In celebration of the only day of the year when I appear to be remotely normal, here is a list of the top ten scariest video game characters ever.
10. Draugr - Skyrim
Initially Skyrim's Draugr don't seem like such a bad enemy - just your average undead tomb-protecting warriors really. However, with Skyrim being as addictive as it is, it's often played well into the early hours of the morning. When it's dark. And quiet. And you've been staring at a monitor/tv for several hours and you can't quite think straight. Then you find yourself deep into one of Skyrim's many large underground crypts, you're tired, you're running low on health potions, you're desperate to find the exit, and then you turn a corner and run straight into a couple of Draugr, a Draugr Wight and his friend the Deathlord. As someone who's been through this experience a few times, let me tell you that it definitely isn't a pleasant one.
9. Witch - Left 4 Dead
You're moving along looking for the next group of zombies to kill when you hear crying. It sounds like a young woman, maybe only a teenage girl, so you seek out the source, happy that you've found another survivor. You find her crouched alone in the dark and so you approach her to talk to her and HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME?!
Without a doubt the creepiest and toughest mob that Left 4 Dead has to offer, after that first experience just the sound of a witch is enough to set you on edge, make you turn off your torch and move no more than 3 paces at a time until you can't hear her anymore.
8. Cherubs - Doom 3
As if Doom wasn't creepy enough already, they just had to throw half-baby half-insect freaks from hell into the mix. And then of course you don't really want to kill it because however monumentally screwed up it is, you're killing a baby.
7. Banshees - Mass Effect
Anyone who tells you that they didn't scream like a little girl the first time they were grabbed by a banshee is lying. They look like they've been ripped straight from your nightmares, they can teleport through walls and if you get too close to one then she'll put an arm through your chest, lick your face and then drop you in a heap on the floor. Lovely.
6. Necromorphs - Dead Space
They look nothing short of grotesque, they're fast and their sole purpose is to kill everyone. What makes these things incredibly creepy is that the usual tactic of shooting them in the head won't work, dismemberment is the only way to stop them. Playing Dead Space alone in the dark isn't advisable.
5. The Gatherers - Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: The Dark Descent's main mobs will chase you on sight while you walk through Brennenburg Castle, the game's main setting. Unfortunately for you this is an exploration game and you don't have any weapons, so your only option is to outrun them. On top of that, looking at The Gatherers can cause the protagonist to go insane. Which is understandable because they make me want to throw up a little bit.
4. Poison Headcrab - Half Life 2
Head-hugging crabs that leave you with so little health that anything can kill you. These little cretins are so creepy that even the testers were scared of them, and rightfully so.
3. Iron Maiden - Resident Evil 4
Awww, isn't it cute? Most people would probably go with Nemesis as the scariest enemy from Resident Evil, but there's just something about the Iron Maidens that Nemesis doesn't have. Mainly big spikes coming out of their flesh. It may be slow, but it's tough; cutting their limbs off will only result in them growing back, they'll impale you on those aforementioned spikes, and to top it off, they can absorb quite a few shots with no affect whatsoever.
(anyone else got The Trooper stuck in their head now?)
2. Pyramid Head - Silent Hill
No list of creepy video game characters would be complete without him. Words can't do him justice, so here's a video instead (The first few seconds are NSFW):
1. The Dog - Paperboy
If you don't think that this is a valid entry then you haven't suffered the agony of being chased by that STUPID F*%!ING DOG!
The Steam Halloween Sale is now live until Monday, and contains some insane deals on some awesome games.
Fallout 3
It's the future but with robots and fifties music. In case you're one of the few who don't already own this game, both the standard and GOTY editions are in the sale, for a fraction of their usual sale prices. The Fallout Classic Collection (featuring Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics), and Fallout New Vegas are also in the sale.
One of the best zombie games ever made, and fresh from it's unbanning in Australia. Left 4 Dead 2 features a scary, fun, and often funny single player campaign (complete with an AI that randomly generates zombies and weapons, meaning you never play the same way twice), some inventive zombie types, and the thing that people really buy it for: the multiplayer. As it turns out, becoming a zombie and scratching your friend's eyes out is popular amongst us gamers and nearly 5 years after release it's still one of the more popular multiplayers.
Claire is an indie action adventure game that has you controlling the eponymous protagonist through a nightmarish alternate reality with the aid of her German Shepherd, Anubis. The atmosphere is spot-on, due in no small part to the amazing soundtrack and sound effects, and combined with the great story and design this is a must-play if you enjoy survival horror. The game also offers multiple choices for how to progress which lead to various endings, meaning you have great replay value here.
