Most scared you have been while playing a video game [Archive]

houstonlibrarian

09-30-2009, 09:48 PM

Boys and girls...
I think I am old enough and secure enough in my manhood at this point to admit that I was scared to death of playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons on my Intellivision.
I wouldn't even touch the cartridge. I'd leave it way over in the corner of my little Intellivision case.
That dragon breathing and suspense of not knowing when the dragon would come storming at you when you opened up a trail... was just too much for a 6 year old to take.

FABombjoy

09-30-2009, 10:09 PM

The Aliens-TC mod for the original Doom, playing in the dark w/ headphones on, really got to me. Whoever did the mod nailed the environment well - you'd open fire and hear hissing all around in the goo-covered darkness. I'd play at early in the morning, and after awhile I just had to shut it off to calm myself down.

Flashback2012

09-30-2009, 10:34 PM

I literally jumped out of my seat while playing The 7th Guest on PC at a friend's house. I remember being in the hallway when this ghostly woman pops on screen and floats down the hall. I remember yelling out loud enough to wake up my friend's kid brother. He was bothered by the game and started to cry and that led to everyone in the house waking up. :oops:

The only other game to make me jump was the first Resident Evil where you run down the hallway and the dogs jump through the windows (but this has gotten lots of people). :p

vivaeljason

09-30-2009, 10:42 PM

The most freaked I've ever been would have to be Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for the GameCube. Not including horror games, I got freaked out as a kid playing Kirby's Adventure when Kirby finally got to the last boss (for serious).

My first meeting with Ganon in the original LOZ would also have to be up there.

By the way, the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread title would have to be this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVDOj109F5E

EDIT: And how could I forget Psycho Mantis? Man, the first time he started reading my memory card, I nearly crapped myself.

LaughingMAN.S9

09-30-2009, 10:48 PM

easily slimeworld for the genesis when you're playing that timed mode, forgot what it was called, you never knew if the next step you took was going to be the one where that alien dragon head thing would reach out from under the slime and eat u :(

Mimi Nakamura

09-30-2009, 11:33 PM

Half-Life. It had me jumping out of my seat everytime I sneaked around a corner. I'm not a fan of PC games, but Half-Life was an incredible experience.

mobiusclimber

09-30-2009, 11:41 PM

XYXZYZ

09-30-2009, 11:50 PM

In Bionic Commando, when you tap the enemy communications, that alarm that goes off startles the hell out of me every time.

Famidrive-16

10-01-2009, 12:32 AM

I got freaked out as a kid playing Kirby's Adventure when Kirby finally got to the last boss (for serious).

Kirby had some messed up bosses.

http://i34.tinypic.com/25smufa.jpg

Kevincal

10-01-2009, 01:04 AM

Alien vs. Predator on the Jaguar STILL scares me if I play it in an empty house at night with the sound turned UP. :D That game has such a classic creepy ass atmosphere.

The original Resident Evil spooked me pretty good too. But I was a teenager...

Alien Trilogy is pretty creepy, even Doom can make me jump sometimes still.

MYST kinda creeps me out.

Game Freak

10-01-2009, 02:36 AM

When I was a child, i was genuinely scared of Dungeons of Daggorath. It terrified me so much I had to ask my dad to hide it in his closet where I couldn't find it. The heartbeat, the line graphics, the fearsome typing of A SPACE R ENTER....scared me so much

I also was somewhat afraid of Haunted House on the 2600.

