Atmospheric Games

[Labryx]

Recently I came across this image originating from 4chan showing a list of atmospheric games. Since I do love me some video games dripping with atmosphere and I'm probably gonna make it a life goal to try out all the games on this list, I ask you: what are some of your favorite atmospheric games you would add to this list? 

 

 

Me personally, I would add:

• Doom 64
• Half-Life 2
• And both the N64 Zelda games (especially Majora's Mask)

Edited May 29, 2021 by Labryx

[omx32x]

i would add silent hill to that list too

[out_of_service]

Some of my favourites are listed! Nice.

[roadworx]

...timesplitters 2 is atmospheric? i mean, i love ts2, but i wouldn't call it atmospheric lol

[Rudolph]

Teleglitch.

Edited May 28, 2021 by Rudolph

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

  On 5/28/2021 at 10:51 PM, Reelvonic said:

Lsd: dream emulator is really nice, i have spent the past few years writing a txt file that documents everything, from how the graph works to how to glitch through walls.

 

osamu sato truly is a artist that imo not alot of people have been able to match his work

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No kidding, one of the coolest games ever. The irl lore surrounding it is legendary.

 

Sanitarium is cool too. Some of these I don't really agree with though. Devil May Cry? Timesplitters? Metal Gear Solid? Skyrim? They have nice environments and art design, but none of those ever struck me as being atmospheric. For me, older games with their distorted low resolution graphics left much more to the imagination.

 

As for Quake 1, you can replicate the look and atmosphere by making little lego enemies and putting them in the toilet. Then, stick your head in the toilet until your eyes are covered in shit and start firing a gun at your enemies. Don't forget your hazmat powerup.

 

For Quake 2, add a little bit of orange food coloring to the bowl and play some 90's metal before diving in.

Edited May 28, 2021 by TheMagicMushroomMan

[roadworx]

anyways uhhhh, these aren't my favorites but they're ones i've played

 

- shivers

- harvester

- dusk

- half-life 1 & 2

- eldritch

- postal (the original one)

- myst

- portal

- simcity 4, to an extent

Edited May 28, 2021 by roadworx

[Labryx]

  On 5/28/2021 at 11:04 PM, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

Some of these I don't really agree with though. Devil May Cry? Timesplitters? Metal Gear Solid? Skyrim? They have nice environments and art design, but none of those ever struck me as being atmospheric.

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I definitely agree Timesplitters and Skyrim are odd choices in this list. MGS2 I'm guessing was added for that last segment that takes place on Arsenal Gear where the game gets all spooky and 4th wall breaking on you.

I actually like Devil May Cry 1's inclusion because the game definitely had a dark, gothic, and a sort pseudo-resident evil feeling to it (which makes sense knowing the games development history); to me, it definitely had more atmosphere compared to the later entries.

 

[Cammy]

Eternal Darkness and Metroid Prime are on the list, so I'm satisfied

[BaileyTW]

A game I played when I was younger, and should not have, a japanese horror game by the name of Siren. I mean, horror game's gotta be a bit atmospheric to be succesful I guess and Siren pulls it off. Benefits from the not quite mastered 3d of the time, and the faces just being actual pictures of people put onto the model. Unsettling vibe all over, and neat premise. Just uh, suffers from being one of those games where it's completely valid to look at a walkthrough once you've reached a wall cause there's lots of branching paths of the levels you play depending on things you did in levels, this can sometimes send you into a loop.

[leodoom85]

  On 5/28/2021 at 11:55 PM, BaileyTW said:

A game I played when I was younger, and should not have, a japanese horror game by the name of Siren. I mean, horror game's gotta be a bit atmospheric to be succesful I guess and Siren pulls it off. Benefits from the not quite mastered 3d of the time, and the faces just being actual pictures of people put onto the model. Unsettling vibe all over, and neat premise. Just uh, suffers from being one of those games where it's completely valid to look at a walkthrough once you've reached a wall cause there's lots of branching paths of the levels you play depending on things you did in levels, this can sometimes send you into a loop.

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Get Siren 2. Better than 1. Period.

[leodoom85]

  Quote

Soul Reaver.

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Whoever put that game in the list, just add the entire series. Worth it to play. 

Also, if I have to put atmospheric games but on the relaxing type, I'd add Gris. Not all games can be on the intense side to have an atmosphere.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

Genuinely surprised not to see Doom 3 on there.

 

I would certainly add SOMA to the list of "must plays". Wonderfully creepy, melancholic sci-fi atmosphere, and they even a released a "no monsters" version for players who just want to experience the story/atmosphere.  

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

  On 5/28/2021 at 11:30 PM, Labryx said:

I actually like Devil May Cry 1's inclusion because the game definitely had a dark, gothic, and a sort pseudo-resident evil feeling to it

 

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DMC 1 definitely had the best art design, and the environments do look atmospheric (and still hold up well today with the HD ports), but the energetic combat/combat music and sarcastic characters kind of nullified any spookiness/atmosphere for me (same for the RE series, the amount of cheese often kills any intensity). I still love all the DMC games though, except for 2. The reboot wasn't as good as 1/3/4/5, but I enjoyed it more than most games in that genre. I think the series should have gone more gothic, less punk.

