What does it take to scare you?

[Luca72]

I just finished playing through Amnesia and it got me thinking about how to scare players most effectively in a game. A lot of games, like Resident Evil and the newer Silent Hills, try to use cinematic methods - scary music, eerie backdrops, scripted jump scares. Or there's the psychological horror and moral ambiguity of a great story, like Silent Hill 2.

What Amnesia made me realize is that these methods all work, but they aren't fully utilizing the tools a video game has. A video game is an interactive canvas and has its own unique ways of playing with your mind.

For instance, by the time Amnesia is done teasing you with "safe scares" and starts presenting you with real threats, every sound suddenly becomes creepier. I found myself hesitating at the edge of a dark hallway, not wanting to go any further, even though that was the only way to progress. I'd hide in shadows even when I wasn't sure there was a monster nearby, and I had like 30 tinderboxes at the end because I was so afraid of exposure by being in the light.

The method for enemy encounters in Amnesia seems to be locations in the game have a chance of spawning or not spawning a monster, so even events that are "scripted", like a monster appearing after you've picked up a key item, still have an element of randomness. I think that randomness to encounters makes the experience feel more organic and much scarier. The possibility of an attack is a legitimate threat the entire game, so even the absence of a monster can be as scary as the presence of one. This felt much more effective to me than scripted events. I feel like if I played through Amnesia again, it would still be surprising and scary.

Another example of fear of the unknown is X-com. I tried the game for the first time earlier this year, so I wasn't exactly blown away by the graphics or presentation. But I still felt a genuine fear when I sent my troops out to hunt down aliens, because even though I knew they were out there, I couldn't see them. And when they did show up, it quite often meant a dead soldier. That game made me more afraid than any modern horror title I can think of (made by anyone other than Frictional, obviously)

But we all find different things to be scary. What about you? What video game mechanics are the best at scaring you?

 

[Huulluu]

Obviously jump scares, but Amnesia and similar games (sorry, no Silent Hill for me guys) causes psychological horror to it, or so I'm told that can produce greater scares to the audience, but hey, I'm no psychologist (far from it).

 

[AwesomeExpress]

I remember that when the first Resident Evil game came out, I was in grade 6, and my friend's brother was playing through it. He would let us watch, and this was my first exposure to a horror game, and I remember having trouble sleeping for a bit afterwords. The cutscenes were so real and it was an intense game because you never knew what to expect, especially since it was the first in the series.. also, he would let us give the puzzles a try if he couldn't solve it right away, or just to give us a turn playing, so I felt quite immersed into the game.

 

[Cheesepower5]

Eight legs, eight eyes and a web-sac.

Not so often in games, where I tend to be able to look past it, but the ones in Dragon Age Origins were just horrible.

 

[OctalLord]

I have a habit of scaring myself in some games. Often because some strong or impossible to kill enemy exists in the game and I'll scare myself into thinking it's around the next corner. It never does stop me but it will slow down my progress alot.

 

[Luca72]

I have a habit of scaring myself in some games. Often because some strong or impossible to kill enemy exists in the game and I'll scare myself into thinking it's around the next corner. It never does stop me but it will slow down my progress alot.

Same here. Things that normally scare me in real life (sharks, insects) don't scare me automatically in a video game. But if you throw me into a room and make me THINK there's a monster in there, I'll dutifully freak myself out. My brain is too quick to jump to a tactical approach in a video game - if I see a scary enemy that I know I can dodge a certain way, that's all I'll think about. But if it's simple, like Amnesia, where I literally have to just run and hide, my thought pattern is a pretty solid "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT" whether I'm running or hiding.

 

[OctalLord]

I have a habit of scaring myself in some games. Often because some strong or impossible to kill enemy exists in the game and I'll scare myself into thinking it's around the next corner. It never does stop me but it will slow down my progress alot.

Same here. Things that normally scare me in real life (sharks, insects) don't scare me automatically in a video game. But if you throw me into a room and make me THINK there's a monster in there, I'll dutifully freak myself out. My brain is too quick to jump to a tactical approach in a video game - if I see a scary enemy that I know I can dodge a certain way, that's all I'll think about. But if it's simple, like Amnesia, where I literally have to just run and hide, my thought pattern is a pretty solid "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT" whether I'm running or hiding.

I hated the invisable water monsters in that game. The fact that the monster could be there and you can't even begin to know made those parts terrible for me. The fact that one mistake means you're going to find out the hard way was just awful. That and hiding is another thing in your run and hide scenario if you open that door to the cupboard to find out if the monster that chased you in there could still be out there was just as hard for me.


I think if I were really in one of these situations I'd likely find a good cupboard like that and just live(read: Cower) in there for a long time.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

It's many things for me. Usually jump scares get me, but I am truly terrified of the feeling of being truly alone. Games like Silent Hill, some of the Resident Evil entries, Amnesia/Penumbra, Slender & so on. Hell, even the first Dead Space. With the feeling of being alone, I don't feel as powerful and I truly feel scared that I cannot take on whatever comes after me.

