The scariest moments in video/computer games

Cafe Society
1

No, I don’t mean that moment right after you’ve installed a game when your screen goes blank and up pops the Blue Screen of Death…I mean the moments in games when the game designers really succeeded in freaking you out or making a truly creepy atmosphere. For me, these have been the scariest moments in the games I’ve played:
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[li]Alone in the Dark One of the original 3D adventure games, this game featured a particularly creepy scene in which the main character is exploring an area in the attic (if I remember correctly) and a clown doll in the foreground of the shot suddenly comes to life, Poltergeist-style, and starts to attack you…a truly scary moment in an early game.[/li]
[li] Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall Early in the game I was exploring one of the many randomly-generated dungeons in Daggerfall, with the lights off and my headphones on, I was completely immersed in the game world…I could hear fotosteps and groans nearby, but they would come and go and I couldn’t really tell where they were coming from; one moment they seemed to be coming from the left, the next moment they seemed to be coming from the right. My low-level character had a measley iron sword and not much armor on, so I was being especially cautious. As I approached a split in the corridor, I thought I heard some noises coming from the right, so I sort of slid into the intersection facing the right-branching corridor; nothing. That’s when the horrid scream of some unnamed undead monstrosity rang through my headphones and I quickly turned around to see the pixelated horror of some nastly-looking monster. I actually shouted aloud a little bit when that happened, and as my iron sword proved to be useless against the undead monster, I was practically panicking. [/li]
All of that from a game that seems really primitive now, graphics-wise. That leads to another scary moment, though…

[li] Thief 2: The Metal Age I had played this game through a few times when it first came out, and loved every minute of it. Still, I hadn’t played it in maybe three years but I wanted to play it again in anticipation of the new Thief: Deadly Shadows game. I remembered general things about the missions, but most of the specifics were lost to memory. In one of the early missions the task is to break into a police station that has a prison/dungeon beneath it. As I entered the prison section, I could heard clanking chains and moaning, getting closer, closer…it was the ghost of a Hammer Haunt! It came around the corner at breakneck speed and I freaked out, swinging my ineffective sword at it…but it was just an apparition. In retrospect, it seems kind of redundant to have the ghost of a revenant, but it still creeped me out, and it set me up for another event in this game: [/li]
It got to the Eavesdropping mission, where Garrett the thief has to break into a Mechanist seminary that used to be a Hammerite cathedral or something like that. There was some mention of the catacombs beneath the seminary, and I suspected that bad things might be lurking down there. As I was moving around the outside of the seminary, again with the lights out and my headphones on, totally immersed in the game experience, I happened upon the little graveyard to the side of the building; as I approached, voices could be heard, voices of the damned! I could make out some distinct phrases, like “join ussss…!” I half-expected to see another ghost, but there were only voices.

After breaking into the seminary and making my way to the catacombs (I needed to go through them to reach a certain goal in the game) I listened for chains and moans, but heard nothing. I moved forward carefully, until again (as in Daggerfall) I heard a horrid noise coming from behind, and I was being attacked! It was a Hammer Haunt, and this time it was no ghost! I freaked again and tried to make a fighting retreat, but that damned thing would not give up chasing me. Damn!! Died more than a couple of times trying to take him down…and then there was a second Hammer Haunt in the catacombs to deal with.

Certainly better graphics than Daggerfall, and more purposeful sound and music really made this a standout creepy moment.

[li] Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem Here’s a game that didn’t get the kind of widespread success that it deserved. The creepiest moments in this game come when your sanity meter drops low, and strange things start to occur…the volume drops suddenly on your TV, you find yourself walking on the ceiling, you see and hear things that aren’t really there…[/li]
[/ul]

That’s a brief list of just a few of the creepy moments I’ve experienced in games…how about some more?

2

Had some pretty scary moments in the game. I’d be running around the ship thinking I’d killed all the zombies in the area when I’d hear a zombie shout out “KILL ME!” or “RUN!” as it was trying to kill me. Kind of freaky when something that was trying to kill you was also warning you at the same time.

Any time the Many or Shodan talked to you was pretty creepy. Shodan had that creepy screwed up computer voice and kept calling you an “insect” and how worthless and weak the flesh was when compared to her magnificence.

Marc

3

The first time a headcrab gets the jump on you in Half Life is always a nice heart attack-inducing moment.

4

I agree that Alone in the Dark was the scariest I ever played. Not so much any one particular situation in the game, but the sounds… they really creeped me out. :eek:

5

‘Clive Barker’s Undying’ had some creepy bits, like the singing corpse of the mother.

6

How about when the first dog jumps through the window in the first Resident Evil game? My brother had his PlayStation hooked up to surround sound, and that part scared the poo outta me.

7

Exactly what I was gonna post. RE on Gamecube, all the lights out, volume cranked, dog jumps through window, Max craps his pants.

Also everytime I’m insane in Eternal Darkness and get close to a door that someone starts banging on, I jump out of my skin. Pity that game will never have a sequel :frowning:

8

Not really a game player myself, but one time as I was cleaning my closet or something, I became aware of what sounded like someone in the next room, whimpering and crying. I called out, “Are you OK? What is that noise?” to my boyfriend at the time, and he laughed and explained that the noise I heard was the humans in the Aliens vs. Predator game, crouched and whimpering and crying in fear of him (he was of course playing as an alien.) I was amazed, it actually sounded like REAL FEAR to me.

OK not so scary. Never mind.

Pushes “Submit Reply” anyway and slinks out

9

Had an urge to play a submarine-type game, but have no idea if any are out there. I have an Xbox, and there doesn’t seem to be anything for XBox right now, but was wondering anyway if for any platform there are any good ones out there (or upcoming).

