Horror Games: What Makes Them Scary?

[V1P3Rleader]

So I've thought about this question a lot and I've been trying to also figure out the answer by playing through some horror games. I have recorded myself playing SCP-087-B, Silent Hill 2, and F.E.A.R. and uploaded them to youtube and I have been continually looking for new horror games to play.

Silent Hill 2

FEAR

What do you guys think?

 

[STB Sgt Reed]

Idk about what makes them scary, but I really enjoyed Dead Space 1 & 2.

 

[Lumpymoomilk]

usually stuff you don't expect, That old game Dino Crisis used to scare the shit out of me, because dinosaurs would bust through windows and jump on me and I would be like ahhh shit fucking veloceraptors, and there's a scene where a T-rex's head busts through an office and almost eats you. Damn that game was nerve racking. It wasn't that scary but everything jumped out at you.

 

[Sage Leviathan]

The story, the atmopsphere, the musical direction, developed characters (that you cant just describe in few words), and what causes the fear (surprise? realism? unorthodox terror? etc...)

 

[1man3letters]

imo the atmosphere

like siren blood curse was awesome because of its atmos and soundtrack, that call of the siren still haunts me

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

For me, fear in a game comes from two main sources; place and player handicap.

The only two games that I've actually been scared by (and I've played my share of the genre) are the original Silent Hill and System Shock 2. In Silent Hill's case, it was mostly the perversion of the mundane that unsettled me, combined with some brilliantly place jump scares. In System Shock 2, it's the oppressively violent atmosphere combined with superb sound and enemy designs, compounded with your lack of supplies. Guns jam easily, but you don't have many bullets to begin with. There are a finite amount of resources to deal with so you can literally dig yourself into a hole to that you can't get out of. And then there are the midwives. Holy shit the Midwives...

I've played though System Shock 2 nearly twenty times now and that game still manages to startle me.

 

[salvificblood]

The last video game that scared me was resident evil 2 when Nemesis jumps through the window in the Police Station, I believe it is. Playing that game as a kid was scary.

I haven't played one since then that's been "scary". It's like horror movies, to find them "scary" I have to watch them with somebody who jumps and scares easily, if I watch them on my own, I just find them stupid, same with games.

 

[Killphil]

The nemesis was in Resident Evil 3. 2 had Leon and Claire with Birkin/Mr.X. As far as what makes these games scary? Fear comes from a lot of different places. In Resident Evil:Revelations I find something unique in this regard. The first 2 bosses could still speak. If they had been snarling monsters I wouldn't even be mentioning it, however, that little bit of humanization deeply unsettled me, especially if I wasn't looking at them and they started talking. A little humanization in your enemies goes a long way, but its not the only way to make something scary.

 

[V1P3Rleader]

For me, fear in a game comes from two main sources; place and player handicap.

The only two games that I've actually been scared by (and I've played my share of the genre) are the original Silent Hill and System Shock 2. In Silent Hill's case, it was mostly the perversion of the mundane that unsettled me, combined with some brilliantly place jump scares. In System Shock 2, it's the oppressively violent atmosphere combined with superb sound and enemy designs, compounded with your lack of supplies. Guns jam easily, but you don't have many bullets to begin with. There are a finite amount of resources to deal with so you can literally dig yourself into a hole to that you can't get out of. And then there are the midwives. Holy shit the Midwives...

I've played though System Shock 2 nearly twenty times now and that game still manages to startle me.

I think that someday, I'd like to try playing System Shock 2. I've heard a lot about it, over and over again. Sounds like it would be scary.

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

I think that someday, I'd like to try playing System Shock 2. I've heard a lot about it, over and over again. Sounds like it would be scary.

It's a fantastic game and my favorite, period. Be warned though, it can be very difficult to get working properly, even on older OSs, but it's totally worth it. There plenty of technical support out there though to get up up and running, as well as mods of both the graphical and gameplay veriaty.

 

[A F0xy Grampa]

Theres a difference between being scared and being startled.

RE1 2 & 3 were all good at building suspense and making some twisted enemies and stuff, thats closer to being scary than RE4 & 5 which is just dog shit over the shoulder shooting where things randomly jump out at you.

