What really scares you? (A Survival Horror Genre discussion)

[Michael Dagastino]

for me it is the sense of being alone. the scenery. same in real life too, plus the dark XP

 

[Apocalypse Tank]

Sense of impending doom
Difficult, irrational enemy about to pop up
scary ambiance, partially obscured vision (like darkness)

Preferably all three at the same time.

 

[arsenicCatnip]

I'll be honest, Resident Evil 4 didn't scare me that much til very close to the end. The only thing that semi-frightened me in the early stages (and by that I mean sent me into a spasm of adrenaline-fueled giggles) was fighting the chainsaw dude in the village, and the chainsaw hags in the pit. And admittedly, what frightened me near the end was the bag-thing in the jail cell. Poke it, I dare you.

Now Fatal Frame 2? Scared the living piss out of me. Everything about the atmosphere of the game really just made me feel alone and frightened. Even having Mayu with me wasn't enough to dispel the fear and aloneness, because she vanished for such long periods. And even when I had her there, the ghosts still came after me.

Hell, I'm already wary of ghosts and stuff. The first time I got grabbed by Broken-Neck Woman, I almost cried. Her face was realistic, her eyes were so vacant... agh.

Sae also frightened me pretty badly the first time I saw her in the Massacre. The bright red of her sash and the blood on her kimono was so startling against the stark black-and-white of everything else around her. And then the Kusabi... I died at least twice because I was so lost in the cutscene.

Spoiler: The cutscene

Fatal Frame 1 also had some incredibly awesome fights. The Blinded fight was terrifying in the small space, more so because she kept moaning "It hurtssss... it hurtsssss..."

 

[Kyrian007]

The scariest thing for me is when the game is set up in such a way that you see an area and immediately think "There's gonna be a monster there". So you end up creeping slowly forward, ready to run or fight at a moment's notice...only to take ten minutes to get out of the area and realize there was never any monster there at all. That anticipation...god, that kills me. Kinda like a twist on Hitchcock's bomb theory, I guess.

Yeah, RE4 had a bit like that. Long hall and cave at the bottom of a staircase... and no enemies. Freakin brilliant. At the end of the cave is one of those "good things on sale stranger" dudes. It's a testament to how freaky that part is that not only did I reflex headshot that guy the first time I played through, on the second playthrough... I did it again.

 

[Zing]

Earie music that doesn't change regardless of your situation.

The dark, unseen enemies etc.

 

[Jfswift]

Of those, I only have Resident Evil 2. I honestly forget when Nemesis makes his appearance but I found him scary because he could chase you across rooms and didn't die. Monsters that are powerful and can open doors are spooky to me. Like in Dino Crisis I always felt nervous, knowing instant death was just around the corner and I had limited ammo. I think that's the most frightening thing for me in games. Like in Galerians too, you had very limited power and were always dodging very strong monsters. It was spooky.

 

[Sargey]

Radio static in silent hill. It means your about be in deep shit.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Aphex Demon]

Cant belive noone has mentioned this..

DOOM 3.. *Shudder*. That game was horrifying. Walkin through some dark murky spaceship-like room, all quiet and you hear a "muraghlagahsghaghag" (Wierd noise of an enemy?).. that game made me sh*t my pants!!

But yeah silent hill, now thats a damn scary game.. Even Bioshock scares me. I cant stand jumpy games, so as you can expect I sh*t myself a few times in DOOM 3. Lol.

 

[katsabas]

Them freaking Regenerators creeped me out. I took out one's leg and the sucker jumped and bit my neck right off!

 

[Azure Sky]

While I never got into the whole Silent Hill thing, I loved RE2 to bits.
I never had the chance to play Fatal Frame either. =(

While I don't know if it is technically Horror, or if it has been mentioned yet (I'm lazy and didn't look) I am still annoyed I never had a chance to play Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem on the gamecube. =(

 

[suhlEap]

What scares me most is that people still use the term "Survival Horror." It's redundant. Like, aggressively redundant.

Also, I love it, but can we maybe stop talking about Silent Hill 2? Or think of another scary game for us all to fellate for a while?

i'd go with dead space. that scared the shit out of me several times.

i think the biggest fear is the unknown. when nothing is happening and the tension builds it's far scarier than seeing the monsters and fighting them.

