Games that Actually Scared You

[Plague]

Something that used to scare me was a particular part of Crash Bandicoot. I'm serious. When I was way younger, I remember this level on Crash Bandicoot called 'Slippery Climb' or something like that. Every time Crash would land on a spike, the screen immediately cut to a small animation of him yelling "Ow!" and spinning around and falling over. I don't know why but everytime it just cut to that it'd freak me out. I think it's because it just happened to suddenly when you were to fall down onto the spikes.

These days though, I'd have to say Amnesia. Dead Space not so much.

 

[Korolev]

When I was a lot younger? The scariest game would probably have been Silent Hill 2. I was 14 when it came out, and it was the first horror game I had ever played. It was pretty scary.

Lately however? The scariest thing I have personally finished was Metro 2033. Not all of it - but some sections of it were pretty nerve-racking.

 

[tombman888]

Amnesia. Still haven't finished that game, just because i'm too scared to boot it up again. All i could get up to was

Spoiler

The part where you fall down the elevater and land in the dungeon. I'm just up the stairs.

 

[Dfskelleton]

Amnesia: TDD. I liked the Penumbra series, the games just didn't scare me as much.

 

[baddude1337]

Being lost in a dark cave with hardly any light while the creepers move in is an utterly terrifying experience in Minecraft. Other than that, basically the Silent Hill series and RE2 (mainly because I played it when I was really young).

 

[subjectseven]

Other than adding to the Amnesia: The Dark Descent count, I'd say the original Clock Tower on the PlayStation 1. Another one would be anything from the Fatal Frame series.

 

[Eccentric_Jon]

Dead Space 1 (and 2 to an extent)- Not hugely scary as such, but I jumped a lot, mainly because I'd see a Necro laying on the floor and inch over thinking "I KNOW you're going to get up in a minute". Then I'd get to a certain distance and think "wow, maybe this one doesn..SURPRISE M.FER!!

Amnesia & Condemned 1 had good, creepy atmospheres as did a few of the Silent Hill games.

 

[N1ceDreamz]

Very few games have ever really ever scared me, not even amnesia or silent hill. Although quite bizarrely nemesis from resident evil 3 scared the hell out of me, although that was probably because he was a giant monster who wouldn't f**king die, kept chasing you thoughout the game and had a rocket laucher... more of a direct threat then a horror thing.

 

[Lagzlot]

Ecco The Dolphin, Ecco 2, and Ecco Defender of the Future. Easily the most atmospheric games on any Sega machine. On the subject of water related games, Everblue 2, the spiritual predecessor to the Endless Ocean titles could make you feel tense at times.

Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask gave me a few nightmares, especially because of pretty much anything involving the final night. Everything about the last day, from npc quotes to the sound design, invokes an apocolyptic fear of "oh @!#$ we're all gonna die!"

As a kid, Chrono Trigger has that effect when the future refuses to change. That scream will haunt you forever.

One word: Eversion.

 

[D-tritus Debris]

There's only one sequence of three words that ever scared me, and it still makes all the blood drain from my face, and my hand go limp on the mouse, while i watch helplessly: Nuclear launch detected...

 

[Fronken]

The only game i've not been able to finish due to it scaring the shit out of me is Amnesia: The Dark Descent, i got about 40 minutes in, and that is, couldnt continue, but it still intrigues me, so i've read up on the game more than i've actually played it

 

[Virgilthepagan]

I think the first time I played Left 4 Dead and a Hunter came screaming out of the darkness after my kidneys I jumped a bit.

Actually scared? Like most others, Amnesia, and when I was much younger, the village scene of RE4 did it for me.

 

[Raioken18]

Fatal Frame 2. There were about 5 people playing it with me, split between family and friends. I played it a little bit, and then handed off the controller. One of my friends ended up playing most of it, and overall, it wasn't -that- scary, just one single part. He was running through a house with the camera to defeat ghosts and such, went through a room about 5 times looking for something (I don't remember what it was). He ended up standing there thinking, and so he brought up his camera to see if that would help him find it.

To find the ghost of a woman with a broken neck reaching out to him. We all ended up flipping out at how she looked/how close she was. We had cleared the room multiple times but she just popped out of nowhere. Freaked everyone out, he ended up throwing the controller.

Was a good time though xD Gotta play it at night like we did!

Try playing it alone late at night. I dare you not to turn around and check your peripherals for ghosts every 10 mins or so. Mind you that was years ago, I still would have been around 16-17.

 

[Syntax Error]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent. That game is fucking creepy.

Also, Bioshock could be pretty scary at times as well.

Get out of the water!

 

[AceTrilby]

Condemned.

ARGH, angry hobo! Bash its skull in with a pipe!

 

[RemuValtrez]

Fatal Frame 2. There were about 5 people playing it with me, split between family and friends. I played it a little bit, and then handed off the controller. One of my friends ended up playing most of it, and overall, it wasn't -that- scary, just one single part. He was running through a house with the camera to defeat ghosts and such, went through a room about 5 times looking for something (I don't remember what it was). He ended up standing there thinking, and so he brought up his camera to see if that would help him find it.

To find the ghost of a woman with a broken neck reaching out to him. We all ended up flipping out at how she looked/how close she was. We had cleared the room multiple times but she just popped out of nowhere. Freaked everyone out, he ended up throwing the controller.

Was a good time though xD Gotta play it at night like we did!

Try playing it alone late at night. I dare you not to turn around and check your peripherals for ghosts every 10 mins or so. Mind you that was years ago, I still would have been around 16-17.

Haha this was many years ago, I would have been about 15 at the time. That game freaked me outright. You don't even need to be alone xD As I said, scared a group of us haha

 

[richard misiak]

resident evil on the ps1 was the first game that scared me, then again I must been about 4-5 years old at the time
I blame that game for making me terrified of the dark when I was younger and for being so bad at handling scary games/films now

games I played this gen that scared me;
fallout 3
minecraft
bioshock
gears of war (mainly because I'm awful at it and in most fights Dom goes down straight away and I only just barely survive) whenever I hear that damn screeching sound and the beserker fights scare the **** out of me no matter how many times I play it
half life 2
I've never played COD zombie for more than 5 minutes due to how much it creeps me out

 

[Count Igor]

Come on, guys - Most of these games have nothing on Thief 3 - The Cradle/Inner Cradle.
That was bloody terrifying. It's also wonderfully done, but I won't spoil any surprise. Just play it. Per-leeease? It's amazing.
I had to stop a fair few times because I was so scared..

 

[Shadesong]

Going to hop on the bandwagon here and go with Amnesia. It's so terrifying that I've never actually played it and have no intention of ever doing so.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the game that scared me the most. I couldn't play longer than 10 minutes at a time because I was so tensed up, I had to stop and take a breather, lol.

Also Penumbra: Overture and Black Plague, Silent Hill 1 and Ravenholm from Half Life 2 scared the heck out of me aswell.