[themaniacboy]

Hello, i am curious what you guys think when you think of horror games ?
What makes scary games scary to you ?

To me, it's the right use of lightning, audio, music and the feeling like you're outnumbered, that's what makes it scary for me.
Not like in Doom, with the whole arsenal of weapons, it doesn't feel like you're outnumbered.

Amnesia is a good example.

Post your thoughts.

[Sebastian]

I agree with you but there also have to be some element of unpredictability, a spontaneous gameplay of sorts that could erupt at any given moment. Rebellion's AvP (1999) was a great example of this technique but also more recently in games such as Alan Wake.

[wayskobfssae]

That AvP game is the only time a fright has been enough to make my hands fly off of the controllers. Friggin facehuggers.

[blackharted]

Jumpy moments. And music that slowly builds tension. Alan Wake and both Dead Space's are perfect examples.

[Micky C]

I thought the a.dream 1 and 2 maps were scary. For the first map, it was turning around and finding that your way was blocked, and the heartbeat while going through the house with the missing floor. For the second map, memorable bits were when the light came on, revealing a dead body. One of the chilling pictures which had a girl and a boy, and after Duke got a key, the girl was missing from the painting. And of course when a baby could be heard crying in an abandoned facility and you find your way to a shadow and...
The only scary bit in the third map was the end, when you wake up in your apartment and you think everything's ok, but for some reason the door's locked, then you sit down and watch some tv...

[duke4everman]

well for me its being helpless, knwoing one hit can kill you, darking effects (not doom 3's version), and massive bosses.

[Alithinos]

themaniacboy, on Mar 23 2011, 12:17 AM, said:

Hello, i am curious what you guys think when you think of horror games ?
What makes scary games scary to you ?

To me, it's the right use of lightning, audio, music and the feeling like you're outnumbered, that's what makes it scary for me.
Not like in Doom, with the whole arsenal of weapons, it doesn't feel like you're outnumbered.

Amnesia is a good example.

Post your thoughts.

What you said and more.

I remember that I was scared too many times while playing Duke Nukem 3d,at times like when I would suddenly turn around a corner and see a fat commander 1 or 2 feet away from my face or when I would dive somewhere and find 5 or 8 octabrains screaming at me with glowing eyes.
Some enemies where hard and required tactics that need space or else you know you are dead meat.
So the feeling of danger I had when I met enemies like that in situations like that was what scared me.

The last game that scared me was S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat.
Very challenging game,only for expirienced fps gamers.
Even if it wasn't that hard and you couldn't die that easily,nights on this game where scarry.
At night time you couldn't see anything except what your flashlight cast it's light on,and it didn't helped that much because of a small field of beam.
Except from walking at complete darkness in a zone that is full of mutants,the game had very good ambient sounds and music that immersed me and the audio was a factor.
While walking in darkness you rely on your ears.
And the game had sounds of nocturnal bugs,howls and gunshots from the distance,and all that sound kept me in alert and in addition with the darkness and the fact that in this game you drop like a fly and watch the "Game over" screen very easily,very often the feeling of danger,which is fear was there.
I found myself staying indoors at safe areas until night ends and the Sun shows up in this game.

[#SH@DOW#]

THE THING is the scarriest game I've ever seen. As well as the movie.

[blackharted]

I personally think the first Condemmed was the most frightening game I've played. It was those fucking creepy mannequins that got me. *shudders*

[themaniacboy]

There was also another game that's pretty scary.
Aliens vs Predator 1 is a very scary game and it can make you jump out of your seat, pause the game and quickly turn the lights on.

Also Doom 1 and 2 could be scary at times, well, 14 years ago or so, i played it with my little brother.
The scariest parts about Doom was the close encounters and the growls in the far distance, not knowing where they are coming from.
When those things happened, i just paused the game, saved and quit.
Remember this was 14 years ago or something, i was like 4 or 3 years old back then.

Not that i do something like that these days, i've got balls of steel

[Hank]

I think that it nothing to do with age, but if you are willing to let go of your rational thinking. Do you see just a set of pixels or can you actually step into this world?
Two samples: Quake's Zerstörer and Duke's WGRealms 1.2
Both TCs may suck in the HD departmeny, but like a good book drew me right into it. Ironic, both are free but have a shitload of scary moments. Ergo, have what I consider a good scary game.

[themaniacboy]

Hank, on Mar 24 2011, 03:12 AM, said:

I think that it nothing to do with age, but if you are willing to let go of your rational thinking. Do you see just a set of pixels or can you actually step into this world?
Two samples: Quake's Zerstörer and Duke's WGRealms 1.2
Both TCs may suck in the HD departmeny, but like a good book drew me right into it. Ironic, both are free but have a shitload of scary moments. Ergo, have what I consider a good scary game.

