What do you feel are the scariest elements of games?

[TundraWolf]

The original F.E.A.R. had a lot of decent scares in it. And by decent I mean "OH MY GOD WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!". For instance, the first time you encounter the super-fast super-soldiers that can climb on walls? Scared the crap out of me, especially when I was hiding outside an office that one of them was in. I reload, prep and grenade and go around the corner, but the guy is nowhere to be found. I turn around and he's somehow right behind me. I toss the grenade, he jumps out of the way, I unload my clip into the wall and then run away, right into the explosion. Fun times.

But the scariest game I've ever played, hands down, is definitely System Shock 2. This was a game that got under my skin so much I actually stopped playing it for a solid year before regaining the courage to try it again. The atmosphere was so oppressive, yet entirely immersive. It sucked you in and then bit its fangs into your flesh and just didn't let go. The ambient sounds, the music, the audio logs that revealed backstory, the main plot, the "ghosts", the silent posed scenes of violence you stumbled upon, and the utter sense of loneliness that pervaded the entire experience all combined with a kickass gameplay system that makes System Shock 2 one of the scariest, terrifyingly immersive and ultimately rewarding experiences I've ever enjoyed in a game. Seriously.

You latest generation kids who think BioShock is brilliant? Check out it's spiritual predecessor, System Shock 2. You'll never look at games the same way again. Don't get me wrong, BioShock is incredible, and it was made by the same people. But nothing quite gets it right like System Shock 2.

 

[Cheesezorz]

Penumbra Black Plague.

You can't kill the monsters. You can only flee. Also the enemies are very few, which makes you not to expect them when they come. Except the loud gurgling noises they make.

 

[reg42]

OP: Sound all the way, Condemned was so fucking scary because of its oppressive sound, and STALKER was scary because you could constantly hear monsters in the distance.

Condemned made me crap myself many times in many different ways... Wow that game was scary, it was just so tense.
I thought the mindfuck moments in the first F.E.A.R. were scary in an awesome way.

 

[Hazy]

Gigyas from Earthbound. The scariest final boss ever. It's just a twisting, distorted red face that kind of looks like an ultrasound. The music is creepy and ambient, and you keep getting told that their is no hope and he is the embodiment of evil itself.

if you look closer during the second part of the battle, you´ll notice that the "face" is actually a fetus.

Are people still talking about that?

Whew. Old rumors never die, I suppose.

OT: Paranoia. When you're expecting something, and it never arrives.

 

[mannaroth]

Silence and darkness: The Path has the scariest moment in a game Iv'e ever played walking through the house is the scariest thing I've ever done as the tension is visble.

 

[queensbomb]

Francis has startled the witch!

No seriously...I had just started playing that game with no information whatsoever. That was freaky.

 

[Supreme Unleaded]

When there are no monsters & you keep expecting them to be there but they vary rarely are.
Case in point: Silent Hill.

I hate that, STUPID SUSPENCE CRAP, I HATE YOU.

 

[Ironwampa]

from Barby Horse Adventure, everything

 

[UnkeptBiscuit]

I like a jump scare that results in a panicked minute of attempting to escape the cause of the scare. Good examples would be <spoiler=the first time you meet the controller mutant in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl>"Ooh, look, a supply box! I'll just grab it- hey, what's that high pitched squealing- AAAAAAAH! CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPSHOOTITSHOOTITSHOOTIIIIT! Gah, stop shooting- run away- ladderladderladder aaaaaahhhhh!" or ANY playable encounter with Pyramid Head.

Also, any game that starts out very friendly and just gets scarier and scarier as the game continues. I bet a lot of you know EXACTLY which game I'm thinking of. (Hint: It's freeware.)

No idea what game you're talking about. Unless it's IWBTG, but I've never played it, since there's no Mac port.

