the horror!

[splicer]

whats the last game that truly scared you?

[LowEnergyCycle]

Embarrassingly.... Doom 3.

Either I must be a total chicken-**** (gullible to predictive shock tactics), or games in the last few years since then have dulled my sense of involvement.

Either way, I haven't sat on the edge of my seat in a long time.

[Rapture_Tourist]

Silent Hill 4 - The room

Even the intro was scary as hell I say

[LowEnergyCycle]

Silent Hill 4 - The room

Even the intro was scary as hell I say

As a double-tripple-whammy of embrassment: I haven't played any Silent Hill game since number 2.

I know... I don't even deserve to be here...:o:o:o:o

[splicer]

theres a world of difference in those two games!-Doom 3 makes me jump,but not really scared,I'm a massive fan of the silent hill games,until bioshock came along the original S.H was my all time favourite,bloody petrifying.

[Hatesink]

AvP2 (Aliens versus Predator 2). Very eerie and truly unsettling, plus it can make you jump out of your seat. SS2 also made me jittery, and made me jump out of my seat.

The AvP2 player-mod Island of the Dead was also very atmospheric, with some pretty spooky moments.

Click this Link for the Island of the Dead trailer (http://home.arcor.de/islandofthedead/dl/IslandOfTheDead-Trailer2006.zip)

[LowEnergyCycle]

AvP2 (Aliens versus Predator 2). Very eerie and truly unsettling, plus it can make you jump out of your seat. SS2 also made me jittery, and made me jump out of my seat.

The AvP2 player-mod Island of the Dead was also very atmospheric, with some pretty spooky moments.

Click this Link for the Island of the Dead trailer (http://home.arcor.de/islandofthedead/dl/IslandOfTheDead-Trailer2006.zip)

That's gotta be the second plug I've seen you helpfully provide for Island of the Dead.

Did you make it? :p

Anyway, I agree. AvP2 - the Marines missions - was very freaking tense. Shame, I think, about the other two mission sets...

[splicer]

i got SS2 but it crashes every few seconds-dammit!

[Hatesink]

i got SS2 but it crashes every few seconds-dammit!Have you patched it and updated all your drivers etc.?

That's gotta be the second plug I've seen you helpfully provide for Island of the Dead.

Did you make it? :pIt's plug number three ;)

...but no, I didn't make it :p

...I just love it (there's something very Kubrick about parts of it). It makes me want to make games.

[Raveness]

Doom 3 wasn't scary in the least. About as scary as a Hollywood horror-remake which employs the same 'boo' gimmick which may not even be effective upon first attempt.

SS2 and AVP2 had their moments, I particularily remember the false spooks and eerie sound effects when playing the most vulnerable Marine. But these are just moments, as the games were more tailored for a feeling of action than for a feeling of horror.

I don't think any game, or even most of any game, has truly scared me. Various games have bits and pieces of unsettling horror and gritty dark atmosphere that trap the player in high anxiety.

Thief DS had it's Shalebridge Cradle. Vampire Bloodlines had its Ocean House & deep-dark sewers. Call of Cthulhu had its harrowing pulse of intensity and feelings of loneliness and utter despair.

[LowEnergyCycle]

...I just love it (there's something very Kubrick about parts of it). It makes me want to make games.

Aye... System Shock has the very same effect on me...

In fact, lemmie take this chance to provide a 2nd plug for my never-to-be-finished homage to SS, developed using the lowly Gamemaker (http://gamemaker.nl), in the style of a top-down SNES Zelda....

Still with me?.....

Awww. Never mind.

[LowEnergyCycle]

Thief DS had it's Shalebridge Cradle. Vampire Bloodlines had its Ocean House & deep-dark sewers. Call of Cthulhu had its harrowing pulse of intensity and feelings of loneliness and utter despair.

The Theif DS Cradle mission was ruined for me by an excess of Internet read-up-ery. As such, I dind't find it very scary at all.

Vampire's Ocean House was also ruined by an abnormal amount of PC-crash-ery. Turns out my super-gaming-laptop was about to melt into it's component atoms.

And Call of Cthulhu: The part where everybody busts into your hotel room and you have to bolt the doors while you're running away? - Brilliant! - ...Except I was too much of a god-damned noob to get past it, died in frustration 10,000 times, and gave up. Never played it since.

So Doom3 is the last one, for me at least.

Damn it :(

[splicer]

call of cthulu was fab-why they decided to pull the plug on the follow up i dont understand.

[Glottis]

I bought call of cthulu for the pc for 19 bucks at EB and to this day have not finished it,as it was when I bought it,and still is extremely frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:mad: :(

[Glottis]

Certain parts of all the Thief games and Undying and of course SS2 scared the hell out of me !!!

