Support NeoGAF

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Based on a comment in another thread (summarizing Wonko_C -- Why would anyone consider Silent Hill 2 to be scary at all in VR, if it has no jumpscares?), and the theme of this month, I want to know...

Do horror games actually scare you?

In my case:

• yes, the nervousness and mental dread of a game like Silent Hill -- particularly playing games like this in VR, of course -- has a real impact on my mental state while playing, to the point where I have definite limits in VR (...or even on a screen playing with headphones in the middle of the night)
• movies, however, never scared me the slightest bit; I wish horror movies "worked" on me but I just shrug at the screen, totally disconnected
• for what it's worth, the risk factor is a key element; Silent Hill: Shattered Memories did not really bother me at all since you're 100% safe during the exploration, and the running scenes are strictly separated. So the gaming horror fear requires anticipating that you'll have to defend yourself or face danger at any time; it requires that something is potentially coming after you.
• I had prolific and particularly surreal, horrific dreams as a child, to the point where I feel like David Lynch somehow stole his material from my brain. I do wonder if the difference in nightmares / inner demons is involved in differing reactions to fear content.

I could never play RE7 in VR, not a chance in hell. Same for SH2.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I played the Emergence level in the Black Ops 6 in the dark with headphones on, yeah it creeped me the fuck out

 

[bender]

SH2 Remake does a few jump scares (roof of the hospital). I also turned off the original because the sound of barking dogs (creatures?) in the intro section creeped me out. I also noped out of Fatal Frame since as the entire conceit of the game is facing your enemies. The scariest game I ever finished was Amnesia and I was tense and scared the majority of the playthrough, so much so that I wonder how I got through it as I usually turn off games that frighten me.

 

[SaturnSaturn]

The Persona games on pc, im constantly terrified of it crashing and losing all my progress.

 

[killatopak]

Last time was probably RE8 on that doll house.

More often I find things creepy rather than terrified of things. One’s more like ambiance and the other is a feeling.

 

[TrueLegend]

Yes of not sleeping enough. Sometimes I get too much into a game like crackhead.

 

[lh032]

Silent hill 2 remake - fear, depressed and sad.

Great game. Shitty ng+ mode though

 

[Dacvak]

RE7 in VR was scary as hell. I legit had to take a break for a few days in the middle of it. It was so terrifying and awesome.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Nope, over the years I think I've gotten immune to most horror stuff. Recently Silent Hill 2 was a good refresher - I jumped a few times when the mannequins surprised me, but now x hours and xx mannequins dead later I have no response to them.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

No, I feel nothing, only the silliest loud noise out of place jumpscares might startle me a little, horror is still one of my fav genres though, just because of the vibe.
I don't really like hide and seek horror games though, they are just kinda boring to me.

 

[Mossybrew]

Nah, of course a well placed jump-scare can startle me, but that's not the same as fear.

 

[Mister Wolf]

When Dead Space 2 makes you go back to the Ishimura is the greatest sense of dread I've ever felt playing a videogame.

 

[Sooner]

Yeah, but not necessarily horror games.

My first playthrough of Demon's Souls had parts that were pretty terrifying. Knowing there is actual consequences, if something jumps out and kills me, enhances this.

 

[Lorianus]

Playing alien isolation in pitch darkness at 1am is certainly an experience.

 

[apowhungo]

playing this solo at night gave me legit anxiety. can't wait for the sequel.

 

[Vick]

Yes.
As a kid RE96, RE2, and Silent Hill 2 were unbearable.

Today, plenty still. Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 2 Remake.. playing in a dark Home Theatre makes it all 100 more effective.

Blair Witch as well, some sections of Part II also.

Some games, I have to really force myself going through, like RE7 VR and P.T., and hopefully Silent Hill 2 Remake I'll start in 10 days.

When Dead Space 2 makes you go back to the Ishimura is the greatest sense of dread I've ever felt playing a videogame.

On the contrary, that's something the second game managed to achieve.

Back on the Ishimura, when exploring the ship with Nicole whispering into my ear I was fucking shitting myself. Got goosebumps even now recalling those moments, even if nothing really happened. It was a great example of fear of the fear itself.

 

[Aenima]

Im not a big fan of horror games, i play very few, but when i play I usually only get jumpscares. And i always play horror games at night with lights off. A very effective horror expirience to me was P.T. mostly because of the good use of sound effects while playing the game with headphones. Another very effective horror game to me was Fatal Frame.

 

[Hrk69]

I'm a huge pussy when it comes to jumpscares and scary stuff

I was loving my Returnal playtrough untill that house showed up.