OT: There's no one thing that makes something scary. Instead, it's the overall atmosphere, that feeling of isolation, the knowledge that there's a monster right around the corner, that sort of stuff. Last year, I (and this is almost completely unrelated) went to Universal Studios Florida's Halloween Horror Nights, arguably one of the best Halloween events in the country. I remember doing one maze which was honestly not very scary. The monsters weren't very scary, you could see the white ceiling of the tent the maze was built in, and they didn't even bother to isolate people into groups, instead opting to just let in a steady stream of visitors. But you know what? By the end of that maze, I was scared as hell, and that's because of how well Universal managed to make you feel like it was all real.

 

[lacktheknack]

I like a jump scare that results in a panicked minute of attempting to escape the cause of the scare. Good examples would be <spoiler=the first time you meet the controller mutant in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl>"Ooh, look, a supply box! I'll just grab it- hey, what's that high pitched squealing- AAAAAAAH! CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPSHOOTITSHOOTITSHOOTIIIIT! Gah, stop shooting- run away- ladderladderladder aaaaaahhhhh!" or ANY playable encounter with Pyramid Head.

Also, any game that starts out very friendly and just gets scarier and scarier as the game continues. I bet a lot of you know EXACTLY which game I'm thinking of. (Hint: It's freeware.)

No idea what game you're talking about. Unless it's IWBTG, but I've never played it, since there's no Mac port.

OT: There's no one thing that makes something scary. Instead, it's the overall atmosphere, that feeling of isolation, the knowledge that there's a monster right around the corner, that sort of stuff. Last year, I (and this is almost completely unrelated) went to Universal Studios Florida's Halloween Horror Nights, arguably one of the best Halloween events in the country. I remember doing one maze which was honestly not very scary. The monsters weren't very scary, you could see the white ceiling of the tent the maze was built in, and they didn't even bother to isolate people into groups, instead opting to just let in a steady stream of visitors. But you know what? By the end of that maze, I was scared as hell, and that's because of how well Universal managed to make you feel like it was all real.

Mmmkay, the game is <spoiler=last chance to find it and play it, the knowing the game will spoil everything><link=http://zarat.us/tra/offline-games/eversion.html>Eversion.

 

[lacktheknack]

Silence and darkness: The Path has the scariest moment in a game Iv'e ever played walking through the house is the scariest thing I've ever done as the tension is visble.

I dunno, I didn't find it all that scary-

<replays Carmen's ending>

Oooookay, scratch that.

 

[UnkeptBiscuit]

I like a jump scare that results in a panicked minute of attempting to escape the cause of the scare. Good examples would be <spoiler=the first time you meet the controller mutant in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl>"Ooh, look, a supply box! I'll just grab it- hey, what's that high pitched squealing- AAAAAAAH! CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPSHOOTITSHOOTITSHOOTIIIIT! Gah, stop shooting- run away- ladderladderladder aaaaaahhhhh!" or ANY playable encounter with Pyramid Head.

Also, any game that starts out very friendly and just gets scarier and scarier as the game continues. I bet a lot of you know EXACTLY which game I'm thinking of. (Hint: It's freeware.)

No idea what game you're talking about. Unless it's IWBTG, but I've never played it, since there's no Mac port.

OT: There's no one thing that makes something scary. Instead, it's the overall atmosphere, that feeling of isolation, the knowledge that there's a monster right around the corner, that sort of stuff. Last year, I (and this is almost completely unrelated) went to Universal Studios Florida's Halloween Horror Nights, arguably one of the best Halloween events in the country. I remember doing one maze which was honestly not very scary. The monsters weren't very scary, you could see the white ceiling of the tent the maze was built in, and they didn't even bother to isolate people into groups, instead opting to just let in a steady stream of visitors. But you know what? By the end of that maze, I was scared as hell, and that's because of how well Universal managed to make you feel like it was all real.

Mmmkay, the game is <spoiler=last chance to find it and play it, the knowing the game will spoil everything><link=http://zarat.us/tra/offline-games/eversion.html>Eversion.

Gah, no Mac version. Sometimes I really hate this thing.

