I seriously don’t know what it is about horror as a genre that creates so many obscure and ignored games. Maybe it’s because sane people don’t like having the crap scared out of them, but there just seems to be so many horror games that, when mentioned around other gamers, garner blank stares and confused looks. Either way, here are five horror games that, for whatever reason, were failures on release, but really deserve your love.
- Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2006 – XBOX/PC)
We’re kicking off with a game that ought to be considered a horror classic but, due to a somewhat buggy release and an incredibly turbulent development, was criminally overlooked on release. This caused the studio to shut down and the two planned sequels to be cancelled, creating yet another crime against horror gaming. Why is this a crime? Because Call of Cthulhu hates you.
People complain about how games are too easy today, but the truth is that until ‘Dark Souls’ came out, we (meaning gamers in general) didn’t like hard games and a part of the reason why Call of Cthulhu flopped was because it was too difficult for its time. One scene, synonymous amongst fans of the game, has you fleeing from an entire town for what seems like forever as they attempt to trap and murder you. ‘Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth’ delivers nail-rippingly tense moments in bags and bags and seriously deserves another chance to be recognized for the masterpiece that it is. Also, H. P. Lovecraft, nuff said.
- Sweet Home (1989 – Famicom)
A heavily influential, early horror RPG, considered by many fans of the genre to be the first true survival-horror game. So influential was ‘Sweet Home’ that the much more famous ‘Resident Evil’ actually began development as a remake of it. Limited inventory management, a mansion full of zombies and demon dogs and door-opening animations were all the brain-children of this game.
You probably never played this because it was only released on the Famicom in Japan. Imported games were rare treasures back in 1989, coveted and owned by only the geekiest of geeks. But today you can easily find a translated copy of it and play away. Not only is this game an interesting piece of horror history, but it is also considered by many to be one of the best games on the system.
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004 – PC)
The small, 32-member team at ‘Troika Games’ took on a hugely ambitious task when they decided to adapt White Wolf’s popular World of Darkness setting into a PC RPG. The result was a broken and buggy mess that was nearly impossible to play and actually impossible to complete. The studio promptly folded and the game was left in a completely unfinished state. But hidden somewhere between masses of glitches and cut content was a masterpiece waiting to be fixed up.
In steps a small group of incredibly talented and dedicated fans and after years of community-coded patches and restored content, we are now left with the only decent way to role-play a Vampire. Creeping around the streets of Los Angeles in the dead of night, feeding on its inhabitants while you immerse yourself in the complex social and political intrigues of its undead, corporate masters is a truly thrilling experience and there has never been a better time to pick up a bargain RPG that will last you a good 45 hours. Just be sure to patch it up manually, with all of the restored content from the community site.
- Realms of the Haunting (1996 – PC)
Gremlin Interactive’s practically ignored FPS horror-adventure ‘Realms of the Haunting’ hasn’t even really garnered a cult following over the years, which is incredible considering the critical acclaim that surrounded it on release. The plot is about as clichéd as they come. Adam Randall travels to a haunted house in order to investigate the circumstances surrounding his father’s mysterious death. What follows is a truly unique gaming experience which hasn’t really been attempted before or since. It plays a lot like other Sprite-based shooters of its time, except the player can activate a cursor at any point to interact with the environment. Add to that a lot of free-roaming and exploring and you get a truly unique experience, the likes of which you can’t really find anywhere else. The graphics may be a bit dated and the controls might seem a little clunky by modern standards, but it’s worth it for a slice of mid-‘90s awesomeness.
- Haunting Ground (2005 – PS2)
Haunting Ground was a little ahead of its time. Sure we’d had a few Clock Tower games where a single antagonist would chase you around as you desperately try to solve puzzles, but the whole ‘being helpless’ sub-genre of horror didn’t really come into its own until ‘Amnesia: The Dark Descent’ was released in 2010. Haunting Ground garnered mixed reviews because of this and because of the extremely controversial nature of its content.
The player takes on the role of Fiona Belli, a young woman who is kidnapped and brought to a mansion (for nefarious purposes which I won’t spoil for you.) Throughout her escape attempt, she is constantly pursued by the castle’s disturbing inhabitants with nothing but her pet dog to protect her. The Dog is controlled by the AI and so you are left feeling rather helpless as you flee, leaving the dog to stall for you. There are numerous times where rape and sexual abuse are heavily suggested, giving Haunting Ground an exceptionally disturbing narrative and contributing to its lack of popularity on release. But our industry is a little more grown up now and that’s why I think it’s time to give this hidden gem a second chance.
What have I missed? What do you feel should be on this list? Let me know in the comments and maybe I’ll get to play an awesome game that I didn’t even know existed.