Games that Ooze atmosphere...

Leigh M.

Hi All, First post on the retro forum so I figured I'd get the ball rolling with a discussion on something I feel is one of the most important characteristics in a game; Atmosphere.
In your opinion what games stand out from the pack and why? What games are truely unique in terms of vibe and immersion? I'll start with a few of my favourites and some obvious ones.

Super Metroid is one of the few games of the 16bit era I can think of that was well ahead of the pack in this regard, immediately upon powering up the game the soundtrack and title screen conjure up an isolated and lonely atmosphere that very few games have come close to capturing. The decision to use nothing but ambience upon your arrival on Zebes is a moment that will always stick with me, it felt like uncharted territory and truely alien.

Shenmue 1 is another, it just has such a ethereal and dreamlike quality that I really can't compare to anything else. The lack of urgency in the pacing, the odd white hue to the visuals and lo-fi filtered audio, heck even the wooden voice acting all adds to that dreamlike feeling. Really unique game, even the sequel couldn't capture the same feeling.

And finally I'll mention Metal Gear Solid 1, this game is just in a league of its own. I especially love the colour palette, those cold greens and blues that completely cover the entire game give off a similar vibe to Super Metroid. Isolated, Alone and In unknown territory.

Honourable Mentions: Shadowrun (snes), Silent Hill (ps1), Clock Tower (Snes)

So, what're your favourite oldies in terms of atmosphere? Any recommendations of obscure or off the beaten track games?

CiDeRmAn

Castlevania SOTN is an obvious pick.
Biohazard Battle on the MD was an atmospheric shooter for me.
Raiden and it's sequel are superb and create a coherent world to battle in.

Lemming

+1 for Shadowrun (SNES).

Corporation (MegaDrive). Quite eerie, creepy, and full of suspense at times from what I remember.
Platoon (C64)
The Last Ninja series (C64)
Aliens (Electric Dreams version, C64)
Aliens (NeoGeo)

Quigs Snr

I just finished Deadly Premonition on xbox.. say what you like about it... there was an (a slightly surreal one) atmosphere around it and a sense of place.

Leigh M.

Never heard of a few you guys have mentioned, so I'll be having an evening of youtube research I think!

I actually intentionally left out the castlevania series myself, I considered it but then In my opinion I've always thought the sound design in the series was poor. Weird Japanese prog just doesn't conjure imagery of Vampire slaying to me, Castlevania IV is the worst offender for this. Some of the tracks on that game are just downright goofy! Everything else is spot on though, what a series.

o1s1n

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I just finished Deadly Premonition on xbox.. say what you like about it... there was an (a slightly surreal one) atmosphere around it and a sense of place.

I absolutely loved that game. Some of the QTEs at the end though, christ!

Burzum

Project Zero on the Original Xbox great game that to me gave off a scary vibe.

geotrig

Lemming wrote: »

Aliens (NeoGeo)

? dont know this game ?

i'll go for an obvious one but resi 1 for me oozed it in bucket loads along with silent hill something that they have never matched again, my trail of thought on oozing atmosphere is struggling to come away from survival horror type games though

Lemming

geotrig wrote: »

? dont know this game ?

It's the arcade version.

I can list off three different 'Aliens' titled games; two for the C64 (Electric dreams vs. the 'US-Version' of Aliens) both of which are very different games both in concept and play,- and the aforementioned arcade/neogeo version.


Electric Dreams version


US Version


Arcade/NeoGeo

Leigh M.

One thing I love about Silent Hill myself is how clever the game devs were. Using the hardware limitations (ps1's piss poor draw distance) to their advantage was a stroke of genius. The game just wouldn't be the same without all that manky gray fog cloaking the entire thing.

Andrew76

Lemming wrote: »

Arcade

This man has taste. :cool:
For anyone who hasn't played it, it runs perfectly on Mame.

The first two games that came to mind re: atmosphere were Platoon (C64) and Flashback (Amiga).

Platoon - the sountrack is just fantastic and the C64 graphics (a lot of brown and yellow in that game iirc) set the tone for a grim experience. Not sure the game itself was that good and can't remember past the early maze like levels - but it was very atmospheric.

Flashback - the animation, sound effects and artwork all combined to make it very atmospheric I thought - from jungle to cyberpunk city it was semi-believable.

geotrig

Lemming wrote: »

It's the arcade version.

