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Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: Mouth for war on Wed 21/05/2008 20:21:04

Title: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Mouth for war on Wed 21/05/2008 20:21:04
Yeah...i'm talking about those funny moments when a game simply scared the s¤%# out of you. One of my fond memories...and i think more agree with me, is the hallway in Resident Evil when those dogs jumps through the window...But i think i got more shocked when i was playing Resident Evil 2 and that damn licker jumps through the glass in the interrogation room. Nemesis in RE3 wasn't bad either...he could make my heart beat really fast sometimes hehe. Hell...I even remember the sound effect when Jason showed up in friday the 13:th for the nes...sometimes it made me jump haha. I probably have more but those are the more memorable stuff. so...how about you? :D
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Oliwerko on Wed 21/05/2008 20:24:57
I got scared hundreds of times in Thief 1, not that much in Thief 2, but that was also tense.

So, for me the scariest game ever is Thief 1. No more to say here  ;D
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Babar on Wed 21/05/2008 20:26:35
Alone in the Dark. WHY DID YOU WALK SO SLOWLY, CARNBY?!
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: GarageGothic on Wed 21/05/2008 20:42:35
Did anyone play Friday the 13th on the Commodore 64?  At random times, when one of the campers got killed, this screen (http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/friday-the-13th_/screenshots/gameShotId,45104/) would pop up accompanied by a digitized screech. Used to scare the bejesus out of me.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Mouth for war on Wed 21/05/2008 20:48:38
ah yes...i remember Ft13 for the c64. that scared me as well hehe
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: R4L on Wed 21/05/2008 20:57:14
I was only maybe 7 or 8, playing Silent Hill on PSX, and I was already creeped out by the game, but the part where the corpse falls out of the locker... I stopped playing Silent Hill for so long and was only able to finish it when i got it again last year, when I was 16.

16! That's a lot of years! That's how badly that game scarred me. Scarred for life man.

Plus, the Resident Evil games got to me. I used to play them, but when it got dark, I never played it until the morning. :D

The 1st Fatal Frame game on Xbox scared me a lot. The premise made it perfect. You basically take pictures of ghosts, but because it's made by a Japanese company, it's more a surreal horror, like The Ring style for instance.

Hmm... what other games? Half-Life spooked me a bit, because it was really intense for me at the time. The things in Resident Evil 4, I think they're called regenerators, idk, but they make this noise that scares the piss out of me.

Any game that is as disturbing as the Silent Hill games, will most definitely make me jump. I think "disturbing" is much worse than "scary" lol.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: vict0r on Wed 21/05/2008 21:05:56
Hmm... Although not the best game ever, Doom 3 scared the crap out of me several times!
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: OneDollar on Wed 21/05/2008 21:10:11
I don't really play horror games, but there have been a few moments in other genres.

First time I opened the knight's tomb in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and you got a 256 colour skeleton accompanied by a loud musical sting. Always used to turn the volume down at that point when I played through it again. I also got rather worried playing Myst for the first time, like when you find one of the brother's torture chambers with skulls hidden in chests, or wandering around the tree-top houses on another island. Say what you will about Myst, but the atmosphere was very good. The original Men in Black game as well, what with crazy doctors jumping out of the shadows and zombie dogs running around in the second mission. I think I also stopped playing Half Life a couple of times when it was getting late.

Much more recently than all those I started playing The Dark Eye (game based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe), and decided I wouldn't play it late at night ;). Again fantastic atmosphere.

I reckon the scariest thing I've played on my own so far was the demo to Penumbra Overture. Played that in the dark with the volume up and it was great, though the scary part was that I knew if something attacked me I wouldn't have a chance because I couldn't get to grips with the stupid controls :)

(I also have to admit that The Curse of Monkey Island made me turn the volume down because I got scared... it was late, I was young and it was the bit where you're going through the Goodsoup family crypt, and somebody starts laughing evilly. Turned the sound back on again when I realised it was Murry though ;D)
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: TwinMoon on Wed 21/05/2008 21:40:20
While not a real shocker, Trilby's Notes made me feel sick with that excessive amount of gore.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: TerranRich on Wed 21/05/2008 21:48:26
When I was a kid, Doom and Alone in the Dark did it for me. Doom for its overall atmosphere (which at the time had me immersed in it), and Alone in the Dark for its general creepiness. Especially that weird creature that broke through the window. When I first heard it coming, I was freaked the !@#$ out.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: evenwolf on Wed 21/05/2008 23:24:33
Hugo's House of Horrors!    hahahaha,   seriously timed puzzles ARE scary.


