What Scares *You* In Games?

[KiloFox]

helplessness. the feeling that there's nothing you can do. i hate it in any form. and it can be a scary mechanic in a game.

no big bad monster in seemingly insurmountable task really scares me in-game. i know that with the right tactics and strategy i can overcome nearly any obstical put before me. i've just gotten really good at playing them.

otherwise, darkness. i hate not being able to SEE what i'm doing or what's going on. it dosn't scare me in real life because i have all my other senses to rely on. in games, sight and sound are my only allies.

but those are mostly just annoyances in games really. i can't recall a game or movie actually SCARING me beyond playing to my phobias (needles and bees) spooked, sure. getting the adrenaline pumping through an intense scene, yeah. scared? nope.

 

[CoffeeBoy]

For me, the creepiest moment in gaming occurred in Skyrim. I had adventured with Jenassa the Dark Elf and eventually asked her to marry me. Between the proposal and the ceremony, I found learned that your spouse will open a store if she is left at home. I didn't want to lose that opportunity, so I said "No" at the wedding and she stormed out. I tracked her down at the Drunken Huntsman, and eventually talked her into rejoining me for adventuring.

While deep in a cave, having slaughtered everyone in sight, I stood looking over the floor where the dead bodies lay.

Jenassa, who was standing behind me, then practically hissed, "I can think of so many delightful ways I'd like to see you dead."

The hair on my neck actually rose at that, and I spun around while drawing blades, expecting that I was about to fight for my life against my once-jilted lover. Instead, she stood there nonchalantly staring into my ashen face with all the innocence of a newborn. Our partnership ended the instant we cleared that cave.

I still wonder what made someone write and record that line on the off chance that someone would be as foolish as I in dealing with the Dark Elf ranger.

 

[Quaidis]

Two things.

Some music (or lack thereof) can really put me in a freak-out mood. This harkens back to Alex Kid in the Miracle World where you reach the last castle. That music and the draw bridge closing? Freaked me out. Same with Super Mario World and the ghost houses. Just something about that tune...


The best sort of scare I get out of games is where there are no monsters whatsoever. But you know they're out there. Not only the sensation of being followed as previously brought up, just the knowledge in fourth wall that something is going to jump out, attack, or leap down from above maybe? Yet you don't know what it is or where it is or how hardcore it may be.

The sheer imagination of what it could be is far scarier than any graphic could muster up.

Games that play to that fear are great.

Games that play to that fear, then end up putting NO monster in the closet are even better.

 

[Alcamonic]

I am also one of those who dislike water in general. Even more so if it's deep, murky and full of monsters.
Prime recent example is Half life Black Mesa, the cage with the tranq crossbow... NO GAME, NO!

 

[Fractral]

The two worst things I've actually encountered recently. Firstly when I was playing Penumbra: Black Plague with a friend watching, its the fear of showing how much of a big baby I am by screaming whenever a monster comes along. Its not the monsters so much, more the massive penis like thing coming from their groin areas. (its like they rape you to death!)The problem is, the friend then goes on to tell everyone how loud I scream, while neglecting that the reason I was playing was because he was too scared to actually play the gane, but wanted the story.
I was also shaking when I finally beat the reaper in persona 3, though this time it was the fear of losing the half hour it took to make him actually appear so I could fight him. I had to run away from him 3 times before I managed to get a battle order that suited me, luckily I had susano-o on me so I could guarantee a flee.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

Stealth.

Allow me to explain, when in a game I am tasked with sneaking past a horrible monster that plans to re-purpose my face as mittens I always get quite scared, a good example is when I have to sneak past the monsters in Lone Survivor, I just feel so vulnerable...

 

[Starbird]

Two things.

Some music (or lack thereof) can really put me in a freak-out mood. This harkens back to Alex Kid in the Miracle World where you reach the last castle. That music and the draw bridge closing? Freaked me out. Same with Super Mario World and the ghost houses. Just something about that tune...


The best sort of scare I get out of games is where there are no monsters whatsoever. But you know they're out there. Not only the sensation of being followed as previously brought up, just the knowledge in fourth wall that something is going to jump out, attack, or leap down from above maybe? Yet you don't know what it is or where it is or how hardcore it may be.

The sheer imagination of what it could be is far scarier than any graphic could muster up.

Games that play to that fear are great.

Games that play to that fear, then end up putting NO monster in the closet are even better.

