Top 10 Scariest Video Games

In honor of Halloween, the scariest day of the year, Don't Blame the Controller brings you the top ten spookiest video games of all time. In an industry increasingly dominated by fast-paced action titles and shooters starring overpowered commandos, horror games represent a breath of fresh air. The odds are stacked overwhelmingly against the hero or heroine, weapons and health are in short supply, and the enemies (real or imaginary) are truly deadly. It's that feeling of intense vulnerability, of helplessness that makes horror games so compelling. All of the games on this list, from top to bottom, embrace these standards. Whether action-adventure, shooter, or survival-horror, each is capable of terrifying its players, either through drop-the-controller scares or, in the case of games like Silent Hill, a pervasive sense of dread. 

These games are best enjoyed in the dark, late at night, all alone...

#10

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Set in an abandoned, spooky mansion in Rhode Island, Eternal Darkness oozes a foreboding, sinister, mysterious mood. It follows several characters backward and forward through time, all of whom are pursued by dark and deadly creatures. What sets Eternal Darkness apart from the pack, however, is its "sanity meter" which depletes when characters are spotted by an enemy. As the meter empties, players are subjected to some disturbing happenings: skewed camera angles; whispers, cries, and creepy noises; walls and ceilings bleeding, etc. 

#9

Condemned: Criminal Origins

Clearly inspired by the movie Seven, Condemned follows Ethan, a crime scene investigator for the FBI's Serial Crime Unit. Framed for a murder he didn't commit, Ethan must hide from the authorities while simultaneously tracking a serial killer who leaves behind elaborately staged crime scenes. One of the more challenging and scary features of Condemned is its combat system. Firearms are rare in the game, so Ethan must relay on melee weapons like lead pipes and wooden planks. Thus the combat in the game is brutal, visceral, and personal. It doesn't help that the citizens of Ethan's city have been driven to psychotic madness by some unknown force.

#8

Resident Evil 4

Capcom's greatest achievement and the finest title in the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil 4 is a true masterpiece. It's also scary as hell. Players control Leon S. Kennedy as he searches for the missing daughter of the US President in a remote European town. The enemies and creatures in the game, including a masked man wielding a chainsaw, are disturbing, violent, and unpredictable. The settings, deserted and dilapidated, only add to the tension and horror of the game. Resident Evil 4 might be more action-oriented than earlier games in the series, but it still delivers the shocks and scares to which fans have become accustomed.

#7

Doom 3

The Doom series has always been gory, bloody, and threatening, but it was only in 2004, with the release of Doom 3, that the series became seriously terrifying. Although the hero of the game is a well-trained and well-armed space marine, he quickly becomes outnumbered and overpowered when hell literally breaks loose in a research facility on Mars. What makes Doom 3 so scary is the fact that the hero of the game can use either a firearm or a flashlight, never both. This makes navigating dark passages and room filled with nasty creatures extremely difficult and nerve-racking.

#6

F.E.A.R.

Mechanically, F.E.A.R. is an excellent first-person shooter. The firefights are thrilling, the enemies are smart and strategic, and the levels are well designed. But that's not why F.E.A.R. earned this spot on the list. It won that honor because of its horror theme, which relies heavily on the tropes and aesthetic of Japanese horror movies. Although F.E.A.R. has a few "jump out" moments, it mostly relies on a dreadful atmosphere that allows each player to be his or her own worst enemy. The developers at Monolith Productions were smart enough to know that a player's imagination can dream up the scariest nightmares.

#5

Resident Evil 2

Set shortly after the events of the first Resident Evil, RE2 follows rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy and civilian Claire Redfield, both of whom become trapped in a city overrun by the living dead. Enemies are plentiful and ammo scarce in Resident Evil 2, so players beware. Adding to the tension are fixed camera angles that hide enemies and "tank" controls that require players to manually turn the main character. Sound, music, level design, character design, and cinematic cut-scenes all come together in Resident Evil 2 to make one of the best survival-horror games ever made.

#4

Penumbra: Overture

Penumbra: Overture is the story of Philip, a thirty-year-old scientist who travels to a remote part of Greenland after discovering his deceased father's notes. To escape from freezing temperatures, Philip descends into an abandoned mine. There he uncovers clues related to the dark history of the mine, hides from the creatures that inhabit it, and solves puzzles that bring him closer and closer to the truth. Like all good survival-horror games, Overture ensures that Philip and, by extension, the player, is underequipped and underpowered. Armed with only a flashlight, a glowstick, and whatever he can find discarded in the mine, Philip must use stealth to avoid enemies.

