What Scares *You* In Games?
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Ghosts freak me out in video games. Amnesia scared the shit out of me.
Games like Dead Space and Doom make me jump, but then I laugh because it made me jump. Its not scary just surprising to me. I need the mood, the ambiance, the fear of the unknown, helplessness to get into horror games.
Games like Dead Space and Doom make me jump, but then I laugh because it made me jump. Its not scary just surprising to me. I need the mood, the ambiance, the fear of the unknown, helplessness to get into horror games.
Deep water doesn't bother me so much, I personally like the freedom of movement water/space gives you. I totally agree with you on the Bloodsuckers though, STALKER is definitely one of the creepiest games I've ever played. I've completed it several times now and the invisible bloodsuckers, the jumpy guys, the poltergeist, and the psychic monsters all really freak me out the first time I come up against them each playthrough. Did you ever find the farm which was infested with bloodsuckers? I ended up sat on top of a tractor with about 4/5 of them running around underneath me with very little ammo left.Mordekaien said:
There was a farm infested with them? Well, I'm now relieved that I haven't found it. (I do remember that Barn in the first zone, that gets infested with them later in the game though, is that it?)Sam Warrior said:
I don't have problems with other creatures, not even those psychic guys and poltergeists creep me out, but the first time you meet bloodsucker has me still running and weeping like a little girl.
I may be a coward for this, but the moments when the Night Mother glows in Skyrim really scare the shit out of me.
Those moments when you are in the coffin and she starts speaking to you are pretty much the only thing that is preventing me from finishing the DB storyline.
Those moments when you are in the coffin and she starts speaking to you are pretty much the only thing that is preventing me from finishing the DB storyline.
I've been thinking about this for a while recently, mainly because of games like Slender and Where am I? coming out. Games like Slender are all about anticipation of when you'll see Slenderman, you know he's coming and the music gets you into the mindset where you allow yourself to be frightened.
It's a bit like a mate of mine who told me Condemned wasn't scary, after she played it at 3 in the afternoon on a sunny day while her toddler was srawling about singing and playing in his ben in the next room. Hardly a good situation for immersion in the atmosphere.
Take Silent Hill 2, the hotel, like everyone says, it's dark it's scary, ominous and creepy. Even when NOTHING is happening. Stuff like Pyramid Head watching you from behind the gate is just unnerving. One of the all time greats is System Shock 2. I fear-quit SS2 after I came to a corner which had "RUN" written on it in blood. Genuinely couldn't bring myself to look round that corner for about 2 days. It's all about making you terrified of what 'might' be there.
It's a bit like a mate of mine who told me Condemned wasn't scary, after she played it at 3 in the afternoon on a sunny day while her toddler was srawling about singing and playing in his ben in the next room. Hardly a good situation for immersion in the atmosphere.
Take Silent Hill 2, the hotel, like everyone says, it's dark it's scary, ominous and creepy. Even when NOTHING is happening. Stuff like Pyramid Head watching you from behind the gate is just unnerving. One of the all time greats is System Shock 2. I fear-quit SS2 after I came to a corner which had "RUN" written on it in blood. Genuinely couldn't bring myself to look round that corner for about 2 days. It's all about making you terrified of what 'might' be there.
Anything small and snake like. I don't have much of a problem with snakes in real life, but little things you can barly see and can hurt you creep me out. It started with those "bamboo-like snake things" in Mega Man Legends where you have to save the Junk Store owner, I'd always just run up to the platform he was on and shoot them from afar. And then there where these little things in the water in Half-Life 1, I don't care that they only do minor damage, I just don't like being touched by things like that.
Doom 3 had a weak opening and some occasionally lacklustre mechanics (Monster Closets ahoy!) but damn could it work up a tense atmosphere. I remember that one bit you've mentioned, and it sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.Dirty Apple said:
I think they spun it around once, sometime later in the game. You come to an intersection, a little voice whispers "Over here!"; so what do you do?
I turned the fuck around and ran away. XD
I'm also really scared by smart enemy AI. Games where the goons basically line up for target practice won't bother me at all, even if the creature or monster design is downright horrifying. For that reason, classic zombie games rarely do bother me.
As much as I thought it was kinda meh overall, RAGE had some killer AI. Seeing bandits juke and roll away from your shots or use the environment to try and get to you from unexpected angles? Fuck that shit, I'm too much of a prissy-pants to face down someone with Parkour skills and a hatchet in the blown-out husk of a hotel. I'll just cower in the corner, over here, and suck my thumb, thank you.
That building. Damn.Dreadman75 said:
I remember hearing about it and being all "Byee, Lovecraft reference! Must see!"
Then I went there. I mean, Fallout 3 had some oppressive level design going on, but it wasn't ever especially fear-inducing. That one building, though, filled with the same prefab crap as all the other office buildings in the game?
Scary as shit.
