What Truley makes a game scary?

[Serenegoose]

I think what makes things scariest is me. For example, take system shock 2, a game I -cannot- finish. the first enemy you encounter is a zombie. He has a lead pipe, smack him twice and he goes down, and he's really easy to dodge, telegraphs his attacks significantly, too. They scare the -crap- out of me because firstly, I don't always know when I'll run into one, I'm convinced the game randomises spawns a little. Secondly, their voices. The way they beg you to kill them, or run away, it freaks me right out. The tension the game invokes in me is just too much, and so, I make the game scary. I just can't handle it. If you want to assign that a cause outside of me, it's because of magnificent atmosphere. The game exudes threat, and I respond to it.

Similarly, the scariest game I -have- finished is Dead Space. The monsters don't have the terror of system shock, because they're all inhuman, but the atmosphere of threat I feel, is preserved. The sound design is pretty masterful, because it always sounds like the monsters are scuttling around you.

So yeah, I guess the key component is atmosphere playing on a players mind.

 

[Amberella]

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

I agree. It's definitely the atmosphere that makes a game scary. You could be playing a Barbie game and a puppy jumps out of nowhere, that's not scary. -.-

Also atmospheric music, ambient affects of creaks, things in a distance, "pitter patters" as it were, extremely soft and difficult to hear.

Immersion is the most important factor in what makes anything scary. if you don't feel as if you're part of the game, why would it scare you? After all, it's just a game.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Easily killed protagonist with little to no ammunition, weapons or, means of defense in a dark, sparsely populated world though still, a world populated enough to keep you in a constant state of paranoia. Messing with the gamer's mind is also a good idea...what was that game on Gamecube which simulated madness by pretending to have lost save data and, seemed to shut itself down? That seemed creepy as hell, especially if there are fourth-wall breaking moments of passive aggressiveness which the game shows to the gamer.

 

[EHKOS]

Atmosphere is important. HOWEVER, Monolith implements real brand name items into their games and places that could actually exist. In Fear 2 there was this step stool in the school and its the exact same one my sister had when she was young. In Condemned you visited realistic places and places you always thought would be scary. Silent Hill does this too.

 

[Daipire]

Easily killed protagonist with little to no ammunition, weapons or, means of defense in a dark, sparsely populated world though still, a world populated enough to keep you in a constant state of paranoia. Messing with the gamer's mind is also a good idea.../quote]

Being easily killed causes frustration, which is immersion breaking. I would focus more on escaping and defending (like setting booby traps) then attacking and what-not.

What would you recommend for the mind-fucking?

 

[GrinningManiac]

Fear of the Unknown

I remember the most terrifying thing for me in Half Life 2 was NOT Ravenholm, it was simply jumping in water

Ever since that bit with the teleporter where you nearly get eaten by the big fish, I wasn't sure if that was a one-off or the game was telling me 17's waterways were populated with big angry fish. So I didn't want to go in the water in case I got eaten. That whole section with the hovercraft was TERRIFYING for me

Of course, it later trangressed that there were no evil fish. But I didn't know that, and that's why I was scared.

The best horror merely suggests vaguely at dangers, and lets your imagination do the rest

"You are likely to be eaten by a Grue"

 

[Ickorus]

It's all about atmosphere really, blood dripping from a balcony, an inhuman scream in the distance, something normal and familiar placed in an unfamiliar environment (A teddy bear in the middle of an interrogation room for instance is creepy) things of those sorts.

If you have a good enough atmosphere you could design a game that has no fighting in it at all and still scare someone shitless.

That's not to say that other things aren't good too, the occational jump can put people even further on edge if done right.

It's really sad that recently 'horror' games and movies have all come down to blood, guts and cheap jumps. That shit isn't scary at all, it's just disgusting and unnecessary.

EDIT:

Another great thing for a horror games/movie which ties into atmosphere is mind-games, playing tricks on the player is great to set the stage for some scares.