I'd have to say Resident Evil for the win.   Silent Hill and other games have made good attempts but they simply follow in the footsteps.


Then there was that D game.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Stupot on Thu 22/05/2008 00:27:20
Quote from: evenwolf on Wed 21/05/2008 23:24:33
I'd have to say Resident Evil for the win.   Silent Hill and other games have made good attempts but they simply follow in the footsteps.

I have to disagree with you there wolf...
Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 were profoundly terrifying... I can't judge SH3 because I never played it, and 4 was cool but not really that scary... Is there a 5?... if so I haven't played that one either...
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: evenwolf on Thu 22/05/2008 00:31:20
Right.  Sure.   But without RE paving the way those games would never exist.


Yes they had scarier moments with crackling radios and fog and things off camera.    I will say they were most terrifiying.  But even then I have to nod to RE for being OG.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: LUniqueDan on Thu 22/05/2008 02:01:46
The first time was F13 for the C64 too, that I innocently played it without warnings (there was also 2 other screens if my memory's good)
Then the first random incounter in Alone in the Dark make me that huge effect.
Finally 7AS was unbeatable. Everytime I replay it I jump when the welder shows up.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: zeeman645 on Thu 22/05/2008 02:17:17
nobody went next gen on  this topic so i will. CONDEMED 1 & 2 scared the s%!@ out of me man! in my opinion, condemned is the scariest game i have ever played.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: auriond on Thu 22/05/2008 05:41:15
Quote from: Stupot on Thu 22/05/2008 00:27:20I can't judge SH3 because I never played it, and 4 was cool but not really that scary... Is there a 5?... if so I haven't played that one either...

SH3 was terrifying to me, but then that was the first SH that I ever played. And I'm a serious wuss, so take that as you will.

SH5 is coming out soon, but in the meantime there's SH 0rigins to keep you occupied :)
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: The Suitor on Thu 22/05/2008 06:09:02
Doom... When I was a kid and one of those pink demons ran across the screen, I jumped and the keyboard did a flip as well. I must've still had it in my hand.  My dad laughed his ass off at me for minutes. Alone in the dark, was very creepy to me back in the day, especially that/those gargoyle thing(s) (can't remember if there was one or two) you had to kill with the mirror(s).
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Buckethead on Thu 22/05/2008 08:51:36
I can't think of any game that actually scared me. I always just feel a chill of a excitement when it gets scary. Although many years ago me and my brother were playing Half live non stop and it was kinda too much for me as I had nightmares about it at one time.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: PixelPerfect on Thu 22/05/2008 10:57:04
If you live alone, it's dark outside, no lights on in the house and have a decent set of headphones pretty much any horror game will give you chills.

When I was younger we used to play Silent Hill 2 at my friends house and then I had to walk this forest path in the dark at midnight when returning home. That was pretty scary. I think the psychological twists in that game are just top notch and SH2 is pretty much my all-time horror game no. 1 because of it's story.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: skuttleman on Thu 22/05/2008 11:02:03
Quote from: vict0r on Wed 21/05/2008 21:05:56
Hmm... Although not the best game ever, Doom 3 scared the crap out of me several times!

