Octopus Overlords

I'm looking for people to post what PC game they've played, that was the scariest for them ever.

For me, System Shock 2 is the scariest game I've ever played from start to finish.

My scariest experience, was desparately running from those midwife things in SS2. The sounds they made were simply terrifying, and I still remmeber hiding in an elevator trying to not make a sound... hopign when I opened the door they woudl not be there.

I'd also like to say DOOM3, was not scary to me at all. I stopped being scared of monsters in the sloet at like age 14.

Probably the Bonehoard and Return to Cathedral levels in Thief 1. What made these extra scary is not just the zombie/undead angle, but also the fact that (by nature of the Thief games) you are pretty much powerless to defend yourself.

For older games, the C64 "Friday the 13th" and Rescue on Fractalus freaked me out as well.

I wish sosmone would redo Thief 1 with an updated engine. That woudl be cool.

jpinard wrote:I wish sosmone would redo Thief 1 with an updated engine. That woudl be cool.

I would kill a man to be able to play Thief (or Thief 2) in Source.

alien vs predator 2. i had to quit that game quite often as i was too scared to carry on. got over it after the first couple of levels though.

AvP2 huh? I think I still have that. I'll have to load that up!

The first time a headkisser jumped at me in half life.
The level 7 monster in Descent. (hardest of the game!)
The hell levels of Doom 3.

The most physically scared I've ever been was in Half Life when the head jumper jumps at you from the darkened ventilation shaft. I literally fell backwards out of my chair (doubly annoying since I had chosen that moment to let my brother watch my play the game - needless to say it took a long time to live that down.)

The most psychologically scared I've ever been was probably the first half hour or so of the orphanage level in Thief 3. I had to play in five to ten minute increments because the tension was so unbearable.

Thief or Thief 2. The Cathedral level is up there, but for some reason the 'Casing the Joint' level (I think that's the name) where you case an art museum (or a manor with an art exhibit, it has been a while). MINOR SPOILER.

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Somewhere in that level is a haunted library where you learn of an old, undiscovered murder of two lovers, encountering their ghosts, hearing their voices, and later finding their bodies.

There were things in the game that should have been scarier, but for some reason that level just clicked with me psychologically. It completely and utterly terrified me. I actually backtracked halfway through the level later in the level to avoid that library.

(repeated from CG)

-Aliens vs Predator

-Resident Evil 3 Nemesis
(This was the first RE game that I played)

All the above were great in the scare factor, to whic h I add, Clive Barkers the Undying. It had some genuinely creepy and scary moments.

Good example is walking a long narrow hallway on the upper floors of an old mansion. Of course the only light comes through 6 or 8 large casement windows. They are open and the night breeze is blowing the almost transparent curtains into the hallway, partly obliterating your view.
Couple this with creepy music and the fact you are being hunted by hell hounds and you have a revolver with limited ammo can put you on the edge of your seat.

Great game.

Being too sissy to play anything with "Alien" in the title, I'm going to have to stick with Project Firestart on the C64.

YellowKing wrote:
The most psychologically scared I've ever been was probably the first half hour or so of the orphanage level in Thief 3. I had to play in five to ten minute increments because the tension was so unbearable.

ditto. the cradle level in theif III was a study in psychological tension. the lack of a jarring soundtrack was a plus. it's scarier when there's no "alert music" to tell you that a ghoul is around the corner or something. i remember having garret just stand on the stairs in the lobby of the cradle, too worried about something below the staircase to move forward.

The Opera level in Painkiller, or the asylum level, really creeped me the fuck out. I hardly ever get scared if I'm not actually experiencing what's happening, especially by a game where I can turn around and its gone.
But those 2 levels had me tense, expecting the worst to come around the corner.

System Shock 2 freaked me out too. When you meet the person who's been directing you around through the first part of the game...creepy.

SS2 had such an astonishing story. once you start to suspect all is not as it appears, everytime she talks in your head, it gets creepier.

jcompton wrote:Being too sissy to play anything with "Alien" in the title, I'm going to have to stick with Project Firestart on the C64.

Oh good call man. That game freaked me out so bad I couldn't finish it.

The theme music (which can be heard with Sidplay) still gives me the willies. It's just this little trumpet fanfare followed by a creepy-as-hell siren.

I'll throw in my nod to the Marine Campaign of Alien v Predator 2. Freaked me the hell out.

My first encounter with whatever those things are in HL that dangle down from the ceiling and grab you and pull you up. Startled me so bad that I got a negative attitude about the game in general and never played much after that.

jpinard wrote:I'm looking for people to post what PC game they've played, that was the scariest for them ever.

I remember being scared that Panzer General wouldn't run on my old 386, but it did. Since then, I've stayed on top of the tech curve and was never scared about a game not running since.

^ nitwit ^


Some of the dark-ass areas of Doom3 had my panties in a bunch, and I was thankful that only the wimpy ghouls came at me.

Zekester wrote:Some of the dark-ass areas of Doom3 had my panties in a bunch, and I was thankful that only the wimpy ghouls came at me.

I fucking hate those bastard spider/human heads. You'd see the little holes in the wall and just shudder while getting your shotgun out. First time I fought them I got freaked the fuck out, and then one jumped at me. Thats when I lept backwards and shut off the game for the day.

