The Best Horror Game That You’ve Never Played

I’ve consumed an unholy amount of horror media throughout the years: the SAW series, American Horror Story, Netflix’s Apostle (A must watch movie), Outlast, Alien Isolation, Silent Hill, Darkwood and of course Resident Evil, just to name a few. One game in particular stuck with me throughout all those years. Let me just describe the scene that cemented it as my favorite horror game of all time.

I’m exploring an abandoned hotel that’s filled with psychopaths that want to kill me when I suddenly enter one of the rooms. I go into the bathroom and I find a mirrored cabinet above the sink; I open the cabinet, grab the first aid kit and close it.

When I close the cabinet, I catch a quick glimpse of a scary looking monster in the mirror standing behind me. Yet when I looked back, there wasn’t anything there.

Easily one of the most terrifying scenes I’ve ever experienced in a game. It all happened in a blink of an eye. The fact that there was nothing behind me made me even doubt if the whole scene was real or not. If it wasn’t my imagination playing tricks on me.

The fact that it was a moment that happened organically and wasn’t scripted. That you could play the whole game and not notice it speaks volumes to the developers’ expertise in crafting a truly frightening horror experience.

Let’s talk about it some more, but first, let us travel back in time to a wonderful, much simpler year.

Let’s put on our nostalgia goggles:

2008 was a great year for horror games; Dead Space had you chopping up alien limbs in a derelict spaceship using the kind of weapons that only exists in a horror movie; disc rippers, cutter lines and javelins. Any weapon that can decapitate alien heads with ease.

Left 4 Dead came out that year as well. The multiplayer blood fest that skyrocketed the zombie genre’s popularity. It was popular for getting creative with its enemy types. You got your boomers, your witches, your hunters, your smokers and your jockeys with each one being a challenge to tackle and requiring a different approach. (If you’re Valve and/or Gabe Newell, read the following, WE WANT LEFT 4 DEAD 3, DAMMIT)

However, that same year had a very special game that wasn’t as known. It’s genuinely one of the scariest, most disturbing games that I ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

This game had serial killers, detectives investigating gruesome murders, crazed cults, sonic superpowers, gory and bloody violence, creepy museums, creepy hotels, creepy lodges, and a creepy doll factory.

You probably guessed what it is, you probably thought to yourself; I bet he’s talking about Condemned: Criminal Origins. It had detectives, it had serial killers but he’s two years late since the first condemned released in 2006

That’s why you’re wrong! What I’m talking about, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the extremely underrated:

*annoying yet much needed drum rolls*

CONDEMNED 2: BLOODSHOT

Developed by Monolith Productions, the company that brought us F.E.A.R and the new middle-earth games (Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War).

A game that’s so imprinted in my memory. That scared the living shit out of me so much so that I’m writing an article about it 8 years later. A game so gruesome and disturbing that it was banned in Germany, according to Wikipedia. Even the cover art is disturbing.

You play as Ethan Thomas, a retired FBI agent who found himself hitting rock bottom and seeking solace in a bottle of whiskey following the events of the first game. Serial Killer X, the first game’s antagonist, is still alive and is still at large murdering people left and right. At the end of the first chapter, you’re recruited back into the FBI and you’re assigned to the case.

Let’s Talk Gameplay

The game seamlessly blends melee fighting and shooting. Melee weapons are varied and awesome to fight with, although you can just use your bare fists. Each trigger on the controller controls a hand, e.g. you hit the enemies with your left hand using the left trigger.

You can’t reload firearms, you use the bullets of a single magazine and the guns are discarded afterwards. Forcing the player to rely on melee most of the time, shooting is extremely satisfying in short bursts, headshots in particular are an absolute joy since the heads of the enemies blow up in a gory mess of blood and brain bits upon impact.

The game tries to vary the gameplay somewhat by introducing investigative elements; you get to use Ethan’s tools, such as a UV light and a camera, to investigate and gather evidence from several crime scenes and to try to deduce the correct conclusion. A much-needed diversion from all the violence you’re constantly committing, granting you upgrades if you get all the right answers.

A True Horror Experience

Each chapter of the game ticks a line in the checklist of horror tropes. Any location that you ever thought would make a great horror setting is in the game. Abandoned hotels, a lodge in a snowy mountain, a museum, a rusty doll factory, an empty office, a dark theater. Each of these areas felt unique and filled with an atmosphere of desolation and claustrophobia. It also helps that the lighting engine is so spectacular, the graphics as a whole still holds up well for an 8-year-old game. The game’s storyline does suffer a bit during its later chapters, but if you put that aside and take in each chapter as an individual package, it makes it so much more enjoyable.

Did I get you excited about it? Do you want to hop on Steam and buy it right now? Well that’s too bad, because you can’t.

Unlike the first game, Condemned 2 never released on PC, which I think, played an important factor in it not being as popular as the first game. Unfortunately, as of today, it’s only available on the Xbox360 and the PS3. I highly recommend you get it if you still own last gen’s consoles, if not, maybe get a used one and try it. Alternatively, you could simply watch a walkthrough of it on YouTube, but I’d never recommend that.

Did you ever play it? What did you think about it? If not, do you want to play it? What are your favorite horror games? Tell us all about it in the comments below.

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