Scary games are scary

[Bells]

Alternative title: The safe thread where we can admit that a game actually scares you.

like this:

I'm not talking about Doom 3 and Dead Space with their bullshit BOOOGAUGAUGA in your face jump scares, i'm actually talking about games that make you fear going through a door, not cause you just saw 3 packs of ammo next to it, but cause something ELSE made you freaking scared of door early on.

True story 1: When Resident Evil was new i was not capable of playing 1 and 2 alone. At all. ever. Dino crisis and RE3 didn't scare me... at all.

True story 2: anybody here remembers Alone in the dark the new nightmare for the ps1?

Really early on, right on the first screen of the game i think... you are standing in front of a creepy house, by a metal gate. You take two steps and lighting strikes, making the screen blink. here is the catch... for a split second the screen changes to make it look like the shadow of a shrub behind you is a monster ready to kill you.

I turned around as fast as i could and used all my bullets on that shrub in a fit of panic.

The very first fucking screen of the game, before i entered the house... already out of bullets due to a scare. Needless to say, i can't tell ya how the inside of the house looks like.

i'm not abig fan of horror, i just don't like to feel uncomfortable and afraid... it's more like "i can stop this at anytime, so i'll just don't do this to myself like a moron..." and i stop. Horror movies scare me, horror games fucking terrify me, i just can't play them!

That's why i don't like Dead Space... cause it's not horror, it's not scare. a Dirty place and a sense of dread does not equal fear when i'm space iron man with the lightsaber gun... it's more anger like "Would you just STOP jumping at me and screaming!? For fuck's sake!!"

So... scary games are scary, and i keep my distance, cause, quite frankly... i don't do well with them alone!

[Jagos]

Meh, RE was never scary.

But I kid you not, I cannot play ANY Silent Hill game because it bothers me... Those damn baby killers are just too creepy along with the nurses with no faces. I try to play the game and it just freaks me out how my mind tries to make sense of the monsters but can't...

[rpgdemon]

This reminds me that I still need to play Amnesia.

[phil_]

Originally Posted by Jagos

Meh, RE was never scary.

Did you know I didn't sleep for three days when I rented the REmake back in high school? It's true! I even referenced it in a cartoon.

[Ryong]

Legend of Grimrock has been the only game able to scare me in several years, that's how atmospheric it is.

It's not even a horror game.

[BahamutFlare]

Resident Evil 3 scared me for a while. Still does to a degree. It's because you don't know what's behind the doors. You open it, wait for a while (loading time was actually a decent suspense.) And poof 20 zombies and lickers. The same with RE2. RE 1 I played on the gamecube and got tired of it really fast. Used nearly all my ammo on zombie number 1 and realized there was no fighting. I want to be able to stand my own.

Silent Hill any of them. Stay away from. I'm never going to get the balls to go through the whole game. First couple areas. Ok I'm fine. Then it's way too much blood, gore, and freak. Done!

[Bells]

i also do avoid silent hill, although i actually had funplaying Shattered Memories... in short bursts.

I guess it's just THAT much watered down

[McTahr]

Lately I had a friend get me on a horror kick. I've been playing any and all of these listed (Most are indie/free):

Slender (And most of the mods / variations thereof)
SCP-087
SCP-087-B
SCP Containment Breach
Cry of Fear (Requires you own the original Half-life)
Which
Amnesia (Costs money, obviously)
Condemned: Criminal Origins (Again with the money) (Also not as scary, mostly spent the time making fun of them while they played, so it sticks out)

For the most part, nearly all of those establish an atmosphere where you have to will yourself to even move after a certain point.

For best results: Play in the dark. At night. No lights. No friends. No company. Headphones on full blast. Just you and immersion. Sweet dreams.

Edit - Added links to the free ones. To the best of my knowledge these work / worked when I originally acquired them or are the official pages for the indie games themselves.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Silent Hill 2 and 3 and Amnesia were the only three Horror games that actually managed to scare me.

Most others were just "Oh, I guess it has some kind of atmosphere. Oh hey, look, a jump scare that startled me for a second. Ooooh creepy, blood everywhere, I'm soooooo going to shit my pants. Red is my favorite color, by the way."

That is absolutely nothing, against the constantly building up tension of the games that actually managed to scare me, the fantastic sound design that pulled me in and developers that actually know how to make a game scary.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by Bells

Alternative title: The safe thread where we can admit that a game actually scares you.

like this:

I'm not talking about Doom 3 and Dead Space with their bullshit BOOOGAUGAUGA in your face jump scares, i'm actually talking about games that make you fear going through a door, not cause you just saw 3 packs of ammo next to it, but cause something ELSE made you freaking scared of door early on.

I dont know about Cry of Fear. basically it sets up a cheap and obvious jump scare and just rides on it for the rest of the game. To be more exact the fear is the anxiety of anticipating the next jump scare not from atmosphere. In the video they even say how obvious of a setup it is and how predictable the scare.

To contrast another video of theirs

While not intense it still has an effective scare without needing to resort to pitch black or sudden screaming faces. Hell it doesn't even need to use monsters or enemies that can hurt you.