What Truley makes a game scary?

[trueluigi7]

Lately I have been playing Fatal Frame 2 and it is not really scary at all, I have played only a few horror games, but none of them at all scared me they all seem to be trying too hard. I honestly get much more scared of a game that is extremely hard and has no frequent save point or checkpoint. I fear of getting very far in a mission and then dying and having to repeat about an hour long adventure.

So I ask what scares you in games even if it not really meant to be scary?

 

[TheTim]

Shit that pops up completely randomly.
Like in fallout 3

 

[Hoppetussa]

Shit that pops up completely randomly.
Like in fallout 3

Congrats on 666 posts. I also completely agree with your statement. Nothing makes me piss my pants more than a Deathclaw suddenly appearing right behind me.

 

[Marter]

The atmosphere. Without atmosphere, it's just cheap jump sequences. Those are startling, not scary. There is a difference.

 

[Snarky Username]

Well the easy way to make a game scary is to make scary monsters play peek-a-boo with you. The hard way is with atmosphere and immersion. And mindfucks. Plenty of mindfucks.

Method one provides a scare every now and this, but method two (if done right) provides scares throughout the entire game that will require you to change your pants at least once.

 

[avelmen1889]

this waasnt as scary but it felt both creepy and wrong, but
Dante's inferno, with the whole unbaptized babies, fighting things that look innocent is usualy scary and/or creepy

 

[Daipire]

The atmosphere. Without atmosphere, it's just cheap jump sequences. Those are startling, not scary. There is a difference.

Exactly, and there can be NO breaking of the atmosphere.

That means no loading screens, no health bars, and little inventory organising. It doesn't have to be tremendously detailed, just keep our immersion! load the next level during the previous level if you can, or play a video instead of a "loading".

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Something I can't fight, or water monsters.

Something I have to get past, but have no means of killing gets my heart rate up in a way that's almost scared, and even a minor spook in that state can put me in hysterics.

Deep water makes me nervous, and big water creatures scare the shit out of me. I'm nervous just typing this.

A good example is Jak and Daxter: The precursor legacy. Possibly the least scary game ever, but the damn shark things had me terrified of any body of water, regardless of whether they were there or not.

 

[LeonLethality]

The atmosphere you gotta get the right blend of lighting (light enough to see but dark enough not to see what's coming) environment, music (or lack of, nothing is creepier than the only thing you hear is your footsteps) and the feeling of helplessness when something will come at you (because if you can easily get rid of whatever is coming at you it is not scary)

 

[Deathkingo]

The atmosphere. Without atmosphere, it's just cheap jump sequences. Those are startling, not scary. There is a difference.

Exactly, and there can be NO breaking of the atmosphere.

That means no loading screens, no health bars, and little inventory organising. It doesn't have to be tremendously detailed, just keep our immersion! load the next level during the previous level if you can, or play a video instead of a "loading".

Eh, no breaking the atmosphere may now be as good as you think. Players need a break at some point, and they need to know at some points they will be safe. Look at the room in SH4, or when you tell Heather to take something out of the toilet and she calls you (the gamer) crazy. Then, when you take THAT away, the element of safety or when the character is less-than-willing to throw jokes about, you know the REAL stuff is about to go down.

 

[Tallim]

Scary is a subjective thing. It more depends on how immersed you get in the game. Unfortunatly people who tend to like horror games are already pretty stoic about the genre. Beyond cheap scare moments it's very difficult to actually scare you.

Plus if you play lots of games it becomes just that, simply a game. Persuade someone who only rarely plays games to play a horror game and see how they react. I find that occaisional gamers tend to get very involved in the setting.

 

[Julianking93]

It's all about atmosphere.

A game can't be scary without the right atmosphere.

 

[Kaltazraza]

Walking down a dark corridor lead by something you can't kill, when something jumps out in your face, or pulls you down into the ground.

 

[Daipire]

The atmosphere. Without atmosphere, it's just cheap jump sequences. Those are startling, not scary. There is a difference.

Exactly, and there can be NO breaking of the atmosphere.

That means no loading screens, no health bars, and little inventory organising. It doesn't have to be tremendously detailed, just keep our immersion! load the next level during the previous level if you can, or play a video instead of a "loading".

Eh, no breaking the atmosphere may now be as good as you think. Players need a break at some point, and they need to know at some points they will be safe. Look at the room in SH4, or when you tell Heather to take something out of the toilet and she calls you (the gamer) crazy. Then, when you take THAT away, the element of safety or when the character is less-than-willing to throw jokes about, you know the REAL stuff is about to go down.

What they could do, is get a sort of safe haven, where the next game loads. A room entirely barricaded (and on the last level, it gets invaded! D, you can reload (the actual reloading method, bullets into mags) and relax, and watch some cartoons. The cartoons can be pretty funny or overly happy at times, which contrast (and emphasises) your situation.

EDIT: And any NPCs can be asleep or sharpening their knives or fixing some molotov cocktails!

EDIT 2.0: Okay, I'm really liking this idea, I don't even play horror games!

It'd REALLY have to avoid cliches, like shopping centres, or little girls crying or try to avoid flickering lights.

 

[Enigma6667]

The atmosphere. Without atmosphere, it's just cheap jump sequences. Those are startling, not scary. There is a difference.

Whole heartedly agree. Atmosphere is probably the most important aspect out of anything in the horror genre, whether its film, game, or even a book. Alan Wake, Silent Hill, and even Dead Space had great oppresive, dark, and subtly evil atmospheres that really got on your skin so that when you saw that Necromorph, Taken, or Pyramid head lunge at you from the dark, it did more than just startle you, it made you paranoid through the whole game.

 

[Hazzaslagga]

anything bright colourful or happy creeps the fuck out of me.

 

[War Penguin]

Other than atmosphere, like so many other people had said, music/silence and complete randomness of enemies that goes along with said atmosphere can make the game scary.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Psychological horror is the best, like in japanese movies and games (silent hill 2 etc)

 

[black orchid1]

The atmosphere. Without atmosphere, it's just cheap jump sequences. Those are startling, not scary. There is a difference.

i think you have hit the nail on the head with this

also to add on this a relatable charactor that isnt a super soldier that can pick up any gun he see's and use it