[v.dog]

The biggest scare I got was in Half-Life; I was climbing the cliff, and about to enter the tunnel, when this headcrab screamed and leapt at me. I fell off the cliff to my gruesome demise, and just about fell off my chair.

Thief 2 and SS2 had tense moments, but nothing that that truely frightened. Once I found the rengerators in SS, there was no thrill left.

Doom and Prey were just laughable.

I remember the first time I was on a jetboat ride. It was scary at first as we were racing at high speeds close to the cliffs, then he'd put it into a spin and spray water everywhere. Then it dawned on me that the driver knew exactly what he was doing- he had done this hundreds of times before. After that revelation, I was quite bored by the whole thing.

[borgdrone89]

my biggest scare is waiting for paypal to show my funds in my account which i withdrew from my bank on the 4th (its the 6th now, and thats the expected completion date).

half life was heck scary, all those headcrabs behind corners, leaping at as soon as you appear. scary stuff.
i notice someone considers gamemaker lowlyl;i have a registered copy and i love it, but i dont use it cos im too busy playing games...

hey, Vdog, i saw that ur a member of the black mesa forums

[LowEnergyCycle]

i notice someone considers gamemaker lowlyl;i have a registered copy and i love it, but i dont use it cos im too busy playing games...

Don't get me wrong, I love the GM too. It's just hardly cutting edge though...

Try making a pant-crappingly terrifying game with it, for instance... (I like the way I steered this SoB back on-topic there... Go me!) 2D-Top-Down Headcrabs just aren't- I imagine - that scary.

[jackinthebox]

FEAR just scared the s*** out of me... i hate little girls :mad:

[Jeff]

I only got to play fear for a little bit as at the time I didn't have a system to play it on, so was stuck playing it at a friends house.

But good god the way the way did that game was terrifying.

Thanks for mentioning it actually, I was struggling to find a game that had recently scared me, but that one almost made me pee my pants on a few occassions.

Especially when you first run into her, you're walking down a dark corridor, you hear the eerie laugh, you walk into that room with the shadowing done oh so well and see her scamper off into the corner, so naturally you chase her and think "I'm gonna pop that creepy little broad right in the head, see if she has anything to laugh at then" then you get to the corner she ran off into and not only is she gone, but there are no doors or other exits in that particular location.

That was just perfect, set the tone perfectly right there.

[Rapture_Tourist]

Vampire Bloodlines had its Ocean House & deep-dark sewers.

A good game, too. But it was mostly cool and not that scary (especially if you have a buggy German version). Being a vampire gives you the feeling of strength - Normally you are feared by others.

Silent Hill has such a great horror or creepy effect, because it takes things, which were normal before and distorts them totally. Like the baby monsters for example. Normally babies are cute and without any guilt, but turning them into monsters is just insane. Silent Hill is also a master of "ill animations". The Ring (US) and the Grudge reminded me on Silent Hill for a lot of times, because the strange movements of the girl (mix of crouching, walking, rolling, falling) is just a pain to the eye :).

[Silent Film]

AvP, the 1999 version, is probably the scariest game I've played. The feeling of vulnerability and of being hunted meant it was tense, thrilling and at times it made me jump out of my seat. It was about pure survival nothing more. Even though AvP2 featured similar gameplay I think it lost something with the inclusion of a story and linear progression through levels, it just didn't have the same impact on me.

I wasn't at all scared by Fear so considering the supposed horror aspects were core to the game I didn't think much of it. Condemned on the other hand managed to give me the willies, especially in the derelict apartment store. I gather two different teams worked on them but I find it amazing they both emerged from the same dev house.

[witch]

Condemned: Criminal Origins. That game blew my mind.

[Adabiviak]

Games that scared me the first time through are Alien v. Predator II, and Doom 3. F.E.A.R. still scares me, but I know where she's going to pop out now so I can not watch during those parts. Certain parts of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are scaring me as I play it (I'm not done yet). I scare easily and I certainly enjoy being scared by being presented with something overwhelmingly creepy as opposed to a cheap 'boo', but they both work. I'd be lying if I said I didn't drop the mouse a couple of times the first time through Doom 3. I only played the first level of Silent Hill 2 - never even saw pyramid head and I put that frickin' game away.

Now are you going for the full effect of supposedly scary games or just playing them normally? By that, I mean I'll play them at night with full surround sound and the lights off to get the full effect.

[Rapture_Tourist]

Now are you going for the full effect of supposedly scary games or just playing them normally? By that, I mean I'll play them at night with full surround sound and the lights off to get the full effect.

Lol, I start off hardcore (nightsession, full sound, no lights) and in the end I play during daylight ;).