#3

Resident Evil (2002)

The Nintendo Gamecube may have sold poorly compared to PS2, but as a beacon for Resident Evil fans, it couldn't be beat. Apart from supporting Resident Evil Zero, the best version of Resident Evil 4, and ports of Nemesis and Code: Veronica, Gamecube hosted a brilliant remake of the original Resident Evil. It's a huge improvement over the premiere game, with a new script, new voice acting, and improved character models, shadows, and particle effects. Best of all, it's scarier than the original, with new monsters and back stories that tell the gruesome tale of a biological experiment gone horribly wrong.

#2

Dead Space

Set on a derelict deep-space mining ship infested with terrifying, twisted creatures, Dead Space is the stuff of nightmares. Players control Isaac Clarke, a ship systems engineer who must survive the horrible creatures and environmental hazards on the starship Ishimura. The developers at EA Redwood, who designed the game, took inspiration from several horror movies, and it shows. Part Alien, part The Thing, Dead Space is suspenseful, scary, and disturbingly gruesome. It manages to keeps its players in a state of constant anticipation and apprehension, from the opening credits to the haunting final frames.

#1

Silent Hill

Konami's response to Resident Evil, Silent Hill embraces all of the elements of survival-horror games: a shortage of weapons, ammunition, and health packs; disturbing monsters; puzzle-solving; and plenty of blood and gore. Unlike Resident Evil, however, Silent Hill provides its scares not through visceral action and shocking moments, but through a steady, unbearably suspensful atmosphere of dread. The music and sound effects in Silent Hill only add to this pervasive feeling on the part of the player that something terrible is about to happen. Of all the titles on this list, Silent Hill is by far the scariest, most emotionally exhausting game.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure -- Co-op Review

Game: Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
System: Wii (also on Mac, PC, PS3, X360, 3DS, Wii U)
Genre: RPG
Developer: Toys for Bob
Release date: October 16, 2011

Skylanders has been growing in popularity over the past two years, but it wasn't until last month that Beth and I tried it out. Built around the brilliant, if somewhat cynical, concept of merging video games with physical toys, Skylanders has quickly sold over $500 million in games and figures in the United States alone. The latest game in the series, Swap Force, went on sale last week.

Beth and I played the first game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, co-operatively. What follows is our review. Please enjoy.

***

1) Did you have any experience with Spyro the Dragon before playing Skylanders?

Beth: No, I didn't even realize he was an independent character!

Evan: I've only ever played the first Spyro game, which was a solid platformer for the original Playstation. Unfortunately Spyro's legacy isn't a big part of Skylanders. He's really more of a Trojan horse, a familiar entry point to a brand new intellectual property.


2) What was your first impression of the game?

Beth: I liked the art direction. The base camp area is beautiful and I like that it changes lighting as the game progresses. I also thought that the co-op mode was great- no split screen or anything. I thought that the bounce back between characters when they get too far apart was a nice way of keeping the players together. I also thought the portal mechanism was unique and fun.

Evan: The first thing I noticed about Skylanders was the guilty pleasure of placing a toy on the "portal of power" and seeing it come to life, so to speak, in the game world. It became immediately apparent why the Skylanders formula is such a cash cow for Activision: this was every kid's fantasy.

Toys placed on the "portal of power" appear in the game.

3. How well did co-op work in the game?

Beth: I thought it worked well. There is enough for both characters to do, and if you have the right selection of characters, you compliment each other well. Also, the levels are clearly designed for co-op play, with ample money and goods to pick up. Further, for boss modes it's important to have a good mix of elemental characters (e.g., Sonic Boom and Prism Break make a daunting team).

Evan: Playing Skylanders with a friend is the best way to play the game. The puzzles and enemies are more manageable when tackled co-operatively, and it's fun to share (or horde) the loot scattered around each level. There's also less swapping required and less character management with a friend in the mix. The workload is halved.


4. Who was you favorite character(s) and why?

Sonic Boom

Beth: My favorite was probably Sonic Boom. He had great moves, including a roar that could inflict powerful damage, and he could hatch eggs that turned into babies who would fight for you. He was a character capable of flight as well, which I definitely preferred. I also liked Cynder, who was an undead character. She was edgy and had some powerful lightening roars and a dash move.

