Scary Games thread

[audio-]

Yeah, that's right lol! Some games do actually have the ability to send shivers down your spine.

I remember playing DOOM III, walking down a pitch black corridor, while a series of red lights flashed down the passage creating a tunnel vision effect. As I walked down this path, I could hear a woman sobbing. I continued slowly as her voice started to get louder. I remember stopping and putting the controller down and thinking to myself; god damn this is some dark, twisted stuff!

Since then, a new genre of game has appeared; 'horror'. Titles like Outcast, Layers of Fear, e.t.c...

What game(s) do/did you think are scary?


I'm not sure whether there is already a thread with a different name on here covering this subject? apologies if that's the case.

 

[rezerekted]

Games don't really scare me but they can make me jump and entertain me. On the list I will put the old Undying and the newer Alien Isolation.





And this is one of the creepiest levels in a game from Thief 3.

 

[Damar]

I loved the original F.E.A.R. back in the day.

It wasn't a flawless game by any stretch but with headphones on and the lights down, I had a lot of fun with it.

Also, while the game itself isn't a "scary" game, the Shalebridge Cradle level in Thief Deadly Shadows was incredibly creepy with the audio/visual cues. They've even done whole write-ups about that one level.

http://gillen.cream.org/thecradle.pdf

t’s too late to run. Running from The Cradle is
like running from the air around you. People
bandy the word ‘immersive’ around when
discussing videogames, but miss the subtext of
what they’re really talking about. To be
immersed is to be surrounded and submerged,
thrust into a new context. If The Cradle is
about anything, it’s immersion. Your head pushed
beneath murky waters until you choke and drown.
The Cradle is the penultimate level in last year’s
Thief: Deadly Shadows. It’s what’s known in television
parlance as a ‘format breaker’ – something that subverts
many of the set expectations of the show to stir the
critical palette into new life. While The Cradle is based
on Thief’s shadow-stalking mandate, and a clear
extrapolation from the first Thief’s seminal Return to the
Haunted Cathedral, it has amplified its source material to
become something quite different. It’s probably the
scariest level ever made, an experiment in non-linear
storytelling methods that pays off handsomely and is one of the
towering gaming achievements of the past year.

 

[H-street]

System shock 2 .

 

[ncjoe]

how about first time playing dead space ! hated the 3rd person over the shoulder view
but still was a scary game back then

 

[pendragon1]

"D" from way way back creeped the fuck out of me for some reason.

 

[Comixbooks]

No games gives me that sinking feeling than Five Nights at Freddy's

 

[michalrz]

Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr. By golly. The first dream sequence as Elspeth arrives at Burkittsville. With the trembling door. Nope, nope, nope.

Also all of Amnesia the Dark Descent. That game was basically hard work to play because of the immersion (sounds of the player's heart racing, ambience). A masterpiece.

 

[polonyc2]

they don't make scary games anymore (same with scary movies)...developers think that gore= scary...

 

[zaxour]

Fatal Frame 3 scared the shit out of me, super creepy atmosphere IMO.

 

[Lith1um]

The best horror FPS games have at least one moment where you see something that makes you go, "damn, that's just wrong". Just like the best horror flicks.

 

[Matthew Kane]

Condemned has its disturbing moments. It caught me by surprise that the game delivers scare tactics without being a horror game itself.

 

[Krenum]

Resident Evil 1 / HD Remaster

Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem

Agony

 

[Matthew Kane]

How is that scary?

 

[KazeoHin]

Condemned has its disturbing moments. It caught me by surprise that the game delivers scare tactics without being a horror game itself.

I'll be damned if Condemned: Criminal Origins is not a true horror game. It is definitely one of the better crafted horror FPS games out there

 

[Chihlidog]

I thought STALKER: Call of Pripyat was pretty spooky. Some definite scares at night in that one. Also will give a shout out for the potential of the upcoming Friday the 13th game. I have the Virtual Cabin and have walked around in the game engine. It's got the mood for sure and to see Jason walking around is pretty wild.

 

[SvenBent]

phantasmagoria II i really liked that game back in the days

 

[MacLeod]

The original Silent Hill was creepy as hell to me. Plenty of scenes in that game made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. FEAR had some good creepy scenes and Alien Isolation seemed to be scary but I got bored with it and never finished it. Running around and hiding was fun for only so long. Dead Space had a lot of good creep scenes in it. They did a good job with the sound effects and music and could build upsome decent tension.

Castle Wolfenstein was the first game that ever scared me. Im talking about the Commodore 64 version back in 83. The SS guy would always yell "ACHTUNG" when he'd walk in the room so I'd be sitting there in deep thought trying to plan where I needed to go and all of a sudden you'd get this loud "ACHTUNG!" out of nowhere. My joystick went flying across the room a time or 2 while playing that game. Ah. the good old days.

