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Reviews By DeSpair Recommendations



Grim Fandango PC Platform This is a gorgeous game - filled with characters based on the Mexican "Day of the Dead" dolls. It's another one I haven't finished, though what I have played was fun-filled and challenging. Can someone who's actually finished it give me a little more info? Also recommended by Bethke: "Grim Fandango is a possibly the most outstanding game within its genre. It is set up similarly to Lucas Games' Monkey Island series (quest through a board, find random items, use random items in the correct order, make smart-ass remarks), but what sets it apart is the fantastic backdrop: set in the Land of the Dead (which looks initially like late 30's-early 40's Los Angeles meets Danny Elfman's brain) . As you progress through the game (plotted very similarly to one of those great noir detective pieces such as The Big Sleep or the Maltese Falcon) you get to see more locales... all of which contain the same kitchy Dia De Los Muertos cum art decco theme. Vastly amusing in its scope and filled with sharp one liners, it does have a handful of flaws: the correct solution for a puzzle isn't always the easy one or even the logical one , so save often; inappropriate choices lead to death. Also to find items you will need within the level (or that might even be crucial later in the game ) one has to explore each screen thoroughly and methodically (this does get tedious after a bit). all draw backs aside, the beautiful world it is rendered in coupled with the fast paced humor and plotting (a la Simpsons) makes this a vastly enjoyable game!" Vaness has the following to say: "Grim Fandango makes a great macabre game without all the archetypal darkness and gore that most of these types of games would have. Instead, it's a slick, 30s/40s gangster-meets-Dragnet-style take on el dia de los muertos and calaveras. Manny is too much! I love that guy! The comments in this one are great, too: 'Okay, I'm gonna hit the bricks...' good, you teach those bricks a lesson!"
Sanitarium PC Platform I must admit, I've never actually finished this game... but I got about half-way through it and was mesmerized the entire time. The settings and the premise are fascinating! You awaken in an amazingly creepy asylum, your head is bandaged, but you don't know who you are. You talk to all the crazies in the asylum (some battering their heads against bloody walls) and then you go to a village filled with crippled children and no adults. It's fantastically macabre - filled with wonderful graphics. I must go back and finish it one day! It's definitely a masterpiece of the genre! Vaness has something to say about this one too: "Sanitarium, I think, is out of circulation Ibelieve. That game is like a twisted dream. Not as violent as most games are now and can be, but I really think it's more about the general distortion of reality and its dreamlike quality. Some of the comments the main character makes are damn funny: 'a bouncing pig. oh joy.'"
Silent Hill Playstation Platform This is the scariest game I've ever played... but that doesn't really mean much considering that I hardly ever play games! In any event, this one was a real show-stopper when it came out several years ago. The plotline centers around a father trying to find his missing daughter in a foggy, eerie little town called Silent Hill. However, the real stars of this one are the creey, abandoned settings that you must search through (it's like an urban explorer's dream game!) and the shiver-inducing sound effects. Play this one late at night with your lights out. Come on, it'll be fun... See also: Silent Hill 2 (Playstation / Xbox / PC) Demoness says it's " really good"

7th Guest/11th Hour PC Platform "There are two games that came out in the early to mid 90's. 7th Guest and it's sequel 11th Hour. As far as I know, they're PC only. They are puzzle games, and get harder as they go, but as you beat the puzzles, you get to more of the house you're in. I played 11th hour, and it was really creepy at times... from the murder in the kitchen, the blood covered switchblade in the bathroom, and the skeletal hand that guides you everywhere. Anyways, there's my recomendation for a creepy morbid game!"
American McGee's Alice PC Platform I haven't actually played this one yet... but the graphics are unreal!! Just checkout the website. How can you go wrong with a knife-wielding Alice in Wonderland? I think you can't... but does anyone else who's played the game have an opinion to share? "I just finished the game Alice, and it was fantastic. The twist that occurred at the end made it worth the time I spent at the computer." - Jacqueline "After an accident, Alice spends some time in an insane asylum--and Wonderland has decayed into madness. Alice once again follows the White Rabbit through the looking glass to defeat the Red Queen. A truly mad game with all the characters from the Alice stories…with a very morbid edge. The opening CG story and you're first meeting with Cheshire is enough to convince anyone that this game is fun. Besides, how can you say no to a girl with long knife? Alice is on sale now at most stores (below 20 dollars)" - Sean "Alice is an awesome game. I loved it so much that I dress up as her for Halloween each year." - demoness "Alice is a beautiful game, VERY creative and a nice twist on the Carroll tale. I especially like the alterations in the characters/scenery and toys. Much different than your usual Disney. Much more gruesome and in a way, true to tales from those days (ie Brothers Grimm). The ending (SPOILER COMING) kind of reminded me of the Wizard of Oz or Dark City, how everything becomes colorful and well again. I actually found Alice to look scarier when she smiled than when she was all cranky and carrying a knife...!" - Vaness
Clive Barker's Undying PC Platform Recommended by MrSkull: "... this one's cool as all hell, too. like playing a horror movie. Big guns, lotsa cool spells, and some ugly as all hell bad guys to smear on the walls." Also recommended by Chris: "I would highly recommend Clive Barker's Undying. It does have a certain amount of gore of course. But the overall feeling of the game is just twisted. Very cool. Definitely get a copy if you can." Also recommended by DTOX1ST: "I'm about 3/4 of the way through it and it's one of the best I've played."