Evan: I was hoping that Spyro would be my favorite, but he was surprisingly underpowered. Instead I relied mostly on Trigger Happy, a tech Skylander, and Prism Break, an earth Skylander. Trigger Happy has powerful projectile attacks and Prism Break has strong defensive moves. In more than one level, Prism carried the entire team with some devastating area attacks.


5. What did you like most about the game? What did you like least?

Beth: I really enjoyed collecting and developing my skylanders. The ability to choose a specific path for them (for their special moves) made it feel as though you were really developing the characters. I can see why people find the game addicting, and why the skylanders merchandise has been such a success. I thought it could have benefited from a more cohesive story line. Each level feels very partitioned. An open world with more challenging puzzles and creative levels would have improved gameplay. I would have liked to see some more difficulty in the game, as well as maybe more unique interactions between the characters' specific elements and their ability to access certain levels or find certain bonus items.

Evan: One of the best things about the game was collecting different Skylanders. The figures themselves are surprisingly sturdy and detailed, and worthy of display. Leveling up and customizing characters in-game was also a blast. Each character has a specific upgrade path, and, to paraphrase Yoda, once you start down the path, forever will it dominate your destiny. There's no changing upgrades after a certain point, unless players choose to reset each character entirely.

What I didn't like about Skylanders was its level design, which is too linear, its game world, which feels too segmented, and the story, which isn't especially interesting.

Spyro attacks a group of enemies.

6. Would you considering playing more games in the series?

Beth: Absolutely. I would like to see more difficulty and more creativity built into the levels, but I am eager to start another skylanders soon.

Evan: Definitely. Although this first game was a little underdeveloped and episodic, I have high hopes for the series going forward. Plus other Skylanders games are backward compatible with figures, so Beth and I can take our favorites into the next game, already fully upgraded since statistics are saved to the toys themselves.


7. What score would you give Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure?

Beth: Three stars. It might have a few flaws, but I had fun playing through the game, and I'm very interested to see more of the franchise. That says a lot.



Evan: Although Skylanders was mostly enjoyable and inoffensive, its linear levels, uninspired story, and its episodic content keeps it from earning a positive score. Two-and-a-half stars for me.

 

Nintendo Announces New Wii U Bundles

In an effort to increase hardware sales of its struggling Wii U console, Nintendo announced two new bundles last week. The first bundle, which replaces the original Nintendo Land bundle, includes a black 32GB Wii U Deluxe console with New Super Mario Bros. U and its standalone expansion New Super Luigi U. The Mario-themed set arrives in stores on November 1, priced at $299.

The second bundle, launching November 15 for $299, combines a white 8GB Wii U Basic system, a Skylanders Swap Force Starter Pack, and a copy of Nintendo Land. The Swap Force Starter Pack includes the game, a Portal of Power, and three Skylanders figures, one of which is an exclusive "color shift" Washbuckler.

The Wii U version of Skylanders Swap Force supports off-screen play, which allows consumers to play the entire game on the Wii U GamePad.

007 Legends

Game: 007 Legends
System: Wii U (also X360, PS3, and PC)
Genre: Shooter
Developer: Eurocom
Release date: December 11, 2012


Pros: Good multiplayer options
Cons: Unresponsive controls, awkward stealth sections, poor enemy AI, mockery of James Bond

In December 2012, game studio Eurocom laid off its staff and closed shop forever. Its final title was 007 Legends, a game with an interesting premise: a single-player campaign that includes episodes from the careers of all six James Bonds. That's Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig, for all you Bond neophytes. The problem is the game stinks. Instead of being a celebration of all things Bond, it becomes a mockery of some of the most beloved and important moments in the history of Ian Fleming's super spy. All that would be forgivable if the game itself played well, but it's a complete train wreck, especially on Wii U, where the controls are unresponsive and clunky. The artificial intelligence is poor, the graphics are outdated, the "boss battles" -- if they can even be called that -- are boring and repetitive, and the entire game plays like a dumbed-down Call of Duty clone. Only the local multiplayer saves the game from being a complete disaster.

