#35 Silent Hill 2 played on ps2, released 2001
My favorite horror game. Silent Hill 2 has the perfect balance of exploration, puzzles, suspense and action. You never feel safe and you're never confident in encounters which is essential for horror games. It has great atmosphere right from the beginning, entering the town in the fog is really well done. The game made excellent use of shadows, I would say better then you get nowadays.
I also love the use of the map with little notes scribbled on top when you find clues. The music and sound effects were excellent as well, the static crackling in the radio still haunts me.
The developers really knew how to screw with your mind. Little touches like "Would you like to reach your hand in this hole yes/no" Nooo, but I have to find the key. A long animation follows showing what's happening on the other side while your heart beat is getting louder over the speakers, and nothing happens, this time. Having something finally happen is actually as much relief as it is frightening. That's great build up of suspense.
This gen only Siren blood curse came close for me as a good horror game. Amnesia the dark descent didn't grip me, but that's probably my fault for trying it behind a 19" pc monitor with crappy sound. Alan Wake is a great game too, but doesn't offer much in terms of horror or suspense.
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