Most Terrifying Unscripted Moments in Gaming

[TRR]

If you've ever played a horror game you'll know that developers put in moments where the lights turn off, creepy sounds are heard, or most commonly an enemy comes out of literaly no where. These are created to intill fear in the playing I suspect. For example in Bioshock, there is the moment early on when you're in the dentist's office when suddenly the room fills with a thick cloud of smoke. The smoke clears and you find yourself staring at the wall (somehow even though you weren't facing it earlier and you didn't move) with a splicer breathing down your neck. You turn around and SURPRISE!

Yes those are fun but do you know what's better? when you're scared shitless and the developers had nothing to do with the cause (besides designing the game). I find those can be more terrifying then anything they can come up with, simply because it is truly unexpected.

Here's my example: I decided to replay Half-Life 2 (because it's awesome) and was in the Ravenholm part. You know the head crab zombies that have the running speed of a galloping horse and a horzontal leap of about 10 meters? Yeah Im being chased by a couple of those guys so I decide to duck into a small room, which turned out to only have one way in or out. Using the gravity gun I pick up one of the acetylene tanks and lie in wait. Sure enough they find me and I launch my makeshift bomb expecting my troubles to end. They didn't. Due to the fact I'm playing on hard difficulty those bastards don't die so easy. So I in fact created a fiery version of the super fast zombie that was diving at me with the intent to rip my face off. This was the scariest split second I have ever experienced in gaming. He of course was swiftly followed by his buddies so I was stuck in a small room trying to kill three of them, one of which was on fire. I actually made it out alive with most of my health, thankfully.

So everybody, has a game scared the crap out of you with something that isn't at least obviously scripted?

 

[DrummerM]

I played Resident Evil 4 for the first time, knowing that Dr. Salvador (Chainsaw guy) would be triggered by going into a certain house. So I just ran around the village, picking off villagers every now and then. Eventually I ran down one path that led straight to another Dr. Salvador.

 

[Brad Shepard]

I was playing Bioshock a while back, minding my own, just walking around, looking at the city, when i heard a group of splicers talking to each other, about the "Reward" if you remember right.

They where hunting me!

So i hid in a corner, and lined up my crossbow, when out of nowhere, a thug spicer wacked me in the back of the head, so i wiped out my wrench, and beat him to death, then i turned aroudn, and the group of 4 splicers where attacking me, so i pulled out my machine gun and let loose, but one of the bullets went to the right and smacked a little sister, so the big daddy was pissed and charged at me with his drill, killing 2 of the splicers and knocking me off into a room, a small, inclosed room mind.

So i had to fight my way around the big daddy and kill him, with a wrench sense i wasted all my other ammo and wasent going to waste any RPGs or anything, so i killed him, saved the little sister, saw her off, and went on my way... then a turret got me...

 

[iLikeHippos]

<spoiler= F.E.A.R spoilers>F.E.A.R is an excellent example. I just KNOW I WILL see Alma when I go down the ladders.
I KNOW a skeleton will try to crush me as soon as I walk down that corridor filled with blood...

And I KNOW, she will try and kill me when I try and sneak in a ventilation shaft...
Well, only when the "scrtttcccccchhh" sound comes. Else it's just fine.

.... Wait a minute. It isn't! WATCH OUT FOR THE SUPER SPEEDY NINJAS! *Crashes through the window, scaring the shit out of me with their light-speed movement*

 

[TankTop]

L4D.

*peek head out door* *hunter screams*
"OH SHI-"

The first time I encountered a dog in CoD4 was pretty bad as well.

 

[Nbasa Whiteye]

I don't know if this was scripted but even if it was I don't think devs had that kind of shock in mind.
I'm talking about Clive Barker's Undying when you first encounter the Howler. That is not the scary part since you already have a gun in your hand but suddenly you are aware that the gun looks inadequate to stop that beast and it's running at you at full speed.
Well that was my scariest moment anyway

 

[JaymesFogarty]

Definitely Silent Hill 2. You are walking down a corridor, and pyramid head stands at the end, before iron gates. You can even miss him going down, but the way he just stands and stares is downright unnerving. I don't think it counts as scripted, because he wasn't actually moving.

