S
Satyr
Guest
Whenever October rolls around I always try to break out an old horror game to play. Not everyone has an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3 at their disposal, and not everyone has a state of the art computer to play the latest titles. The following are a few older games that have impressed me with their stories and gameplay. Pretty much anyone with a computer built in the last 5 or 6 years can run them. Due to their age, they may require a patch or compatibility setting to be ran under XP or Vista. I have verified that they do work under XP.
SYSTEM SHOCK 2
The first System Shock was a hybrid shooter/rpg that pitted you against a renegade artificial intelligence named "Shodan". SS2 takes place 42 years after the original, starting off aboard the starship Von Braun.
You awake from cryosleep only to discover that you have no memory, the entire crew has been massacred and that every deck is crawling with monsters spawned from an alien consciousness calling itself "The Many". You're forced to make your way through the decks, picking up weapons, ammo and other items along the way in an attempt find a way to destroy the Many and it's creations.
The graphics may be a bit dated, but considering it's age (released 1999) it's still one of my favorites and continues to draw me in every time I install it. I consider it to be more horror than science fiction, since emphasis is placed on terror and survival.
CLIVE BARKER'S UNDYING
Set during the 1920's, your character Patrick Galloway, an expert on the occult is summoned to the estate of his friend, Jeremiah Covenant on the coast of Ireland. The plot is fairly complicated, but boils down to Jeremiah's entire family having been killed as a result of a strange curse set in motion when Jeremiah and his siblings were children. Galloway decides to honor his dying friend's wishes by attempting to stop the curse. Throughout the game you are confronted with the reanimated corpses of Jeremiah's fallen brothers and sisters, along with various other nasty things I would never want to see in real life.
Released in 2001, this game never received the attention I thought it deserved. Despite it's age, there are some genuinely disturbing levels in the game which make it a perfect choice for Halloween.
THEY HUNGER 1, 2 & 3
If you own a copy of the original Half-Life, you can play the "They Hunger" series. The plot is somewhat thin, but the first episode involves your character driving to a small rural town to work on his next book. Over the radio, you begin to hear news reports of a "strange atmospheric phenomena". You quickly learn that this phenomena has reanimated all of the recently (and not so recently) dead, in classic "Night of the Living Dead" fashion. After which, the car you are driving is hit by a freak lightning bolt, veers into a nearby lake and you are forced to find a means of escape, armed only with a flashlight and your wits.
The graphics are pretty dated, but the series is extremely enjoyable, especially considering it was a fan-made modification authored by one guy (Neil Manke). It's also free and can be downloaded here:
They Hunger Series
You'll still need a copy of Half-Life to play it.
Aside from "They Hunger", SS2 and Undying are generally no longer on store shelves. I suspect however that they can be found online, either though EBay or other websites that offer surplus or used games for sale. I think they're worth the effort to track down.
SYSTEM SHOCK 2
The first System Shock was a hybrid shooter/rpg that pitted you against a renegade artificial intelligence named "Shodan". SS2 takes place 42 years after the original, starting off aboard the starship Von Braun.
You awake from cryosleep only to discover that you have no memory, the entire crew has been massacred and that every deck is crawling with monsters spawned from an alien consciousness calling itself "The Many". You're forced to make your way through the decks, picking up weapons, ammo and other items along the way in an attempt find a way to destroy the Many and it's creations.
The graphics may be a bit dated, but considering it's age (released 1999) it's still one of my favorites and continues to draw me in every time I install it. I consider it to be more horror than science fiction, since emphasis is placed on terror and survival.
CLIVE BARKER'S UNDYING
Set during the 1920's, your character Patrick Galloway, an expert on the occult is summoned to the estate of his friend, Jeremiah Covenant on the coast of Ireland. The plot is fairly complicated, but boils down to Jeremiah's entire family having been killed as a result of a strange curse set in motion when Jeremiah and his siblings were children. Galloway decides to honor his dying friend's wishes by attempting to stop the curse. Throughout the game you are confronted with the reanimated corpses of Jeremiah's fallen brothers and sisters, along with various other nasty things I would never want to see in real life.
Released in 2001, this game never received the attention I thought it deserved. Despite it's age, there are some genuinely disturbing levels in the game which make it a perfect choice for Halloween.
THEY HUNGER 1, 2 & 3
If you own a copy of the original Half-Life, you can play the "They Hunger" series. The plot is somewhat thin, but the first episode involves your character driving to a small rural town to work on his next book. Over the radio, you begin to hear news reports of a "strange atmospheric phenomena". You quickly learn that this phenomena has reanimated all of the recently (and not so recently) dead, in classic "Night of the Living Dead" fashion. After which, the car you are driving is hit by a freak lightning bolt, veers into a nearby lake and you are forced to find a means of escape, armed only with a flashlight and your wits.
The graphics are pretty dated, but the series is extremely enjoyable, especially considering it was a fan-made modification authored by one guy (Neil Manke). It's also free and can be downloaded here:
They Hunger Series
You'll still need a copy of Half-Life to play it.
Aside from "They Hunger", SS2 and Undying are generally no longer on store shelves. I suspect however that they can be found online, either though EBay or other websites that offer surplus or used games for sale. I think they're worth the effort to track down.
