DHGF: Back in 2008, Darkling Room released what is one of the absolute best adventure and/or horror games ever made – The Lost Crown. It was a follow up of sorts to 2003′s Dark Fall: The Journal, which is almost universally in every “Top Ten Horror Game” list by anyone who has actually played more than the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises. Somehow, The Lost Crown surpassed it in every way and it went on to win multiple awards from us in 2008. Since then, fans of Darkling Room and Jonathon Boakes have been waiting, waiting and well…waiting for the next game in the series, The Last Crown.
Looking for a horror game to give you a scare this coming Halloween? Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle is a pretty solid choice to fill that void.
A breakdown of how horror games without the survival element can still be terrifying, using Cosmic Logic’s recently released Shutter as an anchor for the discussion.
The setting, atmosphere, and ambiance alone, mixed with some good sound design can make a completely non-threatening situation in any game feel terrifying.
I remember playing Gone Home for the first time, dreading every corner and dark hallway, fully expecting something to try to kill me.
As well as in Alien Isolation, the most scary parts for me were the scenes where there's absolutely nothing happening. You're in no danger at all, but you're walking slow, eyes peeled, heart racing, just ready for anything.
For me, that's what sells me on horror games.
Dying in a game isn't what makes it scary. Even having the threat of being killed doesn't make it scary. That threat can be suspenseful and create the challenge, but not scary. I'm not gonna actually die if I watch The Ring. Doesn't mean that movie isn't creepy as all hell. It's the design and approach of the world around you that makes a game scary. Things like the atmosphere, the sound design, the visual focus.. All these things can make you feel very uncomfortable, regardless of dying or not.
I miss the days when games used to scare me. First time I played Silent Hill I was terrified. I have never really experienced that feeling since that though. Sometimes they scare me in that I might jump. But not the kind of being scared where I can't sleep at night.
Metal Arcade: Liam Rogers writes:
I did not expect Darkling Room’s The Lost Crown to be a point-and-click adventure, based on the fact that the tag lines touted it as an atmospheric horror game. While games like Amnesia have redefined the horror genre and point-and-click games have practically disappeared from the industry (with the notable exceptions of The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us), there was a time when horror games were less about jump scares and more about mood, and that’s where The Lost Crown excels. Originally released in 2008, it’s been ported to Steam in anticipation of the upcoming sequels.