 

[natster43]

It needs an atmosphere that makes you feel on edge, not knowing when the next monster is going to jump out and try to kill you. I feel Resident Evil 2 does a good job with this, also the first time entering the school in Fallout 3.
EDIT: Also monsters in deep water. The fish Colossus in Shadow of the Colossus was terrifying. I did not want to swim off the ruins I was on.

 

[manythings]

A creeping sensation that where you are is just wrong. The feeling on the air itself that you shouldn't be there, but also that you can't leave by going back. The true fear is knowing that you can't escape the next whatever and that you have to go through it. Even better if there are false avenues of escape, shifting patches of apparent safety that you have to leave eventually if you are going to survive.

 

[Jibblejab]

Silent Hill 2. Period.

Well really its just the feeling of truly being all alone, when even the monsters feel more like wind up toys than actual creatures. Scary shit.

 

[ProtoKactus]

in SH when you hear her behind the door sobbing and dying, the door blocking the scene, and your mental response to her suffering was pretty good.

 

[DeliciousCake]

Dead Space really does the atmosphere thing well with its soundtrack. If you turn that stuff up and put on some noise canceling headphones, you will grow to believe its you in that tin-can suit. I loved how in some levels, you would hear what sounded liked random tools or metal parts falling down and hitting the grating either right near you or far away, but the source of what made the sound is never revealed, though you know its something that wants to enjoy a nice can of Isaac Clarke. The programmers also found a way to make it so that the big open places in the ship felt claustrophobic and oppressive.
Also, the way the necromorphs moved about relatively silently (Until they appear in sight and LOLORCHESTRAL STING) until you caught sight of them made you feel uneasy about where they were coming from. Not to mention those fucking grates. Dead Space has given me an irrational fear of grates. Every time I see a fucking grate I think some kind of bladed space-zombie is about to jump out and carve his signature on my torso.

I agree with the guys in this thread who talked about "fear of the unknown", that's present in mostly all good horror games. Its usually not what you see that really gets to you, its what you can't see.

 

[iFail69]

original PS1 silent hill

I guess it was the suspense and the limited visibility combined with the totally unexpected jump from an enemy...

I still find that game scary

 

[WolfMage]

Bad spelling.
No, but scary? I dunno, never played a game that's "scary", they're all just surprising.

 

[Fusionxl]

The game needs to have a good dark atmospheric feel and the scares mustn't be predictable, you should be on your toes ready to defend / run / pause the game to catch your breath even in the most common run-of-the-mill corridor. Scarcity of weapons and the feeling of vulnerability is nearly as essential.

Good example:
Penumbra

Bad example:
FEAR

 

[TerribleAssassin]

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".

BioShock 1 pulled it off, but that had scary mutant things that like to hide in dark places and make me crap my pants.


Atmosphere, scarse ammo and scary enemies.

 

[Nomanslander]

Not being in control, the reason a lot of the action horror games today aren't scary is because blowing away horrors with a BFG is empowering, and horror is all about that evil looking thing being in control.

 

[Eerors]

Preoccupying the player with something else while you quietly set the scene for the horror.

Example: The corridor in the original Unreal game. You had to go down it to push a button or summit. Button push = Lights out + aliens everywhere!

This scares me each time.

 

[miscelaneous]

A delayed release date

 

[swolf]

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.

I agree and would like to add Condemned to that list and thought it was decently creepy. I just think they could have done without the whole "cult" bit. I mean, playing as a (possibly insane) FBI agent tracking down definitely crazy serial killers who have interesting ways of dealing with their victims was scary. The only change I would make would be to remove the supernatural bit and replace it with the loonies being henchmen, followers of the psychos, and the supernatural stuff be replaced by the SK doing some mindf*ck with mechanics or drugging the player (though I suspect that may have been what they were kinda going for). For example, how about a henchman who is only committing the act to save his or his family's life? Like "Zep" from "Saw"? That would bring a moral dilemma, do I kill this enemy or spare his life? Since, had he not been forced/coerced he would have meant me no harm?