I agree. Doom3 is the only time I've had to take a break from playing a game just because of how much it creeped me out. Fantastic environmental immersion!
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: nihilyst on Thu 22/05/2008 11:45:03
Every time LeChuck appeared at the end of Monkey Island 2 ... ... ... okay, I was a kid, but today I find MI2 scary as well. FEAR had also some good chills.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Oliwerko on Thu 22/05/2008 12:05:29
I actually had to wait a few years to be able to play Thief, and even then I had my heart in throat sometimes....
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: InCreator on Thu 22/05/2008 12:36:21
Prince of Persia (the original, of course) kept me very tense due very deadly and bloody traps and death resulting in almost every wrong key press...
KGB (no words needed)
Amazon: Guardians of Eden (no words needed, ever (http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/555/Amazon%20-%20Guardians%20of%20Eden_9.png)). Even those low-quality photos that meant not to scare, still do scare shit out of me
Penumbra: Overture (spidddersss!)
Half-Life 2: Episode two (spiders!) I'm not afraid of spiders in real life, but in game, I'd prefer NOT to play game with any
Half-Life: Getting knocked out by surprise, only to wake up in trash compactor
Police Quest 4 (rather disturbing, I'd say)
Leisure suit larry 2(?) When walking out from river and noticing that Larry's feet are eaten by piranhas
Manhunt was quite scary all the time, like every time enemies noticed you

and the scariest moment EVER...

King's Quest 3: When suddenly getting eaten by big, blue... Spider!!! The scariest moment in video gaming for me, ever made.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Akatosh on Thu 22/05/2008 15:08:20
System Shock 2. Nothing like walking around a corner and being randomly blown up by a protocol droid that just spawned to get your pulse up. Oh, and for some reason I freaked out every fucking time I received an E-Mail.  ::)
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Evil on Thu 22/05/2008 20:06:24
Four letters.

F.E.A.R.

Scared me shitless in less than 2 minutes. I still haven't beat that game. Too damn scary. And you know it's scary when you unload two magazines into ghosts you know aren't really there.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Oliwerko on Thu 22/05/2008 20:47:59
The scariest moments in gaming are IMHO when it is totally quiet and something suddenly kills you faster than you turn to see what it actually was.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: TwinMoon on Thu 22/05/2008 21:32:11
Quote from: InCreator on Thu 22/05/2008 12:36:21
Leisure suit larry 2(?) When walking out from river and noticing that Larry's feet are eaten by

Really? I thought it was a pretty lame joke, not scary at all. Strange how different people can be.

I forgot to mention the "Clockwork Orange" guys in Space Quest 4 / XII. Every time I got the close up where his lips start shaking I'd instinctively reach for the volume knob and turn it down. Man, that screaming was hideous.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: voh on Thu 22/05/2008 23:17:02
F.E.A.R. so far isn't disappointing (playing it at the moment, finished COD4 not too long ago) but so far I'm not that spooked.

Then again, I don't get spooked easily :P

My worst shocker's been Clive Barker's Undying, due to the atmosphere. Even if NOTHING was going on, I was apprehensive because something just MIGHT :D

I refused to play that game if it was dark outside ._.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Domino on Thu 22/05/2008 23:53:44
Silent Hill 2.

Spoiler
PYRAMID HEAD F-ING SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME
[close]
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: InCreator on Fri 23/05/2008 17:21:46
Ah, I forgot EVERY MOMENT in Condemned: Criminal Origins.

Walking around corner and getting your face beaten in with an iron pipe is, well, quite scary.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: PixelPerfect on Fri 23/05/2008 19:10:48
I have to agree with Condemned. That's one scary game if played by yourself in the dark with headphones. Seriously good headphones make a world of difference in the ambiance. In Condemned you get such a jolt everytime somebody starts to run and you can't see where they're coming from. I think pretty much any game would be non-scary if the sound would be muted.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: MoodyBlues on Fri 23/05/2008 19:21:12
The Colonel's Bequest made me jump a lot.  Actually, any game where you can randomly die for stupid reasons freaks me out.

Police Quest 4, while being a frustrating, mostly unsatisfying game, had some great scary moments, especially at the end.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Emerald on Sat 24/05/2008 01:48:12
The most freaked out I've ever been in a game was when I got 'Constantine' second-hand. The game itself isn't that scary (it's a 'jump-out-at-you-and-swipe-off-a-few-hit-points-and-then-get-nailed-to-the-wall' kind of game*), but the disc was heavily damaged and therefore the game was riddled with all these weird glitches. The audio was all screwed up, enemies would turn invisible, etc.