Dropped the game immediately and never looked back.

 

[Schmendrick]

Jumpscares work, because disuptive sudden changes always work, anything else ...nah.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Facehuggers. Any level or area with them I am on edge the whole time. One mistake and it's all over.

 

[Rickyiez]

There’s one horror game that can scare me in broad daylight. It’s PT

Other games I need to play in the dark with light off to get scared

 

[freemandos]

Of course. The first Tomb Raider game was very scary to my preteen self xD .And that experience was one of my motivations to play a more intense game like Resident Evil 1. And it was terryfying to me. Silent Hill even more, I had to gain bravery to play the whole Alchemilla Hospital part. I couldn't complete Enemy Zero with its invisible aliens, movement detector and dark atmosphere. And I could say more.

As an adult? Well, I have replayed the first two Silent Hill games recently just before the remake and they're still scary to me. Amnesia games? Oh, boy. And REmake 2, Darkwood, Song of Horror, At Dead of Night, Faith the Unholy Trinity (mostly the second half), Visage, Alien Isolation, Puppet Combo games, etc. I have the heart of a kitten, but I love them anyway.

Watching movies? Well, yes, but less than videogames. For example, sometimes the David Lynch's work terrifies me.

 

[Corian33]

Movies not so much. Some have given me a sense of dread, but not really scared.

Games can sometimes get me if I let myself be immersed. Especially any horror game where you feel powerless or trapped. Like any as scenario where your character is cornered and you are desperately trying to escape or hide.

 

[Hunter 99]

For me Visage was terrifying,also madison was scary playing in the dark.
New school resi, eg,7 and Village have some heart beating moments but lots of moments of more chilled (you know your safe kind of thing) but the tension and atmosphere I feel was better in Visage and Madison.

 

[mitch1971]

When Dead Space 2 makes you go back to the Ishimura is the greatest sense of dread I've ever felt playing a videogame.

And the eye section. Don't forget the eye!!

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Yes Doom 3 or Silent Hill 3 usually the supernatural ones. The ones with sci-fi not so much.

 

[Ironman_Bad]

VR: The Thread pick your poison lol

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Subnautica is the only game to ever make me uncomfortable. Large bodies of water freak me out, so having to dive deeper and deeper just made me sweat.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Subnautica is the only game to ever make me uncomfortable. Large bodies of water freak me out, so having to dive deeper and deeper just made me sweat.

Yeah I get that. There's something particularly sublime and horrifying about vast oceans, particularly with night and with other massive entities involved. When I first approached the crashed ship, it was night in the game, and swimming around the massive sunken wall of it extending to unseen depths below was somehow disturbing.

 

[XXL]

Nothing is even comparable to horror games in VR. It's not even fucking close.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Subnautica is the only game to ever make me uncomfortable. Large bodies of water freak me out, so having to dive deeper and deeper just made me sweat.

RE, Silent Hill and VR horror games are manageable stressful but fun games for me.
But Subnautica... I didn't know f all about this game, thought it was a cute crafting game, so when I went to explore the crashed ship and encountered the Leviathan, I swear to God my heart left my body. The encounter also happened to have glitched and projected me out of the water which probably added to the dread I experienced lol.

 

[Rush2112]

VR is crazy. I tried it back when it was still in development (oculus DK 2) but even the shittiest low budget indy horror games in VR are scarier than most triple A horror titles on monitor.

If you have a VR set, just go play dead halls.

 

[Drake]

The only time I've ever seen scared in a game and it's because of these mother fuckers.

 

[Fess]

I played the Emergence level in the Black Ops 6 in the dark with headphones on, yeah it creeped me the fuck out

The Mario Boo mechanics? Just hearing the sound of the movement got me so nervous, super cool and unique level but I was glad when it was over lol My heart can’t take stuff like that anymore phew

 

[FoxMcChief]

Not really. I can get surprised with a jump scare, but no, no game has made me scared since the first Silent Hill.

Edit: I just remembered that there was a level in Condemned that scared me. When I was in the basement, and was using 5.1 surround sound in my living room for the first time.

 

[struggler_guts]

Horror movies are almost always trash/jump scares so Im never scared.

But well made horror games give me that spooky feeling I looove

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

VR is crazy. I tried it back when it was still in development (oculus DK 2) but even the shittiest low budget indy horror games in VR are scarier than most triple A horror titles on monitor.

Reminds me that my first big VR experience, Alyx, definitely scared me.

The first train car sequence with the headcrab zombies felt totally new in VR, as if I'd never seen them in games before.

