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[cormack12]

Some of the games like resi lose their impact when you play them in the day. But when you get a good set of headphones, settle in with the dark and nothing else, do games do a good job of scaring you (broadly speaking)?

Obviously some do it better than others but games like isolation, resi, tlou do have really unsettling/creepy parts to me. Moreso than actual horror films, and I find the sound designs really good. Maybe because it's as you're actually controlling the player so need to focus and be present more instead if passively watching a story?

Gaf, share your biggest scare!

 

[Three]

For me it's kind of weird. When I first played PT I was scared shitless but then I showed it to some mates and then replaying it even alone in the dark had no effect on me anymore.

I was pretty scared of Death Stranding with the shower scene too, that suspense freaked me out but the jump scares never work.

I think for me it's mostly suspense. TLOU sound design was a good example you bring up. Probably what makes it scary is hearing those echoing clickers or bloater sounds and knowing there is danger close but not knowing where they are.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

I don't get scared of movies or games, because I know it's fake, but I do love horror as a genre.
The startled moments are almost always because of some cheap loud sound tactic.

 

[RJMacready73]

Have you played Resi7 in VR? It's fucking terrifying cause you are now "in" the bloody horror movie and have to go down into the basement to progress the game whereas every fiber of your body is screaming GTFO!

 

[fart town usa]

RE7 in VR is by far the scariest game related experience I've had.

ZombiU is up there too, that game can be really intense with some of the set pieces it throws at you. Video doesn't really capture just how cool this part of the game is, your first time through is super intense cause you don't really expect it.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

RE7 in VR is by far the scariest game related experience I've had.

ZombiU is up there too, that game can be really intense with some of the set pieces it throws at you. Video doesn't really capture just how cool this part of the game is, your first time through is super intense cause you don't really expect it.

Came to post ZombiU, am currently replaying it! You really feel like you're fighting for your life even against 1 or 2 zombies, and forget it when you're against a horde! Book it while you still can! The Nursery is what I'm dreading the most...if I can even make it that far in this replay

 

[fart town usa]

Came to post ZombiU, am currently replaying it! You really feel like you're fighting for your life even against 1 or 2 zombies, and forget it when you're against a horde! Book it while you still can! The Nursery is what I'm dreading the most...if I can even make it that far in this replay

Hell yea, I didn't capture a full playthrough when I revisited it last year. Need to get back to it at some point, it really is an amazing game. I'll always be bummed that it'll never get a sequel.

 

[Doom85]

For me, Silent Hill 2 and 3 deliver a constant state of unnerving horror that even most solid horror movies can’t match. The music and ambient background noises alone make for a terrifying experience.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Hell yea, I didn't capture a full playthrough when I revisited it last year. Need to get back to it at some point, it really is an amazing game. I'll always be bummed that it'll never get a sequel.

I can tell the dev team was passionate about it, they wanted to make a ZombiU 2 at some point but Ubisoft CEO declined it

 

[lh032]

i guess so.

I think resident evil is the only quality AAA horror game for me.
No other horror games out there comes close.

Lets hope callisto protocol delivers.

 

[poppabk]

Have you played Resi7 in VR? It's fucking terrifying cause you are now "in" the bloody horror movie and have to go down into the basement to progress the game whereas every fiber of your body is screaming GTFO!

Yeah VR adds a lot. Was playing the Pavlov Shack Beta zombie horde mode and even though I had become John Wick at the shooting range with quick reloads, with a bunch of zombies closing in I would panic and end up dropping my gun on the floor and then die as a I scrambled around trying to pick it up.

 

[mortal]

VR horror is the only thing that can scare me now because of the immersion that comes with playing in VR.

Non-VR horror games no longer scare me whatsoever, or even horror films for that matter.
Everything is too derivative and overreliant on tropes. The horror genre in general has become very predictable imo.

 

[_SAKY_]

I have noped out of 1 or 2 of em, yeah

 

[Northeastmonk]

For me, Silent Hill 2 and 3 deliver a constant state of unnerving horror that even most solid horror movies can’t match. The music and ambient background noises alone make for a terrifying experience.

Silent Hill 4 too. Imagine being trapped in your home. I feel like 4 gets overlooked. SH2 really captures the vibes of the entire franchise. A man is going to a vacation spot where he told his wife he would take her. There’s a lot of lingering themes of sadness, disparity, hopelessness, and fear. I have a hard time getting into a new horror game because those older games stand out so well. I enjoyed RE7/Village. Ethan Winters has an interesting story if you have empathy for him. The house and the family were what video games needed. It was the video game equal to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was what made PT so interesting. It was like Hell House or season 1 of AHS. SH Homecoming had some of that with the house sequence, which was probably one of the few things I liked about the game.

