Scariest video games?

[Mando]

36 minutes ago, Yogurth said:

F.E.A.R  had those shock heartstopping moments, but for me SS2 was a non-stop "chill to the bone" fest. The sound direction was and still is incredible. I hope that the System Shock reborn releases will live up to their legacy. Unfortunately never played Alien games as at that time I was rocking Matrox g200 and these games were either Voodo only or unplayable on Matrox...time passed and I forgot about the franchise.

yep SS2 soundscape was a masterpiece. 

[dragontology]

I never put much stock in games that were scary for horror's sake. Resident Evil (and its first couple sequels) was cool, and the first Silent Hill (only one I played) was downright creepy. But I gotta give it to the games that aren't inherently scary, and create scary moments. For example, Fallout 3. The first time you see a Deathclaw, especially if you're an old-school D&D player (the Deathclaw was based on the Tarrasque... which itself is probably based on Godzilla), it's pretty freaky, and they're not easy to kill (unless you know what you're doing, which you won't that first time). Also, there's this unassuming building called the Dunwich building that is pretty freaky, with induced flashbacks (which the game didn't use otherwise, except for a dungeon that makes you hallucinate — also scary) and threw zombies (ghouls) at you from the shadows. A couple zombie (feral ghoul) hordes added a few scares. Also, in the Broken Steel expansion, there's an unintentional scare caused by a bug, where a feral ghoul reaver — already a strong and fast running/charging zombie — has about three times its normal speed and 10-25 times its normal hit points. It doesn't happen to everyone, but if it happens to you, it's a hell of a boss fight. Ironically, due to the glitch, the tool that nerfs Deathclaw fights, the Dart Gun (it cripples the legs and makes enemies move as though encumbered) makes it so it only moves at about double speed. Still, it's almost essential to beating it. That, and having a similarly overpowered companion, like Fawkes — the expansion also makes a few companions' (Fawkes, Dogmeat, Charon... maybe one other) HP increase exponentially with your level.

 

Speaking of Dogmeat's exponentially boosted HP, I created some unintended horror in Fallout 3 way back when. I accidentally aggro'd Dogmeat, and he turned on me. I couldn't escape. I also didn't have the Dart Gun yet. It took most of my arsenal to cripple him, and I managed to escape. A solid week later (in-game), he caught up to me, and jumped me from the shadows. I ended up having to reload before I aggro'd him. I began posting on forums about a "rival" feature, in which a worthy rival would threaten you at various points in the game. My idea may or may not have inspired the Ebony Knight feature in Skyrim. (If you're not familiar, when you reach level 80, a knight clad in ebony armor with random enchantments, bearing ebony weapons, also randomly enchanted, spawns in the Hold capital you leveled to 80 in. When you enter that city next, he approaches you and tells you he's lived a full life and wants to die in battle to a worthy adversary. He asks that you meet him at a specified location, where you will fight him, and he's better than you are (if you're at level 80, you can level higher). He also Shouts. You get some great gear if you beat him, though.) Still, the point of my idea wasn't an end-game fight, it was so this adversary, always a little stronger than you, kept smacking you down and forcing you to improve, and you'd never know when he'd show up to ruin your fun. I guess that's a bit too much to ask of their ageing game engine though; that, or it goes against the Bethesda "by level 10 you're a god among men" style.