Scariest sounds in games

[Sectan]

I have no idea what it is. I can play through Left 4 Dead and have a good time. I don't get scared, but I do get excited when you're actually in danger. Then I hop on Minecraft. Wooooo when you are near a cave, the sounds of the mobs and just the eerie feeling I get playing it. Minecraft scares me sometimes!

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Remember when the nether first came out in minecraft, and you would hear all the ghasts making their mewling noise....AND THEN THEY STARTED SCREAMING! Turns out it was because they flew into the lava and they hadnt been given immunity to it yet, but when you couldnt see that and didnt know why it was happening, that sudden screaming freaked me the fuck out. I thought they were gonna to start breaking through my tunnel walls or something!

 

[lionsprey]

When you enter a area with water in amnesia and you hear something go "Splash"

 

[Tompalompa]

Half life 2 fast zombie sound D:

 

[Hiname]

I can't believe this wassn't mentioned before...

Fatal Frame / Project zero 1. The blind woman.

Imagine a woman with a blood-soaked blindfold stumbling through the room, moaning and whimpering, aimlessly stumbling past you. until you take a single, audible step, causing her to turn around and charge at you with full speed screaming "MY EEEYES!!" ... Yeah, that ***** made me freeze every time.

 

[Pinkamena]

Scrathcing noises that aren't just background noise.

 

[gruggins]

"VENGEANCE!"

Cookie for the reference.

Spoiler: For those that do not want a cookie

The call of dead king Lysandus in TES II: Daggerfall.

Damn, I remember that. I shat myself the first time I spent the night in daggerfall city
it still gives me the creeps

oh and the music from the kennels in penumbra: black plauge (scariest area in the game) is also worth a mention

 

[Sargonza]

I was quite young when I played them, but I remember bricking it when hearing:
- The mummy sounds from the Egypt levels of the original Tomb Raider
- The sounds the shadows make in Heart of Darkness. Also the noises of the death animations *shudder*

 

[Dawning Age]

The portal radio station got to me a bit. Mainly because of the completely empty facility that should be full of scientists and test subjects listening to such a happy tune.

 

[Vidi Kitty]

I don't really know any, actually. I find that in games where you have a weapon at your side, there is no need to be afraid because whatever might come at you, you can probably just kill. If you can't kill it, then perhaps, but usually the "shoot it a few times and then walk away" tactic works pretty well too.

Now, I can already hear you say "What about Amnesia then, hmmmmmm?" but that's the thing. I find Amnesia incredibly silly, because the main character is such a dumbass. Just pick up, like, a metal pipe, crowbar, or whatever you happen to have near and bludgeon the damn monsters to death, you idiot!

Lemme write this out for you.

You pick up a stone/plank/time-frame misplaced crowbar from the floor as the creature shambles past. You creep up on it slowly, making sure to make no noise. As you get to it, you stand upright, draw back your arm, and crack it in the skull as hard as you can. Being mildly pissed off on top of the normal murderous, the creature turns to you, utters a chilling shriek, and proceeds to tear your arm off.

Its not about the intelligence of the character... well it is. If the character wouldn't feel that he would be able to take down the enemy, he might not even try and would choose the second part of the fight or flight response. Especially if they enemy is some horrid abomination that is just looking for its next victim to murder-death-kill and you are not even sure they can be killed in the first place.

As for games that you are armed in, with a magic or otherwise fantasy setting, not everything is going to be dispatchable with a good old hammer/bullet to the face. If its incorporeal, regenerates alarmingly, or is just really thick skinned, it presents much more of a threat. And if you aren't equipped to deal with that threat yet, your options just got very limited.

Think fallout 3 or new vegas. You just got your shiny new pistol, stole a handy but low condition shotgun from some poor bandits, and are off to conquer the wasteland! So you round the next building, looking for the entrance, and are now face to face with a deathclaw. If you are incredibly lucky enough to dodge all its blows and have enough ammo to take it down, the initial BWUH?!? and following fight is going to cause a fear reaction and an adrenaline rush in your average person. Even if you are capable of handling a deathclaw in a couple shots, suddenly being face to face with something nasty and unexpected will make someone jump.

 

[SSoSFAGTiaCaGwaP]

In Amnesia, I find that screeching sound that plays when a monster has actually spotted you to be the most jarring of all.

