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So I had the brilliant idea to play "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" alone...in the dark...in my cavernous basement...during a thunderstorm.

I think I almost died...

Then I decided to make a thread to see what other scary games people were playing. I like to scare myself through movies, books, games, camping in dark forests, and whatever else is out there. So share your personal scariest games, terrifying moments, and creepy atmospheric games you've come across. I wonder if I'll find something to top Amnesia?

To start off has anyone played the two Icepick games (some small Russian developer) Pathologic and The Void? I wonder how those are...

P.S. am I the only one who found Morrowind to be hella creepy at times?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh i just forgot to add, is the new American McGee Alice game spooky at all? I'm thinking of getting it.

Silent Hill 1, 2 and just about 3 are some of the most atmospheric and scary games I've ever played. Sadly since Konami decided to stop doing them and have let 3rd party studio do the series, they've not been as good.

I dont play horror games usually, but I finished Penumbra: Overture (from same guys who did Amnesia) a couple days ago and I must say I lost my underwears.
I´m going to start Penumbra: Black Plague tomorrow. I also read a lot of H.P Lovecraft´s tales, those are creepy.Iä! Cthulhu ftagn!

Good horror games are hard to find...
Most of the time they aren't that scary since a burst of assault rifle fire usually makes me feel better about any situation... unless i don't have the gun...

Pretty much what PF said. Few and far between, if any.

However AvP1 with the lights out late at night and a good set of earphones.
Gold.

AvP was a whole bundle of fun if played right...

purplefood wrote:AvP was a whole bundle of fun if played right...

The only thing horrific about the latest AvP game is the controls...

SilverMK2 wrote:

purplefood wrote:AvP was a whole bundle of fun if played right...

The only thing horrific about the latest AvP game is the controls...

I can agree with that...
Colonial Marines is out at some point and apparently it is very good.
Spring 20122 IIRC...

Fear i S**t my self at them that little girl O_o

Fear 1 was okay but Fear 2 is rubbish...

I didn't find penumbra or amnesia disconcerting really, though I rarely find horror games scary.

Horror novels however are a very different story and regularly cause sleepless nights.

Doom 1 ._. I was 6.

Soladrin wrote:Doom 1 ._. I was 6.

Have to say that I never got very far into the new (well, new 5 years ago ) Doom game...

Doom 3? That sucked, 4 is on it's way though.

Half Life 1 was a great for scaring, back in the day. I loved Bioshock one (still remember getting out of the elevator and hearing a splicer clinking around and going "Sweet, so I've got a wrench")

Scariest moment in a game was probably, F.E.A.R, my college roommate had just bought it, and was playing it in our dorm, I got home from class and was like:

"Oh this is a neat shooter! What is it?"

"Well it is *Whatever the full name of F.E.A.R was*"

"That's cool, looks nice but this area is kind of dry isn't it??"

*Alma pops up*

*Two grown men scream bloody murder*

*Girls next door come over to see what the heck was going on*

It is still a good laugh when we talk about it.

osumicrobio wrote:Half Life 1 was a great for scaring, back in the day. I loved Bioshock one (still remember getting out of the elevator and hearing a splicer clinking around and going "Sweet, so I've got a wrench")

Scariest moment in a game was probably, F.E.A.R, my college roommate had just bought it, and was playing it in our dorm, I got home from class and was like:

"Oh this is a neat shooter! What is it?"

"Well it is *Whatever the full name of F.E.A.R was*"

"That's cool, looks nice but this area is kind of dry isn't it??"

*Alma pops up*

*Two grown men scream bloody murder*

*Girls next door come over to see what the heck was going on*

It is still a good laugh when we talk about it.

I can relate to that indeed. Althou it was the first Clive Barkers undying that made me shriek like a girl some years ago.

I haven't seen a good horro game ever. Well not for the horror parts at least. Amnesia was kinda... well I may have the wrong attitude for playing horror games. People tell me that I "don't know how to play them". They might be right.

I have friends who recommend the first two silent hill games as scary games. They also say that fear (and fear 2) is scary but I say as far as horro goes they are rubbish. The action in the games is entertaining though.

If those things would happen in real life though I'd propably b screaming like a little girl and be in the group of the first people to die. As a game the stuff just isn't scary.

Oh, an old one was System Shock 2.
Think Bioshock with more claustrophic enviroments, a better villian and weapons that broke down constantly.

Awesome game.

Nope Morrowind actually scared me once, a fething greater bonewalker just popped out of nowhere, and I practically crapped my pants. I talking I physically tossed the controller I was startled so badly

FEAR is a bit scary at times, but anytime you have a gun it's easy to just hit sprint and start blasting. I actually didn't find the Silent Hills scary but fun puzzle games.

I think when something has such overt game mechanics in your face that aren't masked in-game through story or something it becomes very apparent that this is just a bunch of code and not all that terrifying.

