Topic: Games that have scared the $#1& out of you.

So I picked up Resident Evil 4 yesterday and played it for the first time (I know, I'm a late bloomer) and I'm only on chapter 1-3, but effing hell that game has scared the crap out of me enough already.

I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to games like that. I remember having nightmares about the first Resident Evil way back when, and I didn't even play the game at that time. I just watched some friends play through it one night at their house. I still have nightmares about it, sometimes. It was a creepy game.

So what are some games that have truly scared you out of your mind? Are there any interesting quirks you've developed as a result? (A friend of mine, for example, can't even sleep in the same room with the box for Resident Evil...he has to put it in the living room or something or he won't be able to sleep.)

The first game I remember scaring me like that was Alone in the Dark. No, not the abysmal remake, but the original PC version, in all of its polygonic glory. In retrospect it's such a dumb game, but the camera angles, the entrapment, the limited ammo...all that stuff later became survival horror staples, and that was the game that exposed me to them first. It'd probably still give me shivers. (Pity the final boss fight is against a tree.)

I can't think of a time I was scared, but here's a RE4 one about my friend:

Ok, at the time, we're probably 12 or 13. He decides to rent RE4, so he puts it in the Cube, and starts playing. I watch. We got through the first part ok, he hid in a window and shot some zombies. So eventually, we make it to the villiage area where they're burning the dude's body. He see's that, and all the zombies, and kind of stops at the edge of the building. He's kind of freaked out, and I keep telling him to get on with it and shoot them. About that time, two zombies notice him. One comes for him, and the other walks away to the right. Now, he is totaly freaking out, he pauses it, and rushes for the power button while I try to stop him. He pushes it, and keeps it pressed so it doesn't go off. I covince him to keep going, and go and hold the power button down. He un-pauses. The zombie comes for him, and he shoots it in the torso and legs, but it keeps coming. He runs out of ammo, and starts to turn around. When he does, he comes face to face with the other zombie. It went around the whole building to get to him!

After that, he ran at me, knocked my hand off the button, and started making a weird whimpering noise. I rolled around on the floor laughing.

I really liked RE4 after that. And eventually, he got over it, loved it, and played through the whole thing...only when there were people around, though =P

The only games that really scared me were:

Resident Evil 1 remake on Gamecube. The parts where zombies/dogs/hunters would suddenly burst through a door/window esp. if you thought you were in a room that was safe.

Eternal Darkness. In this one it was the general atmosphere that was scary instead of things jumping out at you. Like when you hear the phone ringing and you pick it up and it's your dead grandfather.

The original Resident Evil on Playstation 1. After that I knew what to expect.

Metroid II is the scariest game I have ever played. Here are just some of the reasons why. (Note: Not my blog, but I agree with much of what he says.)

Metroid II and scary? lol

Please go play Silent Hill and come again. Playing Silent Hill alone in a dark room is probably the scariest thing you can do in your freetime, these games really damage your calm.

I liked Eternal Darkness, but, personally, I couldn't find anything really scary about the game.

Now, the Fatal Frame series is one that actually got me spooked. It's a shame we'll never see Fatal Frame 4 on Western shores.

@ Tourian Tourist
I don't enjoy horror games or horror movies. I just don't find that style to be scary. Metroid II is scary in the way a roguelike could be perceived as being so. It's not going to make you scream, but it builds up paranoia, tension, and concern for your characters progress in ways that most games don't. Or at least it did when I was 10.

There were more than a couple of times when I first played through Clock Tower that I got surprised by something, lol (before I got sick of dying outright and looked up a guide to get through it with). i know, it's an SNES game, the graphics aren't terribly realistic or anything, but it was definitely a creepy game for its time.

None that i can remember....

I found playing Bubsy 3D a scary experience.

I recently picked up eternal darkness for the first time and the atmosphere is beyond compare, it's scary as hell and the surround-mix is some of the best i've heard... ever. RE4 on gamecube in surround isn't bad either. It is very scary, given the right circumstances = big tv, great sound-system.

The very first time I played Silent Hill on PS1, now that was a scary experience. The Fatal Frame games can be pretty creepy too. I also enjoy the Resident Evil games but for some reason they just don't scare me.

A lot of people are mentioning Silent Hill, and for good reason (from what I hear). That's a game that I can't play. If Resident Evil freaks me out even at its stupidest, Silent Hill would probably cause my heart to explode.

I recently played through SIlent Hill 2. My friend was playing SH3 at his house and we both told each other each could only play late at night with all the lights off. Without giving too much away, there's a scene late in SH2 in a bathroom that is pretty freaky.

Resident Evil 1 Remake was scary especially early on when your character has such limited weapons and ammo. Also, when you enter those rooms with the spooky, mysterious music.

Resident Evil 4 was most creepy when your reach the monks doing their chants and also when you find those porcupine alien corpses with their eerie breathing.

I actually found the Dracula part of Conker's BFD quite scary. The music was tense and when the undead found you they ran towards you very quickly in conjunction with dramatic music and then began feasting upon you.

The mask salesman's angry face was also scary (in Majora).

Princess Ruto, she was quite scary...

Two words, Dead Space. Lights off, sound up, and past 10:30 PM.

@ Vista727
Those conditions apply well to all the games mentioned here. Also being alone in the room where you're playing helps the experience.

Very true but I never got scared by a game like this one before. Even with opposite conditions I was scared to death. I've played Silent Hill, Resident Evil REmake, Resident Evil 4, and Fatal Frame but this one takes the cake. It not only is scary in a sense where things pop up out of nowhere but the psychotic things that happen in Dead Space is unreal.