 

[HeySeansOnline]

Anything with weapon degredation or low ammo. Nothing scares me more than being stuck In the belly of the beast with a dulled knife, and my gun almost out of ammo.

Also what scares me Is things that make me feel safe ... ok hear me out. In Half Life 2, In Ravenholm, I would barricade doors. That scares me, but I feel safe, I'm scared when I'm frantically breaking chairs and tables to lock down that door, and then I feel safe, but I'm scared again wondering If my barricade will hold as I make my way through the building, jumping at every corner.

Finally, what's done rarely from what I've seen, Is when your allies get slaughtered, nothing like feeling safer In a group of you and a couple of guys, only to watch them fall one by one to the monsters around you, until all that's left Is you, jittery, with half a clip of ammo, your buddies from twenty minutes ago nothing but chunks of flesh.

 

[Nythengayle]

I'm actually really pleased to see I'm not the only person in the world who's afraid of Fatal Frame (Project Zero). I've actually asked Yahtzee if he's played it, and if not, suggested he do it as a fan of survival horror, just for the simple pleasure of playing a game that almost (I said almost, put the pitchforks and torches away) compares to Silent Hill in the Horror category.

 

[skennedy929]

Unbeatable enemies scare me quite a bit...

That regenerating monster in Dead Space... I hated that thing.

Unfortunately that's the only really 'scary' part in Dead Space. The rest of that game is made scary by jump-out-and-boo moments and poor lighting.

Condemned is a very frightening game, Condemned 2 started out great but fizzled at the end. FEAR was mostly boo moments, but a few interactive cutscenes were very creepy. Otherwise FEAR is a pretty crappy game.

My favorite game for wearing down my nerves is STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.

It's depressing, the world is full of hostile enemies, mutants are hideous but believable, there isn't loot lying around everywhere, you can be killed at any second if you stop paying attention, the underground laboratories are downright nerve-wracking, inventory and map screens do not pause the game, weapons degrade and jam when you need them most, ambient noises and overall musical score is enthralling, and despite not actually having to rush GSC maintains a level of urgency throughout the entire game.

There is nothing like thinking you are safe to check your inventory only to have an invisible Bloodsucker enemy de-cloak and start snaking on your fluids. Also, it is awesome to see a game where you can save a few buddies at a certain 'safe' area, only to return later and they are all mysteriously slaughtered.

edit: Silent Hill lost some of its charm over the years, but when I first played, it was almost impossible to play for to long without incurring a heart attack.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

Underwater levels always succeed in freaking me out a little bit. It doesn't matter what the game is, hell even the giant skeletal shark level in Super Mario Sunshine gave me a bit of the heebie jeebies.

As for intentional scares, as much as I loved Silent Hill 2 I have to admit the first game did a better job of freaking me out than any other game in the series.
The frequent "help me" messages from your daughter and the completely oppressive atmosphere of Dark Silent Hill combined for an experience that I felt compelled to complete and yet completely paralyzed by the thought of what might happen next.
The first Silent Hill is probably the only game I've ever played where I actually sat my controller down and had to psyche myself up to continue playing.

 

[NEVRINx54]

reality. you can't get much scarier than the truth. :/

Ahh, but now I say the scariest thing is not knowing. Thats how videos like Marble Hornets get so popular. You have no idea what the fuck is going on, so it leaves your imagination to fill in the blanks.

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Gunjack65]

Spiders. I am so freaked out by them, that even the ones in "40 winks" on the PS1 give me the creeps. On the other side of the scale, the ones in resident evil games have been known to reduce me to girly screaming.

On a more advanced side of things, it's definately the anticipation of a scare than the scare itself.

Games like condemned, resident evil, and silent hill do this the best in my opinion.

For christs sake steer clear of Limbo then.

 

[Humble85]

This scares me:

<youtube=vZLQW2qr5Hs>

Also: Outer space. Just picturinge myself in outer space, working on a shuttle or something, with the fucking earth in my back just makes me cringe.

 

[GLo Jones]

It's the raw feeling of hopelessness and vulnerability you get when under threat from something you don't understand. A feeling of inevitability and desperation in your actions.

Survival horror isn't about beating something, it's about surviving it, and more often than not, you don't even manage that.

 

[Brisingr]

When your weaponless and have no way of defending yourself. Damn Penumbra did a number on my Nerves . Can't wait till the 7th of September for "Amnesia", it looks really scary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M627-obxNzg