The Scariest Games

FROM: Paul
TO: Joe

You’re right to say that FEAR was scary because it had an enemy that you can’t do much about, Clive. I think that’s what makes things scary to me; a lack of control over a situation or having no way to defend myself from an enemy leaves me feeling vulnerable, which in turn makes me feel fear.

That’s why games such as Left 4 Dead aren’t scary, despite the subject matter; you’re never given an enemy that you can’t control or beat. Meeting the young girl in FEAR is scary because despite all your armour, weapons and bullet-time badassery there's nothing you can do to harm her or defend yourself. She could appear at any time, pretty much at her whim, and mess your day up in a big way. That meant I never felt safe in that game, I could never walk around a corner feeling confident I’d be able to face what came - I was never in complete control.

Writing this also reminds me that I felt the same way when playing Resident Evil back when I was a kid. Supplies were so scarce in that game (like Joe mentioned with Thief earlier) that I always felt vulnerable to attack, always felt like the next room could be the end of me. That kept the tension high and meant that every battle was for survival. Unfortunately the game was an absolute pig to play on the Playstation, so it was easy to tell yourself you were just playing a game and kind-of snap out of the whole being terrified thing.

As a result I’d probably say (and to answer your question Clive) that it doesn’t matter if the enemy I’m facing is human, transhuman or alien. What matters (in terms of being scared) is that I feel defenceless against it. This is why I don’t think I’ll ever play Amnesia, no matter how many times Joe and Jamie tell me to - the fact that you don’t even get a weapon in the game means I’m pretty much guaranteed to find it paralyzing terrifying. That idea does thrill me slightly, but the idea of getting even less sleep each night doesn’t.


FROM: Joe
TO: You

I agree, Left 4 Dead isn't scary - there's just too much violence for it to feel truly threatening. Tanks and Witches are scary because they are rare, but the other zombies aren't really much of a threat. It's also much harder to get scared when you've got three friends fighting alongside you.

Resident Evil used to terrify me as a kid though. My brother and I used to have to go down the road to a friends house to play it on his PlayStation and...oh, man. I think it might have been the first game that I played which left me genuinely scared. It wasn't the fighting that got to me though, but again the lack of resources. I was always worried about running out of ink ribbon and being unable to save after I'd made some progress. Running out of items or ammo like that is a real terror for me.

I remember Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of The Earth being a really scary game for the same reason - you could only save in certain places and were always so low on health kits, ammo, etc. The game pretty much falls apart at the end, but the first half? Brr. Totally unnerving - and it has one of the best chase sequences I've ever seen, even if it is also a little broken.

But, eh, why am I telling you all this? Seems like we're all too scaredy-cat to go and play any scary games tonight - my nerves have never recovered since Amnesia: The Dark Descent, that's for sure.

How about we go watch a movie tonight instead? Something happy, Disney. Then we can leave the readers to let us know what their scariest games are in the forums. Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Condemned: Criminal Origins and FEAR seem to be the popular candidates so far...