ORIGINAL Game Horror Badies/Moments

Melaisis

Rookie
Following the success of my blog entry this week (http://www.gamerevolution.com/blog/entry.php?id=80099) and the fact the comment sections has turned into a counselling session for people with weird fears in videogames, I thought I'd put together a top ten list of stuff which REALLY freaks us out in videogames.

For instance, zombies aren't that scary. I'm sure I'd shit myself in real life if I saw one, but in games we've been expected to shoot randomly at human mobs for over two decades. A rampaging horde coming towards you in L4D may increase your adrenaline, but that's out of survival, rather than fear.

By contrast, stuff like the Wallmasters from Ocarina of Time did scare me. They were new, something we hadn't really seen before and didn't know how they reacted. I think its that sense of the unknown that scares people in vidya games. That's why everyone remembers the scenes where the 'Colonel' starts addressing you, the player, directly in MGS2 - or the console-breaking bits from Arkham Asylum. We don't expect stuff like that at all, which makes it extra creepy.

Hit me with your thoughts, comrades!
 
I'd agree with that comrade!

I definately agree with floormasters >shudder<. But from OoT my biggest fear were the skulltulas. I never really looked for the shadow on the floor so whenever I heard that horrible sound, I kinda panicked!
It is the unknown that scares me though. For instance, you know something is there, but you dont know when it will come or where it is...or WHAT it is.

I remember the build up for the reaper in RE5. You read the script on the table, and you KNOW something called the "Reaper" is coming. You then walk under these eggs that you've never seen before expecting something to pop out that never does! Then you flick a switch and hear a screech!
I LOVE things like that. It's just a bit of a let down that it was a shitty mantis thing.

I cant really think of any original moments though.
 
When I first played Devil May Cry, pretty much everything scared me. I was young, playing it at night, and it's a genuinely scary game.

From OoT, the Redeads.
 
The first few missions in Dead Space. You're on a creepy, lifeless ship in horrible condition (both the ship and the remains of the crew). Every new corridor has pipes hissing, water dripping, and metal banging on metal, and an enemy that pops out of every air vent, so you know the second you round that corner, the enemy will pop up right behind you.
 
I'll agree on the MGS2 colonel bit. I actually had been playing all day, so when he told me to stop playing because I had been and to get some sunlight I was all, "OK... what the fuck is going on now?"

Also, first time seeing Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2 was a bit creepy, but before that, turning the radio off (thanks to Duke for that tip way back when) during the first play of Silent Hill and not being able to see creatures come out of the fog was definitely unsettling.

The atmosphere built in System Shock 2 does a good, unsettling job, too.
 
For some reason, the feral ghouls in Fallout 3 gave me major anxiety. I know they're basically zombies -- which you already said that we're used to not fearing -- and the combat against them is easy if you take it slow, but I would still get a little scared and panicky when one would come charging at me in a dark tunnel when I didn't expect it.
 
I can actually see the thing in ferals. I think its the noise that makes them that little more scary, and the setting you find them in. Dark, underground corridors add that edge to them which is probably missing from other traditional zombie games.
 
used44 said:
For some reason, the feral ghouls in Fallout 3 gave me major anxiety. I know they're basically zombies -- which you already said that we're used to not fearing -- and the combat against them is easy if you take it slow, but I would still get a little scared and panicky when one would come charging at me in a dark tunnel when I didn't expect it.

I can believe it. When you're not listening to the Radio and you're in the Sewers: they can pop out of nowhere and really give you a good scare.

Dead Space was really scary the first time around. And I can't even try and play Fatal Frame. :(
 
fatal frame 3 for me. it just has this huge sense of dread around it. and as scary as the mansion was, i found her apartment to be the most creepiest place in that whole game. i still haven't beat it just cause i get so anxious.
 
The secret radio channel from the GBC Pokemon games.

Sometimes I'll be alone in quiet room, and that infernal tune pops into my head. I then proceed to turn on the TV, or LocoRoco.
 
Regarding Fatal Frame (or Project Zero for us PALians, haw haw) I agree that it has its moments. In retrospect Dead Space and FF both use very simple scaring techniques. By having aliens/ghosts simply jump out at you, its ensuring a chance at at least a jumpy shock. But is this 'original' scares, or just weak?
 
I think they are both original in their own right.

Ive never played FF, but I have played a demo (which I never made it all the way through, cause I was younger). I remember being in tight spaces, not knowing what was coming, and only having a CAMERA as my only defense was pretty unsettling.

Dead Space is scary for the first few missions because really, after your ship blows up, you dont know how you'll get out. With only your pistol, ammo can get scarce and you'll need to melee enemies 20 times to kill them. I know none of that is original except for the space scene and space zombies, but it does bring back what we miss, along with bringing back what we enjoy now.

-And sorry, Ive been gone for a while, MS will have a new match soon.-
 
Fatal Frame just has a creepy atmosphere.

One of the scariest parts is the peeping girl, you simply sits in the corner and watches you.
 
On the lines of Used's comment, the Deathclaw Sanctuary scared the shit out of me.

Also, anything invisible, stemming from the invisible Elites during Halo: CE in the level The Silent Cartographer. That scares the shit out of me just because I would never have any idea what was happening the first time I went down there (I was in second grade when Halo came out). It took me 10 hours to beat that level.
 
Silent Hill 2 gave me serious issues when i played it back when i was 12.
It's not the BOO! scary, it's the extreme mindfuck scary. You start imagining shit that never actually happened, I think..
*shudders*

Never played Project Zero 3, but my friend hired it for a night once. He didn't get any sleep. For 3 days.


Also, the first time i played Bioshock i had major scared-ness for a couple hours until i realized 'hmm...maybe it wouldn't be so bad if i had my lights on and my surround sound off'.
 
Way back in the day System Shock 2 was a mindfuck. The setting is kinda similar to Dead Space, but far more psychological. Nowadays the graphics are so outdated that it is hard to take it seriously enough to be scared, but back then that game scared the hell out of me. Also, damn monkeys!

But the first Fatal Frame takes the prize, the only way i could bring myself to finish it was by playing in very short stretches, the atmosphere in that game is so intense...
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I agree that the mindfuck games really do reign supreme for the most part. No one mentioned FEAR though? That has some super-creepy moments, but don't they bother people because you don't actually have to DO anything for those scenes?
 
FEAR does have some creepy moments, but combine not being in control during said moments with being a super soldier carrying enough firepower to start world war III and the scare factor goes right out the window.
 
FEAR's crappy gameplay turned me away before any interesting or scary elements hooked me.
 
Shin megami tensei: nocturne. This beautiful lady talks at you and ask questions (relevant to the game endings). Then, out of nowhere, her face turns creepy and scary and she starts twittering like an condemned being executed. If you answer wrong, she jumps at the screen to start a fight. I most certainly peeded my pants...

The game condemned: The stage in the house. If you played that game, you know what i mean. Bums holding knives jumps through the windows and a serial killer was following you and watching the whole time! brrr...

Oh and my girlfriend thought the torture scene in the darkness was the creepiest thing she ever saw. As she was curling up under the blankets, i was swallowing my saliva.

And finally, bioshock.
 

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