Scariest Game You've Played. (Caution: SPOILERS!)

[Nifty]

It's a toss up between Project Zero, Silent Hill 3, Stalker and Bioshock had it's scary bits.

Project Zero was just constantly horrific. SH3 was one big mindf***k. Stalker was so unpredictable, you were just never safe. And Bioshock which owes much of it to it's atmosphere and the crazy people plus when I first came across a Big Daddy - I thought I'd be fine keeping my distance and plugging away with my machine gun, I'd not expected him to be THAT fast, before I knew it he was up in my business with his gigantic drill. It also had a few other set pieces which were pretty good.

 

[FLSH_BNG]

Truth be told... it was the original DOOM game. Yeah I was only about 7 at the time, but that stuff got to me! Never kept me from playing it though.

 

[wgreer25]

Agree with the thrawls, and Condemned was creepy. And of coarse Silent Hill 2.

But a game that has not been mentioned yet (I think), is Alien vs Predator 2. I can remember playing as the humans and hearing my motion tracker go off and I ended up almost empting a clip into a bucket on the floor. And the first time you hear that little predator crackel sound... pants wetting.

I am a big horror fan and my most anticipated game of this year is Dead Space. The fraking trailer scared me.

 

[PureChaos]

Shadow Man or Eternal Darkness

 

[kelnadine]

Bioshock. I can't play scary games...they're just too much for me. I knew Bioshock would be creepy, but I thought I could handle it. I was wrong. I'm disappointed, because I never did get to finish the game and check out the rest of the story.

 

[Souplex]

Luigi's mansion, it appealed to a kiddy market that was not prepared for the hordes of ghosts coming out of nowhere and snatching bodies.

While not scary compared to your standard horror game, it was scary for an audience that did not play those games.

Also, an interesting bit of trivia: Horror games with scary dialouge become half as scary when subtitles are on.

 

[The_Deleted]

There was the Alien Trilogy game (If, indeed, that was it;s title) on the PS1 which was pretty freaky and then you got into the room just filled with eggs...MonuMENTAL!

 

[Blazing Angel]

Resistance: Fall of man. scared the shit out of me so bad i nearly threw the game out of the window and crucified it

 

[Jamanticus]

Silent Hill 1 for me. The whining radio was a brilliant concept.

Doom 3 was scary, too, on account of how cruelly designed it was. Special mention should go to Doom 1, too - at the time the lighting and sound design was like nothing we'd ever seen.

Bioshock, meanwhile, had bags of atmosphere, and the Big Daddy battles were intense the first time through - but it was perhaps a tad too easy overall.

Yeah- the only survival horror games I've played are the ones you mentioned above... BioShock was good, but Doom 3 (at least, for the first hour of playing or so) really had me at the edge of my seat. After that, I realized that there was a 95% chance that an imp or something would be hiding behind every cabinet and bulkhead and I sort of became desensitized to the whole thing.

At least, until I saw my first Hell Knight... Wow.... And then seeing all the writing on the walls later on in the game.

The bit that really clinched Doom 3 as a scary game was when I looked at a computer screen and it was a message to all the demons about sacrificial altars or something.

Too bad that Resurrection of Evil was not the least bit scary....

 

[Galletea]

Project zero
and Bioshock, but that was more because I was so immersed in that story.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

This may have something to do with my complete and utter desensitization from growing up in a modern society, but I've never gotten scared at any horror whatsoever.

Am I the only one who always ends up rooting for the villain?

 

[TheGhostOfSin]

Half-Life 2, Fast Zombies, 'nuff said.

 

[carlosvader77]

Silent Hill 2 really traps you and doesn't let go, it's probably the game that sucked me more into the story. Personally, I think it's a masterpiece in interactive storytelling. Forget about the combat system, the pure wandering and the story unfolding giving away scary realizations about the characters. Pretty unsettling.

System Shock 2 was a gem also, and I have to say I played it about 2 years ago for the first time, it really does stand the test of time. At least on the horror front.

Resident Evil 4 the first half of the game, then it just goes a little sci-fi for my taste. But entering the town for the first time, damn scary: "Detrás de ti, imbécil"

 

[carlosvader77]

Ravenholm from Half Life 2 got my heart racing also.

Playing Marine in Alien vs. Predator 2, heart racing also. You feel that your going to get killed any minute.

