Favorite Scary Moment in Gaming

[Zetona]

It's not the scariest moment I've ever experienced by a long shot, but I love it for being so damn unexplained and creepy.

In Half-Life 2, I believe early in the chapter Anticitizen One, you enter a rubble-strewn apartment building and this plays in the background.


The little trumpet scale at the beginning gets me every time. There's no context, but it evokes a sense of mystery, hope, and loss. It feels either like a resistance broadcast or something sent out by a huge, mysterious entity with intentions you don't know, and it's just fantastic. Doesn't hurt that among the rubble are details like a ruined doll.

 

[The Sanctifier]

Minecraft can be pretty scary when you fall down a really steep cavern. Especially when you have really dark ledges for a zombie to jump off from.

But for something more specific I'd have to add going through that Dunwich building in Fallout 3. Ghouls Everywhere!

 

[gostchiken]

Completely unscripted which made it all the more scary, was playing Condemned Criminal Origins(the good one) and I literally jumped at my own on-screen shadow. Yes a game made me scare myself.

 

[dystopiaINC]

gonna break the mold here. FABLE 2 the demon door terry cotters army.

here's the basic run down you teleport to this little world and walk up to this unassuming house. your dog, trusty companion that warns you of enemies starts to growl menacingly... you walk into the house you find several book pages, a diary of a guy excavating some ruins, as he slowly goes insane. you walk up stairs. dog still alerting you to enemies, you find Terry. in bed. a skeleton. surrounded by suits of Armour. stationary suits of Armour. all of them are facing his bed. you leave the house to go claim your prize, you go down to the excavation site, and all it is more of the suits. In lines at attention and your damn dog is still telling you there are enemies around.

that shit creeped me right the fuck out. Had me on edge the whole time

this is terry in bed> http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110926211929/fable/images/d/dd/Terry_Cotter%27s_Army.jpg

on a lighter note. ME3 had a similar moment. the first mission you encounter the Banshees you have a brief period when you first get to the level where your in pitch darkness and you can hear the banshees shrieking while all you have for light in a dinky flash light. thankfully the first actual enemy encounter is well beyond that point in a wide open bright courtyard, but still bioware would have given me a heart attack if they had put any enemies in there

 

[dystopiaINC]

stupid Captcha sorry for double post ^.^

 

[Tsaba]

climbing down the ladder in fear 1 and Alma staring at you .

 

[schtingah]

I'm not a big fan of horror games due to the fact that I do scare easy, so I tend to avoid playing them.

But the haunted house in Vampire: The Masquerade totally got me pissing my pants at nothing.

 

[EvilMaggot]

I'm not a big fan of horror games due to the fact that I do scare easy, so I tend to avoid playing them.

But the haunted house in Vampire: The Masquerade totally got me pissing my pants at nothing.

yeah.. you easily forget you're a badass vampire in that house T_T

 

[IBlackKiteI]

About maybe midway through Metro 2033 you're skulking along some tunnels (surprise) and eventually come across an old train car in the back of a blocked off tunnel, filled with dead soldiers and monsters. There's been nothing living around for the last 5 minutes or so and aside from a very eerie, very quiet tune in the background, it's dead quiet.
What I found most unsettling was the way the whole thing was laid out. There wasn't just dead stuff strewn around everywhere as an excuse for the player to scavenge some guns and ammo. The places the bodies fell, the bullet holes and blood stains on the walls and floor, the booby-traps, the broken AK's and empty shell casings were all placed about in a way where it felt like an actual battle with actual people trying to defend themselves took place here a short time ago. You could concievably imagine how that dead grunt in the corner came to end up there, as if the little details left around were the evidence of his demise, and that of everyone else in the train car.
Someone put perhaps an unhealthy amount of care into making that little area, and it left an impression.
I don't think I've ever seen such a great attention to detail in any other game.

There's a ton of freaky moments in that game, the Librarians, the ghosts, the weirdass glowing ball in the tunnel, but this one really creeped me out in particular.

 

[IronMit]

It won't be the scariest for you guys...

but it was walking into that Metal gear solid 1 hallway of dead guards that cyborg ninja was slaughtering.....and then knowing you had to go there.

 

[Bernzz]

climbing down the ladder in fear 1 and Alma staring at you .

That moment. Ugh.

So I get on the ladder and turn around, and Alma is just there, at the top, staring at me. I actually yelled out in surprise, causing my girlfriend of the time to laugh at me. I climb down the ladder, get off, turn around, and that psychic commander dude is walking towards me, only to fade into ash as he approaches. I yelled in surprise at him, too, and fired my gun wildly.

That doesn't happen often in games. That was a good game. Never finished it, though.

 

[Alhazred]

gonna break the mold here. FABLE 2 the demon door terry cotters army.

here's the basic run down you teleport to this little world and walk up to this unassuming house. your dog, trusty companion that warns you of enemies starts to growl menacingly... you walk into the house you find several book pages, a diary of a guy excavating some ruins, as he slowly goes insane. you walk up stairs. dog still alerting you to enemies, you find Terry. in bed. a skeleton. surrounded by suits of Armour. stationary suits of Armour. all of them are facing his bed. you leave the house to go claim your prize, you go down to the excavation site, and all it is more of the suits. In lines at attention and your damn dog is still telling you there are enemies around.

that shit creeped me right the fuck out. Had me on edge the whole time

this is terry in bed> http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110926211929/fable/images/d/dd/Terry_Cotter%27s_Army.jpg

Oh God, I remember opening that Demon Door and seeing this house in a bright clearing. Along with the pun-tastic name of the place, I was expecting something funny. Not those goddawful statues.