The Resident Evil Series was the first one that was kinda understandable as scaring your pants off :P

ryborg

10-01-2009, 03:02 AM

When I was real little, like four years old, I spent a lot of time at my aunt's house, who had an Intellivision with the Intellivoice module. The very first time I heard that robotic voice synthesis (Bomb Squad I think), it freaked me the hell out and I had nightmares for weeks. WHY WAS THE GAME TALKING TO ME

Dire 51

10-01-2009, 03:03 AM

The only game I can remember actually freaking me out (not just "jump in my seat" like the dogs in the hallway in RE) was Silent Hill. I can't think of any other game to really creep me out like that, not even the sequels.
I second that 100%. No game has ever creeped me out the way Silent Hill did. Specifically... remember when you're in the school and you start hearing those squeaks? I was playing it around 3 AM with the lights off when the squeaks started. Every time I'd turn around, I'd see part of a shadow pass by my flashlight, then it was gone. Talk about freaky. Once I actually got a good look at one of the shadows, it got even creepier. They were little kids, or something resembling little kids.

I think I flipped on all the lights on my room and turned the game off at that point. LOL

mobiusclimber

10-01-2009, 06:22 AM

Yeah, the school was definitely where the creepiness really ratched up past a comfortable level. Even just the desks creeped me out, tho I can't think of why now.

And while I said none of the sequels really did it, I think SH2 had one part that, had I been younger, probably would have given me nightmares (and gives me the wilies every time I think about it), and that's the whole thing w/ Angela near the end, from that "bed" boss you fight to her saying "oh, you see it too now? for me it's always like this" or whatever. God. Makes me want to crawl out of my skin just thinking about it.

exit

10-01-2009, 07:46 AM

Silent Hill 1 and 2 are the scariest games of their time. Silent Hill because of how psychological it would end up getting, in the beginning when you're attacked in the alleyway and towards the end where everything would start getting all distorted as your running really freaked me out when I first played it. Silent Hill 2 was a different kind of fear, it was also psychological, but it messed with my emotions more than anything and still remains one of the best pieces of storytelling in any game I've ever played.

Both Half Life 1 and 2 made me jump because of all the unexpected explosions and enemies that would come almost out of no where. Half Life 2 had that crazy ass zombie like town that's among one of the creepiest levels I've ever play through in any game.

The most recent game to have scared the hell out of me was Dead Space, it's the only game in years that made me scared to open a door and I would get soo paranoid that I would smash up every corpse just in case it decides to get back up on me.

Sniderman

10-01-2009, 08:16 AM

http://i37.tinypic.com/6t1ema.jpg

The Fatal Frame series. 'Nuff said.

Oobgarm

10-01-2009, 08:34 AM

Frankenstein's Monster on 2600. Seeing Frankenstein storm towards the screen while the Atari made horrendous noises scared me to death as a kid.

Still gives me chills when I see it.

jb143

10-01-2009, 11:35 AM

smork

10-01-2009, 11:48 AM

First time I played Sinistar. Man, was it loud!

AB Positive

10-01-2009, 12:31 PM

MYST kinda creeps me out.

I was actually about to say this... but Myst III in particular. At the end, there's a real sense of horror, fear and some pity when you're confronted by your antagonist. I think it's the only Myst game you can actually die in if memory serves me right.

MissingNo_1231

10-01-2009, 04:35 PM

Doom 3 and Resident Evil 4 come to mind, but those are probably the only survival horror games I've ever played.

Oh, Clock Tower on SNES. I have it on an emulator thing. That scares me today.

The 1 2 P

10-01-2009, 06:26 PM

Scared? Never. Freaked the hell out? Absolutely. Silent Hill takes the cake as the biggest mind fuck ever. That game(which I played thru the Japanese import version my first time) had me second guessing just walking a few feet in front of me. And despite that, it's still one of my favorite games to play.

