Survival horror has always been my favorite genre, although I haven't played a new one that I've liked for quite some time (The Evil Within was fairly decent, but didn't completely win me over). For me personally, the original Siren on PS2 is definitely the hardest horror game I've ever experienced. Not only is the game insanely vague at times in terms of your objective (or possibly even cryptic), but it also has some of the most unforgiving enemies I've ever encountered in... well... any game, quite frankly. You do have a gun in some missions, which makes them relatively easy to put down, but even then they never actually die (they "pass out" for a while, but resume their patrol after a short period of time). Overall, Siren makes nearly every other horror game I've played feel like a cakewalk. Frustration can definitely override the actual fear experienced with the game, but for the most part, it isn't exactly unfair (the one exception might be that enemy snipers seem to always know which direction you're in, despite not actually seeing you). Probably the worst aspect of the game is being forced to replay each mission over and over until you figure out what needs to be completed to actually progress the story, but it's also a somewhat interesting convention. What are some other possible contenders?
Team Silent for the win! That game can be pretty infuriating. Not a bad choice. I always thought System Shock 2 was pretty difficult. It's one of those games where I felt like the creators didn't want me to actually progress, especially if you amp up the difficulty setting. The Evil Within/Psycho Break on Akumu can pose quite the challenge.
Haha, poor old tank controls. I'm personally very fond of them, but obviously a lot of people never could accept the idea. Maybe it is fundamentally awkward, but I will always argue that there's no other appropriate way to handle games that have dynamic camera angles. Standard directional control basically works, but as I've personally experienced in Resident Evil Outbreak, the camera flip almost always results in unintentional turns and whatnot that often direct you toward the enemy. Anyway, the days of that type of camera system seem long gone, so I guess it's an argument that no longer needs to be had. All I know is, I can still manage quite well in Dino Crisis 2, which is an action game with tank controls/static camera angles, so it really just takes getting used to.
i beat siren/forbidden siren on ps2 and it was hard and required a lot of patience but the sequel... wel i got so far and wanted to beat the game by doing everything, i got stuck and i will return to that beast one day for sure lol. i guess forbidden siren 2 is the hardest for me since i actually didn't fail to beat the first one. but yeah the series is seriously hard and not for average casual gamers imo.
What about that PS2 game where you controlled the main character with voice controls? It was pretty challenging.
As do I. There's no other way to play at least the first Silent Hill IMO. I think 3D controls did add an unfair element of difficulty, though. Putting REmaster on 2D control mode made it far easier to avoid enemies in enclosed areas. Just run at zombies and flick the stick back to immediately reverse and watch them lunge into empty air. On 3D controls you had to slowly approach and pray you were close enough for the lunge. When it happens you have that split second to back up and if you mistime it, you're stuck. Even on Silent Hill 2 and 3 the 2D controls make certain encounters much easier. A lot of the boss battles (Pyramid Head first encounter, Abstract Daddy, etc.) consist of running to a corner, firing off some shots, running to the other, far corner, firing off some shots, repeat. Having 2D let's you swing around the room pretty seamlessly while 3D has you turning around manually and specifying where exactly you're running in relation to the enemy. That would be Lifeline for the PS2. Yes, indeed challenging... for all the wrong reasons haha.
I do agree that most games are harder to play with that type of control, and for some games I do use the "2D" control even if 3D is an option (Silent Hill 2 is one of those games, actually). Resident Evil Outbreak is a pretty interesting case study for both control types, though. Personally, I would have most likely preferred to play that game with tank controls, but I am not fond of the PS2 d-pad (at least for 3D games), and that's the only way to use that style of movement in that game. The sensitivity is also very poor, in my opinion, which means pretty much every turn ends up being a big sweeping curve; definitely not ideal for avoiding some of the faster enemies. So the standard third person/analog control is the only way to go in that game, but that brings me back to the other issue I mentioned, that your character does a 180 flip (more or less) whenever you try to readjust for the camera switch. This can usually be corrected in any game by simply continuing to hold the same direction from the previous angle, but it's not logical, and is ultimately a compromise.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of a North American version of Siren 2, I never got around to playing it. I did play the Japanese version briefly, but I couldn't read anything, so it was pretty hopeless. I'll have to try out the European version eventually. On that note, SIREN: New Translation was one of the more enjoyable survival horror games of last gen. It was way easier than the original, though, to the point of feeling watered down. I wasn't too fond of the new characters, either. Still, it retained something of the original atmosphere, and I liked the soundtrack. Too bad the series didn't continue to some capacity after that. (sorry for the double post)
i own siren 3 for the ps3. the problem is i don't like to play through games in the wrong order so i wont play siren 3 until i beat siren 2 and that is a task in itelf lol. cal me mad lol... i blame my OCD's.
I prefer not to play games in the wrong order, as well. However, Siren 3 is actually just a remake of the first one... more or less, anyway.
i booted it up years ago to see if it was working ok as it was used. the start of the game was impressive with the escape the shibito policeman. this thread has made me want to play forbidden siren 2 again anyhow so once i beat resistance 2 for ps3 i will go back to siren 2 and i know i'm in for a world of pain lol.
@GodofHardcore well it is not that hard to control a character with Tank Control and TANK CONTROL FTW
Tank controls FTW! One of my latest achievements was beating the Biohazard HD Remastered on Survival Mode, using only the knife, without using first aid sprays, and with the tank controls, in 4 hours. Only those who played a lot and know the game well can understand this achievement. In fact, I haven't seen someone done it exactly like this (when I searched about it almost a year ago). Sure there are people that have done it but is definitely not an easy thing, to say the least.
Yep. Resident Evil 2 on the N64 allowed you to use the traditional Resident Evil tank controls, or to use directional control, and it was *fantastic* being able to move the analogue stick in any direction and have your in-game character move in that direction! And then on the Gameube, it was back to tank controls only for Resident Evil (Remake), Resident Evil 0, and Resident Evil 3, and I hated it. I didn't buy RE2 for the Gamecube, as I had the N64 version, and I can't remember if RE: Codename Veronica limited you to tank controls, but I think it probably did.
Fatal Frame on Wii U has them in a fully 3D game. I quite like them. Reason being is it adds to the fear and terror of the game and makes you the player and the character even more helpless. So that's the whole point. Tank controls should be in most horror games as if ti makes people scream trying to get away then GREAT! That's the whole point. As for the topic I might add SNES Clock Tower to the mix.
