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Scariest pc game you played

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First post, by buckeye

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Thought it might be an interesting topic. AVP 2 gets my vote especially the parts where you're crawling in the air ducts knowing you're fixing to get bit in the rear. Doom3 gets me pretty good too.

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Reply 1 of 77, by cyclone3d

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Alone In The Dark

Clocktower - only ever played this on PS1, but it was also released for pc.

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Reply 2 of 77, by root42

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Never played many scary games, not my thing. But as a kid I played Hugo's House of Horrors and Last Half of Darkness... 😀 Do they count as scary?

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Reply 3 of 77, by Rawit

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buckeye wrote:

Thought it might be an interesting topic. AVP 2 gets my vote especially the parts where you're crawling in the air ducts knowing you're fixing to get bit in the rear. Doom3 gets me pretty good too.

AvP Gold same thing. Those motion detection bleeps were nerve-wracking. Ecstatica and Thief I/II/III are great too. Not super scary but that atmosphere...

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Reply 5 of 77, by shamino

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I haven't played many scary games. But I remember Doom E1M2 getting some jump scares from me. I was playing late at night on headphones, and it was my first time playing the game. I play methodically, not fast, and the music on that level helps set the right mood.

Sanitarium had some good creepiness, too bad it got weird and silly towards the end.

Not a PC game, but I'm kind of oddly disturbed by "Nightmare on Elm Street" for Nintendo. That was the first scary movie I saw as a kid and I guess it scratches an old nerve or something.
It "helps" that my cartridge is in very rough condition and has a different coloration on the logo than the copies I've seen online. It looks like Freddy Kreuger's copy of the game. It was cheaper to buy a rough cartridge than one in good condition, and it's appearance just adds to the mood really.

Going way back.. I was afraid to play Missile Command. 😀

Reply 7 of 77, by schmatzler

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Somewhat ordered in the amount of creepyness:

1. Cry of Fear
2. Outlast
3. SOMA (//EDIT)
4. Alien: Isolation
5. Observer
6. Clive Barker's Undying
7. System Shock 2
8. Nightmare House 2

Cry of Fear is my favorite horror game of all time.
The enemies are extremely unforgiving, ammo is low and you're constantly put in situations with seemingly no way out of them. It's like Dark Souls, but actually creepy. There is one level within a school at night that freaked me out way too much.

Outlast and Alien: Isolation are much more forgiving and have pacing that allows the player to feel safe from time to time, as opposed to Cry of Fear. In between these moments you are constantly chased, though. They are great games that put a lot of stress onto me.

Observer is a great story-based science fiction game that deals with a grim future where people augment their own reality to forget the slums they live in. I was able to really get into that. It's a neon world where everything is falling apart and the voice actor of the protagonist really sent some shivers down my spine.

//EDIT
I almost forgot SOMA. Thanks for mentioning this game.
This game takes thalassophobia to the next level. Constantly being trapped underwater, chased by unknown beings and living organisms with the task to find out what the hell exactly is going on. This also turns into a really good Sci-Fi story later on.

The rest of the games listed aren't that hard to get through, but there are aspects that I really like. The monkeys in System Shock 2 are one of the creepiest enemies ever, for example.

Last edited by schmatzler on 2018-09-05, 21:33. Edited 2 times in total.

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Reply 9 of 77, by Errius

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The original Doom was the scariest game ever. Playing the Doom II Aliens TC for the first time was also quite memorable.

Quake didn't scare me at all. Doom 3 was just boring. Nothing has ever compared to playing Doom I for the first time.

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Reply 10 of 77, by buckeye

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I see someone listed System Shock 2, which so happens I bought it a couple days ago at a flea market. Looking forward to trying it out!

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Reply 12 of 77, by schmatzler

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tannerstevo wrote:

Quite a few games have given me "jump scares", but for overall creep out factor SOMA was almost panic inducing for me.

