Dark themes and setting in games

[Gabe]

Being a sort-of spin-off from the 'Unexpected scares' thread, what games have genuinely dark themes/twists/endings etc?

Shadow of the Colossus, for example, is pretty dark, and the themes in some of the Silent Hill games are pretty grim. But what others are there - outside of the survival-horror genre? I suppose some would consider Half Life 2, what else is there?

[Chase]

Portal.

[Jam_sponge]

BG&E, I thought.

Oh, and playing Deadly Shadows has reminded me of the first time I played Thief: The point at which it all started going mental was creepy as hell, I suddenly realised the world was far darker than i'd ever known...

[Captain Toss]

Psychonauts.

Milla's secret room, and Clem & Crystal.

[nietzschedancing]

Shin Megami Tensei : Nocturne for me. A 'proper' role playing game - the world brought into a state of flux, the population of Tokyo wiped out and replaced by demons and you given the body of a demon with the heart of a human. Only the few remaining humans alive may hold a 'Reason', an ideology they may enact in order for the world to be reborn again in that image. It is your choice whether to help any of them, disregard them completely, or pursue an altogether much darker path. The game is played largely alone only with minimal dialogue, only heightening the anxiety, struggle and loneliness. The fact it contains the Labyrinth of Amala, a very difficult, brilliantly designed optional dungeon that is pretty much darkness itself makes it all the sweeter.

[Geo]

Call of Duty 4 all the way, that ending left me speechless!

[Harry]

Silent Hill 2 in the apartment block at the start. Moving through halllway to hallway in pitch black with only a small shed of light from your flashlight. It's pretty terrifying.

Another bit is when you get to a point in the game where the streets of Silent Hill have all gone dark. You're required to take a massive trek to the cemetary, when you finally get there it's pretty disorientating going through it.

[Captain Toss]

I'm not sure that's the kind of 'darkness' this thread is about, man.

[Harry]

OK but since it's examples of dark themes not from survival horror then isn't this thread essentially "Unexpected Scary Moments"?

[Captain Toss]

No. No, it isn't.

[Harry]

'Soz ace.

[Jam_sponge]

No. No, it isn't.

I think it's because your examples seemed to focus on darkness in terms of a lack of brightness, rather than an overall shift of tone Harry.

But Glass is right, there is a difference. His example's very good actually, some of the stuff in Psychonauts isn't scary but does considerably shift the entire tone of the game unexpectedly.

[Down by Law]

Condemned - hunting a serial killer who mutilates victims and poses then in everyday scenes with department store mannequins, with scratced pictures of eyes on the walls.

the first time i played it it really stuck in my mind how psychologically fucked videogames could get. pity the sequel was nowhere near as disturbing or dark.

[Jamie John]

Bioshock is one of the more sinister games I've played in recent years - atmospheric, violent and with a copious amount of ominous moments and beings (the Little Sisters, in particular).

Also, somewhat tellingly, The Darkness has some genuinely horrible episodes amid the gatling-gun brandishing demons - having your head bored by a power-drill while tied to a chair is pretty unpleasant.

[Jarik]

Majora's Mask.

Seeing Anju & Kafei reunited in those final few moments, & hoping that when I escape back in time their awareness does not continue beyond that point right up to destruction.

[robdood]

The ending of Conker's Bad Fur Day was terrifically bleak, was most impressed

[Rudi von Starnberg]

BG&E, I thought.

Oh, and playing Deadly Shadows has reminded me of the first time I played Thief: The point at which it all started going mental was creepy as hell, I suddenly realised the world was far darker than i'd ever known...

God yes. The bit in Thief: The Dark Project when

Constantine reveals himself as the Pagan Trickster god and Garrett's eye gets ripped out by Victoria

is shocking when you first see it. Really bleak.

[R0b]

Majora's Mask. Do you remember the couple you have to work really hard to get together? But all the while you're pottering about doing RPG-esque these go here pick this go there give that gamey stuff, you know that they're still going to die in a couple of days, no matter how successful you are? Gave the game such a doomed poetic futility at times.

Eternal Darkness; all of it, and knowing that your avatar would likely die once you'd played them through to their death and moved on with the story.

[BossSaru]

Animal Crossing: Knowing that no matter what you do, the rest of your life will be spent in some godforsaken town following the orders of a despot raccoon. But you don't care about that, because you need to get a chair to match your table and fireplace. It gets to the point that if Mr Nook told you to take your friend the squirrel and hack him into pieces you would do it just to see if you could get a new lamp out of the deal. The ultimate proof that capitalism has created a modern terrifying form of slavery.

[Floshenbarnical]

Also, The Darkness is fucking awesome

I agree. The "hell" missions inside the mind of the Darkness almost made me void my bowels, and yeah that bit with the power drill was so so bad

[Raane]

Roguelikes - Exercises in thrilling and enthralling futility - the guy you're rooting for will always die!

[Jamie John]

Animal Crossing: Knowing that no matter what you do, the rest of your life will be spent in some godforsaken town following the orders of a despot raccoon. But you don't care about that, because you need to get a chair to match your table and fireplace. It gets to the point that if Mr Nook told you to take your friend the squirrel and hack him into pieces you would do it just to see if you could get a new lamp out of the deal. The ultimate proof that capitalism has created a modern terrifying form of slavery.

[PikaStu]

Animal Crossing: Knowing that no matter what you do, the rest of your life will be spent in some godforsaken town following the orders of a despot raccoon. But you don't care about that, because you need to get a chair to match your table and fireplace. It gets to the point that if Mr Nook told you to take your friend the squirrel and hack him into pieces you would do it just to see if you could get a new lamp out of the deal. The ultimate proof that capitalism has created a modern terrifying form of slavery.

It's pretty much Nintendo's version of The Prisoner, except with animals instead of Patrick McGoohan and no giant floating balloons chasing you along the beach...

[smac]

Little Big Adventure - possibly 2; I think that was the only one I played.

Dark themes in primary colours - oppression, police states and all that.

I lent it to a mate to play, and he took one look at the box and thought it would be a good game to play with his son. Only for the little tyke to be traumatized by the sight of a cartoon elephant policeman drawing a huge stick and beating our hero unconscious.

[Gabe]

Call of Duty 4 all the way, that ending left me speechless!

The launching of the nuke really surprised me too, and was very out of step with what had gone before. I actually spent the next couple of levels thinking 'I'll be switching back to the US soon, right?' Great stuff.

Shadow Hearts is pretty macabre, too, dealing with child abuse, death and a whole other load of stuff. Pretty good game too, shame that the follow-ups don't match it, from what I've read.

[El Stevo]

The ending of Conker's Bad Fur Day was terrifically bleak, was most impressed

I came in here to post exactly that. It was awesome, that ending. It was also pretty much exactly the same as the ending of the film 'The Chronicles of Riddick'! Coincidence? Yes.

[Beta]

Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines

A game featuring snuff films, disease-spreading cults and people who eat human flesh. But the best thing is that the player can do stuff just as bad. I guess they don't call it the 'World of Darkness' for nothing.

[Wroth]

That episode in Futurama about Fry's dog.