Games that genuinely scared you

It’s almost Halloween, so time to talk horror! The scariest for me is PT. Walking through the corridor over and over again, and hearing all kinds of sounds, and then having the pressure of having to figure out the puzzle, and then getting grabbed by the ghost! What games genuinely scared you, SW?

The Suffering, had me jump outta my skin a few times. lol :P

Ravenholm in Half Life 2

Valve are such geniuses for saving the zombies for the Ravenholm chapter. In Half Life 1 this was an introductionary enemy.

Not just that but the new zombie type (fast runner) brings absolute fright. There is a very tough section where you have to wait for a skilift type elevator to make it over.

And then Half Life Episode One nails it another time with another section where you have to wait for an elevator to descend in a part that is absolutely pitch black.

Oh did I mention Valve nails sound design as well?

silent hill

Alien isolation

Amnesia the bunker

Off the top of my head

I can imagine playing a horror game in the dark using surround sound headphones. That'd be scary af.

ravenholm was just plain incredible at the time. introduced with the iconic "that's the old passage to ravenholm, we don't go there anymore" line, completely unexpected in terms of the flow of the game - valve were the masters at throwing in those kind of unexpected game design curve balls - so well crafted and ridiculously atmospheric.

but in modern times. alien isolation by a country mile. games rarely legitimately scare me but, to my shame, that game made me jump so hard i screamed and threw the controller down lol. it wasn't just the alien(s) it was the working joes too. so damn creepy. as a big stealth fan it's a hugely underrated stealth game too with very accomplished mechanics and an unrivalled atmosphere nailing the look and feel of the movie. was really hoping for a sequel

Alien Isolation is great in that the monster is procedural meaning no two playthroughs are the same. This also comes with caveats and downsides and I was pulled out of a locker once when I kept telling myself "there was no way he heard or saw me" but hey, still an excellent one all around.

As someone mentioned above: Amnesia the Bunker is also fantastic and has a procedural monster much like Alien has.

splatter house and BACK TO THE FUTURE because it sucked so bad lol

Any console exclusive limited to 30fps. I dread playing these.

@R4gn4r0k: yeah scripted jump scares get old fast, as does a constant fear of being one shotted by an invincible enemy the minute it gets it hands on you. the way creative assembly built the alien ai and the macro and micro systems they used to prevent these two things from happening was extremely clever, creating a sense of dread and tension but never insurmountable, in other words a thinking man's stealth game. there's some great youtube videos explaining the design in detail

I really got the urge now to replay this horror classic, damn.

What do you think is the difficulty level where the alien AI and procedural system shine the most?

Doom 1, 2, 3, 64.
Silent Hill 2
Half-Life 2
Quake 1
Hunt: Showdown

I've played few really scary games as I don't enjoy being scared. Played plenty of "scary" games that I didn't find scary though. Alien Isolation and Resident Evil 2, for example.

The biggest scary memory I’ll always have is being like 11-12, renting Resident Evil for PS1, waiting till my parents went to bed, turned off all the lights, and when the zombie turned its head around in the beginning…I was scared poopless. Turned the PS1 off and played it during the day.

Bear part in Condemned 2. Scripted beyond belief, but very scary.

FEAR Extraction Point is only game that somehow scare me. base game is not scary but Extraction point Holy shit!!!.

If this doesn't do it for you, you might be some kind of a psycho

Resident evil directors cut that scene when the dogs smash through the windows.

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard is the only one.

i played the level above normal difficulty and it was amazing *until* i reached the alien nest and there was one bit i just could not get past because the alien would appear in the same place when i tried to escape. every. single. time. i had to drop the difficulty not just to easy but to very easy to get around it 🙈. definitely an ai glitch and not my gaming ability coming up short 😇. only happened on my first play through.

second time through, quite deep into the game, i thought i was safe in a vent tunnel. in all my time with the game i found if i get into a wall vent the alien would prowl around outside and then disappear away to another part of the ship so was feeling quite safe and nonchalant. but suddenly the vent opened and it sees me, smiles, leaps in and bam. instant death. all in the blink of an eye. that's when i screamed and threw the controller lol. always remember my dog sat beside me looking up at me in disgust. the shame lol. hadn't seen the alien ever climb into a wall vent before that.

now i have the urge to replay too!

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: While most of the game does not scare me, it is the apperances of the ReDeads that scares me, especially when they grab me. The same goes with the Gibdos in Tears of the Kingdom. I sometimes felt dread whenever I go to a Gerudo cave or the Lightning Temple confronting these enemies.

