What does it take to scare you?

[ZeroMachine]

Slenderman and roller coasters.

One I enjoy, as it is not real, and fear isn't something I experience often.

For instance:

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.

I both love and hate that game, as it's awesome on an Amnesia level while also giving me my first night terror since I was about 11 (I'm 23).

The other one I'll have to learn to enjoy, as a girl I'm kinda dating loves them and is intent on making me go on one >.<


EDIT: Fuck, video game mechanics?

Damn.

I'll leave my original post up, but as for what scares me, it's pretty much what Amnesia and Slender do.

Though for some reason, the end of Earthbound freaks me the fuck out, too.

Fuckin' love that game.

Need to play it again soon.

 

[Auninteligentname]

What scares me?

Well, jump scares will give me an immidiate, but short lived, effect. Horrors of the inevitable jump scare that never comes, will give a stronger effect (I think of Amnesia, even though I haven't played it).

From experience from The Legend of Zelda games, I can say, I hate water levels. So to scare me out of a game to never play it anymore, grant me a game where I will wait for that inevitable jump scare that never comes, while putting me in a water level.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

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.

Another person who's irrationally afraid of fish? I thought I was alone!

Very little scares me in terms of movies, but certain games can do it for me. Amnesia being one great example for that.

 

[Hoki]

Clock Tower, for the SNES. Seriously. Go play that game. It's a work of art in how it can set a mood.

Don't get me wrong; I jump as much as the next person when I get to a "jump scare". However, I hate them. They aren't inherently fear-inspiring. They just shock the system, and that feels cheap. To truly scare, I need a good mood for it.

Clock Tower has this great ability to make even the smallest sounds tingle the hairs at the back of your neck. There really isn't any soundtrack for the game, so you soon get used to the simple sound of your own feet padding against the floor - until the shutters down the hall smack open from the wind outside, or you hear the soft dripping of water (blood?) in the bathroom or kitchen, or (God forbid) some form of music begins to play.

I never would have thought that I'd be afraid of the sound of a .midi.

 

[Terminate421]

Poison,

in real life, any sort of poisons scare me. (Venom especially)

 

[him over there]

Heights in real life but in games anything that tracks you. Nemesis in resident Evil 3, the SA-X in Metroid Fusion. Things like that that follow you relentlessly that you can't fight back against.

 

[Icehearted]

Nothing really scares me, and that's a real shame because I feel I'm missing out on some pretty entertaining scares.

 

[Luca72]

This topic doesn't necessarily HAVE to be about game mechanics that scare you, it can be anything that can be put into a game. But after Amnesia I've been on this brainstorm trying to distill the elements of horror that specifically work for a game.

The reason is that I thought I knew what a scary movie or scary game was. But I was damn wrong. No piece of art or media has ever given me the pure terror that game gave me, so it's making me think about some things. I've had a few experiences in real life that were terrifying enough to provoke a strong adrenal response. No movie or game has given me the exact same feeling - I get exhilarated when I'm about to pull off something cool in a multiplayer game, but it isn't the same feeling.

Amnesia managed to hit me with that feeling again and again. It's making me think of interactive media in general and how it can be utilized for horror. I mean, the feeling you get when playing Amnesia certainly isn't pleasant, and it'll be awhile before I touch that game again. But I'm very impressed that it could play with my emotions like that.

 

[Euphbug]

It is really simple to scare me in a game. The first step is to simple add a large amount of water you must swim into. Then add something big down there. even if all I can see of it is its eyes, I will never step into that water. Worse when it only appears once I am in it cause then I flail about trying to get to any dry land in hopes that it will not eat me.

 

[Jorec]

What would probably scare me is seeing something that should just not be. Something that is beyond our understanding and just fills you with dread with its mere presence. Eldritch horrors and the Silent Hill monsters are probably good examples.

Also ghosts, I've seen some fatal frame videos. That is some scary stuff.

 

[loc978]

Imminent physical danger combined with no ability to mitigate said danger. The most any form of media has done to me since I was about... 5? ...is startle [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGmadE4WeWM] me. That's not fear.

 

[rekabdarb]

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.

Bob Johnson?

if not then hmm.. Knew someone who while playing DA2 he closed his eyes and smashed x while spiders were on screen. He honestly just smashed away.

And in games, what scares me is "oh fuck this place is bout to blow, lets getfo."

IE: RE4 ending. (or if you're old school, and since this was my first game i played Shining force 2. Fucking scared the shit outta me, i could never do it. had to pass the controller to my brother.)

But it's so rare when this is put in games that I don't care. Cause timed sequences are apparently not liked by the community in general so whatev. I'm happy.

 

[TyrunnAlberyn]

Amnesia does it right.

Also doing it right is the Ocean House Hotel in VtM: Bloodlines. The first time you get there, you don't know what is going on, the atmosphere is creepy already and things slowly escalate. There is also, despite you being a vampire and having weapons, no way to fight back, but to continue on and leg it.

So basically, I'm saying I agree with the list Zhukov posted, and just adding another example of it.

 

[Offworlder_v1legacy]

Not much, I'm a very easily scared person, I was scared during Resident Evil 4, which in reflection wasn't that scary at all, just tense. This is why I steer clear of Amnesia and the like, because I would probably die of fright if I did happen to play.

 

[Ix Rebound]

Fucking sharks and snakes, in real life and in games.
the scare the absolute bejesus out of me.
just swimming in the ocean in Skyrim had me in a panic mode as to not get ravaged by those damn slaughter fish. Even in kill-fest games like Serious Sam i always hated the underwater sections.

And now that I've seen the latest trailer for Far Cry 3 has me questioning if ill finish it now that I know there are sharks in it.

 

[orangeban]

I'm scared of just about everything, from heights to the sky to my friends to doctors. But for what specifically scares me in a game, it's any time when I'm not being attacked by an enemy.

When I know that I could be attacked, but I'm not currently being attacked. Because I can handle it when I'm under attack, I know what to do, whether that be to fight or run or whatever. However, when I don't know where the enemy is, where they'll attack me next, etc. etc. I'm absolutely terrified. I will camp out in a brightly lit corner and refuse to move.

However, that's only one kind of scare. That just leaves me shaky for the next 5 minutes, if you want to disturb me and give me nightmares, torture and suicide will do that. Those things I just cannot handle, but, if games were suddenly being made for my tastes precisely, I wouldn't recommend adding them into games, since I find them so disturbing and upsetting that I'll avoid them.

 

[Sacman]

Penis... penis everywhere and anywhere...<.<

Don't know if that says something about me or not...

 

[Bealzibob]

Reality. Put me in the middle of some drama and watch my eyes glaze into panic and my mind shut-down as I begin to distance myself from the situation.

This depends though, needs to be stupid drama and not the kind that is centered around me. I can take control and deal with shit when I understand it but things like some douchebag has a problem with me or a friend for something I didn't do. I avoid having power so when I'm backed into a corner and need it I panic essentially.

PS: Otherwise nothing. I can deal with just about everything and anything.

 

[neversleep]

I think the resident evil Remake has to be the most scary game ever made. I don't know why it was so much scarier than amnesia to me. But REmake has so many great and insanely scary moments it would take to long to sum them all up.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Heaven Smiles in Killer7 (they are invisible at first untill you scan the area) and a Half Life mod called Cry Of Fear.