think of it's title for the life of me.
I was thinking CLock Tower at first, but I dont think it is.

[Suede]

Silent Hill..entering the school..shit.

The soundtrack's good, too.

[i]

X-COM UFO, esp when they started using mind control stuff.

System Shock I was scary I thought, never played II.

Doom I.

[Nak Nak]

Will, did you see that IGN PC chose X-Com as their #1 PC game?
I only completed enemy from the deep, which appealed to my love of HP Lovecraft.

[Chopstick]

My first terrifying experience playing a game was with the Mysteries of the Sith expansion to Jedi Knight. In the last couple of levels, once all your guns were taken away, all you had was your lightsaber and force powers. On top of that, the enemies were enormous, fast, and lethal in one or two hits. The levels were dark and made good use of colored lighting, which was a new technology back in '97.

Aside from that, the Half Life games definitely sucked me in and terrified me the most.

[Zen Acolyte]

I must say that Crysis looks fucking unbelievable.

[Hi There, Am Pam]

Will, did you see that IGN PC chose X-Com as their #1 PC game?
I only completed enemy from the deep, which appealed to my love of HP Lovecraft.

Oh man, are you serious? That game is still one of my favorites. It manages to create this eerie mood which you can't find in a game with that type of graphics, anywhere else. You grow so attached to your troops that each mission has this huge meaning. The only downside to the game was the amount of bugs, and the wave of alien invasions once they found your base. If you built your defenses high enough, you were fine, otherwise, it was a pain.

But yeah, X-Com might be one of the greatest games ever.

[Nak Nak]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/772/772285p1.html

I'm pleased to see Fallout and System Shock II right up there.

[Squirrel]

I loved the first X-COM game so much. Even now I still occasionally get a sudden urge to play it, even though it's been like 10 years.

System Shock 2 Fucked me up too though. When the zombie alien things see you the first time and they run at you screaming "kill meeeeeee!" and stuff. And they apologise while they're killing you too. :O D: etc.

[Nak Nak]

'We are we are we are,'
'Coooome to me,'

[Squirrel]

:D.

Also, Syndicate. (But not Syndicate Wars) I could feel myself becoming more badass and evil the longer I played.

I wish they would do fancy 3D remakes of X-COM & Syndicate. :(

[Squirrel]

AAAAND, I know it's a weird choice, but also Skool Daze for the ZX Spectrum. That was totally atmospheric, back in the day.

(I am like 200 years old, btw.)

[vaya con dios]

Oh man, I loved Syndicate Wars! The music was so cool and moody.

[Nak Nak]

I completed Syndicate on the Amiga when I was about 7.

[Squirrel]

I think I was like 13 or 14 when it came out, but yeah I was all over that shit. I remember the last level was like on an oil rig or something and you could just sort the whole thing out with lasers. Then I went into American Revolt and got my ass handed to me on the very first level. :(

[Squirrel]

Oh man, I loved Syndicate Wars! The music was so cool and moody.

I really wanted to like Syndicate Wars, but it just didn't do it for me. Same with X-COM: Apocalypse.

[Static Split Screen]

Transition to faux-3d with nasty polygonal stuff going on. Pixels look so much better than polygons most of the time.

[Squirrel]

Actually I think somewhere between those two (Syndicate & X-COM) lies the perfect game. Like if Syndicate had more of the base management & pimping out agents with cool weapons & stuff. Kind of like "Sim Terrifying Robot Overlord."

Also if they make a Deus Ex 3, it should be like Oblivion. :O

[Chopstick]

System Shock 2 Fucked me up too though. When the zombie alien things see you the first time and they run at you screaming "kill meeeeeee!" and stuff. And they apologise while they're killing you too. :O D: etc.

JESUS! I have to play that game!

[Squirrel]

D:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueaY4GkH37o

[Nak Nak]

Actually I think somewhere between those two (Syndicate & X-COM) lies the perfect game. Like if Syndicate had more of the base management & pimping out agents with cool weapons & stuff. Kind of like "Sim Terrifying Robot Overlord."

