Games that Actually Scared You

[LordOrin]

The time that pops into my mind is from Resident Evil 2. The loading screen that was different from the others. ...Jerks....

What happens during a loading screen? I never played #2, but I was always really nervous when the Resident Evil door animations played.

OT: Fatal Frame and Penumbra. Haven't played Amnesia yet, but it looks pretty damn scary as well.

Also that one part in Eternal Darkness. I won't ruin it, but if you've played it, you know the part.

 

[Mestraal]

Project Zero/Fatal Frame series. Well, 1 through 3, anyway. Never played 4 as it didn't get much of a release.
Silent Hill 2 and 3, (and sorta 4) as well. 1, not so much.

 

[itaywex]

The Chzo Mythos games by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw scared me (not really the first one but I couldent finish the 2nd and the 4th).

But seriously, no one else played these games? they were made by Yahtzee! you should all play them (or at least watch "lets play on youtube"-they are scary...)



Also, they are free.

 

[Padwolf]

Silent Hill 2 scared me. Silent Hill 4 actually made me jump, that damned room with the head, I didn't know that was coming.

 

[nokori3byo]

Looking at my shelf now and the only "horror" titles that I have are Dead Space 1 and 2, RE5, and (I suppose) L4D. While none of those games really scares me as such, the Dead Space and L4D are pretty good at instilling panic and often exhilaration. Bioshock had a couple of scares, but they were mostly situational, like that statue in the basement of Fort Frolic. A game with a sustained and eveloping sense of dread is something I've yet to experience in this generation. Amnesia sounds like it might fit the bill.

I do remember getting a little rattled by Ravenholm, but I think that had to do with the fact that I had been away from gaming for years when I first played it. Still, those poisoned zombies (shudder).

 

[Sir Shockwave]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent. So terrifying I have yet to fully finish a single playthough.

The runner up medal would go to Abomination: The Nemesis Project, though that's more creepy than scary.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Silent Hill 2, as well as one of the penumbra games.

 

[BlackSaint09]

Amnesia... Nuff said.

 

[IrateDonnie]

Really? NO ONE has mentioned the STALKER series? Has anyone on the Escapist even played those games? Cause I'd be sorely dissappointed in this place as a gaming community if they hadn't.

Seriously, next to Condemned, STALKER is the only game that has seriously freaked me out. Namely the part in Shadow of Chernobyll called "The Brain Scorcher". You have to go into a derelict bunker filled with mutants to turn off a device that has been frying peoples brains and turning them into zombies.

First, as you near the bunker, the screen goes sepia and staticy, and you begin to hear Russian radio transmissions whispered around your head. Then ghostly "echoes" of mutated animals start to assault you, but they disspate if you shoot them or when they touch you. Then when you actually get into the base, it's pitch black, filled with deadly anomalies that can kill you in an instant, and there's eerie noises from every direction. "Snorks", degenerated humans wearing gas masks, run all fours and lunge at you. And worst of all, a creature with telekinect powers can pick up objects and fling them at you any time, meaning every item is a potential danger.

20 minutes crawling through that situation, and your nerves are shot. Best scary/tense scene I've ever played in a game. I both dread and look forward to it every time I play.

I agree, I played it for a couple of hours until I was in a tunnel & something jumped out & started screaming at me. I uninstalled it right after that.

 

[Kekkles]

Was the game supposed to be scary?

I've been genuinely scared playing Minecraft. Not because the Endermen are out there, nor anything about Creepers, just the general I can't see a bloody thing thing.

And no I don't alter the brightness, I'm not a pussy.

 

[mrsuperunderpants]

Silent Hill 2 scared me. Silent Hill 4 actually made me jump, that damned room with the head, I didn't know that was coming.

Dude same thing happened to me I haven't played Silent Hill 4 since because of the giant head, it just kept looking at me, freaky ass thing.

 

[kasperbbs]

Not sure if that counts as scared, but dead space made me jump a couple of times, its just that you constalnty hear noises all around you but usually nothing happens, but when it does you dont expect it. I had to take turns with my friend to finish aliens vs predator 2 campaign because he was too scared to do it alone..

 

[the.gill123]

When I first played Resident Evil 2 I was terrified of Birkin, I was 10 at the time, but other than that, no games has actually scared me. Playing RE4 unnerved me a bit, and when I played Condemned, well, I hated playing that game, but in a good way. Hitting guys with a pipe felt real, and the atmosphere was great, I was on edge most of the time I played that game and I felt sick with the tension, but I wasn't exactly scared, just really wound up.

Actually playing through Lost in Nightmares for the first time, I was scared of that. I had no idea what was waiting for me in the mansion, or the courtyard, when I finally met an enemy, I screamed and paused the game to calm down, I ran off and hid, then the fucker hit me with an anchor, and I died. After completing it, all the tension was gone during my second playthrough. I really hope that RE6 is going to be more like Lost in Nightmares, but since it's going to be completely different to the other installments, then I suppose it is just a dream.

 

[RyoScar]

Amnesia the dark descent scares the hell out of me! I can't play it for more than about 30 mins at a time

 

[Vhite]

Minecraft. No, not the zombies, creepers or endermen though they can startle me. But the whole game seems just eerie to me and creepy music is also not helping. Also I have unresonable fear of endless empty places, thats why I spend most of my time there underground or between hills. (AAAA! Its space! No, I mean land.)

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Demon's Souls. Finally a game that remembers that the best way to convey horror in a video game is to make the player feel vulnerable. I don't care if it's supposed to be an action-RPG, Demon's Souls is HORROR.

 

[Jonluw]

The demo for Condemned.
I don't really play horror games. Never saw the appeal.

 

[Jnat]

Amnesia is probably the scariest game I've ever played. FEAR Files (some expansion to FEAR 1) was pretty scary at times, but most of the time the "scare" scenes only felt annoying. Stalker SoC was pretty scary at some times.
Can't think of anything else...

 

[Manji187]

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games (Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat; f*ck Clear Sky)....a thousand times.

There's just something creepy about having to clear out bloodsucker infested villages in the middle of the night while a thunderstorm (+ downpour) is raging.

Night in Stalker games is not your average videogame night atmosphere (The p*ssy kind: perfect visibility, just a different use of the color palette). It is pitch-black. You won't see shit without your flashlight (which helps just barely) or night-vision equipment.

 

[Randomperson9999999]

amnesia just scares the shit outta me