I can list off three different 'Aliens' titled games; two for the C64 (


Arcade/NeoGeo

ok so its just the arcade version , i thought for a min that there was an neogeo version that i didnt know about :pac:

5rtytry56

Mech Warrior 2:a late DOS game.


A bit later I bought Mech Warrior 3 or 4 can't remember this was a dissappointment.

Lemming

Andrew76 wrote: »

Platoon - the sountrack is just fantastic and the C64 graphics (a lot of brown and yellow in that game iirc) set the tone for a grim experience. Not sure the game itself was that good and can't remember past the early maze like levels - but it was very atmospheric.

Flashback - the animation, sound effects and artwork all combined to make it very atmospheric I thought - from jungle to cyberpunk city it was semi-believable.

I forgot about Flashback!

As for platoon, once you get into the village and find the tunnel entrance it's a different affair to the jungle level; need to survive the tunnels (think very early First-person sort of thing) and find your way out where you find yourself in a foxhole (think Operation wolf; cross-hair, etc.) with limited illumination flares and again you've got to hold out. The second jungle level is a straight spectrum port because they ran out of time/ideas and it's not as good. If you've ever played Gryzor and made it into the enemy base complex, it's a lot like that; start at the bottom of the screen and move to the top of the current 'corridor' surviving barb-wire, landmines, snipers & VC shooters. I never made it past this bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBz8GsKIu-E

CiDeRmAn

Alone in the Dark
Played it on the 3DO and it was brilliant, paving the way for Resident Evil to come along and claim it invented the genre.
Also on 3DO, Return Fire was a tangible battle game, like playing with digital toys on screen.

o1s1n

Another World. First time I felt like I was playing an interactive story/film rather than a videogame. Was only about 10 at the time and really didnt know what to make of it at all. Other than the fact that it was excellent!

geotrig

Lemming wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBz8GsKIu-E

On a side note I often put on the c64 platoon music in the background and always loved the credits screen

eddhorse

o1s1n wrote: »

Another World. First time I felt like I was playing an interactive story/film rather than a videogame. Was only about 10 at the time and really didnt know what to make of it at all. Other than the fact that it was excellent!

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Alone in the Dark
Played it on the 3DO and it was brilliant, paving the way for Resident Evil to come along and claim it invented the genre.
Also on 3DO, Return Fire was a tangible battle game, like playing with digital toys on screen.

Alone in the Dark i played on PC, could cut the tension with a knife. Only watched a youtube video about PC games from 1992 and that was on it, brought it all back, that house was eerie.

Another World created a superb atmosphere quickly due to the lack of info given to the player, wtf is going on, run run run, dead.

Also Doom is on my list for Ps1 cos i played it with a visor, the groans and noises from enemies and doors had me immersed, had scary dreams for months afterwards.

super_furry

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Alone in the Dark
Played it on the 3DO and it was brilliant, paving the way for Resident Evil to come along and claim it invented the genre.
Also on 3DO, Return Fire was a tangible battle game, like playing with digital toys on screen.

Sticking with the 3DO, I'd vote for Killing Time. The story of people from the Roaring 20s being caught in time as ghosts after dabbling with the occult really caught my imagination and the way that they used transparant actors in-game was really effective. Sure there were some really daft enemies and levels but the story and the setting were (mostly) really evocative.

Star Lord

eddhorse wrote: »

Another World created a superb atmosphere quickly due to the lack of info given to the player, wtf is going on, run run run, dead.

Or before that...
"Wait, I'm dead? I didn't realize the game had started!"
"Ok, swimming up, wait, dead again???"
"Ah, can swim faster! And I'm out! Oh look, slugs! ... Damnit."

TinCool

Splatterhouse in the arcades. Dripping with atmosphere. Both the graphics and music were great. Still plays well on mame after all these years.

Doge

Lemming wrote: »

Platoon (C64)
The Last Ninja series (C64)

A man after my own heart!

I instantly thought of these 2, both of which had dark "tunnel music", the latter was the last ninja 2's Sewer level.


The most atmospheric racer I played was POD - Planet of Death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxlMvtKDdVo

Ryath

Shadow Man on the N64 probably hasn't aged well but I remember it having a brilliant soundtrack and intense atmosphere, some levels were genuinely unnerving played at 5 in the morning!

Retr0gamer

Leigh M. wrote: »

I actually intentionally left out the castlevania series myself, I considered it but then In my opinion I've always thought the sound design in the series was poor. Weird Japanese prog just doesn't conjure imagery of Vampire slaying to me, Castlevania IV is the worst offender for this. Some of the tracks on that game are just downright goofy! Everything else is spot on though, what a series.

