100 More Gruesome Games For Halloween ( 97-94 )

97 - Personal Nightmare (Amiga) :

Another point-and-click adventure now, this time from a company that makes a lot of the games in these lists, Horrorsoft....This one has you returning to your home village of Tynham Cross after recieving a letter from Mum telling you that your father has started acting a bit odd....another letter received just before you arrive tells you that your mum has gone off to visit her sister and your father, the vicar, has booked you into the Dog and Duck Inn. Apparently, the Vicarage is in need of a spot of redecorating.......

It soon transpires that everything is not as it seems in the Village, and that some evil force is taking control of certain individuals. Your goal is to find out just who is possessed, find enough proof of their devious deeds and inform the police! There are also people to be rescued from bizarre rituals and loads of different places to explore...

It seems to be a fairly decent game, with a good atmosphere and nice enough visuals, sound, etc..Unfortunately though, time hasn't been kind to Personal Nightmare and I found it hard to get past all the loading and disk swapping...it takes 2 disk swaps just to get past the first few screens! Another problem is that you can totally miss something that happens, as some events occur whether you're there or not...even typing WAIT can mean you completely miss an event you were hoping to see....

If you persevere with it and can handle the hanging around for ages you might have more fun than I did...but for me, it's just too much waiting for not much pay off ! It's a shame, as it seems like a game I'd really enjoy  and maybe I'm being a little unfair to it....but until I can find a speedier remake or something, I'm moving on to other games.....

96 - Haunting Ground (PS2) :

There have been many weekends where I've woken up in a strange place with little memory of how I got there, and occasional flashbacks to some horrific moments that give me some clues.....I've yet to wake up in a rusty old cage in some torture dungeon with nothing but a sheet to keep my modesty! Poor Fiona, the heroine of this game, unfortunately finds herself in exactly this predicament....

The cage is somehow unlocked though, so off she wanders to find some clothes and try to work out what the hell is going on, occasionaly having flashbacks to a car crash involving her and her parents. She soon encounters some very odd characters who all seem intent on chasing Fiona around the mansion trying to catch her for whatever devious intentions....

First up is Debilitas, a hulking man-monster who covets Fiona as a sort of living doll ! She must escape or hide in various places to try and avoid his advances. Thankfully she soon has help in the form of Hewie, a dog who it seems has also suffered at the hands of his captors....Hewie can be ordered to attack her pursuers or look for helpful items in various nooks and crannies Fiona can't get into, and he also handily growls or barks when he senses danger! Oh, and he can help look for traps, some of which can instantly put an end to your wanderings by impaling you with spikes or such-like....

Those of you who have played Capcom's Clock Tower series will have realised by now that this is essentially a spiritual successor to those games...Once Fiona has shaken off Debilitas, there are a few other undesirables who hunt her down, and so the hide-and-seek gameplay continues, with only Hewie and the occasional potion to slow the maniacs down....No infinite rocket launchers in this Capcom horror!

So it's important to keep Hewie on your side, and if you don't shower him with praise he won't listen to your commands. If you mistreat him enough he'll even attack you! Although I have to say that I pampered the pooch constantly, and he still decided to ignore what I asked some of the time...so it's not a perfect game mechanic! It is an interesting addition though and helps the game stand out from the crowd...

My favourite thing about Haunting Ground is the atmosphere though! Right from the start it has a very dream-like feel, and it's unsettling storyline is genuinely creepy. It looks great too, with some nice detailed environments to wander through! Definitely a game worth playing, especially if you want a different take on the genre...

95 - Haunted House (Atari 2600) :

Back in the days of early videogames, it must have been quite difficult to frighten audiences with a horror game...when you can't show people getting chased by lumbering maniacs in a cinematic fashion and only have a few blocks to work with graphically, how do you provide enough scares?  Well, in 1982, Atari had the answer.....don't show them anything!!

In Haunted House you enter the mansion of the late Zachary Graves to look for a magic urn that's rumoured to lay in pieces scattered around the house! Get in, get that and make a hasty exit to win the game! Simple! All you have to light your way however, is a box of matches...This means that you'll be scampering around in the dark with only the faint glow of your match showing you any items lying at your feet!

You'll need to pick up a key to open any locked doors you come across and there's also a magic scepter somewhere that'll protect you from the various beasties and ghosties that roam the halls of the place! Oh yes, you'll have to avoid bats, spiders and even the spirit of Mr Graves himself! If you don't have the scepter when one of these guys enters a room, they'll blow out your match and attempt to scare you to death!

Using sound and flickering light effects, Atari have done a commendable job of making the game scary when they had little to work with. The game is still a lot of fun even now, and whilst unlikely to have you fleeing from your screens in terror, it can still get you panicking on the later levels as you try to fumble your way out of the mansion in the dark...

94 - Big Karnak (Arcade) :

This one is a groovy little arcade platformer where you play as a pharaoh out to rescue his lady friend from a big winged creature that's swooped down and carried her off! You'll be using swords, magical scepters and even your good old fists to pummel the creatures between you and your goal...

There's lots of them too! Zombies, mummies, eagles, beetles, cat men, skeletons, snakes....and loads more...all out for your blood! There are lots of traps too in the form of spikes, pits and the usual tomb-like terrors you'd expect to find in Ancient Egypt...

Had lots of fun playing this one, and although it can be a bit tricky in parts, it's only pharaoh 'nuff that you give it a go! HAH! See what I did there? Pharaoh nuff! Hehehe......aheh....ha......*coff*.....sorry....best end this post here, eh!?