Or, hell, try Fallout New Vegas and Vault 22. Ninja plant monsters? In a toilet stall? OSHI-
I'd go with that HUGE DIANOGA THING in the sewer level of Dark Forces and/or Jedi Knight if I remember correctly.
So I think that counts for an underwater level (I'm pretty sure there's one that you have to kill). Or maybe it was in Shadows of the Empire, it's been a while so I'm kind of confused.
So I think that counts for an underwater level (I'm pretty sure there's one that you have to kill). Or maybe it was in Shadows of the Empire, it's been a while so I'm kind of confused.
I got the HD Collection so I'm playing it for the first time, and I still haven't made it out of the subway. I keep getting hit by the damn train ;(lithiumvocals said:Why would you post that GIF? I know he's watching me now...Sean Hollyman said:The sensation of being followed, and you think somethings there but you can't quite see it.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Silent Hill 2 is creepy as fuck, but Silent Hill 3 scares the shit out of me. The sound design is fucking fantastic at both eerie silence and harsh, irritating cacophony, especially because of these fuckers [http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Pendulum]. I hear that buzzsaw shit in my nightmares.
Edit: That pic would be a good avatar...
Jump scares, or more the treat/prospect of jump scares. Sure jump scares can startle but thats all they are, a jump and over in seconds, however in games like dead space or doom 3 where said jump scares are so common I end up walking around unbelievably tense, just waiting for the next one to happen, scared of rounding the next corner or even walking down that new corridor as I?ve just spotted 10 different places something could jump out at me. Even though I know that a few rounds from that machine gun I?m carrying will finish off whatever just jumped out at me in seconds.
Speaking of dead space as a good example, something that will always unnerve me in games when it comes to game design is monsters that are just human enough to be recognisable, such as the necromorphs where you can still see the face, and add to that sounds, either human voices coming from said monsters or sounds of pain / distorted sounds that are almost human that the creature is now making. See the noise that those wall mounted things in the first deadspace make as they fling out those eggs at you, that wierd scream coming from the head, always freaked me the hell out. Also the headcrab zombies from half life 2, particularily after someone played me the sounds file backwards where they are screaming ?god help me!?
More psychological scares dont tend to get me so much, they can unnerve me but they actualy drive me through the game to find out ?just what the hell is going on?!? like a whisper in a dark room, I?ll activly try to find what was making it. I?m sure in a horror movie I?d be that guy who runs off at the start ahead of everyone else to see whats going on, only to have my entrails thrown over the cast seconds later as the monster / whatever it was around the corner got me!
Speaking of dead space as a good example, something that will always unnerve me in games when it comes to game design is monsters that are just human enough to be recognisable, such as the necromorphs where you can still see the face, and add to that sounds, either human voices coming from said monsters or sounds of pain / distorted sounds that are almost human that the creature is now making. See the noise that those wall mounted things in the first deadspace make as they fling out those eggs at you, that wierd scream coming from the head, always freaked me the hell out. Also the headcrab zombies from half life 2, particularily after someone played me the sounds file backwards where they are screaming ?god help me!?
More psychological scares dont tend to get me so much, they can unnerve me but they actualy drive me through the game to find out ?just what the hell is going on?!? like a whisper in a dark room, I?ll activly try to find what was making it. I?m sure in a horror movie I?d be that guy who runs off at the start ahead of everyone else to see whats going on, only to have my entrails thrown over the cast seconds later as the monster / whatever it was around the corner got me!
I'm surprised by the amount of people saying deep water, I thought I was the only one. The one that always gets me is the water in Shadow of the Colossus cause I know nothings their but when you look down you just can't see anything, gets me every time.
Oh yes, deep water. I fell into a lagoon in Minecraft a while ago and there was a ravine at the bottom that was just black. I may have freaked out a bit.
Also atmosphere. The Dunwich building in Fallout 3 does this very well.
Also atmosphere. The Dunwich building in Fallout 3 does this very well.
Silent Hill always manages to scare me to a point where I physically cannot play anymore, specifically for the terribly (but well done) disturbing sounds and imagery. Fleshy monsters and bizarre sound effects just make my skin crawl. I remember my first time playing SH2, I was finally getting used to looking at the Lying Figures without freaking out just in time for one to come skittering out from underneath an abandoned truck. I turned my PS2 off so damn fast that Mr. Miyagi would be proud.
I hate jump scares, just because they're usually really cheap ways of trying to invoke "fear" in the player. Yeah, obviously I'll be afraid if you suddenly throw a screaming monster in my face, but couldn't you try to scare me in more subtle ways? I love the Fatal Frame series, but they kind of abuse the jump scare tactic.
I hate jump scares, just because they're usually really cheap ways of trying to invoke "fear" in the player. Yeah, obviously I'll be afraid if you suddenly throw a screaming monster in my face, but couldn't you try to scare me in more subtle ways? I love the Fatal Frame series, but they kind of abuse the jump scare tactic.