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Plain weird, mindfuck games
Deui
Member Posts: 61
First of all, I'm not aware there's such genre I'm looking for, but these terms should describe them: surreal, abstract, mindfuck, art, mix of extremely fast and slow game play, mix of scary and pleasant, makes no sense. Something that makes you really think for a while 'what the hell was that' after closing the game. Well it doesn't necessarily have to be like that the whole game, just that it's something to that direction.
I have very difficult time coming up with any game that would have such content and I've been thinking about this for quite some time. Few horror games, such as Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and Doom 3. Not so abstract, but mindfuck material anyway. Although Doom 3 is just about spooking. Max Payne had those nightmare levels. I wonder if such game could be found outside of horror category. More in the abstract shapes and psychedelic direction. Oh and good ambient or dark ambient music, for example, good music is a must, or sound effects. Silent Hills have really good music.
Bah, all I can come up with is pure horror games, but they are ok too. Some horror element it would have anyway. Well, a racing game called Wipeout come to my mind as well. I can't remember much about it. Futuristic, very fast paced, race way going upside down, doing spirals and what now with trance music, I recall. Not mindfuck at all really and I played it on PS1 long, long time ago, can't remember much.Ah, almost forgot, the urban legend of a game that manipulated its player with subliminal messages that would be shown on the screen for split second. According to the legend it was government's secret service behind it, I recall. So someone remade the game for PC trying to make it as accurate as possible. It was fun to play it with all the warnings, hypnotic music and retro style. Eyes became sore quick or it was just my imagination. It's one good example of what I'm looking for, but something with better graphics.
Do you happen to know anything like what I'm trying to describe? :-)
[Edit]: I realized there's loads of typos in the text, but I'm way too tired to fix them, bear with me!
Comments
Portal, if you haven't already played it. Short yet sweet, and the puzzle-based gameplay can be a complete mindfuck especially on the later levels. It has some dark humour as well (although it's far from a horror game).
Unique upcoming indie space-based mining and combat game - Miner Wars.
http://www.minerwars.com/?aid=191
Psychonauts
If you liked wipeout, perhaps you should give Audiosurf a try.. Plays a bit like wipeout except the tracks are based on the music you have on your computer.. It also has worlwide rankings and I found it useful for learning about music I might like but had never heard of until I saw on the list of someone who had raced a lot of the same tunes as me. Only thing its missing is the option to hear a preview of other peoples tunes and perhaps better comunity tools :P Well before I give the game too much credit I should perhaps just say thats its a fairly cool little game.. nothing more.
Also I would have to agree that portal is another fairly cool little game. Screws up your sense of perspective just when you thought you had regained it. sweet little innocative puzzler that really sucked me in. Its a bit short... Kinda wish someone would have run with it and made some sort of multiplayer mod or something..Then again it was just long enough that it didnt get old..
System shock 2, a friend of mine did spent 20 minutes in a closet there saying "ook ook". It is old now but was really messing with your mind when it was new.
Clive Barkers 'Undying' and American McGee's 'Alice in Wonderland' are two great games in the horror/twisted/wtf category. You can sometime find the two-pack of them for dirt cheap, or even get the Vault of Darkness collection which is those two and another 3 games as well.
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American McGee's Alice is a good one. Sanitarium is an old adventure game that fits your description -- nigh impossible to find that game now, though. Starship Titanic would probably be a good non-horror game that fits, but also hard to find now. FEAR is a good one, it has those strange elements like in Max Payne but creepier and more of it.
OOOh Sanitarium freaked me out. Deformed children, psychotic carnivals....good times
Bioshock has some unsettling elements, to mention a new one. My friend wanted to play it but it made him too tense..ha But that was a game I actually finished, which is very rare.
System Shock 2 had that creepy voice that would just speak to you sometimes. Good one.
I'm surprised no one mentioned Silent Hill 2. And Silent Hill 4.
if you really want a 'mind fuck game' then these games are it.
creepy and drenched in atmosphere.
Drenched.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
you want a mindfuck? Hunt down a copy of Eternal Darkness for the gamecube.
There are plenty of weird, creepy indie games. Try The Path, or Void. Void is pretty new, has some neat mechanics, and you'll never be entirely sure that you're doing the "right" thing.
Thanks, peeps! Wasn't expecting this many replies. Definitely some interesting suggestions, although many are purely horror.
I played Bioshock and that isn't really what I'm looking for right now. I very much liked the feel to it, but it wasn't scary enough and it didn't have that much surrealism. I really loved the 60's themed aesthetics. Is System Shock 2 similar game?
Silent Hills I'm going to play for sure, I've played only one of them. The problem solving parts are really fun addition. Combat is very, very clunky, but that gives you more helpless feeling though. I like the fact they are mostly about the atmosphere and story, many FPS games are very combat focused. I'm going to look into Portal and Audiosurf too, seem like a lot of fun. Can choose any song I want? Hell yes. Alice in Wonderland seems interesting. So rarely I get to play as a little girl and it seems to to have some strong surrealistic elements. The Path and Void are in the list as well. I gotta love indie games, they really shine in this category. Bit hard to find though.