Clock Tower Playstation Platform Recommended by IronMan: "A game that admittedly wasn't the greatest ever made... but what it lacked in gameplay, it made up for in story. The voice-acting was nothing to brag about, but it had an interesting villain, the Scissor-man, a maniac who roamed Europe killing people with a giant pair of scissors... I suppose the prologue cinematic is my favorite part of the game... 'The giant scissors once again search for prey, the trail of murders stretches across europe from Norway to England... Who will make it through this game of murder alive? Clock Tower.' The thing I enjoyed about this game was the 10 alternate endings, some of which had Scissor-man turning out to be different people. Also some really chilling music. Right now, you can probably purchase it for a mere $5. In my mind, it was worth it." Also recommended by crystalyne: "A female detective is chased by a lumbering, silent psycho with VERY long scissors: The Scissorman. Features some of the same Hollywood "killer's-going-to-get-me" sequences."
D Playstation Platform Recommended by crystalyne: "A vampire/Cannibalism tale of a young girl who learns of her past and her impending doom--as her family is directly descended from Dracula. Kind of slow at times, but the silent movie like pace and theme works well."
Doom 3 Xbox / Windows Recommended by Nez: "Doom 3 is perhaps one of the scariest video games I've ever played and is about as occult/demonic as they come--a GREAT rush to play but certainly not good if you're looking to unwind!"
Fatal Frame XBox Platform / Playstation 2 Platform Xbox Platform recommended by Mark N.: "The most terrifying game I've ever played is Fatal Frame, quite an obscure game by Tecmo of all companies. Supposedly based on a true story, it's set in Japan in the mid-80s and concerns a girl, Miku Hinasaki, searching through a huge, run-down mansion for her brother Mafuyu. There's barely any gore and the atmosphere is unparalleled." Playstation platform recommended by demoness: "This had the potential to be such a cheesy game, but it is really really good. It's about a little Japanese girl who goes to a mansion where her brother disappeared. You battle ghosts with an antique camera that has the power to kill them. It sounds horrible. It is a pretty scary game, especially alone at midnight. Some people have said it's better than Silent Hill, but I wouldn't go that far." *Ash Rose* also has something to say about the Playstation version: "I haven't played this one, but quite a few of my friends claim that a game called 'Fatal Frame' for PS2 is the scariest they've ever played. All three of them had nightmares for days, and they're all guys!" [I'll forgive the inherent sexism in that statement... but only this ONCE!! - Despair]
Ghost Master PC Platform Recommended by NightRaven: "Got a new game to go on the Grim Gaming list, Ghost Master. This game is really really cool. You take on the role of a ghost master, the person that puts all the ghosts and spirits in a haunted house, and your mission is to help mortals along with a task, i.e. summoning a new spirit, or to scare everyone out of a particular building, or drive them all insane. "Each level allows you to pick several spirits from your list to take to 'work'. They each then must bind to a particular item to use their powers. Some bind just anywhere inside or outside, some have to bind to things that have been murdered like stuffed deer heads or corpses hidden behind walls, still others bind to water items or electrical items. Their powers range from the mundane rattling of chains, to a rain of spiders, to the 'danse macabre' where every mortal in the room with your ghost becomes a puppet under his control. "The levels on this game take you everywhere from a sorority house, to an old sanitarium (where you have to battle the ghostbusters) to the house from poltergeist (where you have to battle that funny talking short lady). After each level you're allowed to buy more powers for your ghosts to make them even scarier for your next mission. "The graphics in this game are quite good. The view is like that of The Sims, but the graphics are 100 times better and some of the ghost power effects are really well done. I think the best thing about it is that you can go into first person mode for both the ghosts and the mortals and see through the people's eyes what it looks like when you walk around a corner and someone is standing there ripping their head in half laughing at you. "I highly recommend you check this game out."
Hitman Contracts Playstation 2 Platform / Windows / Xbox Recommended by MrSkull: "Hitman Contracts is about the best Hitman yet--lots of interesting ways to kill others using meathooks, garrotes, etc."
Hunter: The Reckoning Xbox Platform Recommended by MrSkull: "The game is great. You pick one of four "hunters" and take to the streets, cathedrals, cemeteries, etc. hacking and slicing up zombies, vampires and gargoyles. good stuff. blood everywhere. thought you'd enjoy this one. another good game."
Illbleed Sega DreamcastPlatform Recommended by John: "Illbleed for Dreamcast is a very haunting game. I don't know how many times I jumped out of my skin playing this game. It plays like a theme park - each level with its own themes. Your character dies in several horrible ways. When the circumstances are correct you could die of a heart attack, shock or lack of blood. Check this one out - you won't be sorry."