Arena actually began life as a gladiatorial fighting game - the player was meant to be part of a group of fighters who would travel from arena to arena defeating opponents until they eventually became the champion of the Imperial City, with a few roleplaying sidequests scattered in between. However as development went on the tournaments became gradually less important, and the roleplaying parts more so, until eventually Arena became a fully-fledged RPG. However (super-interesting fact moment:) they had a problem with the name; developers Bethesda had already had all the game materials printed with the 'Arena' title on them, but the arena combat had been dropped completely. That's when developer Vijay Lakshman came up with the idea of naming the game 'The Elder Scrolls: Arena', despite not having a clue what 'The Elder Scrolls' were, and retconned that 'The Arena' was a nickname for Tamriel, the continent that it's based in. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why Elder Scrolls play such a tiny role in the Elder Scrolls games, and why you will never hear Tamriel referred to as 'The Arena' outside of it's first installment.
The First Dungeon
Arena's first dungeon is an absolute nightmare. Given the game's downright weird controls (right-click and swipe to attack) you'll die at least once before you've even figured out how to use your sword. As if that wasn't enough you've got goblins to compete with (often placed badly and hard to attack), and the rats in this dungeon are some kind of freaks that despite looking normal are incredibly strong and you've got to be pretty quick because given your lack of heals, a few run-ins with rats mixed with slow reactions will result in this:
...Arena's death screen, which you will be seeing a lot of (I once heard that it took Morrowind's lead level designer twenty attempts to escape Arena's first dungeon). However, eventually you will be greeted with the beautiful sight of the Shift Gate, and probably do a little happy dance, because congratulations, you've found the exit! The game will then ask you to enter the value of a random spell, found in the ReadMe file (that's 21-year-old piracy protection for you), and then you're free to explore Tamriel. Fortunately it gets a bit easier after that. There's just a small matter of battling across the continent to collect the pieces of the powerful Staff of Chaos in order to defeat the Imperial Battle Mage and rescue the Emperor that he's kidnapped. No biggie.
Why It's Awesome
Despite not getting the greatest reception, Arena rightly became a cult hit and spawned the rest of The Elder Scrolls series, one of the best and most successful series out there. Not just that, but Arena raised the bar for RPGs in general and became the standard for what could be made. If you've played an RPG made in the last 21 years then it's pretty much guaranteed that it's been influenced, even indirectly, by The Elder Scrolls. And if that wasn't already a good enough reason to play it (assuming that you haven't already), you can get it for nothing!
These are physical releases, I'll cover digital ones later
If the platform isn't stated then it's a multi-platform release
These are PAL* release dates NOT NA release dates, those tend to vary by a few days
*PAL meaning, basically, just about everywhere that isn't the USA or Canada
03-11-14
Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Surprise, surprise: It's November and another Call Of Duty game is going to be released. Who'd have guessed? This latest installment has gone a bit sci-fi (Hoverboards. Need I say more?) and (finally) promises an end to quick-scoping on multiplayer.
07-11-14
Football Manager 2015 (PC)
Yes, Sega are still making games. The popular simulation is back, and brings with it 2,000 new animations and Movember. Yes, this will be the first game in the series (and to my knowledge, ever) where characters will grow moustaches throughout November, in honour of the popular charity movement.
11-11-14
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (XBOne)
They always find a way to make you buy something twice and be grateful for it. Master Chief's entire career so far is coming to XBOne. Which I keep reading as X-Bone.
13-11-14
PES 2015
Because why go outside and play actual football when you can pay £50 to sit indoors and pretend to play football instead?
14-11-14
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
It's Lego and Batman combined, what's not to love?! Batman joins forces with other DC superheroes to stop Brainiac from shrinking planets. This will be the first time Lego Batman lets you take the fight to space, and Brainiac's mind-controlling abilities are promised to add new spins on character's personalities, which sounds interesting.
Assassins Creed Unity (PS4, XBOne, PC)
A new assassin and a new setting. A new parkour system. New stealth opportunities. New combat. Newey-newness. This will be the first game in the series to allow you to customise your character, adding RPG-esque "skill lines" to advance how you want to.
Assassins Creed Rogue (PS3, XBox 360, PC)
In a (probably not very) dramatic twist, you aren't an assassin any more - you're an assassin hunter. Assassin's Creed: Rogue brings back AC IV's naval themes, but with new ship-based weapons, and gives you a new air rifle to snipe all of the things at your pleasure.
