rorschach’s journal

Horror FPS/RPG:

Now comes my favorite part. This is my (current) fav genre. These games combine eerie environments and cool sound effects to create a (spa-like) rejuvenating experience for the gamers (if you’re an avid gamer you’ll know what I’m taking about… nothing beats stress than having an adrenaline rush… for hours straight!)

Doom III:

Imagine taking an all-time classic… tearing it apart, giving it a new engine, adding some new weapons and enemies, leaving players with no ingame lights whatsoever… what do you get… an ingenious way of raking moolah! Not only was this game popular, they even churned out a movie (albeit, a sadly disappointing one) on this one. An fps never looked so good… a must have!

F.E.A.R:

First Encounter Assault Recon… this game is simply breathtaking! Never has any first-person felt this good, never has AI been this sharp, never did this game scare the shit out of me! Yup, despite the game’s promising scope… it isn’t really a “Very Scary Game”. It’s a very good game, mind you; it has a superb AI, great graphics, an interesting storyline but scary? Nah! The game doesn’t surprise you (unlike doom)… you’ll always know when to expect paranormal activities. In fact I played a mini-game with myself… I had to guess when the ‘ghosts’ would turn up, and guess what… I had a perfect score. Try it if you must.

Condemned – Criminal Origins:

I’ve really got to thank Gargoyle for this one. I’ve been thinking about what can make a game really scary… when this gem pops up. Now the basic flaw with all horror titles is that even though they end up surprising you with sudden enemy attacks, having a hyper-charged weapon at hand becomes a real help… Scared, press the frigging trigger! This is one game which dared to be different… and succeeded. Imagine playing Doom (or maybe F.E.A.R) with the restriction that you can choose only one weapon at a time! Now, to further the pain, restrict that weapon to be a melee weapon… interested? Then do play this game. A more salient feature this game offers (something no other game does) is realistic melee fighting. You can actually feel pain everytime some baddie hits you. Oh yes! Lest I forget, the baddies are awesomely created. One can actually feel their desire to hurt you. They come at you with a vengeance… every part of their being, visibly, wanting you to hurt… and hurt bad! From the time this game starts you’ll know you’re in for a hell of a ride. A must have!

Call of Cthulu:

Haven’t really played this one, but have heard a lot about the title. It’s similar to condemned in terms of gameplay (and lack of weapons). An interesting add-on is the fact that you’ll continuously have to keep a watch on the sanity of the character you control. Grisly images, and dead bodies tend to affect his sanity… an effect which adds tremendous value to the gameplay.

The Suffering:

This game’s my all-time fav horror title. It, in fact, is the first horror title I played and this game is responsible for my current infatuation with the genre. At the core, it’s a basic hack-n-slash action RPG with lackluster graphics, lots of gore and stupid looking enemies, But what makes this game so good is its simplicity. There’s nothing which beats the satisfaction got from slashing up a weird baddie… a must have!

Rorschach’s Pick:

Now comes the interesting part… I’ve left the best for the last and for a reason… the following games may not be real great when it comes to graphics, sound effects OR enemy AI, but have a real great storyline and That is what I, personally, like (nay, love) in games…

Max Payne Series:

Can’t imagine anyone could have made a game like this… the game not only has a very interesting storyline, it is also the first game credited with the now highly abused gameplay feature called bullet-time. Bullet-time allows the player to slow down time and avoid sticky situations… the logic behind the ability being Max Payne’s heightened reflexes (yeah, right!). The game has a great soundtrack, superb voice-overs, interesting characters, a good array of weapons and (like I’ve already said) an immersive storyline. A must have!

Prince of Persia Series:

My all-time favourite game… I remember the first time I played the console version (I was 6 years old then) I instantly fell in love with it. The console version’s new avatar wowed gamers with a great (guess what?) storyline, interesting gameplay combining basic hack-n-slash with environment puzzles, and, once again, a revolutionary new gameplay technique… the ability to control time (the ability this time attributed not to heightened reflexes, but to a magical dagger and amulet). The prince’s athletic and acrobatic prowess, his swordsmanship and his passion makes him one of the most interesting gaming characters ever designed. What adds to the wow effect of the game is how the prince can actually combine his athleticism and his swordsmanship; to produce moves never seen before… in Any game.

A must have!

There… that about completes the list… I’m still waiting for the release of TMNT, Bioshock and Spiderman 3: the movie.

Hope they’ll live up to the expectation.

Till then…

Arrivederci.