Seriously, say anything else about the Fable series, but it does excel in creating creepy, atmospheric areas.

For just one example among many, take the Bloodstone Demon Door. Upon entering, you're greeted with a snowy forest, with a well-lit trail leading into the woods. You haven't seen this much snow since the start of the game, so its kind of neat. You walk along the well-lit path, and at the end is a small house. It's well-lit and cosy-looking. The door hangs open, welcoming you in. Obviously your reward for opening the Demon Door is inside this house. So you step inside...

As you cross the threshold, there is a flash of light.

The house is a burnt-out wreck. Bodies litter the downstairs area, along with an array of torture devices. You head upstairs, brushing past more bodies, and find your reward; a Master Longsword. In any other circumstance, it would be just a sword. But finding it in a place like this conjures up nasty thoughts of what this sword was used for. The woods are silent; strange, you never noticed how quiet it was before. As you exit the house, you notice a decapitated corpse on a wood-chopping log, another hangs from the nearby tree. The lamps that lit the path have been replaced with gibbets.

There is no warmth. No light. And no explanation for what you saw here.

 

[mParadox]

The first time you glimpse the monsters of Amnesia. That was scary.

OH and the empty broken down mansion in Vampire Blood Lines.

AND FEAR. The first one. Playing through it first time. It's scary man. The second time? Not so much.

 

[Popadoo]

Northern Prison Block in Amnesia.
When the go to leave the room contain the pot of acid, and the monster runs up the stairs towards you.
Sweet fucking Jesus, the horror...

 

[Mikejames]

Well, the loudest I yelped was probably a bit in Fatal Frame where something moved to the end of a hallway to hide in a closet. I chuckled to find the closet empty, but then turning the next corner....

Best part of Silent Hill 3 was its hospital. The stalker leaving you disjointed messages was very unnerving.

Deadly Premonition wasn't exceedingly scary, but chasing the fading image of someone through the rain was an ominous atmospheric moment.

Also, Silent Hill 2's hotel has a special place in my heart. Some parts were so quiet and well kept compared to the rest of the game, it gave it a sense of finality, especially the bit where you have to leave your guns to get down the service elevator.

Someone put perhaps an unhealthy amount of care into making that little area, and it left an impression.
I don't think I've ever seen such a great attention to detail in any other game.

I've been wondering whether or not to look into Metro 2033. Now I'm intrigued.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

The storage in Amnesia. For one, it's super dark. Darker than anywhere else in the game, so it starts out really creepy. Then, before you finish what you need to in that area, a monster comes in. If you manage to collect all the things you need without shitting yourself, you'll probably be running to the exit as fast as possible. Running away from the monster, and the "Oh fuck it's right in front of me shitshitshit!!!"

Yeah, I always dread going into that area.

 

[thedoclc]

Number One by far: That horrific reveal at the end of the white phosphorous scene in Spec Ops: The Line. It would have been devastating even without that. Likewise, "We're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not..." Actually, all of that game is better at producing a lasting sense of horror and revulsion than the jump scares most "horror" games rely on. Even the voice stabs do it. "I want him dead! I WANT HIM F-----G DEAD!" Jump scares are easily dismissed. Monsters are easy to disbelieve in. Moral revulsion and gut hatred, with horror at senseless atrocity, well...that stays with you.

Amnesia, the electrified water.
Silent Hill 1, when meeting Snapjaws and the death of Lisa.
Silent Hill 2, when James smothers Mary.
Silent Hill 4, when the haunts start to invade the apartment, and your one "safe" place is gone. Sadly, the shock value falls off quickly.
Fatal Frame 2, the bad ending, when you abandon your sister.
Dragon Age: Origins, the creepy poem before the reveal of the Broodmother.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, with the escape from the hotel at Innsmouth. It's made far worse if you know what's coming as soon as you enter the hotel because you've read The Shadow over Innsmouth.

 

[Tsaba]

climbing down the ladder in fear 1 and Alma staring at you .

That moment. Ugh.

So I get on the ladder and turn around, and Alma is just there, at the top, staring at me. I actually yelled out in surprise, causing my girlfriend of the time to laugh at me. I climb down the ladder, get off, turn around, and that psychic commander dude is walking towards me, only to fade into ash as he approaches. I yelled in surprise at him, too, and fired my gun wildly.

That doesn't happen often in games. That was a good game. Never finished it, though.

and that time not too far after that alma runs out from behind one barrel and runs to hide behind another. Thought it was the AI running for cover, it caught me off guard.

 

[King of Wei]

Silent Hill 2 when you're back on the street after exiting the hospital. That part of the game is normally kinda dark - 'cus it's supposed to be nighttime - but my TV settings made it so damn dark I literally couldn't see anything outside of the small ray of light my flashlight created. Had to navigate the streets hearing nurses shamble around on all sides unable to tell how close they were. It was intense.

 

[ThriKreen]

The first level in AvP1, where you were A) alone and B) had that motion tracker. Remember folks, MOTION tracker, not ALIEN tracker, but we're too used to it being an alien tracker thanks to the movies. So anything that moved caused the tracker to emit it's characteristic "Be-beep" sound, so you piss your pants when you haven't picked up a gun yet.

But there was nothing there. All atmosphere.

Then in AvP2, the scene right before being chased by the queen alien. You exit a room, press the button to open the door to the next room - as it does so, you hear a noise behind you and you turn around just as the airlock closes on the queen who happened to appear there. OK, door's closed, I'm sa-HOLY CRAP DID IT JUST PUNCH A DENT IN THE DOOR, I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!

Yeah... it's less scary now as the graphics haven't held up from 2000, but back then...