18-11-14
GTA V (PS4, XBox One)
Well, Rockstar took their time, didn't they? Possibly the biggest game in the world ever is coming to next gen consoles. It brings better visuals and more immersive features, such as better weather and foliage systems, in addition to increasing multiplayer matches from 16-player to 30-player.
Far Cry 4
Rideable elephants. How many games give you that? Far Cry's next gen debut is set in the Himalayas, is designed to bring better immersion than it's predecessor, and it will allow you to play online with your friends even if they don't own the game!
21-11-14
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS3, XBox 360)
The first original game set in Middle-earth will be released on last-gen consoles. Often described as a cross between Assassin's Creed and Batman: Arkham, Shadow of Mordor has been the surprise hit of the year and is probably the best Lord of The Rings-based game out there.
WWE 2K15 (XBox One, PS4)
In an odd twist of events, WWE's latest chapter is being released on next-gen consoles after last-gen. 2K15 promises to overhaul the series, turning it from a fighting game featuring WWE stars into a fully-fledged wrestling game, meaning a lot of new features including a chain-wrestling game and a three-tier stamina meter which affects the pace of the match, among a long list of other additions. Each wrestler also receives their own skill sets and fighting styles in an effort to keep the characters as true to the real-life wrestlers as possible.
LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS3, PS4)
So many big titles being released so close to Christmas, what a coincidence! The third main installment in the series features a new planet, an incredible voice cast and great gameplay additions, such as three new characters, new power-ups, new and enhanced tools, and new options for creating levels. DLCs and user-created levels from the first two LittleBigPlanet games can be carried across into this one, leaving existing players no reason not to upgrade.
Dragon Age: Inquisition (XBox One, PS4)
BioWare is back with the third in the popular Dragon Age series. Players will return to Thedas to take on their new role as leader of the Inquisition and "save the world from itself". Multiple playable races are being reintroduced, the maps are much bigger than before, the combat will be more tactical and more customisation options will be available, on top of multiple other changes. Given Dragon Age and BioWare's reputations this is sure to be a great game, and will be a point of focus for Mass Effect fans, as developers have already stated that the next Mass Effect game will be borrowing game systems from DA:I.
Watch Dogs (Wii U)
Aiden Pearce is coming to a Nintendo near you. Wii U owners can now hack their way across Chicago, six months after everyone else, but in time for Christmas.
28-11-14
amiibo (Wii U)
Nintendo's answer to Skylanders and Disney Infinity comes in the form of 'amiibo'. The first wave includes 12 figures from popular Nintendo games, including Link and Mario, with more to follow soon, and each will be compatible with a specific game.
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (Nintendo 3DS)
Remakes of the twelve-year-old Game Boy Advance titles Pokemon Ruby Version and Pokemon Sapphire Version. Care for your Pokemon, train them, adventure across Hoenn, battle, enter beauty pageants...yes, beauty pageants. New features include buildable Secret Bases, new Mega Evolutions, Primal Reversion, and Pikachu in human cosplay. Because that's not creepy at all.
Minecraft (XBox One, PS Vita)
I'm going to go ahead and assume that you don't live under a rock and you do know what Minecraft is. XBox One users who had/have Minecraft on XBox 360 registered to their XBL account will be able to transfer worlds and content packs across to the XBox One version (which you can get at a discount here). Saved worlds are also transferable between the PS Vita and PS console versions.
Adventure Time: The Secret of The Nameless Kingdom (XBox 360, PS3, PC, Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita)
This top-down adventure puzzle game is the third based on the animated Adventure Time tv series. Because there aren't anywhere near enough cute animated puzzle games coming out before Christmas.
Due to EA's policy of trying to rush things and then bizarrely needing more time to finish them (which I'm not entirely sure isn't a marketing ploy), Battlefield Hardline got pushed back from this year to next, but without a definite release date. Until now. The cops-and-robbers Battlefield spinoff will be released on 17 March 2015 in North America, and 19 March 2015 in Europe. Now we just have to wait and see if it actually works.
I personally can't say that this comes as a massive surprise; the not-so-new consoles are a year old now, so we're starting to hit the point where games (and their technology) are simply too powerful for the old consoles and the number of new titles coming out on PS3 and XBox 360 are going to drop. Having said that, there are still some stunning games soon to be released on the last-gen consoles, which I'll cover in the next few days.
