Not planning on playing it anytime soon, but thanks for the info!

A lot of people might not believe you if you tell them you've played a horror RTS. It's definitely different and worth trying, if RTS interests you even a little bit. It's too bad that it's unlikely to be remastered. Also, you can delete the overlay in order to see the original titlescreen.

Also agree on Resident Evil 4 by far. I havent played some other key notable horror games (Evil Within, Dead Space) so cant say for sure but Resident Evil 4 has amazing mechanics that are unrivalled and other games that mimicked it still didnt do it justice.

Well, the best horror games I played as of late, don't have mechanics beyond moving and some puzzles (like The Last Door, which is awesome by the way). To me, the best horror games were on the PS1. Something about the low-res graphics and pre-rendered backgrounds makes my brain go "wtf is that... oh no" instead of "oh, a graveyard, spooky...". Long live the survival horror games.

I would be all in for a game in the same vein as the classics Resident Evil (1-3) from PS1, but with the horror style of Silent Hill (except the cult thing, cults bore me really... I would prefer some lovecraftian eldritch horrors thrown in there).

I would like to recommend a game that gets no love usually: Alone in the Dark The New Nightmare. The story is not that good, some characters are straight up funny, and the last stretch is "meh"... but the silent hillian music, lovecraftian creatures, resident evilian gameplay, and top of the line visual design makes it an awesome survival horror game.

The Consuming Shadow is worth mentioning.
The graphics are not very good and animations are even worse, but gameplay is certainly unique and interesting. Lovecraftian horror in its purest form.

I haven't played the game myself, but have seen a review for it on YouTube by MandaloreGaming if I recall correctly. [SPOILER] And I think the horror aspect comes from one particular point in the game where the story takes a turn and introduces a new enemy into the game, an enemy that's able to infect your ships by corrupting their metal [SPOILER]. Just like the flood in the HALO franchise.

This "particular point" defines the whole, terrifying plot and background of the game. What you're facing in that game, and what it does to your units, and how it sounds, defines it as pure horror. It's not an instance, it's a reveal for what the whole game will be about.

True, I agree. Btw, did this reveal happen early in the game or when you're already in the middle of the story? (I've never played it) Anyway, what makes it more impactful is the fact that the first game was never about horror, and so when you're suddenly thrown into that situation where the new enemy has just entered the scene, you'll just have to accept the fact that you're now playing a horror game lol.

The game (and the title) revolves so much around it that I remembered it as being the first event, but checking reviews yeas later reminded me that there's a little bait and switch, à la Marion Crane in Psycho. So, it's early but still takes time to set up enough unrelated conflict to make it feel like an intrusion.

The movie Predator has a bit of a similar structure.

Ah I see. Thanks for the explanation!

It was especially traumatic to me as it was an anti-smartass moment.

The game lets you first enter a conflict, learn the ropes of battles, research and build combattant units. And then, throws this little mission about a suspicious derelict thingy. I was all "hah, I know the tropes" and instead of sending a research vessel and a couple of escorts, I amassed my whole army and most powerful ships around it, ready to fire at point blank, as my research vessel boarded it.

My biggest videogaming OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT moment. :-(

Reminds me of that one mission in Homeworld 1 where you discover a "ghost" ship that you need to get close to investigate. Me being as cautious as I was, tried to send some of my most powerful ships (just like you did) to surround it. Little did I know, that "ghost" ship would take over any ships that happen to enter its proximity. I was like,"Whoa wait! Not my ships! Everyone fall back!" Lol

Uh. Are you 100% sure you're not mixing up Homeworld 1 and Homeworld Apocalypse/Emergence ?

Oh I really didn't remember that.

Each time I see a bit of homeworld, I'm like "why am I not currently replaying homeworld, again" ?