* I laughed the whole way through Doom 3. For one thing, the 'pop-out-and-scare-you' thing was so overdone, that if you saw a dark area, it was pretty much guaranteed to have an imp lurking in there. And unless you were playing on 'hard', none of the enemies were particularly threatening -- they pop out, go "graaagh!" and then hit you for 5 damage, to which you retaliate with a shotgun blast to the face. It just didn't strike me as particularly scary.


Bioshock is mentionable (I don't think anyones mentioned it yet). It's not particularly scary - more creepy - but it has its moments (such as that room where the lights go off, and suddenly all the corpses come alive -- I nearly wet myself, 'cause the whole time you get so used to looting the random corpses lying around; or the part where the statues follow you around)
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: ThreeOhFour on Sat 24/05/2008 02:55:27
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines in the mansion. It wasn't overly dangerous and was really kinda easy, but man it freaked me out in places.

All of the They Hunger mods for Half Life. Nothing says creepy like being in a dark tunnel with 2 bullets and an umbrella to defend yourself with when you hear a groan right in your ear (curse you, headphones!).
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: TerranRich on Sat 24/05/2008 04:25:50
I totally forgot about the cyborgs in Space Quest IV... and that ominous music that would play when droids would randomly search the screen and you had to leave or hide. That really creeped me out, every single time.

Actually, one of the Tex Murphy games (Overseer or Pandora Directive) freaked me out when I'd have it on in a dark room, alone, with good quality speakers. It was so immersive, that sometimes I'd lose myself in it.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: fred on Sat 24/05/2008 12:37:39
Call of Cthullhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (http://www.callofcthulhu.com/) - especially the escape sequence from Innsmouth hotel, running from room to room frantically trying to bolt the doors behind me. Also, that game has the coolest sanity system I've seen so far - hallucinations, panic attacks, vertigo, paranoia, the whole deal. I would have made a different ending to the game though, and tweaked difficulty in many places, but still one of the best games I played in a long time  :o
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: on Mon 26/05/2008 06:31:18
Creature Shock. The shocking aspect is right in the title, and shocking it was indeed, in places. With todays eyes, meh.

Undying. Oh yes, that had some nasty little scary moments.

System Shock, both 1 and 2, but 2 was a bit more creepy on the audio side. I have fond memories of The Many.

Bananas In Pyjamas. That's top of the list. There is NOTHING more scary than fruit in bedding clothes offering you marshmallows. I still shiver.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Mouth for war on Mon 26/05/2008 13:27:54
Quote from: Ghost on Mon 26/05/2008 06:31:18
Bananas In Pyjamas. That's top of the list. There is NOTHING more scary than fruit in bedding clothes offering you marshmallows. I still shiver.

HAHAHAHA Yeah that is totally true
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Eigen on Mon 26/05/2008 15:39:31
Here's a list (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7J_J4WhIxE) of pretty scary games. But I don't know what game has scared me the most .. I guess Doom for one and also Resident Evil.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: [Cameron] on Mon 26/05/2008 16:13:58
Quote from: Evil on Thu 22/05/2008 20:06:24
Four letters.

F.E.A.R.

Scared me shitless in less than 2 minutes. I still haven't beat that game. Too damn scary. And you know it's scary when you unload two magazines into ghosts you know aren't really there.

I have to agree. Quite heartily. I've finished the game, and when playing through again, it still scared me. I always waste so many bullets.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: vict0r on Mon 26/05/2008 16:20:54
F.E.A.R. was pretty "meh" to me.. In DOOM, scary very often equaled having to react fast to avoid death. In fear, there were a general FPS part of the game that was pretty mediocre and quite easy, in my opinion, and there were the scary part that usually were only meant to be "movie-scary" or something like that... Interactive cutscenes almost! Doom tried this as well, but it weren't half as scary as having to constantly switch between flashlight and shotgun to locate the surrounding zombz...
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Rincewind on Mon 26/05/2008 21:58:37
I always found the atmosphere in all three of the Gabriel Knight games to be really intense and fright-inducing, to be honest. Just in the way the story and the mood was slowly raised, and how the researching of the early parts of the game successively gave way to some really suspense-ridden parts. (i.e. the zombie-statues of GK1, the woods in GK2 and the investigation of the murders in GK3) It isn't "horror-movie scary", there's just something genuinely unsettling about them all. In a good way.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: OneDollar on Mon 26/05/2008 22:48:59
Quote from: Ghost on Mon 26/05/2008 06:31:18
Bananas In Pyjamas