 

[Mad Maxx]

The Suffering

I actually had nightmares in which I was attacked by the creatures with blades for arms and legs.

 

[cyclone3d]

Clocktower for PS1.

I played it once.. with the lights off at night.

Never touched it again.

 

[limitedaccess]

I still think FEAR is the best done horror game. The reason is because the horror elements are actually completely benign if you think back to it. Outside of maybe 1 or 2? situations there was no actual threat from any of the horror elements. The only actual threats came from conventional elements and enemies that you'd see in any modern military shooter, those of which you wouldn't consider horror at all. Your player character also is not hindered or "weak" in any way, complete free movement like any conventional shooter and is actually the one with "paranormal" abilities. There is no handicapping with awkward controls or FOV for example, massively limited resources, and etc.

To me this is what separates FEAR. With other horror games there is a heavy reliance on really being afraid of dying and losing progress. And in a lot of a cases in combination with a very crippled player character. You're not fighting frightened by "jump scares" just because they might instant kill or heavily damage you.

 

[Comixbooks]

Fear
and
The Evil Within is pretty good

 

[TwistedMetalGear]

P.T. by far is the scariest game/demo I've witnessed in recent times. Actually had me yelling out loud. No other game has done that to me. Such a shame that it was canned.

 

[Stiler]

Scary games have been around a while, even back in the 90's with games like Realms of the Haunting, Alone in the Dark, etc. Sure today it might look a bit outdated, but back then it was great.

For me, when I think of some of the greatest scary/creepy games a few that spring to mind, along with the above mentioned.

Silent Hill 2 - Probably one of the creepiest games with an amazing atmosphere to its world and story. I always thought Silent Hill I/II were far scarier games then Resident Evil.

Soma - This game to me has one of the BEST storylines in gaming history. It's rare for a game to actually leave you with a thought provoking story that you still think of long after the game is over but this is one that does just that.

It is from the developers behind the Amnesia games but this one is much more focused on narrative and while there are some "monsters" they are not nearly as many as Amnesia and it's a lot more better paced.

Sanitarium is to me, one of the creepiest games I have ever played. It's a classic 90's point and click adventure game. The atmosphere in this game is bar none creepy as hell and because it came out in the 90's it has a certain 90's era art that (imo) adds to that.

 

[0neTwo]

Nothing comes close to the Silent Hill PT demo. THE best atmosphere in any game period.

 

[KazeoHin]

Nothing comes close to the Silent Hill PT demo. THE best atmosphere in any game period.

Unfortunately, it will always be just that... a demo...

 

[Matthew Kane]

I almost forgot about the Silent Hill series. SH2 definitely tops the list for me out of the franchise back on ps1.

 

[Domingo]

Condemned is my #1 by a wide margin. Even though it ended up being relatively straightforward, it was so so well done. From enemies that would sneak around and then bolt at you to mannequins that were sometimes real and other times not. The last stand in the house while being invaded from all sides was both terrifying and epic. Plus, it had just the right mix of supernatural elements and an awesome villain.
The best thing about it was the audio. It uses surround-sound positional audio and spooky effects as well as any game ever has.
If I could inspire one remake from the last 10-15 years it would be that game.

On the plus side, Outlast 2 actually feels somewhat similar in terms of the vibe. I'm really psyched for that one.

 

[audio-]

Unfortunately, it will always be just that... a demo...

Here's hoping that's not true mate....

 

[audio-]

I'm not sure whether this falls into the same category but, I'm playing Dying Light at the moment. If you get stuck outside a safe house when night comes, it's pretty high on the adrenalin rush factor lol.

 

[Stiler]

Here's hoping that's not true mate....

Death Stranding isn't going to be P.T./Silent Hills, sadly.

 

[0neTwo]

Here's hoping that's not true mate....

Thats what im hoping for too. Sure it wont be in the Silent Hill universe which is kinda sad, but im hoping the extremely creepy atmosphere is something Kojima wants and brings over.

 

[Toepunch]

Aliens vs Predator 2 with a surround sound system. You would hear stuff behind you. I didn't play without turning on the hallway light.

 

[rezerekted]

they don't make scary games anymore (same with scary movies)...developers think that gore= scary...

Now you got me thinking, someone should make a game adaption of the movie The Exorcist. That could be really good if done right. The movie is part mystery and part horror so the game should be too.

 

[infin@]

Amnesia The Dark Decent had me jumping a few times. I know its already been said, but System Shock 2 was the first game that really freaked me out. I still love to play that game every year around Halloween.

 

[audio-]

After two decades, we are remastering and re-imagining the original System Shock.

http://systemshock.com/

 

[Matthew Kane]

Looks garbage.