The QuickJump QuickList: Top ten scariest games of all time

Trick or treat! It’s the day of the year when everyone’s in the mood for chills and thrills, so we decided to conform with the times and conjure up some scary memories. This Halloween, we’re bringing you a nostalgic treat of what we think are the most horrific gaming experiences ever. Did any of these games make you sweat cold and wet your pants when you were younger? Let’s see when you post your comments below!

10. Sanitarium – Even with the limited PC graphics of the late 90s, developer DreamForge was able to come up with a little-known masterpiece of a game. What starts out as a rather generic premise of waking up in a sanitarium with no memories quickly transforms into a plot so vividly grotesque that it makes the simple point, click, and interact mechanic palm-sweatingly intense.

Describing Sanitarium in more detail will give away some twists in the very intricate story of self-discovery. All we can say is that if you ever get a chance to play it, you’ll definitely be more scared of getting committed to a mental institution than ever before.

9. Dark Seed – For a game released in 1992 for the PC, Dark Seed can definitely hold its own against today’s spooks in terms of storytelling, execution, and horror taste. Set in a locale where even things as mundane as dolls can turn into objects of terror, you’ll immediately get the sensation that nobody is to be trusted.

The dated visuals may not turn heads today, but looking closer at H.R. Giger’s artwork of the alien fiend gripping suburbia will prove to you that horror is timeless and good horror art can scare anyone at any era.

See the rest of our Top 10 Scariest Games of All Time after the jump!

Trick or treat! It’s the day of the year when everyone’s in the mood for chills and thrills, so we decided to conform with the times and conjure up some scary memories. This Halloween, we’re bringing you a nostalgic treat of what we think are the most horrific gaming experiences ever. Did any of these games make you sweat cold and wet your pants when you were younger? Let’s see when you post your comments below!

10. Sanitarium – Even with the limited PC graphics of the late 90s, developer DreamForge was able to come up with a little-known masterpiece of a game. What starts out as a rather generic premise of waking up in a sanitarium with no memories quickly transforms into a plot so vividly grotesque that it makes the simple point, click, and interact mechanic palm-sweatingly intense.

Describing Sanitarium in more detail will give away some twists in the very intricate story of self-discovery. All we can say is that if you ever get a chance to play it, you’ll definitely be more scared of getting committed to a mental institution than ever before.

9. Dark Seed – For a game released in 1992 for the PC, Dark Seed can definitely hold its own against today’s spooks in terms of storytelling, execution, and horror taste. Set in a locale where even things as mundane as dolls can turn into objects of terror, you’ll immediately get the sensation that nobody is to be trusted.

The dated visuals may not turn heads today, but looking closer at H.R. Giger’s artwork of the alien fiend gripping suburbia will prove to you that horror is timeless and good horror art can scare anyone at any era.

    

8. Alone in the Dark – While Capcom‘s Sweet Home can claim the distinction of being the great grand-daddy of survival horror, InfoGrames has the distinction of developing the first one with 3D characters. Alone in the Dark launched in the early 90s and set a benchmark for franchises like Resident Evil and Silent Hill to follow.

What starts as a routine investigation of suspected crimes in a mansion later reveals that the crib is actually crawling with everything from demons to zombies. You’ll have to use your head and your guns to make sure that you won’t be joining the happy mansion posse anytime soon. If that isn’t enough to make you a believer, Alone in the Dark also features some insane and literal rat-slapping fun.

7. Doom 3 – id Software‘s Doom series lives in immortality with the recognition of being one of the foundations of modern shooting. Just when everyone thought that the bar couldn’t go any higher, 2004’s Doom 3 came out and blew everyone away.

At the time it was launched, Doom 3‘s graphics were almost unparalleled. The monsters and demons in their flat, 2D pushovers in early Doom games worked just fine for targets in their time, but the horror factor was upped when uber 3D and full stereo came along.

6. Clock Tower – The only thing scarier than trying to escape creepy enemies while keeping them at bay with gunfire is trying to escape them with little to no weapons and only rooms to keep you safe. Clock Tower pulls this mechanic off for hours and keeps you on your toes every second of it.