It’s difficult because I have high expectations and I enjoy what I like. Just because it looks scary doesn’t mean it will be scary. I have high hopes for The Calisto Protocol and RE4R, but that’s also horror that I enjoy. I’ve experienced that type of horror before, but now it’s going to look better(change things up a bit). Devotion on PC was a great game. I don’t see a lot of that. It’s sad to think the radio station playing in PT gave off creepier vibes than a lot of media that’s out there. I also think that a woke culture like we have kills the creativity. There’s so many critics out there that I feel influence future projects. That’s probably due to how much money is involved with creating these games. I tend to enjoy looking back on older games.

 

[Urban]

Isnt the trend with "scary games" just to have as many jump scares as possible?

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[lovetalkgames]

RE3 played in the late evening during the autumn season was peak immersion for me. The way the game features mostly overcast weather is so moody and felt.

 

[mansoor1980]

alien isolation was the last real horror game

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

I’m sorry I’ve never been scared by a game in my life. No offence meant.

 

[emivita]

I remember playing the second scenario in RE2R, and fucking Mr. X broke a wall near the interrogation rooms. This was totally unexpected for me because it never happened in the first scenario, so I literally fell off my chair for the scare.

 

[Lasha]

Siren Blood Curse and Subnautica are the two scariest games that I have ever played. Both did an excellent job of capturing an overwhelming sense of dread during my first playthrough.

 

[Kuranghi]

I think until RE8's horrific babby I wasn't scared to play something alone since Dead Space 2. I was playing RE8 at 1am and got to that part and I was like "ehhh, I'll wait until morning" even though I was really into the game and could've played hours more lol.

I’m sorry I’ve never been scared by a game in my life. No offence meant.

If I purposefully stop myself from being immersed then I will also never be scared by games even though I personally don't like tense/horror films because they do make me uneasy. I've played games for 30 years so I know the limitations and such, nothing really surprises anymore, so even with example of RE8 above I was only freaked out because I was really into it, if I sat back for a minute and processed the scenario (you have no weapons or items) then its clear you can't fight the thing so you have to run and then its not really "scary" anymore, but I was just genuinely into it.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

RE7 in VR is by far the scariest game related experience I've had.

ZombiU is up there too, that game can be really intense with some of the set pieces it throws at you. Video doesn't really capture just how cool this part of the game is, your first time through is super intense cause you don't really expect it.

Zombi U's always looked super interesting...

Should I play it on Wii U with the touchpad, or the Steam version I already own?

 

[Grildon Tundy]

Have you played Resi7 in VR? It's fucking terrifying cause you are now "in" the bloody horror movie and have to go down into the basement to progress the game whereas every fiber of your body is screaming GTFO!

i guess so.

I think resident evil is the only quality AAA horror game for me.
No other horror games out there comes close.

Lets hope callisto protocol delivers.

Yeah VR adds a lot. Was playing the Pavlov Shack Beta zombie horde mode and even though I had become John Wick at the shooting range with quick reloads, with a bunch of zombies closing in I would panic and end up dropping my gun on the floor and then die as a I scrambled around trying to pick it up.

PSA regarding the Resi series and VR. I'm going to sound like an advertiser, but it's legit:

A modder named PrayDog single-handedly made Resident Evil Remakes 2&3, RE 7&8 FULLY VR--hand tracking and all. ALL COMPLETELY FREE. I can verify that they are AWESOME in VR and even work better than, say, Bethesda's official Skyrim VR. The dude is a legend.

Resident Evil VR info and install instructions: https://beastsaber.notion.site/beas...lage-VR-mods-3db8bd110ebf4a38870e1a5114b16998

 

[poppabk]

PSA regarding the Resi series and VR. I'm going to sound like an advertiser, but it's legit:

A modder named PrayDog single-handedly made Resident Evil Remakes 2&3, RE 7&8 FULLY VR--hand tracking and all. ALL COMPLETELY FREE. I can verify that they are AWESOME in VR and even work better than, say, Bethesda's official Skyrim VR. The dude is a legend.

Resident Evil VR info and install instructions: https://beastsaber.notion.site/beas...lage-VR-mods-3db8bd110ebf4a38870e1a5114b16998

I took your word for it and picked up the RE humble bundle.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I took your word for it and picked up the RE humble bundle.