This weekend's promotion over at GOG.com is "Strategy Supreme" with 29 strategy games on sale (and given GOG's already-low prices, this makes for some insane deals). I'm not going to go into depth about all of them (mainly because I WILL end up buying them all and I can't really afford that this weekend), but I'm going to skim over a few of the games on the list:
Xenonauts
Funded by a KickStarter campaign, developed by London-based indie studio Goldhawk Interactive, and hailed as the spiritual successor to the X-Com games, Xenonauts has you controlling a multi-national military force defending the world from an alien invasion, all set in the Cold War era. It offers turn-based combat with a variety of different and viable playing styles, a more elaborate research tree than X-Com had, "Persistent Soldiers" who effectively level as you do, and no scripted missions - you play how you want to. While this isn't a perfect game, and is also the most expensive on the list at a whopping £10.89 ($17.49) it's still fun to play and is well worth the investment.
An oldie but a goody! As a child in the 90's it seemed like everyone was playing this game - and for a good reason. Yes, playing against the very basic AI sucked, but the real reason any of us played this game was the multiplayer, THIS was the original Call Of Duty "I'm gonna kick your ass you n00b" up-all-night destroy fest. This isn't the only Worms game on sale; GOG also has Worms 2 and the less-than-great Worm Forts: Under Siege in the sale, all £1.19 ($1.79) each.
Learn more about Worms by building a time machine or buy it at GOG
Blitzkrieg Anthology
Although there are plenty of other awesome games in the sale, I'm gonna choose Blitzkrieg Anthology as my last entry because it's the one I'm most drawn to, simply because it has no base building - this is a true, raw in-the-moment, one wrong click and you're screwed kind of strategy game. As the name would suggest, this is set during World War II, where you'll be able to play through a variety of real and fictional battles, as either the Allies, the Germans or the Soviets.
At times Blitzkrieg can be frustrating, but overall it's a good game and great for killing a few hours of spare time. It's sequel Blitzkrieg 2 is also in the sale.
I want to be excited about this. But I'm not. Partly because I'm still having more fun on Black Ops than the more recent installment, but mainly because COD doesn't need to be sci-fi; I already have Halo, I don't need it again. Also, I have a tendency to be put off by games with graphics that look so realistic - it makes me wonder if they've spent too much time and money making it look shiny and not enough changing other aspects of the game. It's not like games have never had great graphics and poor gameplay (I'm looking at you Assassin's Creed). But I'm not going to write it off completely until I've played it. Release is two weeks away and you can pre-order at every shop anywhere ever. (I swear it's only a matter of time until even launderettes start asking if you want to pre-order the next COD game)
Best Original Game in association with Digital Spy DayZ
Well I never! The game that everyone, their mother, their mother's cat, and their mother's cat's babysitter's next-door-neighbour's goldfish are talking about won something!
Best Online Game in association with PC Gamer Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Umm...the whaaa?! I don't think I've heard ANY of my friends recommend this one. #gamergate
Best Storytelling The Last of Us: Left Behind
Yup. Saw this one coming.
Best Visual Design Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Well. Let's face it. There wasn't much competition, was there?
Best Audio in association with PDP Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Is this the bit where I burst into a sea shanty? Tough shit, I don't know any.
Playfire Most Played Game of the Year Rust
Huh?
Best Multiplayer in association with Absolute Radio Battlefield 4
The game every other FPS wishes it was. One of the few times EA managed not to screw it up!
Best Indie Game in association with Official X-Box Magazine DayZ
I refer you to my earlier comment
Innovation of the Year in association with T3 Oculus Rift DK2
No. Shit. Sherlock.
Best Gaming Moment in association with Sony Xperia Z3 The Last of Us: Left Behind – “The kiss”
This kinda makes me want to throw up fairy dust a bit. Also: SHE'S 14!!!
Best Handheld Game Pokemon X & Y
Another 'No Shit' moment
Best Mobile Game in association with Kiss FM Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
#gamergate Also, Kiss? Really?!
Most Wanted in association with The Sun The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
The Sun are sponsoring the Golden Joysticks?! Don't they like to run articles about how games are eating children's brains or something?
Gaming Personality of the Year in association with Kotaku UK PewDiePie
The only gamer famous enough to be on the news. Also, Kotaku, so obvious #gamergate
Studio of the Year in association with CVG Ubisoft Montreal
Yay for Canadialand!
Gaming Platform of the Year in association with Gamesradar Steam
GOG should have won this.
Lifetime Achievement Hideo Kojima
I wonder how much XP you get for that one?
Game of the Year in association with Green Man Gaming Dark Souls II
Several hours of "OMG I HATE THIS STUPID GAME I KEEP DYING WTF IS WRONG WITH IT I HATE EVERYTHING"
CD Projekt RED have just released the opening cinematic for The Witcher 3
I've gotta say, I'm very excited about this game (which is fairly unusual for me). Also, I think CD Projekt RED is an awesome studio and the industry could do with many more like them!