Condemned is probably the most 'scary' game I've played

 

[PND_Mustard]

it has to be suspense for me.

being jumpy isnt scary, super mario cna make you jump sometimes, doesnt make it a horror game.

 

[V1P3Rleader]

It's a fantastic game and my favorite, period. Be warned though, it can be very difficult to get working properly, even on older OSs, but it's totally worth it. There plenty of technical support out there though to get up up and running, as well as mods of both the graphical and gameplay veriaty.

I'll probably check it out. I've had some difficulties getting other old games to run on my computer, so hopefully that support link will help me whenever I decide to try it. XD

Theres a difference between being scared and being startled.

RE1 2 & 3 were all good at building suspense and making some twisted enemies and stuff, thats closer to being scary than RE4 & 5 which is just dog shit over the shoulder shooting where things randomly jump out at you.

Condemned is probably the most 'scary' game I've played

True. I feel like one thing that proves that a game is truly scary is when the game affects you even when you're not playing. I know that shadowy corners would make me uneasy after long sessions of Amnesia.

 

[SunnyD]

Atmosphere and suspense are great in horror games. In order to get really sucked into the game and get a good thrill out of it, its gotta have a good lead-up to the scary moments. I think Dead Space does this best. You hear shit crawling through walls, random quarantines where all the lights go off and shit goes from quiet and calm to loud and scary, shadows and writings in blood. The second one even has suicidal hallucinations oh boy

I remember the start of the Dead Space 2 demo....you start off opening a door to a huge cryogenic freezer filled with bodies. Fucked up right? Anyways, you walk around , these bodies are everywhere, you are expecting to see SOMETHING....but nothing happens. Not only has the atmosphere been set with frozen carcasses hanging on the walls and the deathly silience but the suspense was killing me.....I open to another door, more cryogenic freezers....you walk in and HOLY SHIT they burst open and they're all spasming and screaming. TV went from quiet footsteps to epileptic seizures lol. It seems obvious and lame in writing but trust me when i say i shit my pants when this happened.

Another thing is the baddies gotta be cool. Dead Space's enemies were pretty badass (the regenerator from the Dead Space 1 still freaks me out, especially that part where you are trapped with him in the library near the end), but they pale in comparison to Resident Evil's. Not only are they massively gruesome and gory but they kill you in awesome ways. The regenerators from RE4 were probably one of the scariest baddies ever. They weren't particularly hard to fight or anything...but that goddamn breathing sound they make.....give me chills. I never played Silent Hill but from the Youtube videos i have seen of Pyramid Head he seems pretty badass too.

Lastly, theres gotta be some kinda limiting factor that makes you feel trapped. Usually trapping you in a room of baddies and a timer works, but other things like not being able to move and shoot in Resident Evil or no pausing in Dead Space or no weapons in countless others (Amnesia: The Dark Descent). Feeling trapped and helpless really scares the shit outta people.

and dont forget to have a good mix of suspense and jumping out freaky shit that stuff is awesome. I love it when a monster jumps out at me, i may shit my pants but i giggle like a schoolgirl for the next 5 minutes afterwards lol.

 

[1man3letters]

Condemned is probably the most 'scary' game I've played

never played condemned but have condemned 2, that level with the bear was so awesome

 

[Killphil]

Atmosphere and suspense are great in horror games. In order to get really sucked into the game and get a good thrill out of it, its gotta have a good lead-up to the scary moments. I think Dead Space does this best. You hear shit crawling through walls, random quarantines where all the lights go off and shit goes from quiet and calm to loud and scary, shadows and writings in blood. The second one even has suicidal hallucinations oh boy

I remember the start of the Dead Space 2 demo....you start off opening a door to a huge cryogenic freezer filled with bodies. Fucked up right? Anyways, you walk around , these bodies are everywhere, you are expecting to see SOMETHING....but nothing happens. Not only has the atmosphere been set with frozen carcasses hanging on the walls and the deathly silience but the suspense was killing me.....I open to another door, more cryogenic freezers....you walk in and HOLY SHIT they burst open and they're all spasming and screaming. TV went from quiet footsteps to epileptic seizures lol. It seems obvious and lame in writing but trust me when i say i shit my pants when this happened.

