What Is The Scariest Game You've Ever Played?

[Frag Mortuus]

I'm currently replaying Silent Hill 2 and, before now, had forgotten how scary the game can be. Even playing in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight I still get a little tense. The music combined with sparse ammo, poor visibility and (probably not intentional) poor camera, and the pseudo-tank controls make the tense all the way through.

To answer my own question though, the scariest game I've ever played is a tie between Slender and Fatal Frame II. Slender I only played for about 20 minutes because I would get so stressed out that I had to quit. However, Fatal Frame II I actually completed. But there were several times that I got so stressed and my heart was racing so bad that I had to turn the game off for the night. This was every bit of 10 years ago, but I'm sure it would still creep me out. I own them on PSN and intend to play through them again.

So what about you? What is the scariest game you've ever played?

[Xeogred]

Fatal Frame is up there. I finally played through Silent Hill 1-4 myself over the last several months though and I'd say they're up there too. The best part is how they get in your head a bit, logic is thrown out, and it's just crazy Japanese stuff that I love. Also gotta say, it's starting to make me feel tense about living in apartments, since those are usually some of the craziest parts in the games and depicted so disturbingly.

I was replaying Fatal Frame finally too and it's not quite as bad as I remembered (also played about 10 years back, with friends, so I was uneasy about going in alone haha). The supernatural themes get me more than creepy monsters and such, so yeah. The music and sound design is something that still makes it stand out a lot I think. But that was the same in Silent Hill, while it was used a bit differently there... "wtf was that noise?" Another thing about Fatal Frame is the story, reading everything, and the details about the rituals or how the people died really get in your head. Luckily the ending kind of lifts everything off your shoulders, but I remember it being a bit hard to sleep when I played it back in the day.

STALKER is legit intense too. I recall a few sewer/underground segments where you don't even get in a single encounter, but the sound, atmosphere, and grotesque level design is so intense you're pissing your pants anyways.

[Ack]

Resident Evil 2 had the greatest impact on me of any horror video game. It's the only one to give me nightmares consistently. That said, it was also my first experience with the genre, and it offered me something wholly new and unique to me at the time, so it makes sense.

That said, the conditions which I was going through to play the game also definitely added to its impact. My parents were recently divorced, and my father had remarried a rich woman who owned a mansion in rural Maine(it didn't end well, and I don't remember exactly where in Maine this mansion was located). I went up to visit that place once for a week, and during that time discovered a PlayStation hidden away in a small attic room you had to go through a trapdoor to get to. Of the games that were there, only Resident Evil 2 really stuck out to my brother and I, and we played it for much of the week. This kickstarted my interest in horror games along with my love for the PlayStation.

[Hazerd]

Eternal Darkness or Fatal Frame.

It totally got me in ED during

the tub scene

and when

erasing my memory card

The

footsteps in the mansion were also kinda creepy.

lol, spoiler tags.

Fatal Frame i just always knew something was going to jump out at me and id have to be ready with the camera to start flashing the shit out the ghosts, and the general atmosphere of the game is just creepy.

[Xeogred]

That said, the conditions which I was going through to play the game also definitely added to its impact. My parents were recently divorced, and my father had remarried a rich woman who owned a mansion in rural Maine(it didn't end well, and I don't remember exactly where in Maine this mansion was located). I went up to visit that place once for a week, and during that time discovered a PlayStation hidden away in a small attic room you had to go through a trapdoor to get to. Of the games that were there, only Resident Evil 2 really stuck out to my brother and I, and we played it for much of the week. This kickstarted my interest in horror games along with my love for the PlayStation.

How is this not fanfiction? lmao.

For me I was playing Doom, RE2, and such back in grade school and nothing about these more jump scare styled ones ever did much to me (I loved them though). But with your story... yeah things could have been different.

I think my roommate had a similar experience with the Silent Hill's, one of his friends lives out in the country and I guess they would spend the night in this huge old house that made a bunch of noises and they played some of those games there, haha.

[Ack]

That said, the conditions which I was going through to play the game also definitely added to its impact. My parents were recently divorced, and my father had remarried a rich woman who owned a mansion in rural Maine(it didn't end well, and I don't remember exactly where in Maine this mansion was located). I went up to visit that place once for a week, and during that time discovered a PlayStation hidden away in a small attic room you had to go through a trapdoor to get to. Of the games that were there, only Resident Evil 2 really stuck out to my brother and I, and we played it for much of the week. This kickstarted my interest in horror games along with my love for the PlayStation.

How is this not fanfiction? lmao.

Because it's true.

Haha, seriously, this really did happen. That trip was also my first experience with laser tag, firing a rifle, and picking wild blueberries. Oh, and we found a VHS copy of King Kong vs. Godzilla. I only remember snatches of it, but what I do remember the most is that tiny room with only a couple small windows and a lamp for light, the television on the floor, and how much the box art for Resident Evil 2 intrigued me. I was terrified. After my first day playing it(yes, we started during the day), we went out for dinner, and I kept thinking zombies were going to come out of the dark trees as we drove home.

My love for Resident Evil 2 actually got me to seek out Silent Hill when it was released because I read reviews declaring it the "scariest game ever." My dad and stepmother at the time had no idea what was in the game, so they just bought it for me. And then I described what was in it, and they were thoroughly disgusted. That said, they were also pretty disgusted with Parasite Eve when they gave it to me for Christmas, 1998, so it's their fault for not learning their lesson.

[BoneSnapDeez]

rural Maine

I'm sorry dude. I feel for you.

Anyhow, Amnesia: The Dark Descent scared the testicles off of me.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

The first Penumbra game terrified me (made by the guys that went on to make Amnesia).

ZombiU has many problems but atmosphere isn't one of them. Genuinely foreboding in many areas.

[Jagosaurus]

Agree with Ack, RE2 was creepy as hell when it dropped.

The dogs jumping through the windows in RE1 though were the 1st time I remember being scared while gaming.... I was hooked lol

I loved how RE2 was essentially two games with overlapping parts (Leon's disc & Claire's disc). Double the scares...

[ExedExes]

D2 (Dreamcast) for sure. When they gave that game an M rating, they sure as heck meant it. A product of one of the most bizarre Japanese minds ever in Kenji Eno.