Comdemned was great, too. I only played the game, but it was a thrillride.

[NauZia]

Yay first post on the 2K forums :)

I must say that part in F.E.A.R in one of the first levels where you turn around to climb down a ladder, and suddenly that creepy girl is right in front of you with that creepy laugh of hers....

That moment send the shivvers down my spine I must admit....(Plus lots of other situations I can't even remember anymore lol)

@ Witch: Condemned was pretty damn scary too at times lol

[LowEnergyCycle]

Games that scared me the first time through are Alien v. Predator II, and Doom 3. .... I scare easily and I certainly enjoy being scared by being presented with something overwhelmingly creepy as opposed to a cheap 'boo', but they both work. I'd be lying if I said I didn't drop the mouse a couple of times the first time through Doom 3.

Thank God I'm not alone. I challenge anybody to truthfully say they never jumped once during their first run through Doom 3. I agree with your point too: Both kinds of scare-tactics are viable options for video-games due to their increased level of immersion and their related effect on the psyche.

Comdemned was great, too. I only played the game, but it was a thrillride.

I was thinking of picking this up only yesterday, since it's fairly cheap now, sitting comfortably in the Xbox Classics range. I blew £20 on the Special Edition of Terminator 1 instead though.

Maybe next month...

Yay first post on the 2K forums :)

I must say that part in F.E.A.R in one of the first levels where you turn around to climb down a ladder, and suddenly that creepy girl is right in front of you with that creepy laugh of hers....

Go you! :)

I loved F.E.A.R to bits, but it's true what they say: some of the game's best scares are in the Demo. And That's one of them.

Truly, though, the entire final section is worth the asking price alone. It's unlike any other gaming experience IMO. It's just... weird :eek:

[Rapture_Tourist]

I was thinking of picking this up only yesterday, since it's fairly cheap now, sitting comfortably in the Xbox Classics range.

The problem is: Because of censorship, the game wasn't released in Germany officially. I wonder if a import from Austria is cheap, too.

[gughunter]

I agree with the folks who mentioned Condemned. At the start, and for maybe the first third or even two-thirds of the game, it was pretty unnerving. However, there were two things that made the scariness less potent later in the game:

1) Over time, the continually increasing numbers of enemies, combined with increasing mastery of the game's mechanics, made me feel like the hunter instead of the hunted. Which was plenty fun -- just not especially scary (and could be one reason for Bioshock's planned adaptive difficulty).

2) The mandatory "oops, there's a miraculously inconvenient obstacle here" puzzles. While they weren't nearly as arbitrary as the puzzles in, say, Resident Evil (did the guards reporting for work have to scour the mansion for medallion keys before they could clock in?) they still did their part to chip away at my suspension of disbelief.

[nmrahde]

Hrm...

HL2 - "Ravenholm" - The last part of that stage waiting for the lift where you can see the drain pipes shaking as things crawl up them. Also some of the open spaces gave a great sort of "North by Northwest" feeling where instead of being grateful that you're not stuck in a creepy tunnel you're thinking "Oh god there's no place to hide out here"

Nocturne - Right in the beginning there's a part where you're investigating a werewolf siting and you can see lots of littles glimpses of movement but nothing substantial. Usually when I finally confront an enemy then I put several silver rounds in them before realizing they weren't the beasty

AvP1 (Marines) and SS2 for the same reason: You see a hint of motion somewhere, sometimes constantly just missing whatever it was, that sets you so off edge that when something does show up you waste plenty of ammo it. Playing as the aliens or the predators though lost this as instead of expecting something scary from the dark I was that scary thing (which is a great feeling)

Edit: Oops Ravenholm not Ravencroft as NauZia pointed out. The zombie things remain scary no matter what town they're in...well maybe.

[NauZia]

Errrm nmrahde....

It's not "Ravencroft", it's "Ravenholm";)

But indeed, that part of HL2 was great! Good suspense...

[borgdrone89]

until my paypal account gets its money in i am doomed to replay ravenholm over and over again in the demo. oh the horror of that..

[lotkrotan]

I actually got jumped by oblivion in some parts. I'd be sneaking around a dungeon, trying to find a place to rest because I'm out of health potions and badly damaged... and out of nowhere I hear a Vampire yell "What are you doing here!?!" and finish me off.

Playing Condemned: Criminal Origins while very tired had it's share of scary moments. You'd be checking a corpse for DNA, and some maniac with an axe jumps through a wall.

[Renight]

I think F.E.A.R. Really is scary, but not super scary. It isn't just a bunch of boo moments, there is some real creepy anticipation effects and lighting. But most of it is boo moments.
If you look at the first silent hill, it had a few boo things, but all the emotinol and Holy S**T that is F**Ked up are cool and comon.