Doom 3 also freaked me out but for different reasons. Sure I knew what was coming but would a flashlight-equipped gun have been so difficult to add in? And what about all those enemies that respawned behind me like Jason Voorhees in his prime. Surely that was a programming error. Well, probably not but still....

mobiusclimber

10-01-2009, 08:57 PM

Oooooh I forgot my earliest case of being scared by a video game: Berzerk! My dad used to own a hobby store and had a cab of Berzerk set up. Man I'd play that game all the time but that robotic voice just freaked me the hell out. And the smiley face! XD

KILL THE INTRUDER!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb4gWvqbsYA

Porksta

10-01-2009, 09:12 PM

I still haven't gotten through the first level of Fatal Frame 2. Nor have I listened to a single recording. That shit is just way too freaky.

hellfire

10-01-2009, 09:19 PM

fatal frame scares the fuck out of me
bioshock also scares the fuck out of me

deltoidsteep

10-01-2009, 10:51 PM

fatal frame scares the fuck out of me
bioshock also scares the fuck out of me

Yes! I'm glad I'm not the only one. I still haven't finished Bioshock because of this. It's interesting that horror movies never have much effect on me, but some games are terrifying. I guess it's just that extra level of immersion.

Tron 2.0

10-01-2009, 11:14 PM

I'd say the original RE and Silent Hill.Back then i didn't know what to expect for playing both afther there release.Mostly wtf experince for both games since they caught me off guard.Though,the latest ones for both serise not so much since i'm used to it now.

Ed Oscuro

10-01-2009, 11:21 PM

There's little that I could consider really "scary" goes in Classic Gaming; System Shock 2 is the closest but that's mostly just cheesy.

Otogirisou is pretty moody, but I don't know about scary.

Plenty of 360 generation titles are somewhat scary. Condemned: Criminal Origins has its moments, and FEAR 2 probably does as well.

Gabriel

10-01-2009, 11:43 PM

123►Genei-Jin

10-02-2009, 01:26 AM

Fatal Frame 2.

Other than that I can't think of any classic game scaring me at all.

Wraith Storm

10-02-2009, 05:21 AM

The only game which has ever scared me is Bullet Witch.

There's a level where you're in a subway. It's dark and dead quiet. Up until this point, there have been civilians in the game which ocassionally get attacked by the monsters.

In this dark subway tunnel, I hear a woman's scream. I figure it's a trap, so I cautiously walk forward. All is quiet.

Then these... gibbering THINGS jump out at me. They're breathing fire but that's not what was scary about them. The thing which made them frightening was their gibbering, and how they moved in a completely unnatural way bending in ways that shouldn't be possible for anything with a humanoid structure. It seriously freaked me out.

For the rest of the game, I went into hyper-caution mode whenever I heard those things gibbering. Oh, and the woman's scream? The monsters would occasionally emit that scream and then stay dead silent until they could jump out and get you.

God I LOVE Bullet Witch. Yeah that subway level was pretty creepy. Also, later when you are in the thick fog covered forest and those same creatures are running and hiding between the trees. I love it, love it, LOVE IT!!!

A solid amount of games have creeped me out (Doom and Heretic) or made me feel VERY on edge and uneasy (Enemy Zero), but only an elite few have actually made me jump.

The first game that ever made me jump was when my friend got his Sega Saturn and a little game called "D". We hooked it up in my room, called a few other friends over, turned out the lights and started playing. In one part there is a door that Laura can open, and when you open it, it slowly creeks open and then BAM! the music cues in and you see a rotting corpse impaled on a wall of spikes! I will never forget that. Everyone including my self jumped out of our chairs.

The next game that made me jump was Castlevania 64. At the beginning when the lightning strikes the tree and it falls. I just wasn't expecting it and It gave me a pretty good scare.

Then as everyone else said... Resident Evil! Yes... Those damn dogs when they jumped through the window was certainly unexpected and made me jump.

BydoEmpire

10-02-2009, 12:56 PM

I was playing Quake 3 online on my Dreamcast when I lived in an apartment next to an alley in Chicago. It was fairly late at night, adn the lights were off when all of a sudden I hear a really loud BANG. I immediately assumed it was a gunshot, but instead of stopping playing, I slid down off the couch and onto the floor to be more "protected" (the apartment had a brick wall, so I figured if I was behind the brick and my couch I'd be pretty safe. It did really freak me out, though. I like being "in the game" but not to the point of getting shot at while playing Quake...

Later I checked it out and it was just an egg against the window.