How did I forget that? SOMA also is one of my favorites.
Like most of the Amnesia games, it's from Frictional Games. They know their stuff.

While we're at it, "The Thing" from 2002 also is a very good game. It's related to the movie from the 70's. Basically, you're trapped on a research station in the ice and people are turning into mutants.

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Reply 13 of 77, by F2bnp

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I really love the horror genre, but I always get way too scared to play them! Movies rarely get me and I almost always have good company with me to enjoy the film. Horror action games also never give me any trouble, especially the likes of Doom 3 or FEAR (which is one of my favorite FPS btw!) in which you are equipped to handle anything. Survival horror however is a nightmare for me and I have only recently begun to play more of them. I have a few favorites:

-Amnesia : The Dark Descent

Having enemies move close to you while you had to look away was absolutely nerve wracking.

- Penumbra (all of them)

This one got me good a few times, I personally rank it higher than Amnesia, might have to do with the setup that is more interesting to me than the gothic setting of Amnesia.

- Scratches

This one builds up immense atmosphere over time, probably one of my favorite adventure games of all time. For anyone who's played it, I'm sure moments such as going down to the basement for the first time, the boiler duct sequence, the first night noises and finally the "ritual" at the church are all simply unforgettable.

- The Lost Crown

Another favorite with lots of creepy shit going down. Dream-sequences get me real good, because I experience very vivid dreams in my daily life and they always affect my day/mood. One in particular where you set the camera to take photos while you take a nap only to wake up and see what it captured... Also, the first person areas by the church were absolutely frightening. I'm getting the chills as I'm writing this.

- Silent Hill 2

Not really a PC game and I did play it on a PS2, but it did get a PC release which is now the definitive edition (check out Silent Hill 2 Enhanced 😉 ) and it is overall a masterpiece in approaching the subject matter. I enjoyed this one thoroughly this summer, although I had to pause and/or turn it off after 30-40 minute stretches, I just couldn't handle the anxiety it gave me.
If you like survival horror game and don't really care that much about the gameplay but rather the story, I suggest you play this one ASAP, it is a game that stays with you. Ending had me in tears.

- Darkness Within : In Pursuit of Loath Nolder

Interesting adventure game that unfortunately ends in a massive cliffhanger. Initially the first of three games, the series concluded with a rushed and somewhat poor sequel which I won't talk about. Darkness Within wasn't anything massive, but like I said above, dream sequences are always a huge win in my book. Every night gets worse and worse for the protagonist in the game, affecting me as well as I went deeper. Phenomenal atmosphere, could have been an instant classic if some more care had been given in a few other areas!

Probably forgetting a ton of games right now, so I'll be sure to return and add more 😁.

Reply 14 of 77, by oeuvre

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I was told Outlast was scary but it's just all blood, gore, and jumpscares.

There's also a jumpscare in DDLC...

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Reply 15 of 77, by tannerstevo

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Dreadout is another scary game. It reminds me a lot of the console game Fatal Frame.
Silent Hill 2 is one of my favorites. Plus it has multiple endings, so good replay value.

Reply 16 of 77, by digger

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Do specific scenes in games count?

Most possible deaths in Space Quest II were comical, but some of them were downright horrifying.

SPOILER: The unexpected appearance of the Cave Squid in that game particularly scared the crap out of me.

It's interesting how scary a game could be even then, with such relatively primitive and pixelated graphics.

Reply 17 of 77, by digger

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Oh, and speaking of caves, the cave level in Another World (a.k.a. Out of this World) gave me the shivers as well. Another example of how a game with relatively primitive graphics compared to today's standards could still be very scary.

Reply 18 of 77, by collector

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From the Computer Gaming World's review of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers:

When previewing the game in November 1993, Computer Gaming World's Johnny L. Wilson stated the opening sequence "was the first time I've actually experienced fear when viewing a computer game".

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Reply 19 of 77, by Jo22

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Some Barbie game.

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