Five scary games for Halloween

The dead will rise, the vampires will feast and the werewolves will howl as October nears its end. Good thing in the Philippines, trick or treating is restricted to malls and some posh barangays. Otherwise, I have to fill some costumed kid’s pumpkin with my stash of Hello wafer bars. Not good.

Moving on. In the spirit of the scary season, Lone Opinion revisits five of the scariest games that’ll give you goosebumps in time for either Halloween or All Souls Day. So if you need that dose of adrenaline, give yourself a scare with these games which are played best, or worse, when the lights are off.

5. Clock Tower

Clock Tower (Clock Tower 2 in Japan) isn’t your everyday horror-survival game. Unlike popular titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, you don’t have the luxury of fending of monstrosities with weapons. So what do you do? You point and click on objects so you can run and cower in fear while a crazy psycho wielding a bladed weapon (a humungous pair of scissors) is out to get you. To make matters worst, the bastard just appears at any given time. But don’t worry; he’ll let you know when he’s nearby. It’s pretty difficult to ignore his eerie cackle especially during lull moments.

As mentioned, this game isn’t about kicking ass and sending hell spawns back to the grave. Instead, it focuses more on puzzle-solving and unraveling the mystery surrounding the series of murders in the Clock Tower. And you have to do that with a killer on the lose and no means to defend yourself. How’s that for scary?

4. Parasite Eve 2

In PE 2, you play as FBI agent Aya Brea who specializes in hunting down Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures. The game is primarily a third person shooter with some elements of RPG. An array of firearms is at your disposal, and as you kill NMCs along the way, you level up and earn points to upgrade certain skills. In addition, you can also equip Ms. Brea with an armor, which she is going to need by the way because she’ll be in a heap of trouble as you go deeper into the game.

Though the game doesn’t deal with paranormal stuff, don’t even try playing this game with the lights off at night. From cyborgs coming out of nowhere to larger than life monsters, there are enough freaks to startle you in this game. And sounds are just downright nasty. If you’re alone in your room and you hear nothing but your TV, the sound of Aya’s footsteps may cause some sense of paranoia, especially after it gets broken by screams and squeals.

If it's any indication, the series’ third installment should be just as great.

3. Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly

Shutter meets A Tale of Two Sisters.

Crimson Butterfly introduces a new way of dealing with the paranormal: take pictures of it. If you want to experience what go ghost hunting but afraid to stumble across the real thing, then this is as close as it gets.

The game follows the story of Mio, whose twin sister, Mayu, was lead by a crimson butterfly into a haunted village. The sequel sees the return of the enchanted Camera Obscura which Mio uses to fend off ghosts while she searches for her twin sister.

So basically, this game boils down to ghost, ghosts, disturbing images, and more ghosts. Get the picture? And since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let the one below do the talking for you to understand how spooky this game can get.

2. Silent Hill

Probably one of the scariest games of all time, Silent Hill is the last place on Earth you’d want to visit.

Imagine setting foot on an abandoned town with very little light to work with while being surrounded by things that go bump in the night. And if that doesn’t make you feel uneasy, wait till you see Silent Hill covered in blood.

The game uses poor lighting conditions to its favor in order to create a scary atmosphere for players. With a flashlight serving as the lone source of illumination, there’s no telling what awaits you when you turn that corner. And as you come across horrible beings and visions, plus weird sounds from unseen sources, you’ll soon learn that it’s best to shoot anything that appears before you.

1. Resident Evil

If there’s any game responsible for the proliferation of horror-survival games, it’s gotta be Resident Evil. RE served as the template for other games in the same genre.

Members of the STARS were sent to the outskirts of Raccoon City to search for their missing colleagues, only to find a find a severed hand and get attacked by rabid dogs. Shortly afterwards, they end up in a mansion only to find the placed is packed with booby traps and zombies and mutants. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Playing as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, you’ll roam around the mansion and encounter beings that’ll frighten you with their grotesque looks or by just jumping at you. Add some gore and not so encouraging noises to the mix, and the next time the undead grabs you, your heart will start pumping like a jackhammer. Good thing there’s loads of weaponry lying around so you can get even with the uglies and give them the ass whooping of their lives, or what’s left of it.

For the classic that it is, RE is one game that is beyond words and deserves to be played for you to realize the true meaning of horror.