Silent Hill for example, with its puzzles, inventory system, maps, combat, etc. it felt very much like a "game" if that makes sense and less like an interactive movie or something. This was because the mechanics were not weaved into the storytelling. This made it real easy to just charge past everyone and collect some keys or whatever.

Amnesia on the other hand has very few gameplay mechanincs, there's the physics system for puzzles and the inventory, all the sanity and light mechanics are built into the narrative so when you manipulate them you don't feel like you are manipulating video-game mechanics but are actually partaking in the exploration of a haunted castle. It also helps that the game is in 1st person and the physics stuff felt very tactile.

Also I should clarify I don't really find games "scary" so to speak, but I do like heavily atmospheric games.

Anyway I was wondering after playing Amnesia if I go play the studio's other games like Penumbra will I be disappointed? Can they live up to Amnesia?

P.S. If anyone has ever played Haunting Ground that game is such a joke

System shock 2, the giant invisible spiders.....gah bloody murder for me. Oh and when you get something, and then turn around and there's a protocol droid RIGHT THERE. And the NINJAS....

Call of Cthulhu dark corners of the earth. No freaking HUD, no reticle. and your character slowly goes crazy. *somebody's behind me*. *shiver*

purplefood wrote:Good horror games are hard to find...
Most of the time they aren't that scary since a burst of assault rifle fire usually makes me feel better about any situation... unless i don't have the gun...

Yeah, horror is hard to do. Walking around and surprising me with "BOOO!!!!! I JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!!! AHHHHH!! AHHHHH!!! ARE YOU SCARED NOW?" doesn't really "scare" me, it's just a cheap trick to get me a little startled.

The only game that really creeps me out is Clock Tower for the SNES. I hate being chased. HATE IT!! It picks at your paranoia. You're a completely helpless teenage girl. There are no weapons, you just run. Run and hide and hope to God that Scissors Man doesn't find you.

Dead Space was pretty creepy. It was about 3:00 AM, and I was in the section of the ship where all of those "Wheezer" Necromorphs were polluting the air, and I just found I could not go past the next door. I was freaked out. I ran back to the save station and played Mass Effect 2 lol. And no, I didn't stop playing Dead Space there, I have since beaten it.

Bioshock had one of the best settings for a horror game.

Oblivion could be quite creepy late at night down in the depths of a dungeon or something and you trip a trap and a zombie skeleton thing comes rushing at you out of the darkness.

Also, how scary is Amnesia: The Dark Descent? What really makes it scary? I'm thinking of getting it off steam.

First, I suggest the demo for Amnesia since it's probably the best way to try out the game.

Amnesia has a few things going for it. Firstly, all the puzzles are physics based which gives all object interactions a very nice tactile feel. For example to open a door, you click on the knob, hold the mouse button down, and drag your mouse back. Simple things like that help immersion quite a bit. And make for frantic chases as you fumble on doors, cabinets, and the like.

The next big thing is how enemies are handled. You cannot fight. There are no weapons or attacks, you gotta run and hide. Here's the interesting part: staying in the dark lowers sanity, low sanity makes it easier for monsters to catch you (plus you freak out a whole lot).

Also, looking at monsters lowers sanity. So you have to run away without looking, find someplace dark, but if you're in the dark too long your sanity will decrease, but lighted areas make you easier to see. Add the fact that you cannot look at your enemies too long and you get a great sense of dread since it always feels like something is gonna get you.

On top of that the game is just well done, the story is interesting so far, EXCELLENT sound design, and generally great atmosphere: the right things go bump, the right doors slam shut by themselves, and a whole bag full of other little details.

That really sounds interesting, might have to pick that up myself.

Dead Space and Bioshock are both very atmospheric Horror/action/shooter games. Dead Space 2 on the other hand lost a lot of the suspense since you were always talking with someone, although it was still fantastic.

Whether you find a game scary or not I find is as much a matter of your own attitude as the game itself - about half way through Dead Space I decided to just play it as a game and didn't find it scary any more, while in the first half I was creeping round making sure there were no monsters and generally making sure I went to the toilet before playing

In a game I find it very hard to be scared in general, as someone has hinted to above, at the end of the day I am still sitting on my Sofa holding a controller.

Silent Hill used music and sounds to great effect in my opinion, and managed to give a greater sense of dread than many games I've played because of it. A lot of that is down to the brilliance of Akira Yamaoka.

I'd suggest Silent Hill 2 is probably the best for scares of the series, due to the story in general, and pyramid head being put to good use.

Upon discovering the alien crash site in Fallout 3, I encountered a Yao Guai for the first time. It sprinted down the hill as I was searching for alien power cells and launched its self at me, roaring. I was on PC, so I had the time to turn around and gak my pants, I have a screen shot of it, but its got profanity written on it

Soladrin wrote:Doom 3? That sucked, 4 is on it's way though.

Doom 3 was a lot of fun Co-op. Wouldn't know about single player though.

Shame on everyone for forgetting the trippiest of horror games that actually screwed with the player.



The original AvP with a decent sound set up played at night with all the lights off could be pretty nerve wracking as the Marine.