Edited May 29, 2021 by TheMagicMushroomMan

[leodoom85]

  On 5/29/2021 at 1:00 AM, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

 DMC 1 definitely had the best art design, and the environments do look atmospheric (and still hold up well today with the HD ports), but the energetic combat/combat music and sarcastic characters kind of nullified any spookiness/atmosphere for me (same for the RE series, the amount of cheese often kills any intensity). I still love all the DMC games though, except for 2. The reboot wasn't as good as 1/3/4/5, but I enjoyed it more than most games in that genre. I think the series should have gone more gothic, less punk.

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Funnily enough, DMC 1's origins started in that Resident Evil 3.5 concept game, which it looked pretty atmospheric.

Edited May 29, 2021 by leodoom85

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

  On 5/29/2021 at 1:08 AM, leodoom85 said:

Funnily, DMC 1's origins started in that Resident Evil 3.5 concept game, which it looked pretty atmospheric.

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Yeah, I thought it had a lot of potential. Kind of sucks that it got scrapped, even though DMC turned out to be nearly as important as RE.

[leodoom85]

OH SHIT.

Add both Parasite Eve 1 and 2. Forgot those games. PE1 is more atmospheric than 2 though but still they are great games.

Another game that I'd add would be Onimusha 2.

[The BMFG]

BLOOD would def be on my atmospheric list

[BaileyTW]

Outer Wilds is on here as an atmospheric game despite you going to space which has no atmosphere, peculiar.

[m8f]

Sunless Sea/Sunless Skies. About Sunless Sea, one may even say that there is more atmosphere than gameplay, knowing how close this game is to interactive fiction genre.

 

Diablo/Diablo 2. Maybe nostalgia speaks here, but environments there are the most memorable.

 

In the realm of shooters, HROT must be mentioned here. Unique theme, and executed perfectly.

[VanaheimRanger]

I see at least a few games in that list that take place in space, there is no atmosphere there...

[DNSKILL5]

I’d add Hitman Codename 47, Hitman 2 Silent Assassin, and Hitman Contracts in addition to Hitman Blood Money. Jesper Kyd was a huge reason for this, and these types of atmospheres are completely missing from the more recent games of this series. At least they didn’t change 47’s voice. 
 

Contracts would probably be the one I’d say to have the most atmosphere out of all the Hitman games. Reliving 47’s memories of missions as he fades in and out of consciousness, and it also had those missions in Romania at the slaughterhouse, the Netherlands biker club, and the one at Beldingford Manor in the UK, all of which have distinct atmospheres. 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Gerolf

[BaileyTW]

  On 5/29/2021 at 2:55 AM, Gerolf said:

I’d add Hitman Codename 47, Hitman 2 Silent Assassin, and Hitman Contracts in addition to Hitman Blood Money. Jesper Kyd was a huge reason for this, and these types of atmospheres are completely missing from the more recent games of this series. At least they didn’t change 47’s voice. 
 

Contracts would probably be the one I’d say to have the most atmosphere out of all the Hitman games. Reliving 47’s memories of missions as he fades in and out of consciousness, and it also had those missions in Romania at the slaughterhouse, the Netherlands biker club, and the one at Beldingford Manor in the UK, all of which have distinct atmospheres. 

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I agree there. Love the new games, really fun as always, but they kinda lack a really distinct atmosphere.

[ReX]

I'll join @The BMFG to add Blood to the list as a hella atmospheric game.

 

No love on this thread for Unreal? I thought it was hugely atmospheric for a 1998 vintage.

 

Phantasmagoria was an early point-and-click game with plenty of creepy atmosphere.

 

 

[ReaperAA]

Yeah I am deeply disappointed to not see Unreal in the list. For me, Unreal is still the most atmospheric FPS ever made. Fight me!!!

Edited May 29, 2021 by ReaperAA

[ZeMystic]

Lost in Vivo definitely belongs on this list. The game has more atmosphere then most horror games, and is 100% my favorite. I'm totally biased

[rzh]

Hexen: Beyond Heretic - you probably heard of it since it also runs on the Doom engine, it's a first person dark fantasy game that is less about the combat and more about exploration. People knock it for being obscure and confusing, but those people never played CRPGs, Hexen is a breeze if you take your time to remember where you are and what you're supposed to do. Great atmosphere, great soundtrack.

 

Age of Mythology (the original, not the remastered version) - Probably the most atmospheric RTS game ever made, it's sort of inbetween Age of Empires 2 and 3 in terms of gameplay, it's really charming and has three campaigns, the main one being top-tier, the expansion  one being OK, the last one being a really short free campaign. Again, great soundtrack. The remaster breaks some visuals, has (had?) lots of bugs, and forces the Chinese in the game, which are done really, really poorly, their campaign is absolute trash and they recycled most of the assets to make this civilisation which was also borderline broken for a really long time.

