13 Horror Games That Need a Remake
7: The Thing
The Thing is one of the few exceptions to the view that movie tie-in games have to be shit. Taking place after the events of the main movie, The Thing video game takes an approach similar to the movie by forgoing elaborate story explanations for tight character drama and chilling monsters. They distill the essence of what made the film so terrifying, and it wasn’t being defenseless. The film asked, “What if you had adequate defenses, but no idea whom to use them against?” To this end, the game implements a companion system, where trust is earned and bursting into a flesh-monster is always a threat.
There were three ally classes – soldier, medic, and engineer – who each specialized in a different field. Soldier and medic were as you would expect, while the engineer was required to open certain doors and activate save stations. While trust was low, allies would refuse to follow your commands and performed actions more slowly. Trust could be gained by winning fights, testing your own blood to prove you were not a thing, or by giving away some of your own guns and ammo. However, there was nothing stopping the man you just gave your shotgun and all your shells to from deciding this would be the perfect time to turn you into sandwich, sprouting two heads, and hulking out over your now shotgunless ass. A really unique way of creating tension, that interplay alone is enough to warrant a new shot at the spotlight.
6: System Shock 2
No, Bioshock was not a sequel to System Shock 2. Yes, it took place in a ruined strange and futuristic fallen utopia, far from the rest of the world and possible escape. Yes, there was a hacking mini-game that allowed you to reprogram turrets. Yes, there are magic spells that allow you to shoot fire, teleport, go invisible, and all kinds of other fun stuff. Yes, many enemies are tragic figures of a world gone upside down, mutated beyond belief and fighting for survival like animals. Yes, there is a mid-game plot twist where the person you thought you were working for turns out to be someone else with far more sinister intent the whole time. Yes, Bioshock was made by many of the people that worked on System Shock 2. And of course, the last boss was kind of a letdown.
But you know what Bioshock didn’t have? Kick-ass RPG elements. Back before everyone healed by taking quick cover behind their moms and ammo caps were dictated by the will of God, some shooters weren’t afraid to have grid-based inventories. If you didn’t have the stones to chuck out all your health kits to hold another rocket launcher, then you probably put your points into stealth and lockpicking and other traits for girls. Meanwhile, here I was, rubbing Molybdenum and Selenium on my alien worm cannon, ready to go Exotic Weapons Level 6 on some bitches. Yes, Bioshock, I see your adorable grenade launcher that shoots cans. Oh, it has 3 different types of ammo? I’m sorry, but my Fusion Cannon only has two. Normal and death. Yes, the alternate fire mode is literally called death. I need 4 strength just to carry the damn thing, and you know I ditched all my armor to carry more disposable maintenance tools. Nobody takes care of their baby like I do.
5: Koudelka
Time for Ted to get all esoteric up in this article again! Koudelka was a PlayStation era survival-horror tactics game, and that alone should be enough to make you scratch your heads and wonder what that looked like. While it does have sequels in the form of the Shadow Hearts series, Koudelka was the most horrory of the series. Taking place in a dark and haunted monastery with an evil past, three characters are mysteriously drawn together to uncover its secrets. The game is Japanese, and therefore the plot is way too long and convoluted to get into here, but if you want to read the accompanying manga to get a grasp on it, be my guest.
I can’t say I ever loved the game, or even really liked it, but I always liked the way it pushed horror into a genre most would think couldn’t accommodate it. It makes sense if you really think about it; I mean, nothing is scarier than seeing an enemy with a 1% crit chance start attacking in Fire Emblem and then… oh FUCK, he crit TWICE? And like Sisyphus I go, restarting the entire level once again. This game was made specifically to torment me, I’m certain of it.
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