Also games that make me feel helpless. Fatal Frame is a great example of this, and also System Shock 2 at some points.

 

[Luca72]

I have a habit of scaring myself in some games. Often because some strong or impossible to kill enemy exists in the game and I'll scare myself into thinking it's around the next corner. It never does stop me but it will slow down my progress alot.

Same here. Things that normally scare me in real life (sharks, insects) don't scare me automatically in a video game. But if you throw me into a room and make me THINK there's a monster in there, I'll dutifully freak myself out. My brain is too quick to jump to a tactical approach in a video game - if I see a scary enemy that I know I can dodge a certain way, that's all I'll think about. But if it's simple, like Amnesia, where I literally have to just run and hide, my thought pattern is a pretty solid "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT" whether I'm running or hiding.

I hated the invisable water monsters in that game. The fact that the monster could be there and you can't even begin to know made those parts terrible for me. The fact that one mistake means you're going to find out the hard way was just awful. That and hiding is another thing in your run and hide scenario if you open that door to the cupboard to find out if the monster that chased you in there could still be out there was just as hard for me.


I think if I were really in one of these situations I'd likely find a good cupboard like that and just live(read: Cower) in there for a long time.

I'm sure understanding the underlying mechanics of that game would make it less scary. As it stands though, I'd probably hide for a straight minute even after I couldn't hear the monster anymore just because I was scared I was going to give myself away and be cornered this time. Some of my encounters were particularly bad - the first major one (in storage, I think) involved the monster finding my hiding room and tearing down the door, beating me up while I tried to get away in the darkness, and finally losing track of me after I put two closed doors between us. Daniels' mind was gone by that point, so I just kind of sat in the shadows trying to will myself into playing some more.

That moment when nothing is happening but you have to psyche yourself up to progress any further is a more powerful moment of fear than anything I think I've ever seen in a film.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I guess the music/sounds have the biggest effect on me. What I can't see often won't hurt me, but if something is close enough to be heard, I get a little panicky. And the background music puts me on edge when it gets louder and faster.

I guess visual horror doesn't get to me any more because I've become desensitised to most of it. Although I will say that when I saw the cut trailer for The Human Centipede, I still got very grossed out by it.

 

[Piorn]

The instances where you have to run away from something. It's this panic curcuit that gets fired up, just like when I'm walking a bit too fast through the house at night in the dark, and suddenly I'm running.

 

[thirion1850]

Paranoia. You'd be surprised just how badly creepypastas get to me.

 

[irmasterlol]

Make me think something is watching me. Just out of sight in the trees. Make me absolutely sure it's there, but don't let me see exactly where it is, so I'm afraid to go around every corner. That new game, Slender does this ok. At least it does when I don't get distracted my how ugly the Slenderman model is.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I hope no one has said this yet but lakes. Deep bodies of water, Banjo Kazooie (if you played it you know what I mean and on this website I shouldn't have to explain it) and Majora's Mask. Also Shadow of The Colossus, all have bodies of water that you don't know what's at the bottom, deep pitch black bottom.


EDIT: this isn't a video game mechanic but real life, people yelling at me. I should be able to take it well enough but ever since I was a kid if people yell at me enough I'll start to cry and blubber, I don't know what it is but I can only put it down to a terrible traumatic child hood experience.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Being alone, or anything creepy.

Alternatively, put me in the room with one of the fuckers and watch me run at warpspeed out of therse.

 

[the doom cannon]

Even though I know exactly when the jump scares are coming, I still get scared while playing deadspace and deadspace 2. That and amnesia

 

[KINGBeerZ]

i think what makes a game scary, isn't the enemy just coming up and attacking you, it's the knowledge that they are somewhere nearby and you keep dreading that moment when they will appear. That's what Amnesia did well, it wasn't just the scary monsters that gave jump scares, it was the idea that those monsters were there, so it was almost scarier when they weren't anywhere to be seen.

Also if you want a game to be scary, don't give the player a gun, being able to blow a monster's head off makes them significantly less scary.

 

[Zhukov]

- Don't give me a damn weapon. Any "horror" game that gives me a means to fight back has already hopelessly failed to scare me. Yes, even the Silent Hill games.

- Isolation. Pretty basic. We're pack animals at heart. We find company to be comforting. If you're trying to scare someone, it's more effective if they're alone. Therefore, no buddy NPCs, no multiplayer and no instructor in your ear.

- Don't let me get a good look at the nasties. Catching a glimpse and leaving the rest to the imagination is always more scary than seeing everything. That which can be seen can be quantified and that which can be quantified is known and that which is known is no longer frightening.

- Effective use of sound. Humans primarily rely on vision. When we hear something, we then look at it to confirm it with out eyes. When we hear something, but are unable to see it, we become uneasy.

So basically what I'm saying is, Amnesia is indeed awesome.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

That no Slender game got a rise out of me I've never before experienced. The fact that he can be around any corner you turn at anytime freaks me the fuck out.