Despite its generic name, Nightmare House 2 is a stand-out horror game. It’s not even truly a sequel, since Nightmare House 1 is included as the “prologue”. Sure, it pays homage to everything in the horror genre before it, but frankly it outdoes most of the games of the genre.

Did you see that?!

With a chill-thriller like this, timing is everything. Do you remember your first time playing FEAR or Silent Hill? You know the moments that really got to you, the ones that made you jump, gave you that nervous laugh or put you on edge? Moments like those are oft-repeated in other games, but just as often they get them wrong. It’s a tricky balance: The game scripting takes tender loving care and an attention to detail that’s hard to nail down. Nightmare House 2 nails it down.

Presentation is top-notch too. It’s not just the dirty, grungy textures. That look alone won’t do it. I know I’ve loaded up my share of games based on screenshots and been disappointed that they’ve got the look but they’re missing the rest. This mod has everything else in place: The voice-acting is decent and doesn’t get in the way (not too cheesy, not too flashy). The sound, likewise. The pacing is damn-near perfect.

There are puzzles, but those too include timing. A door will lock behind you and just as you’re trying to figure out your other options, something will happen. You’ll take a direction and your perceptions will change. The game carries you as much as you push it forward. That feeling of being trapped and led, works in the game’s favour. It could have so easily gone wrong, but it’s balanced well.

If I had a critical complaint: The story leaves you wondering right up until the end. Too many reveals earlier could have spoiled the suspense, so I may be nitpicking here. It does deliver a satisfying conclusion. Story is so hard for horror to get right, so underdone is probably better than overdone anyway.

As someone who dabbles in level-design, I found myself in awe of the clever transitions and the psychological usage of the spaces around the player. Clever, clever, clever. Even if this game never scares you (some of us don’t scare easy), it may impress you with the way it manipulates your perceptions and expectations.

I know I’m gushing here. I don’t mean for this to come across as a formal review, but I can’t say enough good things about Nightmare House 2.

Download it

If you like the horror genre even a little bit, download this mod. It requires the Orange Box (or just Half-Life 2: Episode 2). If you don’t already have the Orange Box, then you should: at $30 bucks on Steam it’s the best deal around for such high-quality games.

I recommend skipping the prologue and getting right into the better content with Chapter One, at least for the first run through. You can always catch the prologue part later, jumping past it won’t spoil your experience at all. It’s a safe bet to say once you’ve seen the good stuff in 2, you’ll probably appreciate the rougher earlier work the second time through. And no mistake, Nightmare House 2 is worthy of a second run through the game.