Vkmies

10-02-2009, 01:02 PM

Heroes of might and magic were never a scary series. But always, when a enemy-hero is on sight and he is like a half-god with all the skills like 25, im scared shitless.

pseudonym

10-02-2009, 01:08 PM

Silent Hill and the System Shock games creeped me out.

Berserker

10-02-2009, 04:53 PM

I never had a 3DO, but my local Meijers for years had this demo unit, and one of the game demos on there was Alone in the Dark.

I swear, no matter how many times I played that demo, when that goddamn monster smashed through the window or door or whatever it was, it was officially Freak-the-Fuck-Out Time. Followed shortly by Game Over Time.

Ryaan1234

10-02-2009, 05:42 PM

Was I the only one who was seriously creeped out by the Forest Temple in Zelda:OoT?

Game Freak

10-02-2009, 07:31 PM

Was I the only one who was seriously creeped out by the Forest Temple in Zelda:OoT?

i was reasonable creeped out by that. What really scared the bajeezus out of me though was Jabu Jabu's belly. Man did that scare me...In fact i got scared a lot in that game x_x

robotriot

10-02-2009, 08:27 PM

System Shock 2 takes the top spot for me. I was never able to play much of it, the sound and atmosphere was just too much for me. Other games that scared me were Silent Hill 2 and Eternal Darkness (the bathtub!). I think sound plays a major part in making games scary. If I would have played them with no sound, I think it would have been a lot easier to get through the games.

vivaeljason

10-02-2009, 11:24 PM

Was I the only one who was seriously creeped out by the Forest Temple in Zelda:OoT?

The Forest Temple never freaked me out, but down in the well...yeah...I'm freaked now just thinking about it.

Raster

10-03-2009, 02:04 AM

There is a level from Return to Castle Wolfenstein that was pretty eerie. They definately got that one right.

RPG_Fanatic

10-03-2009, 09:33 AM

Eternal Darkness for the Game Cube freaked me out.

Nico87

10-03-2009, 09:42 AM

BioShock and F.E.A.R., both on PC, had me jumping on quite a few occassions.

Ed Oscuro

10-03-2009, 09:51 AM

The thing which made them frightening was their gibbering, and how they moved in a completely unnatural way bending in ways that shouldn't be possible for anything with a humanoid structure. It seriously freaked me out.
This is exactly the description given to the monsters from the Half-Life mod "Afraid of Monsters." Gibbering, and the weird movement. Their heads move back and forth through space, seemingly randomly, sort of like a balloon on a string being buffeted by winds from all directions.

There is a level from Return to Castle Wolfenstein that was pretty eerie. They definately got that one right.
Which one? 2009, 2001? I played through 2001, heh, comes off as mostly just silly now. Good production values though.

sonoranreptile

10-03-2009, 11:29 AM

I would have to say RE2 when the dogs first burst thru the window or when the alligator lunges out of the sewer. Also ANY Fatal Frame game gives me the creeps.....big time

Aussie2B

10-03-2009, 03:00 PM

The only thing I can think of was while playing the PC version of Jurassic Park in the FPS levels. It was at night and the lights were off and in the game I was slowly walking around in the dark when a raptor jumped up right in front of me seemingly comming from nowhere. That's the only time I remember actually jumping in fear while playing a game. LOL

I had pretty much the exact same experience with the SNES Jurassic Park. I was always terrified of what was out-of-view, and I hated the red flash of light when being attacked by a dinosaur right in my face. It was my only childhood game that I never really played (it didn't help that it has no passwords or saves and is pretty tough too), and in retrospect, I feel kind of guilty that my mom dropped 70 bucks on it.