I played Resi 2 Remake with it. Stellar. Have fun, man!

 

[sachos]

Most modern scary games i've seen are just a jump scare simulator, fuck that, thats just lazy imo unless the sounds are diegetic.

 

[Esca]

I don't find things scary but I absolutely love the genre and everything about it.

 

[killatopak]

Gaf, share your biggest scare!

It will always be Nemesis on the Police Station window.

 

[fart town usa]

Zombi U's always looked super interesting...

Should I play it on Wii U with the touchpad, or the Steam version I already own?

It's better with the touchpad on Wii U but the other versions are fine. I also have it on PS4, they did a good job putting it all on one screen.

Start off slow and cautious. Once you get the mechanics down, you'll get more confident and the combat will really start to shine. It's a great game, it came out a month after RE6, that's where survival horror was back then, lol. Zombi U got trashed for being archaic and slow but it's a straight up survival horror game, developers even said as such. Definitely has a bit of jank but nothing too outrageous.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

It's better with the touchpad on Wii U but the other versions are fine. I also have it on PS4, they did a good job putting it all on one screen.

Start off slow and cautious. Once you get the mechanics down, you'll get more confident and the combat will really start to shine. It's a great game, it came out a month after RE6, that's where survival horror was back then, lol. Zombi U got trashed for being archaic and slow but it's a straight up survival horror game, developers even said as such. Definitely has a bit of jank but nothing too outrageous.

Playing it right now on PC since I already owned it. Just outside of Buckingham Palace at the moment. Really digging the survival horror. Compelling stuff!

 

[rodrigolfp]

Be scared with video games??? Unless you mean "jump scare".

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Silent Hill 1-4 and Resident Evil 7 are the only ones to ever unsettle me to the point of being on edge, and, with the knowledge that I'm perfectly safe playing a videogame, on edge is probably the closest analogue to "fear," that I'm going to experience, so....yeah, those five are great.

 

[ReBurn]

They're only scary the first time. Once you know what's going to happen and how to deal with it the magic is over. But I don't think I've ever really been scared by a game. Too many try to use blood and gore or some cheap form of helplessness for the fright effect instead of true suspense and terror.

I enjoyed Aliens Isolation a lot because they tried to make the Xenomorphs unpredictable.

 

[sCHOCOLATE]

Condemned: Criminal Origins. Just try playing the Shopping Mall sequence, at night, wearing headphones and no distractions.

 

[VeganElduderino]

Re7VR was the most scared i ever was while playing a game , Re2 remake made scream like a bitch mostly cause i used headphones to play it ! Headphone intensifies 10x the scare factor

 

[Rambone]

I think the intensity of horrific situations is what gets me or games that force me out of my safety bubble, this can also get fatiguing after awhile.

Five Nights at Freddy's Help Wanted VR took awhile to get used to with all the jump scares and knowing that I couldn't just chill in that office indefinitely. Resident Evil Village got me plenty of times because situations were taken out of my control such as the giant ass baby chasing me through a basement to no end or werewolf men relentlessly assaulting me in the village for what seemed like an eternity. Dead Space for example where I'm being chased by a Necromorph that cannot be killed. I played the Evil Within and the early part of the game where some dude was chain sawing a bunch of corpses and then chasing me around with it while I'm trying to escape from him through a hallway full of spinning spikes closing in on me then escaping down a chute filled with blood and gore then dropping into a pool of it was a big oh hell no from me.

VR I think can be the real deal when done right. I think I feel genuine dread/fear when playing games like Dread Halls, Resident Evil 7, FNAF even. I still remember being fresh to FNAF and the VR version being my first experience, was chilling in the office listening to phone guy go on thinking that nothing was going to happen while he was talking and sure enough bonny damn near gave me a heart attack when I looked to my left and saw something staring at me from the hall way and then immediately jump right into my face making this horrible loud screech (had headphones on also...). I literally flew back screaming like a little bitch (lol), knocking my chair back and felt like I was going to have a heart attack. It took me about 6 months to come back to that game and I had to slowly build the courage up to do it again.

 

[Shifty]

I'd describe it more as a tense excitement than legitimate fear. I came to the genre late so there was a period where not knowing any of the common scares made it more intense, but that diminished after a few games. In the end, atmosphere is king.

