Heh. So true. What I meant by "modern" was that they were released after the death of Interactive Fiction as a commercially viable game genre. These were among the first games that came out as part of the "Interactive Fiction Revival Movement" (are we a movement? Sure, why not!). Hampton Manor came out in 1992 and The Abbey in 1993. We've come far as a community from these very early birds.Gunness wrote:Hahaha, yeah, "modern" is definitely in the eye of the beholder! I'm sure that some retrogamers will find a C64 game from 1989 very modernMarco wrote:Now, if it's any horror game that you're interested in, rather than just Lovecraft, I would give strong recommendations to The Abbey and Hampton Manor. Both of these are "modern", though about 15 years old now.
Personally, I like the minimalistic descriptions. And the picture of the werewolf that chases you all over the place is for me one of the iconic images in the early days of horror/supernatural gaming. But if you haven't, try the "Comprehend" version. The graphics are slightly better, and the text has been somewhat expanded. Plus, the 2-word parser got a facelift, and the game understands complete sentences. I would recommend the Apple II version, as the PC version looks terrible with its 4-color CGA graphics.Transylvania has some nice touches but the all-too-brief text kept distracting me.
I will definitely give these a try. I have not yet gotten around to it.However, Personal Nightmare is certainly worth of a mention. And while we're talking Horrorsoft, even though it's a straight point'n'click game, I have a really soft spot for Elvira: Mistress of the Dark on the Amiga. I think it's quite creepy in places.
All the Icom games were wonderful. I think it's a shame they only ever made four of them. Well, five if you count Beyond Shadowgate, which only came out on the TurboGrafx 16 / PC-Engine console. The skeleton woman is another image I consider iconic in the early history of horror gaming.Uninvited, now there's a classic (and classy) title. I remember locating that woman in the hallway which turned out to be a skeleton. Very effective. It even had some neat puzzles, too.
Interesting stuff about CRL. Another batch of games I've heard good things about, but have not yet gotten around to trying.
To my recommendations, I would add Babel and 4 Seconds. Both of these are on the IF archive, and they are sci-fi horror rather than supernatural. 4 Seconds is a very short game. Babel maybe isn't exactly horror (I still haven't gotten around to finishing it, though), but it is extremely atmospheric, conveying a very unsettling feeling of loneliness and isolation. To me, that's the most important aspect of the genre.
Marco.