If I want to go old school, how about Friday the 13th for the NES? Just seeing the children icons dissapering one by one, while you try to reach the house where Jason is.

 

[Humanfishboy]

This may have something to do with my complete and utter desensitization from growing up in a modern society, but I've never gotten scared at any horror whatsoever.

Am I the only one who always ends up rooting for the villain?

Because the olden days were so happy and cheerful and idyllic and carefree. (Everything I just said was in massive sarcasm quotes.)

Anyways, at this point the scariest game would have to be Alien Trilogy. I was about 7 years old, the music was creepy, and the facehuggers were awful, awful creatures!

 

[retro himself]

Condemned: Criminal Origins. Even before the department store level, on the second level, I had a sledgehammer in my hand and went to look over what appeared to be a ledge overlooking a staircase. Next thing I know, a head's popping up, screaming in my face. My mom was sitting in a chair, down a 15 foot hallway and another 10 feet across the room (that's 25 feet away total), and I had my door closed, and my shout still caused her to ask if I was all right.

I know exactly what part you are referring to. Around the same place there's this part where you have to get the sledgehammer you're talking about. You saw it lying in a bathroom through a small hole, and the only way to get it (even though it was just a couple of feet away, the guy obviously can't extend his arms) was to go all the way around the toilet to its entrance, and it seemed obvious something will jump at you, but nothing did. That was actually scary, the anticipation of something jumping in your face, but nothing actually happens. And the interesting part is that the background music even stops when you enter the bathroom. And you see the glorious sledgehammer in full glory, just lying there on the ground and you expect some shit to jump as soon as you pick it up, but still, nothing happens. And then that scene with the head popping up comes up. I literally screamed like a little girl (my sister even came up to check what's wrong). First time I screamed because of a game in a loong time.

And a bit later is a part where some fucked up stuff happens (like some pictures appearing on a wall all of a sudden. And you come in a small room with some newspaper articles hanged on the wall. And I saw a door that had no handle, but I still went to check it and there suddenly came a flash, some figure appeared from the floor like it's gonna stand up, and then it disappeared in the very same second with a flash. I screamed again.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

Condemned nostalgia.

Nothing compares to the department store though. Nothing.
After playing through it for a while I was so into it that anytime I saw a corridor intercepting I checked it quickly so as to minimize pants wetting. So I look to my left and see this hole and 5 figures gathered around it. After a sigh of relief, I notice that these are just mannequins. And not the ones with crazies trapped inside them. But still, this is weird I think to myself. After a short moment I decide to press on and turn back to face my original direction. Then the screen goes strange and I think to myself that there must be some sort of forensics stuff coming up, as this is usually the cause of odd screen-age. I pivot to make sure and SHIT. Mannequins. I calm myself and turn back to walk forwards. I take another two steps and FUCK. More mannequins blocking my path. Each step I take, more appear until I have nowhere to go but down this hole with some vomit worthy remains in it. But the mannequins have gone and I can take a deep breath.

Never before or since have I had such a reaction to a game or movie, probably not to anything else in real life either. I was geniunely petrified. My eyes got wide, my breathing got heavy and my heart was beating like I don't know what.

At the end of the department store level, I felt so relieved. But then, the libary level wasn't much better. With all that business with the woman and the guy you can't kill until when forensics lady comes back and he suddenly disappears. God, that bit scared me too. I was there like "WHY WON'T YOU DIE".

If you plan on having a Condemned marathon, make sure you're not wearing your best underwear.

 

[retro himself]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6kuflcKKY
Some Condemned reminders.
The part where I literally threw the mouse out of my hand and into the wall follows 1:30.
The part with the mannequins is at 2:30

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

To be honest, out of context, those Condemned moments look a bit tame. I can't see what all the big fuss is about, but that, I suppose, is because I see an intro which clearly sets up a game which is designed that way.

It's the atmosphere, you can't comprehend how well it draws you in. Also, take into account I had just come back from a friends house where we had a few drinks and it was about 1am when I played that chapter. But this is the best way to play a horror game is it not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6kuflcKKY
Some Condemned reminders.
The part with the mannequins is at 2:30

See, when you watch that section on it's own, it's like what's the big deal? But when you're playing through it, you get so drawn in. It's seriously unlike any game I've played and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
This is why I think a good horror game > a good horror film.