There was a game? :o
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Oliwerko on Tue 27/05/2008 13:20:27
Quote from: Eigen on Mon 26/05/2008 15:39:31
Here's a list (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7J_J4WhIxE) of pretty scary games. But I don't know what game has scared me the most .. I guess Doom for one and also Resident Evil.

No Thief?
Damn, the Thief series is definitely scary enough to catch up with these games. I played some of them a while, but nothing compared to thief for me...
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: hedgefield on Tue 27/05/2008 15:00:33
Quote from: zeeman645 on Thu 22/05/2008 02:17:17CONDEMNED.

I. AGREE.

The part where you're trapped in the abandoned farmhouse with the serial killer is MURDER. And whatever the hell those crawling things in the subway service tunnels were, I don't ever want to think about them again.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Paper Carnival on Tue 27/05/2008 15:28:15
Thief 1 scared the crap out of me. So did System Shock 2.

Resident Evil was only "meh". Of course it startled me sometimes, for example when it had enemies abruptly appearing breaking through a window or one-side mirrors , but it wasn't scary. The puzzles were ridiculous too - and why the hell would anyone put riddle statues in a Police Station anyway?

In System Shock 2 I really didn't feel welcome at all. The people who made it really knew how to scare me. The voices of the Many were creepy, and the fact the enemies never completely disappeared made me feel uneasy and always unsafe. It was successful in making me actually feel the presence of a force hating and stalking me.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Aulis on Mon 02/06/2008 13:30:42
Thief 3 isn't bad, but it really cranks up the terror at Shalebridge Cradle.

Just the sound effects, I think. Am I the only one who thinks this?

Aulis
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Mouth for war on Mon 02/06/2008 13:49:43
I just remembered when i played the first Blair witch project (actually quite good trilogy. Almost all games based on movies usually sucks in my opinion) When you arrive to town and spending your first night in the hotel room, the character wakes up in the middle of the night and there are noises coming from the bathroom...when you approach the door a damn creature comes at you....that made me jump high i remember....think i almost broke the world record in high jumping :D
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Oliwerko on Mon 02/06/2008 14:09:37
Quote from: Aulis on Mon 02/06/2008 13:30:42
Thief 3 isn't bad, but it really cranks up the terror at Shalebridge Cradle.

I don't quite remember playing the third one, because it didn't catch my attention as much as the second and first part. Thief 3 is good, but it kind of lacks the heart thrilling feeling you get in the first two ones. They are more to my taste, more "original".
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: miguel on Mon 02/06/2008 14:22:07
Quote from: Rincewind on Mon 26/05/2008 21:58:37
I always found the atmosphere in all three of the Gabriel Knight games to be really intense and fright-inducing, to be honest. Just in the way the story and the mood was slowly raised, and how the researching of the early parts of the game successively gave way to some really suspense-ridden parts. (i.e. the zombie-statues of GK1, the woods in GK2 and the investigation of the murders in GK3) It isn't "horror-movie scary", there's just something genuinely unsettling about them all. In a good way.

Yeah, I found the same experience with the GK series.
The third one is a good example, books and even games (Broken Sword) used the Templars theme before but GK3 captured it very well. It was lovely to discover the village and all it's creepy characters.
Even the librarian was scary!
Every character had its personality so everybody was a suspect at some point.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: GarageGothic on Mon 02/06/2008 16:03:45
Quote from: Aulis on Mon 02/06/2008 13:30:42Thief 3 isn't bad, but it really cranks up the terror at Shalebridge Cradle.