Spoiler

Note that the video isnt representative of actual gameplay there- the player character should be going insane the more he sees the monster. Just play it for the sound then don't bother trying to sleep for a week.

I watched the let's play by Tobuscus, so I am now immune to Amnesia's scariness.

 

[Randomologist]

Did no-one else find the clicking noise of the RA2 terror drone ominous?

Also agreed with everyone who said the fast zombies in HL2, and this guy:

The mummy sounds from the Egypt levels of the original Tomb Raider

Although I was equally jumpy when I heard the red dinosaurs nearby.

 

[Toby Stewart]

The priming sound of an enemy sentry in TF2 right before it starts firing always makes my heart skip a beat.

 

[Draksila]

That sound in the school building in Silent Hill. I didn't mind the radio static. I even managed to look past those creepy demon baby things. But that noise...

Yeah, the school in the original Silent Hill was always a winner. That... frickin' creepy distant echoing sniffle that makes you feel like you're surrounded by the ghosts of dead grade schoolers. Honestly, the shadowy dead kids themselves weren't quite as scary as the constant crying. You never could tell when it was an echo of the dead or when it was an actual creature nearby.

The whispering of sibilant, mad souls in Dead Space and Doom 3 both always put me on edge. This is in large part due to the fact that I get fully immersed in FPS or horror games, so once I'm into the game I tend to react like whatever's going on onscreen is happening to me personally.

Honorable mention does go to the regenerators of Resident Evil fame. While I love the RE franchise, I always found it more shock scare horror than psychological horror (which is why I like Silent Hill and Dead Space more). Still, it has its moments of pure adrenaline, and the regenerators are one of them. Additionally, though, I have to say that back in the day of the original Resident Evil, the cry of a hunter offscreen always sent me into panic mode. One-shot decapitations are not fun.

 

[PhoenixKing]

Personally, I've always been creeped out by the sound the Regenerators make in RE4. Other than that, I've got nothing.

 

[DSK-]

Sound of a Fleshpound in Killing Floor. It's even worse then they are after YOU.

The sound of an enemy team member charging a shield gun close to you in UT2004 and finally, the sound of a ridiculously good player taking the double damage, seeing a 'Killing Spree' message on screen and finally having a sigh or relief after you hear the double damage wear off.

 

[altobizzaro]

The laughing children in conkers bad fur day during the castle level, theres something very creepy about hearing the disembodied laughter of children while walking down dark empty corridors

 

[NoOne852]

hearing things that are out of place get me
like hearing a childs laughter in a game where there are no children

but its when the sounds arent there, thats when it gets creepy

I fully agree.

The one that does get my heart pumping though is the AVP motion tracker. Reguardless of how easily a few shots can kill an alien, it still puts that sense of fear in me.

 

[MrRetroSpectacles]

The sound of an AVP facehugger, that gurgling noise combined with pitter pattering legs and knocking things over. Unless your a pred, in which case everything is dandy, plasma casters fix that little problem.

The moving mannequins in The Condemned as well, it's kind of like the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who, only much closer to home.

 

[Vidi Kitty]

-snip-

That might be true, but I still think the monster from Amnesia are probably killable if the character had some sense and tried a tactic other than running, hiding, and wetting himself. Perhaps a close-up approach isn't the best idea, but how about tossing semi-heavy or sharp objects at its face until it stops moving? As far as I'm aware, the majority of the monsters aren't particularly smart or fast. I could be mistaken of course, as I have personally not played Amnesia.

As for the rest, you are right in a way, but it doesn't exactly scare me then. I ran into a deathclaw when I was pretty weak still at some point. It didn't really scare me, but rather it annoyed me a bit. In most cases, my intial thought is "What is this, and how do I kill it?" As soon as I figure out I can't yet, I figure it's best left alone for now, and try to come back another time, when I'm a bit stronger.

Like I said, I can't think of anything that actually scares me in a game. Simply because, there isn't anything that really scares me, sound or otherwise.

You probably stay disconnected from the game enough to not be bothered by something not posing a real-life threat to you.

I tend to get to immersed in some games, so non scary portions freak me out. Such as a league of legends scenario, barely escaping an ambush with a sliver of health and seeing someone's skillshot go sailing past your ear always makes my heart skip a beat even though its not scary in the normal sense.

Another to add to the list, DEMACIA!!