But condemned isn't really scary, once you get 2 hours in and figure out the formula the entire game uses you know when somethings gonna happen and if you play through using guns it's pretty easy despite the lack of ammo. It has a couple of scary moments, like the dead body in the gym locker. But otherwise it's overrated in terms of scariness, just like FEAR is. Amnesia on the other hand......can't play that game lol.
I find that creepy ambient sound is the biggest factor in making games scary, but most scary games suffer because once you've killed the scary things once or twice they aren't scary anymore
I find Half-Life terrifying...I can't play it at night, just anything waiting around the corner and knowing its going to jump out and bite my face off.
Originally Posted by Ross1 There was a bit in the first stalker (lab X-18)...... I found it scarier than anything in amnesia.
That was quite freaky.
Amnesia looks really scary, that youtube video of the chap playing with teamspeak on is hilarious - I'd be just like that and completely lose my mind when the monsters come.
I can watch scary films, any of them, but games get to me much more, it's that sense of control that sets off everything for me.
The X-Labs in stalker also got me. Always found it odd that even though I know the stalker are games crippled by bugs, I can still get really into them and therefore terrified by them.
Originally Posted by WarrenJ Doom3 - Not been able to finish the game.
Once you realise that Doom 3 is just so dark it's black because that was the only way they could get it to run decently, and that the enemies always, always spawn behind you... it's not so scary any more. Although you will find yourself walking through doors backwards, so you can shotgun the Imp that spawns behind you before it gets a chance to do anything. ;)
F.E.A.R, the first time round, scared the hell out of me. Although this may have largely been because I'd just got a 5.1 Surround Sound system and was playing it at 2am in the dark, I don't know.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I've not got very far in. Largely because it hates SLI, so runs at low-single-digit FPS. So I've barely played it. Honestly, I'm not totally sure why I bought it, because I'm not usually a fan of horror games...
If a game freaks me out too much to play, it's usually due to audio. The solution there is simple, if I really want to play - turn off the speakers for a while. ;)
...
On a related but different note, I watched 'The Fades' (a new series on BBC3) the other day... really wasn't impressed at all. Kept thinking I'd seen 'plot device x' in other shows before hand... it ended up feeling like a 'suspense/horror movie/anime/game greatest hits'...
No Dead Space? The first time I played I jumped out of my skin when first attacked at the beginning.. I then proceeded to provide hours of amusement to my gf, as I jumped and jerked like an idiot everytime a random object creaked.
I think the first STALKER was one of the scariest. What it did better than any game before or since was demand the player confront the fear.
For example in a linear game you come across a scary area of the game. What do you do? You press on through it. Why? Because you have no choice. You know you have to go through there, you know the game is set up so you should go through there now. You know there won't be anything down there that you can't handle at this point in the game. All those elements provide comfort.
What STALKER has always done is given you a choice. Do you go and look for Strelok's stash in the bunker deep beneath the ground where the Bloodsucker's live? Or do you just say, "No thanks!" and press on regardless. That's the choice, and the fact that you can postpone the trip into the dark makes you question if you even should be undertaking it in the first place. By presenting the player with decisions, rather than a path, the game also presents them with doubts. Rather than being safe and confident in where they are and what they are doing the player asks himself, "Should I even be down here?" "Do I have enough firepower for this?" "Was there something else I needed to do above ground?" "Do I even have to come down here anyway?" and so on.
The key I have always felt with games is you get the player to scare themselves. Cheap tricks and things that jump out of lockers will get people to jump, but to really creep people out you've got to give people questions to ask themselves and time to doubt.
Amnesia hands down. I still haven't finished it. I can just about bring myself to play for about an hour before my mind starts to melt. The first time I saw a monster I hid behind a bookshelf looking away from him hoping he hadn't seen me and would eventually do one. I kept peeping round to see if he was still there and everytime I did this the characters heartbeat and breathing got more distressed. The way it blurs your vision when your character is distressed just adds to the suspense!
When I first played through Amnesia, I had just broken my arm (using a keyboard was a total bitch). That game was so scary that after a while it can screw with you a bit.
I remember taking some washing in from outside. It was dark and I had just finished playing for a couple hours. I was a tad paranoid and when one of my shirts landed on my head, my first thought was they're going to find a guy in his garden with a broken arm and no head.
Interesting article for me, since I hate scary games and movies. Most of my friends know I am easily horrified, so they always dare me to play something scary.
I remember the first time I played FEAR. I was so scared that I even shot at my own shadows.
Left 4 Dead? Meh not scary at all except when you hear that witch crying.
Oblivion was scary sometimes. Especially in those Aylied ruins..
Far Cry also freaked me out, in those labs with the mutant monkeys... hrrr
I have never played Amnesia before, but one of my friends (who could complete FEAR 1 and 2) is horrified by it, so I assume I will crap a hole in the chair when I play it.
I was forced to play FEAR 2 once. I remember some screaming (me) and some swearing (me) when the game started. Close to the beginning you come across a creepy swimming pool indoors. That creepy chick (Alma) appears now and then, and left my heard beating faster than dubstep music.
I just can't handle scary games, but all this made me want to try out Amnesia...