Also if they make a Deus Ex 3, it should be like Oblivion. :O

I agree. Absolutely.

From x-com -
Research.
Base management.

Syndicate -
Body mods.
Back story.

I would add psychological factors as well, ie: your squad members would have confidence/morale/health ratings etc that you had to be aware of.


I don't agree with you about Deus Ex 3 being like Oblivion. Deus Ex was cool because of the story/mission approaches/dialogue etc. Whereas Oblivion doesn't have any characters, story or dialogue. Deus Ex 3 should be like Deus Ex 1 with Oblivion-good graphics though, maybe that's what you meant?

Have you seen Bioshock? It is supposedly the spiritual sequel to System Shock 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrpf_Hjz_Q0

[Squirrel]

Kind of. I just dig Oblivion, so I'd like a version that's all futuristic and stuff. Because I just think cyborg laser bastard powers are just cooler than magic swords and all that...

[Squirrel]

I agree. Absolutely.

From x-com -
Research.
Base management.

Syndicate -
Body mods.
Back story.

I would add psychological factors as well, ie: your squad members would have confidence/morale/health ratings etc that you had to be aware of.


Sweet. Plus it should be gross. Like your agents can get their limbs blasted off and you'd have to use robot bits to keep them going. AND... there should be an upgrade where you can graft a cannon onto their chests. No game has walking cannon people, even though they are the fuckest uppest. :yes:

[Lothlorien]

Shadow of the Colossus

[Nak Nak]

That looks great. I watched Laura's little bro complete it the other day.

Shame it isn't out for PC.

[i]

Will, did you see that IGN PC chose X-Com as their #1 PC game?
I only completed enemy from the deep, which appealed to my love of HP Lovecraft.

There wasn't actually much difference between UFO and TFTD. Different graphics and names for weapons etc but essentially it was the same game.

And yeah Syndicate was tons of fun. I loved using the flamethrower. :evil:

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

God, I remember how slow Syndicate was. You would have thought they could have walked faster.

[Nak Nak]

Does anyone remember the mission where you have to assassinate a bloke in the middle of a shopping centre, but you don't know who he is, so you have to torch a crowd?

[Drevpile]

I completed Syndicate on the Amiga when I was about 7.

dito - but man it was cool...

[Squirrel]

God, I remember how slow Syndicate was. You would have thought they could have walked faster.

You had to crank 'em full of drugs. :O Like, even if it make them freak out and die or whatever.

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

Does anyone remember the mission where you have to assassinate a bloke in the middle of a shopping centre, but you don't know who he is, so you have to torch a crowd?
I love ethical gaming.

[Chopstick]

I love ethical gaming.

I remember in Jedi Knight you would start to go to the dark side if you killed too many innocent people. My parents actually forbade my brother and I to kill innocent people in that game because they obviously watched too much network news. My little brother would tell on me whenever I would whack an unarmed slave... bah.

[i]

Another favourite Syndicate moment was getting into a vehicle and plowing people over.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/62/Syndicate_screenshot.png

Although it was often too easy to accidentally get shot up and have all your guys go up in flames inside.

[i]

Does anyone remember the mission where you have to assassinate a bloke in the middle of a shopping centre, but you don't know who he is, so you have to torch a crowd?

Nope, but if you have QuickTime installed you might be able to find it.

http://syndicate.acornarcade.com/

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

Hmm, this thread has got me searching for a site where I can download System Shock for the Mac. Not proving easy.

[Squirrel]

Some people seem to have some links and stuff here (http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-77306.html), if that helps...

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

Yeah, been there. Dead links. I'll keep trying. Thanks anyway.

[ipris]

anyone with a decent computer and a few hours to kill should play f.e.a.r.

[Nak Nak]

Yeah, been there. Dead links. I'll keep trying. Thanks anyway.

How fast is your Mac? Could you run it in Dosbox? Umm - Parallels maybe?

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

I d/l'ed dosbox and system shock, but have no idea how to put the two together.