I didn't say it wasn't scary anymore because the graphics are dated.
It's because i became much older now + i've played Doom over a 100 times.

So at some point, it will not be scary anymore.

I love WGRealms, i don't care about graphics.
The level design and gameplay is great.

[blackharted]

themaniacboy, on Mar 24 2011, 01:22 AM, said:

I didn't say it wasn't scary anymore because the graphics are dated.
It's because i became much older now + i've played Doom over a 100 times.

Ya but with Doom, really it's graphics that draw people in. Gameplay first of course.

[Jinroh]

I remember I used to get scared to shizznite playing Doom back in '93. My uncle had it in his basement office and my cousin would play through the episodes down there at like late at night after everybody went to bed. Then my cousin would goto bed and I'd keep playing, and man. All the lights were off in the basement and I would get scared to shit. Totally rad though tramatic for a 8 or 9 year old. XD

I still like to play Doom or Resident Evil on my DS and keep the lights off in the total darkness.

[zieg7]

Its tough to answer for me really, I guess the element of surprise and being nearly helpless is always a start. Then on top of that the lighting and the tense and/or minimalistic music, atmosphere in general really.

I was raised on Doom and Resident Evil so I learnt not to be scared of those kind of games so quickly. These days it takes a game that fucks with your head to scare me.

[Romeosierra616]

blackharted, on 23 March 2011 - 06:03 AM, said:

I personally think the first Condemmed was the most frightening game I've played. It was those fucking creepy mannequins that got me. *shudders*

Same here man, but even worse for me was the Black Lake Lodge level in the second one, I almost couldn't play when I started hearing the bear noises, and when it first runs past you on the floor above I shit myself into a corner and hid for about 30 mins haha

[The Albino Ape]

Atmosphere, lighting, ambient music, and sound effects.

[Mark]

Dark unfamiliar areas. Unknown creature noises in the backround. You can only see what is in the glow of your flashlight or the flickering light from a machine panel. Long periods of nothing attacking you so the tension can build as you go around every corner. Then a shadow passes by with a heavy breathing sound in your ear. A short time later your flashlight shines on the face of a zombie that runs right at you screaming.

[Martin]

+1 on the 1999 AvP.

That mixture of almost constant pitch black, gloomy atmosphere, the long periods of zero enemies. The ever-present tick of the motion tracker. That 'oh god' moment when the motion tracker bleeps, knowing that a very fast, powerful creature which can kill you in two seconds flat is somewhere nearby, waiting to pounce on you from some ungodly angle. The latter turning into a 'totally shit your pants' moment when, after a period of uneasy quiet, not one but several readings show up on the motion tracker, and your weedy little guns are running low. In most games you'd have the option to run away and retool. In AvP, the aliens run way faster than you can. Running is not an option. You basically better prey that there is some ammo right around the next corner, otherwise you may have to restart the level.

The only other game that scared me was Resident Evil, but than I was 10 years old. They Hunters used to shit me up on that game, for a similar reason to AvP. They're so quick an powerful, and ammo is always scarce in old school RE games.

[blackharted]

Romeosierra616, on 02 April 2011 - 07:02 PM, said:

Same here man, but even worse for me was the Black Lake Lodge level in the second one, I almost couldn't play when I started hearing the bear noises, and when it first runs past you on the floor above I shit myself into a corner and hid for about 30 mins haha

LOL Dude that was scary to but, the unfair and cheapness of that part kinda ruined it.

[Jeff]

I've never played any game where I was scared shitless. Doom 3's lighting and some of the sound effects were really good. Even though sometimes I got lost in the levels.

[MusicallyInspired]

I found it quite difficult to continue playing Doom 3 without being constantly freaked out. Stupid freaking zombies coming out the darkness and sneaking up on me...stupid imps climbing through walls. Really made you feel like your past experiences with 3D games meant nothing and that an enemy could literally peel apart the metal plating of a wall or the floor or anything and get at you. Of course, this wasn't the case, and it only happened in a couple scripted sequences, but it did it's job on me.

I'm currently having immense difficulty playing Amnesia: Dark Descent. The creep factor is enormous. I haven't even seen anything yet. Just the sound effects, the strange moving, rotating, warping view of the camera, the doors moving by themselves, candles being blown out by wind that comes from no where. It's really quite creepy.

[Jeff]

There's lots of videos on Youtube about it's sound effects. Very cool stuff.