I really appreciate the suggestions. I'm still looking for something less horror. I found such names as Tranquility and Brainpipe. They seem to be about abstract visuals and electronica music. I used to play LocoRoco on PSP, it's a very unique game, but it's like the most innocent game there is, still it kinda fits this category. What annoys me a bit is that Fatal Frames series are only for consoles. Always wanted to try them...
Oh lol, I got sudden flash back of 5 Days a Stranger and it's sequels. That was bunch of fun.
Audiosurf is a lot of fun... I basically race all the tracks, any time I get a new CD now. Also, racing to the Witcher Soundtrack, which is a blast.
I think The Void would qualify. The environments almost make you feel like you're playing a part in some dark artwork. It's a slower game though and very unforgiving of mistakes.
Edit: Just realized it was already mentioned... sorry about that. Just consider this a second to the motion.
there is a game coming out for the xbox this year i believe, its about a guy investigating some murder case (i think). From the trailer it looked like a horror/wierd/scary kinda game. And i just had to look it up, it's Alan Wake
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I have another one...
The Path...
for pc or mac. It's a really odd game. A bit trippy and very odd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adj0flt1-7U
http://www.direct2drive.com/Search.aspx?SearchTerm=The%20Path
Some comments from youtube... I haven't played the game but will soon.
I warn anyone who wants to play this game:
If you think you've played chilling, cold, unsettling games, then you know nothing. This game is weird, cruel, cold, unsettling, unnerving, sweat-inducing horror.? It creeps up your spine and clamps onto the base of your skull, and gnaws away at your senses. Seriously. This game is the weirdest, most surreal, most scary game I have ever played.
I love this game. Just look at BecomeSomeone's comment--The Path is freaking scary, and probably the first time in about a decade a? game has seriously scared me that much. There is no horror like it.
One of the things I like doing is inviting an unsuspecting friend over and then make him play it in the dark, including and especially the inside of "grandma's" house. I should have filmed his reaction.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Personally saw some few youtube videos of the path didn't see anything freaky but I'll try a demo if there's one before making my final judgment.
^^^ This. I damn near shit myself when it told me my save file was corrupted. It will mess with your head, man.
I remember waiting the longest time for the Void to get localized, finally got it after waiting for about three weeks for it to ship to me from the UK (before it went up on Steam -_-) and honestly, I can't even play it now ;;. I absolutely love everything about it, the atmosphere, the music, the voices, but it's so god damn depressing that I don't want to start it up.
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
EAT ME MMORPG.com!
Also... Linger in Shadows on PS3. Weird downloadable game that has more in common with artwork than a game, but still pretty freakin' weird.
I remember waiting the longest time for the Void to get localized, finally got it after waiting for about three weeks for it to ship to me from the UK (before it went up on Steam -_-) and honestly, I can't even play it now ;;. I absolutely love everything about it, the atmosphere, the music, the voices, but it's so god damn depressing that I don't want to start it up.
Lol yeah, I guess that comes with the territory with the whole game being centered around death. Also hard to shake that feeling that every character in the game is manipulating you.
I remember waiting the longest time for the Void to get localized, finally got it after waiting for about three weeks for it to ship to me from the UK (before it went up on Steam -_-) and honestly, I can't even play it now ;;. I absolutely love everything about it, the atmosphere, the music, the voices, but it's so god damn depressing that I don't want to start it up.
Lol yeah, I guess that comes with the territory with the whole game being centered around death. Also hard to shake that feeling that every character in the game is manipulating you.
Honestly, I actually really liked the subject matter. It was more the ever present and crushing feeling of being utterly alone in that place. It just kind of envelops you.
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
EAT ME MMORPG.com!
I agree... great game. Probably better to get it from GOG since it's packaged with the latest patches and certified to work on newer OS's (including 64 bit).
www.gog.com/en/gamecard/sanitarium
I remember waiting the longest time for the Void to get localized, finally got it after waiting for about three weeks for it to ship to me from the UK (before it went up on Steam -_-) and honestly, I can't even play it now ;;. I absolutely love everything about it, the atmosphere, the music, the voices, but it's so god damn depressing that I don't want to start it up.
Lol yeah, I guess that comes with the territory with the whole game being centered around death. Also hard to shake that feeling that every character in the game is manipulating you.
Honestly, I actually really liked the subject matter. It was more the ever present and crushing feeling of being utterly alone in that place. It just kind of envelops you.
For a while, that was the nagging feeling I had as well. I kept thinking to myself, "I sure hope death isn't really anything like this."
The 7th Guest (Or was it 11th? I forget).
Scared the crap out of me when it came out, been trying to get hold of it, cant seem to get it anywhere