Max Payne Xbox Platform Recommended by Joel: "I'm not sure if this would really be considered morbid or not, but its at least close: Max Payne. Max, a NY cop whose wife and newborn are killed by 2 psycho druggies who had been tested on with a new drug called valkyr. It's a first person shooter, but with a great story line complete with a graphic novel thingy. Max's dialogue is well-written, which goes along with the graphic novel. There are a lot of little things in the game, like a lot of names and references to Viking lore. And Max is drugged twice, so you get to play through 2 bad trips. And the graphics are photo-realistic, so it's just a beautiful game." *Nez* has some better advice! "Max Payne is an excellent First Person Shooter (FPS) game but there is a new Payne--Max Payne 2, the Fall of Max Payne, and it simply blows the earlier release away. A MUST PLAY for anyone into FPS games." Doom 3 is perhaps one of the scariest video games I've ever played and is about as occult/demonic as they come--a GREAT rush to play but certainly not good if you're looking to unwind! Finally, Hitman Contracts is about the best Hitman yet--lots of interesting ways to kill others using meathooks, garrotes, etc. Update the video game advice accordingly at your leisure, Drearie."
Parasite Eve Playstation Platform Recommended by demoness: "Aya Brea, a police officer, is fused with a new kind of mitochondria. This mitochondria is sentient and has personified itself in a woman named Melissa, and now calls herself, "Eve." Eve, can infect living organisms, causing them to mutate into horrible monsters. The story is intriguing because it has roots in actual science, and it's rated M so it's a very adult story (and gory). The sequel sucks though."
Phantasmagoria Stagefright PC Platform Recommended by jen: "These are pretty old games, so I'm not sure if they are still available or playable for a lot of people any more, but what about Sierra's Phantasmagoria series? The first has a haunted mansion and a demented husband, the second some bondage scenes and general mind disturbance. They were quite controversial when they first came out, and I still find them pretty shiver-inducing. These were two of my favorite games."
Resident Evil Playstation Platform Recommended by Demoness: "This is a cult classic. It has zombie blasting goodness around every corner. Cheesy endlines and bad voice acting make it a classic. There are somewhere around 7 of them, but two and three are the best." Also recommended by crystalyne: "No need to explain it." See also: Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Shadow Hearts Playstation Platform Recommended by skye: "Might I reccomend Shadow Hearts for the PS2 as an excellent morbid game. One of the plot points concerns an orphanage where the keeper is converting children into monsters. Another is a chinese village where the animals have become human and eaten the original inhabitants. It's a creepy, dark, and overall, incredibly funny and well written RPG. Its love of the Macabre and Lovecraftian storyline make it an excellent choice for the Morbid gamer."
The Sims / The Sims 2 PC Platform Recommended by kelshubert: "I don't know if you have heard of the games The Sims and The Sims 2 for PC. If you haven't, I have been playing it for a few years now and love it. You can make people and control their lives in this game. You can make them fight, slap each other, make them argue, kill them, etc. I have downloads from sites though that make the game more interesting. I made a serial killer who killed people (even children) by luring them into his 'castle' and then taking the door away from them. They starved, drowned, and were 'scared to death' by ghosts. It was quite fun. I just thought you could be interested. Here are a few morbid sites for downloads: GRIM SIMS (Halloween/Goth objects-beds, etc.) KILLERSIMS SHOPPING CENTER KILLERSIMS graveyard NightTime Sims 7 Deadly Sims Heavy Red Sims (This site is maintained by the same owner of http://www.livingdeaddolls.com)
Stubbs The Zombie: Rebel Without A Pulse Xbox Platform / Mac Platform / PC Platform Recommended by Steve O': "Steve O' wrote to tell me about what looks like a fun video game (Xbox, Mac, and PC format) for the morbidly inclined - Stubbs the Zombie. The catch is that this time you get to be the zombie and attack the people - much more fun than the typical zombie game fare! Here's the Amazon description: "Stubbs The Zombie lets you become a man whose luck was so bad, dying was the best thing that ever happened to him. In 1933, Edward Stubblefield was a traveling salesman, trying to survive the Great Depression, when he was murdered & buried in a field in Pennsylvania. Fast forward to 1959, when billionaire playboy Andrew Monday builds his own ultramodern city - Punchbowl, where you can 'drink your fill of the future'. Unfortunately, he built it on the grave of 'Stubbs', bringing him back as a angry zombie. Stubbs was a loser all his life, and being a zombie gives him power he never had before. He decides to keep eating brains until the city is his -- unless Andrew Monday can stop him."
System Shock 2 PC Platform Recommended by ,,,: "After having played numerous games over the years I'd have to say one of the spookiest of all would have to be System Shock 2. Very creepy and scary." Also recommended by DTOX1ST: "Pretty cool game for the PC... I'm about 3/4 of the way through and it's one of the best I've played."

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