Another thing is the baddies gotta be cool. Dead Space's enemies were pretty badass (the regenerator from the Dead Space 1 still freaks me out, especially that part where you are trapped with him in the library near the end), but they pale in comparison to Resident Evil's. Not only are they massively gruesome and gory but they kill you in awesome ways. The regenerators from RE4 were probably one of the scariest baddies ever. They weren't particularly hard to fight or anything...but that goddamn breathing sound they make.....give me chills. I never played Silent Hill but from the Youtube videos i have seen of Pyramid Head he seems pretty badass too.

Lastly, theres gotta be some kinda limiting factor that makes you feel trapped. Usually trapping you in a room of baddies and a timer works, but other things like not being able to move and shoot in Resident Evil or no pausing in Dead Space or no weapons in countless others (Amnesia: The Dark Descent). Feeling trapped and helpless really scares the shit outta people.

and dont forget to have a good mix of suspense and jumping out freaky shit that stuff is awesome. I love it when a monster jumps out at me, i may shit my pants but i giggle like a schoolgirl for the next 5 minutes afterwards lol.

Oh I forgot! The regenerator in dead space freaked me the hell out. When the girl tells you to run for your life and you can hear the screams of necromorphs moving through the ship. The absolute most nerve wracking part was when you get locked in the bloody hospital wing while the regenerator is chasing you AND you hear the necromophs bust through the vents and scream for blood. Truly a scene out of hell: bloody gurneys, blood stained walls, a vicious regenerating monster following you and screaming monsters coming at you, all while those yellow flashing lights don't quite illuminate the room to your liking.

 

[Goldi]

Rule of Rose is probably the scariest game I've ever played. The story was just so disturbing. Everything that happened made me cringe.

Fatal Frame 2 is a close secound.

 

[GGA soonk]

I guess the biggest thing is atmosphere and immersion. Amnesia: The Dark Descent was the last decent horror game I played.

 

[Enenra]

I'll be straight up and say SH nor RE ever scared me. I never liked RE that much, and SH2 was creepy, but it never got me.

Dead Space got me. Several times. The noises, the atmosphere, the childhood lullabies in the background, it all got me. At the time I was a Halo buff so training myself to aim away from the head took forever to override. Most of all, on Impossible it felt like I was supposed to die. The game made it feel like any necromorph could and would kill me, and every little victory was a success. When I completed the game I felt like I beat the odds, the way the game wanted you to feel. When something grabbed me I was afraid that it was going to kill me, I felt helpless, and the atmosphere made the sudden break in walking the narrow corridors so startling. Also seeing the suicides and maddening of the crew, with writing in blood on the walls, haunted me. And the noises... The noises.

DS2 kept the noises. And made the maddening of the Ishimura's crew translate to you. Watching Isaac, now a fully flushed out character, descend into madness was horrifying. The first game carried over, but now Isaac was at the forefront and I still felt so vulnerable... And the save system for hard core made me so anxious to cross into doorways. And the goddamn noises were still there.

All in all, atmosphere, insanity, difficulty in gameplay, gore, and music coupled with a rich story and overwhelming sense of dread and that the game does in fact want you to die. That's a good horror game.

 

[Gesture Required Ahead]

I kind of like action-horror type shit like Dead Space 1 and 2. I liked RE4 because the mood was still gloomy but 5 was just "suck my dick you piece of shit" kind of thing.

Nothing beats RE 1 2 and 3 though.

 

[MKF30]

I think the same factor when you watch a horror film, the "waiting to jump" moment lol, Fear, Doom 3, Quake, Silent Hill and Dead Space always got a jumping reaction at some point or another out of me. I know to some Doom and Quake may not be "the most scary" and they're not but the sounds, and "BOOM enemy" moments definitely are worth mentioning. I remember Doom 3 when the fucking demons possessed the crew, that shit was freaky lol. To me that's way more scary then zombies.

I know a lot of people mention RE but it's really just NOTLD in video game form, never scared me honestly...the newer ones actually I think are more creepy then the older ones imo RE 4 especially. Perhaps it's the presentation I don't know. The zombie thing though especially now is so old now, it's actually laughable imo, not even scary anymore.