The most recent game is Alien Isolation.

I'm not really a horror movie/game FSN because they are generally predictable and have terrible stories.

Isolation managed to defy that and be genuinely tense with a pretty good story.

Dead Space is another.

Nothing will outdo Ravenholm and hearing that "clank, clank, clank" coming up the ladder while being low on ammo.....while feeling like the shotgun just wasn't enough to save you

Games with unskippable cutscenes or walking cutscenes. It is absolutely terrifying.

I even got scared of the redeads from Wind Waker, lol. That shriek, man.

@Macutchi: lol your dog saw you getting massacred in a video game!

Check out this mod:

https://www.nexusmods.com/alienisolation/mods/9?tab=posts

What's FSN?

But yeah, I agree w/ Alien Isolation. After watching videos I can admit I am too chicken for that.

Condemned: Criminal Origins. The department store level is especially scary. I was paranoid that those mannequins were going to come alive.

PT probably more than anything. Very effective the way it slowly builds up on you.

The one that has always surprised me though, was the original Clock Tower on SNES. Played a fan translation since it was never released internationally. The game did an incredible job crafting a creepy atmosphere with 16-bit art. Sound design is top notch too. Controls are just the right amount of clunky to make chase sequences all the more intense. Sort of a weird point-and-click/side scroller hybrid.

@R4gn4r0k: insane ai mode, yikes, i'll leave that for you to test out dude. i played it on ps4 so unmoddable. sometimes playing on console over pc has it's benefits ;)

edit: just checked and i do actually have it on steam too. i'll still leave it to you to test, be rude not too

lol, I meant to type "fan", no idea how or why it is capitalized lol

Isolation is definitely a tense experience. It was one of the very few games that made me genuinely play slowly and the sense of relief you get from finding a save point was addictive.

When I was a kid playing re games 1 to 3 was scary.

Back in the day its fatal frame 2.

I'mma report back to you. I remember the last time I played it the AI was already kicking my butt so this is gonna be hell, haha

Fatal Frame is up there as 1 of the best horror games imo.

I can't say that any game at all scared me, with that said, Silent Hill's atmosphere and sound design used to put me in a very susceptible mood, then some loud noise will happen in my house or outside, and well... my life expectancy must have been reduced a few years by a combination of Silent Hill and my dog playing with its water bowl.

Gloom Hands from Zelda. Also the Depths was scary for awhile.

The dialogue in Forspoken.

Resident Evil 1

Corpse Party

Silent Hill 1 and 2

Project Zero

Higurashi: When They Cry

@Macutchi: @R4gn4r0k: Alien Isolation is a great choice. Such a tense game!

@hardwenzen said:

If this doesn't do it for you, you might be some kind of a psycho

😆 what game is this?

Other than the ReDeads, Gibdos, and Gloom Hands in the Zelda games, I will also add the Guardian Stalkers from Breath of the Wild. especially seeing them for the first time.

The mannequin scene I'm the mall in Condemned was a bit freaky. Didn't scare me as such, but got my attention.

@R4gn4r0k: saw this and thought of you lol

https://www.eurogamer.net/alien-isolation-mod-replaces-xenomorph-with-thomas-the-tank-engine

I would say this too!

Alien 3 on Genesis. That game had me on the edge of my seat

Re7 in VR. The Baker house is nuts first time through in VR.

The 800 foot high black tornadoes in The Solus Project literally made me tear my headset off my head. Shit is terrifying in VR.

Forgot about Re7 in VR. That must be frightening haha.

The dogs jumping through the windows in Resident Evil was quite startling. Silent Hill 1 and 2 were pretty unsettling as well.

@nod_calypse: Really enjoyed the first minutes of RE7 in VR, exploring the house and such, then when the action starts I didn't really enjoyed it and ended up playing the rest of the game on the TV.

Alien Isolation was the only game that managed to make feel something similar to fear, but might be me being an Alien fanboy that pushed me to really get immersed in the game.

Alien Isolation is amazing, especially in VR, though you need PC to run it. The tension is insane.

As for RE7, something about being followed by Jack Baker through the house in VR seriously bothered me, in a good way.....sort of. Never really felt primal fear like that in a game. The later sections of RE7, after the house, though, kinda suck.

When Mia's crawling up the steps is freakin great, lol

@nod_calypse: imagine PT Trailer in VR lol