The Shalebridge Cradle is indeed one of the scariest settings ever deviced for a game. The whole atmosphere mixed with the slow revelation of little bits of backstory on each of the inmates makes for an experience that I would never ever be able to play at night with the lights off.

This is an excellent article (http://gillen.cream.org/thecradle.pdf), originally published in PC Gamer, about the creation of that mission and also features a thorough analysis of the level. There's plenty of spoilers, so don't read it if you haven't played the game but intend to. And really, everybody should play Thief Deadly Shadows just for that mission.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Miez on Tue 03/06/2008 00:43:37
Realms of the Haunting (http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=889) had me whimpering a couple of times. Way back when... ;D
Oh and good call on the Gabriel Knight games - part II freaked me out a couple of times...
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: SurplusGamer on Wed 04/06/2008 15:30:19
Call of Cthulu : The Dark Corners of the Earth is fantastically creepy, especially once you get to Innsmouth.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Wed 04/06/2008 20:14:29
Realms of the Haunting was good but not scary in any way; in fact, there isn't a single game that I would classify as 'scary'.  Some have parts deliberately designed to surprise you, but none of them are so outright frightening that they become, at times, unplayable.  Now I will say that the 'Attack of the Fishmen' scene in Call of Cthulhu was harrowing, mostly because of your character's impossibly horrible jump skills and the perfectly-measured jump distances during the chase, which often had me cursing as my character would limp off the side and to his doom.  It would have been far more exciting had the jump skill been reasonable in any way, and instead it just frustrated me and made me dislike a section of the game that could have been awesome.  I think this is an important trap for designers to avoid, action sequences that are heavily scripted to be great but fail because they punish you by trial and error.  To me, trial and error is one of the worst flaws in most adventure games and adventure-action hybrids, because you may know exactly what to do (or not at all) but due to a total lack of balance you have to die repeatedly to succeed, which pulls you out of the game, pisses you off, and ruins the atmosphere.

Call of Cthulhu had such an effect on me.


Parts of The Thing had me interested, though they totally botched the infection aspect by having your followers randomly transform just moments after you administer a test proving them human.  This happened especially (and predictably) at checkpoints, which made the entire test aspect and the fear/trust meter useless. 
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: LimpingFish on Wed 04/06/2008 21:03:32
Oh, yeah, The Thing went pretty much off the rails around the halfway point. The games designers seemed unable to recreate the tension of the movie, so instead they just rehashed a bunch of survival horror "standards".

I'd also agree with "Attack of the Fishmen", or rather the latter sections of the level that require you to make awkward jumps. The first few minutes of the level, locking doors and such, creates a fine sense of urgency. The jumping does indeed manage to kill it, though.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: TheJBurger on Thu 05/06/2008 06:13:08
The last scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where you have to pick the holy grail; that used to KILL me as a kid when I played it.

When you choose a cup and drink from it, it goes to a close-up of Indy's face. If you chose the right cup, he lives. If you chose the wrong cup, he suddenly turns into a ghastly skeleton and your speakers scream out a ear-pearcing midi noise.

That got me every time.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: GarageGothic on Thu 05/06/2008 09:26:39
"He chose... poorly."
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: MoodyBlues on Thu 05/06/2008 15:27:32
Quote from: TheJBurger on Thu 05/06/2008 06:13:08
The last scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where you have to pick the holy grail; that used to KILL me as a kid when I played it.

When you choose a cup and drink from it, it goes to a close-up of Indy's face. If you chose the right cup, he lives. If you chose the wrong cup, he suddenly turns into a ghastly skeleton and your speakers scream out a ear-pearcing midi noise.

That got me every time.

I never got that far in the Last Crusade, but that reminds me of a very scary moment in The Fate of Atlantis:
Spoiler

That part at the end where either you or the Nazi ends up as a specter that fills the entire screen and stares at you with huge, freaky, glowing eyes.  I've never looked at conversation trees the same way since.
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Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Johanas on Thu 05/06/2008 15:49:53
I'm a big fan of horror games, I like all the silent hills and the resident evils etc. I enjoy the disturbing images and the generally creepy atmosphere. (To illustrate the point I actually downloaded the soundtrack to Silent Hill 2 and listen to it on long bus journeys just loud enough that the person next to me starts to fear for their life).