007 Legends covers the life of James Bond from Goldfinger to Skyfall, with several episodes in between. Players control a single Bond, Daniel Craig, throughout the entire game. It's mighty strange to see the likeness of Daniel Craig canoodle with Teresa di Vicenzo or grapple with Gustav Graves, but it's hardly a deal-breaker. The bigger issue is that Eurocom totally misses the point of so many of the Bond movies it references.

Whereas earlier Bond games like GoldenEye, Everything or Nothing, and even Eurocom's own Nightfire were smarter than the average bear, 007 Legends is decidedly dumb. It plays like a poor man's Call of Duty, without the big budget, superior production values, tight mechanics, and capable artificial intelligence. Bond no longer feels like a spy; he seems more like an action hero. Eurocom tries to diversify with stealth and driving sections, but these are either joyless or broken, or both. Occasionally Bond can use gadgets to interact with surveillance equipment and pick up fingerprints, but these feel forced and contrived. Bond isn't sleuthing, he's going through the motions.

The Wii U version of 007 Legends ends up being the worst version, in large part because the controls on the GamePad are unresponsive and inaccurate. The game features a dead zone the size of Rhode Island, so that the aiming reticle moves wildly across the screen once the analog stick is manipulated with any force. If it wasn't for a generous aiming assist feature, it would be nearly impossible to shoot enemies with any accuracy. If you're still considering 007 Legends after this negative review, avoid the Wii U version and go for the Xbox 360 or PS3 version.

It's strange that Eurocom bombed so hard with 007 Legends. Over the past 15 years, the British developer has made some of the better Bond games, including Nightfire and the GoldenEye remake in 2010. Perhaps Activision, the publisher of Legends, pressed Eurocom to cater to the lowest common denominator, or perhaps the talent at Eurocom went elsewhere. Whatever the case, 007 Legends now stands as the worst Bond game of all time.

Darksiders

Game: Darksiders
System: PS3 (also X360 and PC)
Genre: Action-adventure
Developer: Vigil Games
Release date: January 5, 2010


Pros: Coherent game world, good storytelling, accessible combat system
Cons: Derivative, slow start, some screen tearing and slow down


It's difficult to judge a title like Darksiders. Technically the game is superior, but there's hardly any original ideas or mechanics at play. Almost everything in Darksiders is borrowed from other series, most notably from God of War and The Legend of Zelda, but also from franchises like Prince of Persia, Gears of War, and, yes, even Portal. The game plays like a greatest hits album from the previous two generations of video games. 

And yet, surprisingly, it's great. The developers at Vigil Games managed to turn Darksiders into something greater than its component parts, a game that excels on both the technical and mechanical levels.

War swings a scythe at a demonic enemy.

Like God of War, Darksiders is interested in mythology, in the cataclysmic battles between the forces of Heaven and Hell. Players take on the role of War, one of four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who finds himself hunted by both demonic and angelic enemies in the war-torn ruins of Earth. The art directors and graphic artists at Vigil Games did an excellent job of bringing apocalyptic Earth to life in Darksiders. The game's several environments come together to form a cohesive and coherent game world, across which War will travel back and forth, a la Zelda, to uncover power-ups and hidden items.

Unlike Zelda, however, Darksiders is dark and gloomy, violent and gory. Some critics described it as "Zelda grown up," which totally misses the point, but at least from a cosmetic point of view it holds true. Also unlike Zelda, the protagonist in Darksiders speaks, early and often. His gravelly voice and strong, unwavering sense of duty and honor make the character War an instant classic, a rare anti-hero who, unlike Kratos from God of War, is actually likable.

War in Chaos form.

The gameplay in Darksiders, as mentioned earlier, is equal parts God of War and Zelda. Players will spend half their time chaining together combos against demons and angels, and the other half exploring dungeons and solving puzzles. The combat system is not nearly as complicated or as satisfying as those in games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but it's still fun, and, more importantly, accessible and customizable. Players can purchase weapons, "wrath abilities," and special moves from an otherworldly shopkeeper throughout the game to customize their move set.

So Darksiders is derivative. It borrows liberally from older games, and doesn't make much of an effort to cover its tracks. Yet it manages to escape the fate of other, lesser games that borrow ideas wholesale without any attention to detail. What Vigil Games accomplished with Darksiders is quite the opposite: the careful selection of what works, and the dismissal of what doesn't. The result is a smooth, often wild ride though the apocalypse, standing on the shoulders of giants but with a spirit and mythology all its own.