And I had to break my usual "nighttime-only" rule to originally play through the Jeff chapter in the daytime... so that the tiny bit of light coming in the headset kept me grounded instead of terrorized.

 

[hemo memo]

Horror games stress me out. With movies, you can simply close your eyes. You know it's just a long video that you can skip. For games, it's this fear that I'm in control.

 

[LazyParrot]

I'm completely immune to horror in both movies and video games. Not in books though, for some reason.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Absolutely, ones like Subnautica scared the hell out of me. Was great

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Horror games stress me out. With movies, you can simply close your eyes. You know it's just a long video that you can skip. For games, it's this fear that I'm in control.

Absolutely. That's the same sharp dividing line for me. Having the controllers in your hands and knowing that you're the one who has to get away when the dreadful thing finally arrives... it's too much anticipation. And 100 times worse in VR.

 

[ReBurn]

I generally don't play games that could scare someone. I have no interest in horror or survival games. I have enough stress in my life. I don't need to make it worse.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Also, anyone that doesn’t say that eel from Mario 64 didn’t scare the shit out of them the first time is a liar. The one in sunshine isn’t much better!

Speaking of which, where is my n64 mini?

 

[BossLackey]

I've inundated my brain with as much horror as physically possible for the last 25 years. Needless to say, I'm quite desensitized.

However, both movies and games can elicit a response in the right circumstances. Namely, it has to be quiet with zero distractions, completely dark, be completely alone, and have headphones or good audio.

Playing recent survival horror games like this has definitely worked.

 

[Fess]

After 30 minutes of Resident Evil 4 on Quest 2 I went ”Nope.” and clicked uninstall

 

[Guilty_AI]

rarely, but there have been cases

 

[hyperbertha]

After a certain age, no. I remember being terrified from re3. Had nightmares for a week.

But anything I've played past 10, no fear. Only tension arising from gameplay in these games. For eg most boss fights in re4 where they are closing in on you and you need to make your shots really count.


Edit: I just remembered a game did give me a sense of fear, but not a horror game. The Shalebridge Cradle level in thief 3. I was 14 I guess. I have to denote that the greatest horror level ever created in a game for that reason. No other game has come close to eliciting that feeling.

 

[Wonko_C]

Dreary atmosphere doesn't get me but I like the sounds and the looks. I keep gawking at SH2's rusty, eerie otherworld because it all looks so beautiful in its own twisted way, same with the distorted sounds.

Jumpscares are where I draw the line. You won't see me playing...

dead halls.

That game ever or Until Dawn Rush of Blood, or Silent Slayer, etc.

I still have nightmares with jumpscares from time to time, the kind where you're innocently browsing the internet and suddenly a screamer pops up. They're so frequent even my dreaming self is kind of starting to predict when one will pop up.

Resident Evil's jumpscares though, they are more like startles and chuckles afterwards, I can handle those just fine. (I just finished RE2 & 3 in VR and having Nemesis breaking through walls right in front of me while chunks of concrete fly at my face is fun)

What's funny is that REAL TERROR to me has always involved inserting a NES/SNES cartridge, turning the console on, and getting corrupted graphics when you don't expect them. FUCK THOSE. One time I was getting ready to play Super Castlevania 4, and instead of the usual Konami screen I was greeted by a wolf's howl and a black screen. That got me good, I didn't play that game again for days.

Giant spiders? So pretty! a retro youtuber suddenly showing NES tilesets to illustrate something? my skin is crawling already.

 

[Danjin44]

Silent Hill 2 Remake Prison courtyard

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

What's funny is that REAL TERROR to me has always involved inserting a NES/SNES cartridge, turning the console on, and getting corrupted graphics when you don't expect them. FUCK THOSE. One time I was getting ready to play Super Castlevania 4, and instead of the usual Konami screen I was greeted by a wolf's howl and a black screen. That got me good, I didn't play that game again for days.

Terror at corrupted technology is a great form of surreal fear, I agree. ("Ben Drowned" is a classic exploitation of this, particularly the videos).

I share this terror and it's one of the deepest from my old nightmares. I used to dream as a kid that I'd wake up to see something strange glowing on the screen of my desktop computer (ancient computer by the way; no hard drive, early version of in-memory dos loaded from large floppy disks), and that in the weird text there would be some warning to me or statement of awareness by the machine or something inside it... often the old printer on it would then fire up loudly (old ones were very loud) and start spitting out crazy garbled ascii art. I also had some great nightmares about phones and the weird automated voices on them saying strange things, like waking up and all the phones in the house are off their hooks in the night, no one home, and I can hear that automated "we're sorry, please dial..." lady coming from each speaker quietly but she's confused or screaming.