 

Rome: Total War (the original) - Turn Based Strategy with Real Time Tactics, great mechanics, great atmosphere and soundtrack, but horribly historically inaccurate and some older jank/ bad A.I./ performance issues on newer systems plague the game. Has lots of great mods set all across Roman history and even further behind/ forwards in time. I really recommend the Bronze Age Total War, Europa Barbarorum, Roma Surrectum, Rome Total Realism, Invasio Barbarorum mods. A classic.

 

Disciples 2 - Turn based strategy game with RPG elements. This game has some of the best art direction across all media, ever. Melancholic soundtrack, dark fantasy and interesting mythology (kind of a Gnostic setting)

 

Heroes of Might & Magic 2 and 3 - Turn based strategy classics. These games (especially the second one) feel just like a fairy tale, they're really beautiful to look at, the music (notice a trend yet?) is again excellent, and what the third entry sacrifices in terms of atmosphere it more than makes up for in gameplay.

 

Lands of Lore 1 - a classic, it's a mix between a dungeon crawler and a visual novel (it's really simplistic gameplay-wise, and linear) but it's art direction and music are again excellent, and the voice acting is fitting.

 

Pathologic (the first one, it's quite different from the remake) - Gameplay wise it's kind of bad, but the strangeness of the setting is something unique that the second game/ reboot didn't really manage to capture (not due to incompetence, the devs vision changed over time), interesting as a historical relic more than as a game, you can safely watch a playthrough of it after playing the remake.

 

Thief: The Dark Project (has a stronger atmosphere than the second game in my opinion) - FPP Stealth Immersive Sim, one of the best games of all time, though many prefer the second game for having a more refined gameplay

 

Resident Evil 3 (the original, it has some nice quiet backgrounds between all of the action) - plays like all the classic RE games, fixed camera angles, isometric perspective, tank controls, but I enjoy them

 

Hidden and Dangerous 2 - WW2 Squad-based semi-realistic FPS/TPS, you take control of a team of up to 4 SAS members in WW2, you pick them based on their skills, you pick their equipment based on how you want to play, you get dropped into an area (like N. Africa or Norway) and you have to complete a number of missions without getting any outside help after you get paradropped, your supplies are what you took and what you can "acquire" from the Germans, Japanese or [REDACTED], it has vehicles, swimming, climbing, two different stealth systems, overall it's a great but really janky game, it's very tense however and is accompanied by an orchestral soundtrack

 

Domina - 2D Gladiatorial Management, obviously not that historically accurate, but the aesthetic of the game captures this gritty, visceral and decadent feeling, and the soundtrack is one of the best you'll ever hear (people joke that Domina is a soundtrack that comes with a free game)

Edited May 29, 2021 by rzh

[hybridial]

N00b list doesn't even have Clock Tower and Haunting Ground, tut tut. 

 

Shin Megami Tensei III is there, so I would certainly add Digital Devil Saga 1+2.

 

Shadowman, especially with the recent remaster. 

 

Primordia, an adventure game by Wormwood Studios, they also just released Strangeland. 

 

I would concur with Hexen

 

Deadly Premonition - literally a game that isn't that good except it keeps you engaged so well by it's Lynchian atmosphere and batshit plot twists that it is amazing. 

 

Planescape Torment certainly feels unique but I do think the other IE games are also great at cultivating atmosphere. 

 

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father

 

Gray Matter

 

 

[Silhouette 03]

Don't mind me, just rummaging through my Steam Library:

-Dusk( Just wait till you meet the wendigo...)

-Little Nightmares( It's burton-esque horror.. need I go on

- Oxenfree ( the latter parts of the game hit you hard in the emotions, if that counts)

- Rusty lake and the Cube Escape Series( Still haven't finished all of them, but still haunting)

 

I'm really glad that Darkwood made the list. Games a bloody masterpiece, in my opinion.

 

 

[Doom_Dude]

I agree with Hexen and Unreal. They should be on there too. I would also add Clive Barker's Undying to that list.

 

Witcher III.... awesome game. I have to get back into that soon.

 

Prey 2017 was also a great game. It must've been good, I played the whole thing from start to finish and wanted more. So many games don't get finished by me.

 

I wasn't much of a fan of Gothic or Risen. heh.

 

Arx Fatalis was great. That was one of the last games where I walked into a store and had a blind purchase, knowing nothing about it.

 

Dragon's Dogma. I recently played through that again. Excellent game. I wish the explorable map was a bit bigger as you tend to go through the same narrow paths to get to places. The teleport stones are a big help tho, once you get them. Battles are fun. Could use a few more dungeons. Overall fun combat. I read the other day that they're working on a 2nd game.

 

The Metro games are cool. I have yet to play Exodus.

 

Wait a sec. Am I blind and there's no Stalker on this list? wtf.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Doom_Dude
The spaces! I had to fix them.