Scariest moment in any game was SH4. I was playing on the PC in a tiny dark room with headphones on for hours. I put the controller down in my lap to use the mouse and keyboard. I turned a corner and a ghost jumped into my face making the controller vibrate like mad. I jumped back so quick i nearly took the door off the hinges.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: GarageGothic on Thu 05/06/2008 19:39:14
Quote from: MoodyBlues on Thu 05/06/2008 15:27:32I never got that far in the Last Crusade, but that reminds me of a very scary moment in The Fate of Atlantis

You just reminded me of Bishop Mandible's bloody demise (http://youtube.com/watch?v=61OqWM7gh5k&feature=related) in Loom. Not that scary, but definitely unsettling.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Ren on Wed 11/06/2008 11:50:08
Quote from: Babar on Wed 21/05/2008 20:26:35
Alone in the Dark. WHY DID YOU WALK SO SLOWLY, CARNBY?!
There is a button that makes him run.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Ren on Wed 11/06/2008 11:51:09
Bioshock. I turn around and BANG a dentist starts killing me.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Valentijn on Thu 12/06/2008 08:10:04
Does anybody know this mid-90's RPG called Stonekeep? I really loved that game, despite any bugs and flaws it may have had...
Anyway, there is one level in this game that has one obvious difference from all other levels: there are no monsters on this 'floor'. Yet, it is a large level and you'd expect trouble everywhere. Many doors are locked and require you to find the right switches and settings to unlock them. Everything about it gives a sense that something really dark is hidden in the centre. To make matters worse, the music in this level is very soft and eerie, and appears to be unstructured... but every now and then, some loud piano beats burst through. They startled me every single time. And then there's the best bit in the level: there's a cul-de-sac hallway where you can see a note hanging in the end, and lots of large buttons on the floor towards it. You have no choice but to walk over the buttons, hearing them activate 'something'. Then you reach the note, which says: "All traps are set." You turn around again, to leave the hallway... and you suddenly hear insane laughter coming at you.
You never get to find out who was laughing, by the way.

I also thought Realms of the Haunting had its moments, but unfortunately you're teamed up with Rebecca Travisard quite soon in the game, and it would have been so much scarier if Adam had been all alone in that dark house all the time.
Still, great game... one of my all-time faves.

The part in Gabriel Knight III where Grace hears a baby crying in the attic of the vineyard mansion kind of creeped me out as well.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Oliwerko on Thu 12/06/2008 13:05:12
I have stonekeep sitting here on my shelf in original box just next to Dungeon Master II  ;D

Anyway, I was never able to run Stonekeep on any computer I have had, it is like a curse. Gotta try it someday...
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Tuomas on Thu 12/06/2008 13:19:51
I remember when I was a kid and I placed one stopper before a shredder in the Lemmings game, but the stopper was a bit too high, so all of them would just walk in to it, and that made me cry. I don't think I've enjoyed the game ever since...
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Valentijn on Thu 12/06/2008 13:21:13
That original Stonekeep box with the hologram cover is very cool.

I have many great memories of Stonekeep. At one point you find yourself in a fairy realm, welcomed by a bunch of fairy performers who actually sing some funny and well-performed songs for you if you give them flowers. The company includes a 'Forrest Gump' character who's always behind with his lines. There's a good chance that your party includes a dwarf who hates fairies and knows how to voice his frustrations. Wonderful, really.

Back on the subject, I forgot to mention one of the greatest of AGS games: Prodigal. Fantastic atmosphere! Very, very creepy.
Yahtzee's games can be quite scary too.