The most effective spooks to my mind are situations where a game presents you with a threshold that inspires a sense of dread, then forces you to cross it in order to progress. Like Neptune's corpse in REmake, or entering the basement in RE7.

Also notable are situations where the player is nudged toward putting themselves into a dangerous position, and only realizing after it's too late.

A good example of that would be the double licker ambush in RE2make where they come out of the ceiling, and I guess a less good one would be the basement room full of zombies in original RE2 since it's so obvious that they're all going to stand up after you grab the item. Though I guess that could qualify it as a threshold scare instead.

They're only scary the first time. Once you know what's going to happen and how to deal with it the magic is over.

I find the best horror games are self-aware about this, and repurpose the scares as a gameplay proposition for later playthroughs. Like speedrun rewards in classic RE - they know you're not going to get got twice, so flip the problem on its head and challenge you to kill or avoid the associated bad situations as efficiently as possible.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Condemned: Criminal Origins. Just try playing the Shopping Mall sequence, at night, wearing headphones and no distractions.

Now I thought that bit was good, and the empty swimming pool bit to. But it didn't scare me.

 

[op22]

It's the psychological stuff that gets me. Like the tension from getting close to the depressed people in Dark Souls or Cyberpunk. Some unlucky people in Florida got to experience something similar recently in real life:

Even after finding out they're harmless, just knowing the depths humanity could sink to is disturbing.

 

[jabberwookie]

It's mostly jump scares that get me. And the suspense of knowing a jump scare is about to happen.

I love a spooky environment like RE7. I love it so much it doesn't scare me because I'd like to explore it irl as long as there were no actual mutated killers around

 

[RJMacready73]

I've got RE village sitting on my PS5 and I'm busting to play it but holding off on the hopes/chances Capcom give me a VR mode for the upcoming PSVR2

 

[tommib]

Outlast was scary as shit when it came out. I knew nothing about it and could barely power through it.

Original Resident Evil was constantly gloomy and scary.

RE Remake with the Crimson zombies was almost too much to bear.

Silent Hill 2 was creepy as shit with the enemy design.

Tower of Latria 3-2 Demon’s Souls was pure survival horror coming from nowhere and caught me totally off guard.

But… Resident Evil 7 in VR made me take the helmet off at some point trembling and made me go outside because I was afraid to stay inside my own fucking flat. Nothing comes close to that.

Hated Village and it looked like a Tim Burton film. I’m sure that thing even in VR will have a 0 scare level.

 

[Werewolfgrandma]

Have you played Resi7 in VR? It's fucking terrifying cause you are now "in" the bloody horror movie and have to go down into the basement to progress the game whereas every fiber of your body is screaming GTFO!

Recently started re7 in VR and I'm yet to walk into the house. Loaded up 3 times so far and I just walk around it a few times and decide against it hahaha.

 

[tommib]

Recently started re7 in VR and I'm yet to walk into the house. Loaded up 3 times so far and I just walk around it a few times and decide against it hahaha.

Hilarious man. I had a friend trying it and he was fine walking around from the car but all of a sudden he just stood in front of the door to the house. And I’m like, hey what’s going on, you need to go inside. He didn’t reply and 10 seconds after took the helmet off and said, I just can’t do it. HILARIOUS.

 

[Werewolfgrandma]

Hilarious man. I had a friend trying it and he was fine walking around from the car but all of a sudden he just stood in front of the door to the house. And I’m like, hey what’s going on, you need to go inside. He didn’t reply and 10 seconds after took the helmet off and said, I just can’t do it. HILARIOUS.

I only got about 30 minutes into the game in flat mode before I pussed out. Not sure what I'm thinking trying VR

 

[RJMacready73]

Recently started re7 in VR and I'm yet to walk into the house. Loaded up 3 times so far and I just walk around it a few times and decide against it hahaha.

Lol wait to you go inside the tension just ratchets up ffs and then the game asks you go down into a bloody basement, honestly I could only play it with the wife doing her thing on the sofa so I could chat away whilst playing, I tried on my own when everyone went to bed, stuck the headphones on and just noped out after 5mins of peering round every corner thinking this game is gonna take me fecking ages to complete lol

 

[EverydayBeast]

Scary games only crutch is there horror.

 

[The_Mike]

Only thing that has made me shut my pants are Alan Wake

 

[fart town usa]

Playing it right now on PC since I already owned it. Just outside of Buckingham Palace at the moment. Really digging the survival horror. Compelling stuff!

Right on. Buckingham is a great location, reminds me of the spencer mansion from RE1 at times.