Stalker for sure. The atmosphere throughout the game is eerie and the underground bunkers are just mental. Fear the firsttime around was another one. Great games. Going to try Amnesia: The Dark Descent as it keeps being mentioned
Ahhhh Amnesia, just bought it this weekend on the steam sale (it's a bargin price). Never have I found such a great scary atmospheric game. I can play it, usually in doses of about 45mins to 1hour.. then I have to rest as the game is superb at making you think there are things there in the darkness. I'll walk into a room and catch just a glimpse of something walking out, did it see me?, do I need to run and hide?. hell I do it anyway just to be sure.
What I like is telling my friends to go buy it, they are like "I've heard it's scary, I guess things jump out at you" and I'm like "errm, no not really that's a cheap scare this is far more physiological than that".
Originally Posted by Tsung Ahhhh Amnesia, just bought it this weekend on the steam sale (it's a bargin price). Never have I found such a great scary atmospheric game. I can play it, usually in doses of about 45mins to 1hour.. then I have to rest as the game is superb at making you think there are things there in the darkness. I'll walk into a room and catch just a glimpse of something walking out, did it see me?, do I need to run and hide?. hell I do it anyway just to be sure.
What I like is telling my friends to go buy it, they are like "I've heard it's scary, I guess things jump out at you" and I'm like "errm, no not really that's a cheap scare this is far more psychological than that".
Comments 1 to 25 of 112
ReplyDo it. Record yourself with a webcam.
Hahaha, I will do. I've heard that it is one of the scariest games out there.
That was quite freaky.
Amnesia looks really scary, that youtube video of the chap playing with teamspeak on is hilarious - I'd be just like that and completely lose my mind when the monsters come.
I can watch scary films, any of them, but games get to me much more, it's that sense of control that sets off everything for me.
That's the game that confirmed I don't like scary games
Once you realise that Doom 3 is just so dark it's black because that was the only way they could get it to run decently, and that the enemies always, always spawn behind you... it's not so scary any more. Although you will find yourself walking through doors backwards, so you can shotgun the Imp that spawns behind you before it gets a chance to do anything. ;)
F.E.A.R, the first time round, scared the hell out of me. Although this may have largely been because I'd just got a 5.1 Surround Sound system and was playing it at 2am in the dark, I don't know.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I've not got very far in. Largely because it hates SLI, so runs at low-single-digit FPS. So I've barely played it. Honestly, I'm not totally sure why I bought it, because I'm not usually a fan of horror games...
If a game freaks me out too much to play, it's usually due to audio. The solution there is simple, if I really want to play - turn off the speakers for a while. ;)
...
On a related but different note, I watched 'The Fades' (a new series on BBC3) the other day... really wasn't impressed at all. Kept thinking I'd seen 'plot device x' in other shows before hand... it ended up feeling like a 'suspense/horror movie/anime/game greatest hits'...
Just the one level, of course, but it's a cracker.
More details, and spoilers aplenty, Here
For example in a linear game you come across a scary area of the game. What do you do? You press on through it. Why? Because you have no choice. You know you have to go through there, you know the game is set up so you should go through there now. You know there won't be anything down there that you can't handle at this point in the game. All those elements provide comfort.
What STALKER has always done is given you a choice. Do you go and look for Strelok's stash in the bunker deep beneath the ground where the Bloodsucker's live? Or do you just say, "No thanks!" and press on regardless. That's the choice, and the fact that you can postpone the trip into the dark makes you question if you even should be undertaking it in the first place. By presenting the player with decisions, rather than a path, the game also presents them with doubts. Rather than being safe and confident in where they are and what they are doing the player asks himself, "Should I even be down here?" "Do I have enough firepower for this?" "Was there something else I needed to do above ground?" "Do I even have to come down here anyway?" and so on.
The key I have always felt with games is you get the player to scare themselves. Cheap tricks and things that jump out of lockers will get people to jump, but to really creep people out you've got to give people questions to ask themselves and time to doubt.
I remember taking some washing in from outside. It was dark and I had just finished playing for a couple hours. I was a tad paranoid and when one of my shirts landed on my head, my first thought was they're going to find a guy in his garden with a broken arm and no head.
I remember the first time I played FEAR. I was so scared that I even shot at my own shadows.
Left 4 Dead? Meh not scary at all except when you hear that witch crying.
Oblivion was scary sometimes. Especially in those Aylied ruins..
Far Cry also freaked me out, in those labs with the mutant monkeys... hrrr
I have never played Amnesia before, but one of my friends (who could complete FEAR 1 and 2) is horrified by it, so I assume I will crap a hole in the chair when I play it.
I was forced to play FEAR 2 once. I remember some screaming (me) and some swearing (me) when the game started. Close to the beginning you come across a creepy swimming pool indoors. That creepy chick (Alma) appears now and then, and left my heard beating faster than dubstep music.
I just can't handle scary games, but all this made me want to try out Amnesia...
What I like is telling my friends to go buy it, they are like "I've heard it's scary, I guess things jump out at you" and I'm like "errm, no not really that's a cheap scare this is far more physiological than that".
Fixed that for you :).
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