I don't really play horror games in general either. I love to watch someone else play, but I get too immersed when I'm playing myself. I landed a good deal on Silent Hill, though, and I was giving it a try. Even though I had probably watched someone else play through the whole game in the past, I got so freaked out by getting attacked in the alleyway that I believe I turned it off there. :P

I don't think I was bothered by the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time, but I remember I stopped playing the game for around half a year when I was in the Shadow Temple. I was getting a little bored and fed up with the game (yeah, I know), but I think part of it was because the dungeon freaked me out too. Also, I definitely know I was scared of those Redead enemies. Their screams are so loud and startling.

kupomogli

10-03-2009, 04:30 PM

When I was playing Street Fighter 4. My friend Matt, Steve, and Jordan are noobs at the series, especially Matt who thinks he owns at the game(or video games in general) and just sucks balls.

So with Matt, since he started to piss me off, I just screwed around with him and made it look like a joke to fight him. Every single match again him. He went over hit his 360 as hard as he could, game self ejected, Jordan flipped out(because it was his game,) and Matt looked pissed. I was scared that I might have to kick his ass, obviously not at all scared that he might hurt me :P.

Streetball 21

10-03-2009, 11:31 PM

Eternal Darkness for me, when the volume on the TV supposedly starting turning down...

Also for some odd reason, Final Fight when I was younger. Especially on the title screen when that weird yelling would occur. When I would fight an Andore, I would freak out too, especially when you fought them in the ring in the third stage. Who knows why lol...

HurricaneAndrew

10-04-2009, 02:21 AM

Probably the most freaked out I've been by a video game is by the opening scene to the first stage of the "President's Club" level on True Crime New York City. When he walks into the club and asks the guy sitting there if he is alright and the guy's head falls off is pretty creepy.

calistarwind

10-04-2009, 12:08 PM

I would have to say the character design for Vandal Hearts 2 scared the crap out of me. I couldn't even play it.

Seriously though, I'm also in the Silent Hill boat. I still remember thinking that I was dying in the beginning and was so scared because I couldn't get away.

phreakindee

10-05-2009, 12:19 AM

Doom 3 had its jumpy moments, as did HL2... but how about the original Thief? Talk about atmosphere, especially later as you get into the very dark and very serious supernatural elements and disembodied forms. Gives me chills typing about it.

Also, the first expansion to F.E.A.R. - wow. Had some seriously demented imagery. Not so much scared, just freaked out at how twisted and WEIRD some of the things were that were happening. Holy crap, it's after midnight and I hear something outside my window no lie..

BetaWolf47

10-05-2009, 01:19 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvsVbSoel0E&feature=PlayList&p=378133139242BBBB&index=27

The enemies that appear at 3:00 scare the ever loving **** out of me! I know, it's odd. I don't play horror games.

bacteria

10-05-2009, 03:25 AM

The Aliens mod for Doom ages ago; also Aliens vs Preditor (original one) - not scared as such, but the anticipation and suspense got to me! You didn't want to move along the corridors because you knew what was coming! lol

Compute

10-05-2009, 08:46 AM

I'll go with System Shock 2, esp with the texture and model updates. Those damn egg things that hatch worms and sometimes a swarm of flies, yeesh. Or those big flesh things.

For years I couldn't play the 'boss' levels in SNES Home Alone, the spiders and rats just scared me for some reason..

I'll throw Haunted House in there too, all that stuff in the maze and oop no lights! yipe

afk to go hide under a blanket

Xian042

10-05-2009, 10:40 AM

BioShock got me recently,

** MINOR SPOILER**

I believe it was the little room behind the stripper pole. You walk in, I saw the record player under a spotlight and decided to take a closer look, at that moment some freaky photographs flashed in my face and made me jump.

PentiumMMX

10-05-2009, 11:14 AM

In a more odd example, the most scared I ever was when playing anything was during Final Fantasy VII.

*SPOILERS FOR FF7*

It was at the point on Disc 1 when you infiltrate the Shin-Ra headquarters, and Cloud looks through the window of a room; finding this freaky-looking blob of flesh and eyeballs inside it. That scared the shit out of me...but the line from Barret when he looks in there does make it funny ("Where's it's ****in' head?!")

*END SPOILERS*