The story isn’t half bad either. The idea of a crazed killer using scissors while he’s on the prowl just gives that internal sense of paranoia which just motivates you to run like hell in fear of death by shears.

    

5. Resident Evil (GameCube remake) – Where Sweet Home started survival horror gaming and Alone in the Dark took it to the next level, Resident Evil made the genre a household favorite. While the latest iterations are more action-packed than scary, we say that the original Resident Evil‘s remake on the Nintendo GameCube still has its place on the cream of the creepy crop.

Taking the basic haunted house with zombies rhetoric, Resident Evil made a lot of its scenes classics. The first sighting of the zombie nibbling away at poor Kenneth’s corpse is an indelible memory to countless gamers, and the traps, jumps, and boss fights that follow soon after are simply the stuff of legends.

The GameCube’s hardware made Resident Evil scarier than it ever was, leading a lot of pundits to conclude that this is the level by which all remakes must stack up against their predecessors. On that merit, we grant Resident Evil a spot on this list’s upper echelon.

4. System Shock 2 – 2K Boston’s BioShock is still making waves on the Microsoft Xbox 360 and PC as this list is being written, and as great as BioShock is, we say that it owes a lot to its elder brother from almost a decade ago: System Shock 2. For those who were lucky enough to have experienced it, System Shock 2 made a plethora of innovations with its trans-genre approach. Part shooter and part RPG, System Shock 2 was all style when it comes to creeping you out.

Set in the cold grip of space, players must deal with disturbing wails of euthanasia from fellow crew members while they try to split your skull open. Constant plot shifts will keep you guessing until the climactic finish where you have to come to grips with the reasons why you’re the only darn person left in the ship still fighting. This is a true cult classic if there ever was one, so do yourself a favor and get it so you can better appreciate BioShock.

    

3. Silent Hill – While Resident Evil and its sequels brought survival horror into gaming’s mainstream, few people will argue with the notion that Silent Hill brought the genre into a more chilling new zone. With a bizarre storyline, innovative elements, and haunting environments, Silent Hill is your kind of town if you love lurking on the dark side.

The fog that blankets the little town conceals threats totally unseen before in any game. Add to that the fact that your radio blares static when monsters approach, and you’ve got spooks onscreen and inside your head. Perhaps the sickest, most memorable part of Silent Hill for this blogger is in the hospital. Having a flashlight that barely illuminates the path and running into a zombie nurse with a scalpel in hand was just too disturbing for me to play the game ever again without the lights on.

2. Fatal Frame II – Imagine having to trek a haunted village tormented by spirits of murdered maidens filled in a strange human sacrifice ritual from the years past and you’ll get an idea of where you’ll be taken by Tecmo in Fatal Frame II. Playing as young girl Mio Amakura, players must search for their separated sister Mayu in the village armed only with a mystical camera which has the ability to exorcise ghosts.

Guided by a powerful storyline, players are compelled to face their fears as they have to take snapshots of scary ghosts that seek revenge for their gruesome fate. The only thing creepier in Fatal Frame II than having to photograph the creepies up close is seeing a figure move in the background and getting left wondering if it’s part of the game or just your imagination.

    

1. Silent Hill 2 – While we can sum up the justifications for Silent Hill 2‘s status as the scare-for-scare ruler in this list with two words: Pyramid Head, let’s go down to the details to do Konami Digital’s masterpiece some justice. Silent Hill 2 is best described as a story told much in the same way as a bad dream would be. Cause and reason aren’t in abundant supply here. All you know is that your dead wife sent you an invitation to everyone’s favorite spook city and it sets the stage from some seriously weird chills.

Look-alikes, freakish enemies, and by far one of the weirdest game nemeses of all sum up to create a true masterpiece of horror gaming. With so many things disturbing in Silent Hill 2, it’s a real test to pick just one scariest moment. It’s been years since this blogger played through this game and getting over ol’ Pyramid Head is still a far cry.