Saying bad things about the Castlevania soundtracks can get you killed in various parts of the Internet

Vania was never meant to be taken seriously and has a real campy universal horror movie charm.

CiDeRmAn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Saying bad things about the Castlevania soundtracks can get you killed in various parts of the Internet

Vania was never meant to be taken seriously and has a real campy universal horror movie charm.

I think Alien v Predator on the Jaguar was amazing in terms of atmosphere... for a mere Doom clone

Akrasia

Descent, On Ms Dos And psx was cool

Colony wars (James earl Jones soundalike sealed the deal)

G Police made me feel like iI was In Blade Runner

Retr0gamer

Not one mention of Super Metroid yet?

Andrew76

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Not one mention of Super Metroid yet?

Lol you didn't read the OP then I take it. :pac:

Leigh M.

Yeah people are fairly protective of the castlevania soundtracks, for me though, it just never clicked always thought it seemed very disconnected from the visuals and aesthetic.

Relikk

Super Castlevania IV, Rondo of Blood and Symphony of The Night, for me, are among the pinnacle of game soundtracks for their respective systems, ever!

CiDeRmAn

Relikk wrote: »

Super Castlevania IV, Rondo of Blood and Symphony of The Night, for me, are among the pinnacle of game soundtracks for their respective systems, ever!

So, not a fan of Castlevania then, no?

Mr.Saturn

I think the success of the original Pokemon games owe a lot to how well it does its atmosphere. Especially to the extent it uses things like the Lavender Town theme and set-up to sidestep the technical limitations, or how it places Viridian Forest within the game's first act as to get across this sense of isolation, confrontation, adventure and triumph. It probably also didn't hurt that it appealed to hoarders.

o1s1n

Relikk wrote: »

Super Castlevania IV, Rondo of Blood and Symphony of The Night, for me, are among the pinnacle of game soundtracks for their respective systems, ever!

Yeah they're really up there when it comes to fitting the games perfectly. I can't really comprehend how anyone could see a disconnected between the two.

Doge

How about the Silent Hill series, do they ooze a creepy atmosphere?

I still have yet to play a Silent Hill game of any kind!

Retr0gamer

Doge wrote: »

How about the Silent Hill series, do they ooze a creepy atmosphere?

I still have yet to play a Silent Hill game of any kind!

All you need to play is Silent Hill 2. It's one of the only truly great pieces of videogame writing.

The Last Bandit

Combat on the Atari 2600 was just sublime. The way it dropped you into that hostile environment with death possibly around the corner.

On a more serious note:
Not retro but Alien Isolation is just dripping with terror inducing atmosphere..

Inviere

A predictable choice, but A Link to the Past was hugely atmospheric when playing it for the first time. Even now, with the lightning & rain pouring down as you begin the game...it hooks you right in

CiDeRmAn

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Combat on the Atari 2600 was just sublime. The way it dropped you into that hostile environment with death possibly around the corner.

On a more serious note:
Not retro but Alien Isolation is just dripping with terror inducing atmosphere..

Alien Resurrection on the PS was tremendous too, even better with the PlayStation mouse.
Alien Trilogy not so much, though it was ridiculously popular.

KeRbDoG

Doom on the PSX when all was quiet when hunting for a hidden door. That's when you could hear the moaning soundtrack being streamed from the disc, with the odd baby crying in the distance. Freaked me out.
Also, what about 'Alone in the Dark' on the likes of the 3DO. Couldn't play it after Ciderman showed me a scene of the character heading a random book, then dropping it and being picked up into the air slowly and then his back snaps, dropping him to the ground. Game over. Jasus

CiDeRmAn

Well, that scene freaked me out at the time too, and I was 22!
Metroid Prime is the epitome of an atmospheric game, from the opening scene on the space station, to the different planet environments, the ruined ancient tech and the areas that refused to conform to geometric forms.
Couple that with the music, the incidental audio recalling the older Metroid titles and use of story culled from lore entries.
The use of area scanning, since re-discovered by the Arkham titles, is fantastic, banishing any notion of run and gun and making the player take a more careful approach, and explore the areas as you progress, which itself helps uncover the portals and pathways within each location.
Brilliant

Corholio

It may seem like an odd choice but I always remember really liking the atmospheric effect and level music in Turok 2. It really gave a nervous feeling of not knowing what was around a foggy corner or inside a door.