10

One thing that creeped me out about System Shock 2 was how the Many actually seemed to like you while SHODAN just called you names and manipulated you. It’s pretty upsetting that your enemy kept asking you to join and telling you how great it was to be a part of it. Heck it even tries to help you after you kill it. While SHODAN called you bug and insect and told you what a screw up you were while you did her dirty work.

In Undying there’s a hall with a mirror at the end. In front of this mirror is a table with (some power up) on it. When you go to pick it up in the mirror over your shoulder a ghost appears. Made me jump first time it happened.

Aliens Vs Predator 2 the whole first marine level has things happening all around you I was so wound up by the time I got into an air duck with moths flying around I jumped when one leapt in my face, I opened fire. I was so embarrassed.

11

I think the hands-down scariest scene in Eternal Darkness was the bathtub. You folks who have played it know what I’m talking about.

The old Sierra game Phantasmagoria had its moments too. The baby-picture easter egg creeped me out, as well as the final chase scene.

I haven’t played any of the later Clock Tower games, but the original on SNES got a fan-translation and frankly, I never thought a SNES game could be scary. But being almost helpless (except for being able to run, hide, and flail in panic) against a creepy little dude chasing you with a massive pair of scissors does it for me. Sheer moments of “Oh, shit” in that game also include looking at a mirror and a hand just reaching out of it and choking you; and an evil parrot that, once you let it out of its cage, starts divebombing you and repeating “I’ll get you!” in a evil birdy voice (and if you don’t take care of that bird and you try hiding from the scissor-man in that room, the fucking bird will rat you out and you get stabbed through the mattress).

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Anyone remember Project: Firestart for the Commodore 64? First time I played that, it gave me the heebie-jeebies. You’re exploring an abandoned spaceship and you come across slaughtered guards, watch cut scenes of something large and shadowy and then before you know it, the DA-DUM! Da-DUM! music starts and big green shambling monsters come down the hall and make you wet yourself.

I’m sure that someone playing it now would be less impressed given the sound and graphic limitations of the C=64 but, at the time, it was pretty spooky and atmospheric.

13

I had the same “dog jumps out from the window” moment in resident evil. Of course, I was playing on my dad’s 65" big screen with all the lights out and a candle lit on the floor next to me.

14

Embarassing personal story time…

My friends Dave and Gord and I were playing ‘Riven’, the sequel to ‘Myst’, late one night. All three of us huddled around the screen in a dark room.

To briefly set the scene: it’s a sort-of jungle type island, and although there’s ample evidence of a civilization, you never see another living soul throughout the game.

Except at one point, we round a corner, and there’s this little girl standing there. She ‘sees’ us and runs away. That’s all we ever see of her.

After hours of playing in an uninhabited environment, her sudden appearance startled us so much we actually gasped and pulled back fom the screen.

Then, of course, we laughed our asses off for being scared by a little girl.

thwartme

15

I really wanted to be the first to mention the dog scene from Resident Evil. Classic stuff that one. I used to love introducing others to that game just to see their reaction when the glass broke and there were Dobermans all over them. :slight_smile:

Jammer

16

…FIRST time? Man, I about gagged EVERY time. It got to the point where every stinkin’ time I had to crawl through a duct, I KNEW there was a damn headcrab in there, and they STILL scared the bejesus out of me.

In the PSX’s RESIDENT EVIL: DIRECTOR’S CUT, there is a scene where you step out onto a balcony, and find the corpse of a compatriot who has been pecked to death by mutant crows. Usually, around this point, the crows attack you, and you must shoot them or flee. I usually shot 'em, because my dead compatriot had more ammo in his pockets.

…but on one occasion, when I stepped out there, there were no crows. I looked around. Still no crows. I approached my dead friend, and he STOOD UP AND MOANED AND CAME FOR ME, and I wound up emptying my automatic into him to make him lay down and be dead again!!! :eek:

…and after all that, he didn’t have any ammo!

17

Hell, the dog jumping through the window didn’t scare me half as much as the giant freakin’ tarantulas that drop down on you from the ceiling!

But even that wasn’t half as scary as the terrible voice acting. (I kid.)

18

Another vote here for Undying. If you haven’t played this game yet, you haven’t been scared.

That atmosphere of the mansion was the scariest part of the game by far. As for a specific moment, there are many, but one that comes to mind quicky is when you

find Aaron in the basement and have to walk up to him to put his jaw back in. I was too fricken scared to get anywhere near him in order to start the battle

From that point on in the game, everything, including the scariness, started to go downhill :frowning:

Also, anytime you’re walking along in the game, and you hear the faint voice in your head calling “Seeeee” or “Looook” for when it is hinting you to use your Scry (sp?) spell. Creeped me out every time.

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OK, a big trip in the wayback machine for this one…

Years ago on the Atari 800 there was a game called “Rescue on Fractalus”. You had to fly a ship over this mountainous terrain looking for other pilots to rescue while avoiding enemy turret fire. First-person cockpit view. Low resolution graphics, basic gameplay and so on but actually pretty good for the early 1980s.

When you found one of the pilots you landed your ship and watched as this little figure ran towards you and disappeared “below” the screen. A few seconds later you would get the message that the pilot had boarded your ship and you could take off again.

Except, every now and then, the figure would disappear then suddenly leap up and appear full in your viewscreen. This time it was an alien who would proceed to pound on your cockpit, shattering it and killing you.

The first time this happened, I screamed out loud. There was no hint that this was even a possibility so it was a complete and total surprise. They just don’t make them like they used to.

20

Wow. Sorry about that, meant to post this as a new thread.