Oh, and some Myst-style games are very good at making you feel isolated in worlds that have a perilous feel to them. Sirrus' prison world in Myst IV is a good example. The game 'Lighthouse - the Dark Being' is also very good at this.
And let's not forget the 7th Guest and the 11th Hour (although the latter is slightly ruined by awful voice actors like the emotionless woman telling you "Keep trying, Carl, you're getting closer." and Stauff with no wit left in his mind telling you just how stupid you are if you click on the wrong object).
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Miez on Thu 12/06/2008 16:13:46
Quote from: Valentijn on Thu 12/06/2008 08:10:04
The part in Gabriel Knight III where Grace hears a baby crying in the attic of the vineyard mansion kind of creeped me out as well.

Ooh yeah - I guess I repressed that one. Very nasty...
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: DanielH on Thu 12/06/2008 17:45:48
This is slightly unrelated, but the adventure game that scared me the most was Trilby's notes. Jesus christ. I played it a month ago, but I didn't think much of it then, nor at all since then, until last night. I was watching TV when a black and white segment reminded me of the game and fear hit me full force.  ::) Silly looking back at it, but a game had never really scared me like that before. Lost several hours sleep.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Oliwerko on Thu 12/06/2008 20:18:36
Well, all Trilby games are scary in some way. Actually, I was pretty scared by 5DAS.
Not in that thrilling way, but it gave me an overall impression of that tight feeling and it was kind of psycho because you did not know what is going to happen next.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: GarageGothic on Thu 12/06/2008 20:32:20
Quote from: miez on Thu 12/06/2008 16:13:46
Quote from: Valentijn on Thu 12/06/2008 08:10:04
The part in Gabriel Knight III where Grace hears a baby crying in the attic of the vineyard mansion kind of creeped me out as well.

Ooh yeah - I guess I repressed that one. Very nasty...

Indeed. That whole sequence was shock full of suspense:

Spoiler
From finding something that could be a baby inside a trunk, but then hearing Montreux approach and having to hide quickly, to that creepy old hag in the wine cellar. "Pommes bleues! POMMES BLEUES!!!"
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Another scene in GK3 that startled me was:

Spoiler
Investigating the crime scene where Prince James' men were murdered, and Gabe's flash of insight when realizing that the killers left no footprints.
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Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Snake on Fri 13/06/2008 01:28:38
Hey, is the first Alone in the Dark still sold? Or can I get it for free?

And I mean in it's entirety. I downloaded it once before and it was incredibly slow with no sounds. Is there a place where I can get the right working version?

If I could buy it somewhere in it's entirety, that would be great.
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On topic
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I can't say that any game has "scared" me, but I remember being "on edge" the entire game of the original Resident Evil for Playstation.

But even worse was Silent Hill.


--Snake
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Ogre on Fri 13/06/2008 16:21:47
Quote from: Ren on Wed 11/06/2008 11:50:08
Quote from: Babar on Wed 21/05/2008 20:26:35
Alone in the Dark. WHY DID YOU WALK SO SLOWLY, CARNBY?!
There is a button that makes him run.

To make Carnby Run in Alone in the dark you had to tap forward twice really quickly... not always easy.. and when something was coming after you about to kill you it was even easier to mess it up.

Alone in the Dark = Best game ever = FTW.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: Babar on Fri 13/06/2008 17:20:27
Not always easy?! It never worked! Damned polygonal octopus monster got me every time.
Title: Re: Which game has scared you the most?
Post by: DanielH on Fri 13/06/2008 17:40:55
Quote from: Oliwerko on Thu 12/06/2008 20:18:36
Well, all Trilby games are scary in some way. Actually, I was pretty scared by 5DAS.
Not in that thrilling way, but it gave me an overall impression of that tight feeling and it was kind of psycho because you did not know what is going to happen next.

I agree. After Trilby's notes I took a break (a one month break) because I had stuff piling up on my desk, but I got back to the series and completed 7DAS and 6DAS Last night. At 11pm. In the dark. The tension got to me and I collapsed In a heap when at the moment
Spoiler
The Welder Chases you in 7DAS, near the end, up on top of the ship,
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My mum burst in the room. ::)
Christ, Yahtzee is a brilliant storyteller, the tension kept me on edge throughout the whole series.