Ah, if we are talking about purely unsettling bits in games then I would be remiss not to mention freaking Gigyas in Earthbound. Everything about that fight just put me on edge for hours after.

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

-Powerlessness, like how in Amnesia you could never fight back, only run and hide.
-Not knowing: When I don't know what the hell is after me, or what's down there, my imagination is filling in those gaps subconsciously. And what I imagine can be fucking terrifying.

Those are all I can think of for now.

 

[Alssadar]

I find the sound of something you can't see especially terrifying--you know something's there, yet you don't know what it is exactly and its location. This usually happens in tunnels and underground complexes where you have to advance and there's only one way to go and--OH GOD IT WAS BEHIND ME! *Cue spray and pray*

Some fine examples are in the Vaults of Fallout 3/NV (Expecially the spore carriers, I hated those) and in STALKER. I nearly pissed myself with Lab X-18. It was such a great atmosphere though. "Barrels (I was talking about crates) aren't supposed to move like that!" D:

 

[Icaruss]

Feeling alone and helpless before some terrible souless being.So Pretty much the early slient hills(which gave me nightmares before i even played them) and Animesia DD.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Monster Hunter Tri, ironically I had a Yahtzee moment where I swam in the ocean, in which a GIANT SCARY AS ALL WATER MONSTER TRIED TO KILL ME in which I swam back to shore with so much fear I almost screamed but was to traumatized to.

RE4's horror section, especially the Regenerators. Very intense music, inclosed hallways with the sound of heavy breathing, a threatening slow walk that would put Pyramid head to shame, and the scariest reach any monster in a video game just can't compare to. Nightmares for days.

 

[Kyle Donovan]

Hearing noises and grunting sounds in Amnesia makes me piss myself everytime I play it. I can't go through the jail section in that game without crying myself to sleep that night. Also seeing a figure that moves strangely, unnatural, also in Amnesia. *shudders*

 

[Saulkar]

Empty multiplayer levels. I detailed that in my newest thread but yes, it is the scariest thing a game can throw at me.

 

[Frasman]

Protozoid slimers in Duke Nukem 3D games. At first you don't see them, and all of a sudden the cover the entire screen and make that nasty munching sound.

Dying in minecraft. I'm not scared of the actual dying, but the thought of losing all my stuff, especially to lava. If I ever go cave exploring it has to be with a full set of diamond armour and absolutely nothing in my inventory except torches and extra pick axes.

 

[Starbird]

Ugh, yeah - suicide mobs in general. Easy way to make me panic.

 

[00slash00]

spiders. though i dont know if id even call it fear. like if im playing resident evil and something scares me that improves the experience and makes the game more fun for me. with spiders, just seeing them in a game not only doesnt improve the experience, it flat out destroys any fun i was having. i mean i think we can all agree that torchlight and torchlight 2 are not designed to be scary games, but just watching gameplay videos where people are fighting giant spiders is too much for me to handle.

I don't even....did you play Skyrim?

Were you able to watch Shelob in LotR?

yes this is a reaction i get a lot. im aware that it makes little sense that i can fearlessly attack a dragon but panic if i see a spider. then again theres nothing rational about phobias. generally im able to watch cg spiders. shelob in lord of the rings didnt bother me, neither did eight legged freaks (well the spiders didnt, how bad the movie was did). it seems that interacting with spiders is what sets me off. as for skyrim, well...thank god for the modding community

 

[Nekron_X]

i think what scares me the most are two things, though one leads into the other.
that being silence. no music, no ambiance except maybe footsteps or, if it allows it, the sound a weapon makes when shot/swung. even if it's not a horror game it can still be unnerving. i love shadow of the colossus, but going to places after i've killed certain ones( the one in the lake) or just walking through certain areas without the horse gets...unnerving for some reason.

the other is where there's something similar to a scare chord, or a sudden stop in music that just makes me go...."i'm gonna die, i don't know how, but i am." it's worse in some other things too. like in the higurashi no naku koro ni visual novel, there's a pat where Keiichi is on the phone with one of the characters, and is poking holes in a explanation she's giving, in the anime she starts laughing maniacally with creepy music in the background. that's pretty creepy, However..in the VN the screen goes blank, then the it wrestles all control from you and her laughter(HAhahahahahah....) fills up the screen at a very fast pace...then that single sound of ear-piecing music comes on briefly, with an image of her completely insane eyes appearing on the screen for few seconds....after that? it goes completely silent....and it is the most unnerving silence i've ever been a part of.