[BioShockWins]

runescape... JUST KIDDING

[SPDeath]

I find that i rarely get scared by games, and its very frustrating. However there are the odd games that creep me out. SS2, Condemned and F.E.A.R are a few that come to mind.

A memorable moment was in F.E.A.R when alma crawles towards you, the reason this was scary was cause i had already played the game through twice without seeing this. Believing I knew all the scare moments in the game i casually went through. Needless to say i didnt see that coming :D .

[Raveness]

I'm more frightened by a game such as Deus Ex, for the very reason that such a political & meritocratic conspiracy hits quite close to home, especially after 9/11 and the ensuing events by the Bush administration.

A megalomaniac in a position of power who discards human life in order to achieve their own ends, all while outwardly displaying a benevolent presence, is much scarier than freaky little girls or zombified people. You need look no further than man itself for the most insipid form of terror & evil ;)

[Mongchimp]

I'm more frightened by a game such as Deus Ex, for the very reason that such a political & meritocratic conspiracy hits quite close to home, especially after 9/11 and the ensuing events by the Bush administration.

A megalomaniac in a position of power who discards human life in order to achieve their own ends, all while outwardly displaying a benevolent presence, is much scarier than freaky little girls or zombified people. You need look no further than man itself for the most insipid form of terror & evil ;)

smashthestate


The only game that has actually scared me at all was call of Cthulhu, where you were unarmed and the villagers were trying to burst into your room and you were frantically running and locking doors behind you.
My god that was intense.

[Raveness]

I now, having just experienced this level not but 2 hours past, have to give a fright oscar to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. It's outdoor environments are exceptional, no doubt, but rarely scare the player out of their boots, even at night.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s indoor level of X18 science facility was a completely unexpected "I want to get the **** out of here" experience. Unexpected frights are the best, and it's kinda why I prefer game's that are not centered on horror, and surprise with a frightening level, rather than the games trying exclusively for horror & tension the whole way through.

[borgdrone89]

I'm more frightened by a game such as Deus Ex, for the very reason that such a political & meritocratic conspiracy hits quite close to home, especially after 9/11 and the ensuing events by the Bush administration.

A megalomaniac in a position of power who discards human life in order to achieve their own ends, all while outwardly displaying a benevolent presence, is much scarier than freaky little girls or zombified people. You need look no further than man itself for the most insipid form of terror & evil ;)

I dunno about in America, but here in Australia, most (well, all the ones i have asked) of my friends don't like Bush. Neither do I. He's like, "lets send more troops to the middle east to achieve peace" and yet, the levels of violence in iraq have not changed. we still have people blowing up cars and killing people. What I dont like even more is that Howard is following Bush all the way.

I'd also like to ask your opinion of the way American troops are trained for combat? In my opinion, they are not trained well enough; and all the non-COs seem to be yelled at until they are stripped of Identity and become drones that only follow the CO's orders. Is this true?


PS. on a side note, your post reminded me of the british government in V for vendetta

[SPDeath]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s indoor level of X18 science facility was a completely unexpected "I want to get the **** out of here" experience. Unexpected frights are the best, and it's kinda why I prefer game's that are not centered on horror, and surprise with a frightening level, rather than the games trying exclusively for horror & tension the whole way through.

Yeah i just got to that level yesterday, the atmosphere of that game is terrific, especially when your in the open. The howls of distant creatures and distant shots of gunfire makes you feel very vunerable. Especially when you spent all your ammo on those friggin zombies :D .

[nmrahde]

@Raveness - You thought Deus Ex was scary? Read "The Fourth K" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fourth_K) by Mario Puzo. Not as scary now...but was very creepy reading it in 2001...

There's some parts in Second Sight that are very creepy, but then anything involving an asylum usually is (Sanitarium, Phantasmagoria 2), at least for me.

[Raveness]

I haven't encountered any zombies yet, or have I? I have to buckle down and actually thoroughly read the contents of my PDA encyclopedia; I've just been to engrossed in the action and adventure to sit still for any number of seconds. I tend to guzzle down STALKER energy drinks like I'm on a caffeine binge so that I can charge around the maps.


@nmradhe: I have read Fourth K, didn't find it all that great. Felt the characterization of the President was inconsistent, some of the actions of the supposed antagonists didn't make sense under any terms (Mormon/Hollywood oddball on a whim decides to kill the president of the United States). It's prescience definitely makes it worth reading, but it doesn't have the impact of Deus Ex. It trys to focus on the character in power and his delusion will to do what is right, whereas Deus Ex is more about assuming the role of God, rewriting what is good & evil.

[nmrahde]

Not scary, but Odium is definitely creepy at points...