 

[PurpleSky]

Do glitches count?

If they do then this:

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Fallout 3

A simple one this, walking round a dark corner and coming face to face with my first Mirelurk Hunter... I almost needed a new chair.

 

[Pandalisk]

I don't know if this was scripted but even if it was I don't think devs had that kind of shock in mind.
I'm talking about Clive Barker's Undying when you first encounter the Howler. That is not the scary part since you already have a gun in your hand but suddenly you are aware that the gun looks inadequate to stop that beast and it's running at you at full speed.
Well that was my scariest moment anyway

He had other Games? i thought there was only Jericho?

Deadspace is all that comes to mind for things like these, trying to run away, knowing that basterd is faster than you and is right behind you, as you desperatly try and reach the doorway. Also the Regenerator, Seriously Damn you.

Also i think i may have to buy STALKER: Call Of Pripyat, Goddamn that sounds awesome, Recommended? i see it on Steam

 

[Eliam_Dar]

I have to agree with OP, Ravenholm in HL2 is probably the one of the most scary levels I had to navigate in my life. In my case only one games tops that, Fatal Frame III, which I simply couldn't stand and never finished.

 

[NeonZombie]

DOOM 3

 

[steampunk42]

legend of zelda ocorina of time....keep in mind i was 6 or 7 but the first time the wall master grabs you and the first time you find the re-deads in the crypt scared the shit out of me...probably did not help i was playing in a dark room and their screams are very startaling.

 

[Nbasa Whiteye]

He had other Games? i thought there was only Jericho?

This was way before Jericho and in my opinion a whole lot better than Jericho. By better I mean atmosphere and story wise not graphically. By todays standards it probably looks bad but trust me it sucks you in and you don't even notice the outdated graphics after about ten minutes in.

 

[Sebenko]

STALKER: Call Of Pripyat.

Basically, after the first mission or so, all my squad got wiped out. I still won (it was taking a boat, or something), but there was no way I could use the place as a safe spot, so I had to trek all the way back to camp in the pitch darkness with nothing but a Makarov and an AK74su that was half broken and jammed on almost every clip.

So anyway, I'm going back, I can't turn on my light because then I'm a sitting duck, so I'm basically going by the map, hoping I don't run into anything. My bad luck, I do.

Two bloodsuckers, 8 foot tall motherfuckers with a penchant for sucking all the blood out of your body real quick. And they're really fast.

Oh, did I mention they're invisible when they want to be? Yeah.

So there I am, sneaking through the reeds, hoping against hope that they don't see me. One of them blocks my path, he doesn't know it, but I do. I raise my rifle to take a shot, or five. It fucking jams.

I run, and run, and run and run and run, but they're catching up. I finally manage to make it to the camp, and the guards pick off one of the bastards and the other runs away. I have never been more freaked out and exhausted.

STALKER, the only game that can make getting shot in the face a relief.

I love CoP. I still can't decide which game in the series I like best though.

 

[Wraithspine]

The time, on Half-Life 2 when a poison Headcrab leapt at my face at exactly the same time as my cat jumped onto my lap. I screamed like a girl with her fingers caught in a vice.

 

[Warbandit]

I was playing Fallout 3, in one of the expansions, Point Lookout, I think. Anyways, I was crouch sneaking and using a Stealth Boy, 'cause damn it feel badass to wander in a wide circle around a camp to take out everyone in it, and not have them realize they're dead. Anyways, I approached the camp, and checked my scope. 5 of those degenerated people just chilling. I check my aim, and destroy the first one's head. No reaction from the group.

I feel ballsy, so I take my second shot from the same spot, and destroy another one. That gets their attention, and they're wandering around now. I shuffle around to the other side of the camp and check my scope again. Great, two left. I pick off the first, and run out of ammo, so I unscope to reload.

Only then do I realize 5-2 = 3, and I'm missing something. I stand up and my stealth boy runs out. No one around. Weird.

I take my next shot and all hell breaks loose. I receive a sledgehammer to the head, almost killing me, and simultaneously scaring the shit out of me. Freakin' stealthy bastards...