Looking to play games with darker themes

wrecktum662

wrecktum662

CAGiversary!
Hey guys, any suggestions on games with darker themes? I'm not saying "horror" games, more like...twisted games. Both visually and in the story. I really enjoyed games like "American McGee's Alice" and it's sequel "Madness Returns" as well as, of course, Diablo 1 & 2...but it seems like such games are fairly hard to come by. Any suggestions from my fellow CAGs?
 
Condemned(360), Fatal Frame(PS2), Darkness(360,ps3), Amnesia(PC), Penumbra(PC). Thats all I can come up with off the top of my head thats not a mainstream survival horror like Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Although both series have their own gems (silent hill 2 being one of my personal favorites).
 
Hmmm. I've played Dead Space 1 & 2. Really good games. As far as Amnesia goes, I've been wanting to play it for a while, but I'm not sure my computer has the right system requirements. Darksiders I'm borrowing from a friend. All those other games, I'll have to look into. Thanks of any and all suggestions!
 
If you can tolerate going back in time a bit, try System Shock 2.

What's that? No. No, the first System Shock knows what it did. If it wants my recommendation, it has to apologize to my sister.
 
Bioshock is an amazing series! Shadow of the Colossus was a solid game. I actually had the darkness but at the time couldn't appreciate it, I'll have to rebuy it used
 
Oh! You might want to try out Yahtzee's Chzo Mythos games. They're heavily inspired by Silent Hill and Eternal Darkness and what-not. They're also free.

And by definition, anything based on Warhammer 40,000 has "dark themes". "Grim darkness" and all that shit.
 
I'll throw Homefront into the hat here. A story where the US already lost the war (and some of the associated images) is pretty dark.

If only it was more polished...
 
A lot of the games already mentioned are good choices (The Shin Megami Tensei series and Persona series especially). A few others I've though of if you haven't played them are Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. And, if you're into RPGs, the Shadow Hearts series is fairly amazing. The first two Parasite Eve games would be good choices too if you don't mind playing slightly dated games, and both of them are available on PSN.
 
Gonna go with Shin Megami Tensei as well, though I'd lean more towards Digital Devil Saga, Parts 1 & 2.

Deadly Premonition, too - has a dark Twin Peak'sy vibe goin'.
 
Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth. Part adventure, part shooter, great dark atmosphere/story, especially if you're familiar with HP Lovecraft's work. The only caveat I would say is that you should try to play it either on the original Xbox or make sure it runs properly on your PC. I encountered a game-breaking bug while playing it on my Xbox 360 and on my PC (both at around the same place in the game) which ruined my attempt at getting an A rating in the game.
 
Gemini Rue. It's a point and click adventure for the PC, the graphics may not be for everyone (it looks really dated but is actually a 2011 release), but the sound direction, voice work, and story MORE than make up for it.

I don't remember if they were really "dark" but the Longest Journey and Dreamfall are also two excellent, excellent games.
 
Shin Megami Tensei for sure. Probably want to look more into Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga, moreso than the Persona series. Persona is still dark but has a lot of "up beat Japanese anime culture" in the dialog.

Xenogears... which may SEEM to have the anime-ish elements I just described, but immediately slaps you in the face with some of the darkest storytelling you'll ever see.

Valkyrie Profile... you play as a valkyire recruiting fallen warriors to your party, level them up, and send them to Valhalla. A whole bunch of possible party members, each one has their own 5-ish minute cutscene showing the moments leading to their death. The whole game has a very morbid, foreboding feel.

Ico/Shadow for their ominous, secluded environments and themes.
 
Some games that haven't been mentioned:

For a gritty atmosphere, I recommend the SNES Shadowrun.

For a dark theme and (quite interesting) story, I recommend Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. GOG.com has that one.

Full Throttle without a doubt should meet your requirements. Definitely an amazing game.

Additionally, Grim Fandango has dark themes and locations but is laden with humor which might put you off. On its own, it's one of the best adventure games ever, though.

Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday could definitely apply here as well. There's a PC version and an arguably superior Genesis version of that.

Deus Ex: Game of the Year also fits the bill if you can get past the dated stealth mechanics.

There's also Singularity (FPS).

Finally, Half-Life 2 and its subsequent installments seem to apply as well.

I might update this post if more come to mind.
 
i watched the 1st 20 mins of sillent hill downpour online and it looks as dark as fuck. the 1st scene you pretty much murder a helpless guy in cold blood lol.

the batman series is indeed dark now! not overthe top but it's like playing maybe 50% of the dark knights darkness :)

sadly tho there has been some recent PG movement that has been sweeping across the airwaves were stuff isn't dark anymore! Die hard 5 for exmaple they had a gun shot dubbed over the cussing of his trademark saying!
wrestling they took all the drama and junk out and it's like just wrestling now. it's even hit mass effect 3 some as they say effin and not fuck anymore :)
 
A couple that haven't been mentioned yet are Haunting Ground for the PS2 and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines for the PC. You'll need to install an unofficial patch to get VtMB up and running, but the Steam forums have many users willing to lend a hand.
 
LSD: Dream Emulator is extremely psychedelic and twisted, IF you can find it on ebay I'd buy it. Or on a japanese PSN account like me.
 
This might sound weird but the Fallout games are inherently dark and twisted. It really depends what kind of player you want to be, but many of the subplots within the 3 and New Vegas are exceptionally twisted. I realize some people may scoff but they have the openness to play as a really twisted bastard if you want to.
 
[quote name='etcrane']This might sound weird but the Fallout games are inherently dark and twisted. It really depends what kind of player you want to be, but many of the subplots within the 3 and New Vegas are exceptionally twisted. I realize some people may scoff but they have the openness to play as a really twisted bastard if you want to.[/QUOTE]
The Fallout games have also traditionally had a very humourous bent to them, though. I've heard that Black Isle really regretted making the first game "funny", but they realized that they were stuck with it.

Now, the "Point Lookout" DLC for Fallout 3? That shit is pretty god damn dark. Like, Deliverance: Zombies Edition or something.

Though I was always irritated by how fucking durable the enemies were.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top