&#63743;Written on a Mac

 

[dietpeachsnapple]

The music and lighting for FEAR had a proper effect on me, though I rarely had the opportunity to see the ghost girl, because I was busy engaging in classic FPS strafing motions around corners.

I have run into one or two horror flash games that have done this well. Often it incorporated the psychological horror as opposed to 'jump out and surprise you' horror.

 

[Darth Pope]

Scariest character would be Regenerators from RE4. I'm a bit unnerved by enemies you can't kill.

Scariest music...ummm,this:

Spoiler

Location...eh, feeling lazy. I'll just say the entire town of Silent Hill and be done with it.

 

[Attelia]

Seriously, Donkey Kong 64.
I was probably 4 years old and the first boss was Satan in an Armadillo suit of Armor...
The size of well, big.
The music scarred me for life.
Even though the boss was simple to deafeat, I still shudder replaying it.
Even worse was the Jack-in-the-box boss. I was only 6 (Yes, it took me two years to beat the first four levels) and I couldn't win.
I beat it 18 months ago, I think.

 

[Revolutionary]

Well music allways plays a significant role in affecting the mood of a game.

 

[Levitas1234]

GODDAMN HEADCRABS!! i can hardly play half life because for some reason head crabs coming out of nowhere scares the shit out of me

 

[Caligulove]

atmosphere... and building up to something.
You can always throw in weird and creepy things to suddenly show up or walk into... ala Resident Evil- and it can still be fun, more like a good horror B-movie with all the blood and gore.

Then theres something like Silent Hill or Fatal Frame, where you really are expecting something to be there with you. And you spend so much time thinking about it and feeling creeped out by the setting alone that you're completely terrified by the time something does happen.

More of a movie reference, but take something like Aliens. I've seen that movie so many times and I was still anxious and afraid during so much of the movie... because of ATMOSPHERE.
Take the scene where they scour the facility and everything is just deserted... it makes you terrified by the wreckage, but more importantly because your mind wanders and wonders about what the hell did all of this... and it can sometimes live up to that expectation or not. But the buildup is ultimately what I remember.

Even in Thief series, or other stealth games. The tension of things can make you terrified that someone might actually see you and give yourself away. This was especially true for the orphanage level in the third game. Ordinarily, you're terrified of being found by ordinary people... but the hint of the supernatural makes it ever more terrifying when you're terrified of being found by... something- you dont really know what.

 

[CloggedDonkey]

running out of ammo or a sword braking or dropping, god that is scary. happened to me in borderlands today, while fight undead Ned up close with a revolver. I nearly shat myself. another thing is loosing a team mate. this is big in L4D. your just going along with your slaughter and all of a sudden a team mate dies "no big deal" you think but then another, and then your all alone against a horde of zombies. this could also be used in other games where you normally have a team, but then they will die without warning or telling you anything.

 

[Reg5879]

I mean, who are the scariest characters, what are creepiest locations, the most bone-chilling music, etc. ?
Also, which games tried hard to be scary but ultimately failed?

For me, the Shalebridge Cradle from Thief: Deadly Shadows was just... *shudder*. Wallmasters (Ocarina of Time), too - horrifying!

For me it would be pretty much everything in the suffering,not played it?

DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!!

THIS THIS THIS AND A THOUSAND TIMES THIS!!!

It's seriously fucked up isn't it?

Indeed it is, the fuzzy cameras, the eerie sound of a Slayer crawling along the walls, the deserted corridors and having that feeling "They were coming". The first time I played it (In a dark room), my heart was racing.

Have you played it with surround sound?

FUUUUUUUUUUUU

Alas, I have not. You know what? I will try and play it with surround sound at some point.

When i first heard the growl slayers make i about shat myself

Don't worry mate, we all shit ourselves when we heard that. lol

That and the bit when you go in the bathroom and you hallucinate all those slayers

Doesn't your kid pop up and say "Daddy..." on that part?