2. Afraid of Monsters (Half-Life 1 Mod - PC)
Afraid of Monsters (2005) is a mod for the original Half Life. It is primarily known for being designed by a 13 year old (Andreas Ronnberg), and for its alleged abilities as a rather entertaining laxative. The whole drug addict story line is rather thin, but takes the player to some rather twisted and surreal places; and pits you off against hordes of terrifying monsters. Well, in theory anyway. Horror is at its best when its ugly. Its the reason why Silent Hill can still scare to this day. The only problem with Afraid of Monsters is that it is a combat heavy game. In the aforementioned Silent Hill combat usually boils down to either a desperate struggle, or tactical evasion: you rarely get the time to notice how goofy or dated the enemy models look. Afraid of Monsters combat mechanics mostly play out like they did in Half Life. Since you usually have enough firepower to survive each encounter, the horror relies on the monsters psychical appearance alone. And whilst their design is creepily inspired - and can provide the odd initial shock - the models themselves are so hilariously dated and clunky it negates the previously hard earned tension and atmosphere. Ultimately, Half Life is still an enjoyable game. As is Afraid of Monsters; it just unfortunately confirms horribly dated that classic actually is.