System Shock 2, lots of moments there but two stick out right now:

1) The first time I heard/saw a cybord midwife clanking towards me

2) A certain spot in the game where Xerxes has a certain arachnid surprise waiting for you

Grifman

Grifman wrote:System Shock 2, lots of moments there but two stick out right now:

1) The first time I heard/saw a cybord midwife clanking towards me

2) A certain spot in the game where Xerxes has a certain arachnid surprise waiting for you

Grifman

Grifman, I don't think there will ever be a moment as scary as that in gaming. Unless somsone has experienced it in pitch darkness, and great sound, there's just no way to describe it to give it justice.

Two Sheds wrote:I'll throw in my nod to the Marine Campaign of Alien v Predator 2. Freaked me the hell out.

Amen to that.

Grifman wrote:System Shock 2, lots of moments there but two stick out right now:

1) The first time I heard/saw a cybord midwife clanking towards me

2) A certain spot in the game where Xerxes has a certain arachnid surprise waiting for you

Grifman

Oh yeah, XERXES, i was trying to remember why the heck I named one of our servers that...

Lots of moments in Doom3 and System Shock 2, but the only really specific moment I can remember (today) was from Unreal; when you walk into the hallway, and all of the sudden the lights shut off one by one and the skaarj jumps you in the dark.

My very first scary experience was playing the original Quake on my Packard Bell computer. I was with two friends and we were completely in the dark.

System Shock 2 was scary for me as well. Those dang midwife things. Sheesh.

Half life was scary with suprises from the headcrabs. I was playing HL2 last night on a level with Ant Lion Gaurds. The ones that knock you all the way across the room. Well I was running around this room trying to get away from it when I stopped to listen for it. I heard nothing and thought that maybe my last grenade had killed it. Little did I know that right when I turned around that thing growled and smacked me across the room. My heart jumped out of my chest on that one. I had to take a little breather for a moment.

Hmm, most of them involve my wife coming in and saying we should do something together. And I thought I had a good hiding place.

The scariest part of System Shock 2, for me at least, is a bit different than the midwives most people think of. It would be the many times in the game I was almost completely out of ammo. I just remember having the worst sense of dread, with just 2 or 3 bullets left, exploring around, terrified of running out of ammo without killing the next bad guy. And it worked doubly well since savegames wouldn't give up more ammo, and it felt like I was trapped on this godforsaken ship with no ammo.

I gotta say that that haunted house mission in Vampire: Bloodlines was downright freaky




*SPOILER* (?)
awesome atmosphere, when you go into one of the 2nd story rooms the lights go out and a painting on the wall + a vase gets thrown at you by nothing, the lights go out and when they come back on you see GET OUT scratched in the wall

I was a happy man I had crapped earlier that day cuz I was freaked heh
/*SPOILER*

Really really awesome atmosphere in that level, hands down one of the more freaky ones ive played

Yep i was gald to complete that mission in Vampires. Pretty scary moment.

Resident Evil when i 1st played it pretty scary. AvP Marine missions in both. SS2.

MeSlayer wrote:I gotta say that that haunted house mission in Vampire: Bloodlines was downright freaky




*SPOILER* (?)
awesome atmosphere, when you go into one of the 2nd story rooms the lights go out and a painting on the wall + a vase gets thrown at you by nothing, the lights go out and when they come back on you see GET OUT scratched in the wall

I was a happy man I had crapped earlier that day cuz I was freaked heh
/*SPOILER*

Really really awesome atmosphere in that level, hands down one of the more freaky ones ive played

Yeah, that was a great level. Did you catch the child's toy in the bedroom, then find it moved out into the hall when you came back by after hearing something move in the hall. I was creeped out that entire level.

Grifman

Ok, for all you guys chiming in with the AvP2 answer, check this out.

I'm playing as the marine with the lights down and the speakers up. (The only way to play) I'm at low health and no armor, slowly advancing down a corridor with only my shoulder lamp to light the way. That's when the motion tracker starts in with it's "wheepa wheepa wheepa" sound of a nearby alien. Leaning in so close I'm practically touching the screen with my nose I start to pan back and forth to isolate the direction that the alien will be coming from when out of the darkness something reaches out and touches me on the back of the neck!

I literally jump out of my chair, upending my keyboard and spilling my soda, choking back a scream of terror I realize that one of my cats had climbed up onto the back of my chair and had touched the back of my neck with his paw.

That's when I decided that I'd had enough for one night and turned off the computer.

I would have paid to see that.

F.E.A.R. looks pretty scary, but I'm into alien-scary as opposed to ghost-scary. That's why System Shock 2 was about the most perfect game EVER.

Amish Warlord wrote: That's when I decided that I'd had enough for one night and turned off the computer.

I had a recent moment like that playing Vampire...

Went into the haunted mansion to get the thing you're supposed to get there, and this little girl keeps appearing and whispering stuff. Really creepy, it's dark, and I have my headphones on and am really into the game.

Aaaannddd.... my daughter who's supposed to be in bed comes up behind my chair and taps me on the shoulder.



Wasn't pretty

System Shock 2 had an amazing atmosphere. I got freaked out the first time I saw someone hanging from the rafters (near the beginning). After that, I was pretty much set.

Like YK, I freaked out in HL when the headcrab jumps at you from the darkness. I also thought it was really cool when you were climbing around the ventilation duct, and the soldier below you shot holes in it (bringing light through the holes, then the entire duct system collapsed). What a great game (until the end, which doesn't exist in my mind. Ended on EARTH dammit).

But I have to say, the first time I played Resident Evil. I was at a friends house, late at night, lights down. We were taking turns playing a room at a time. I walk into the first room that had a typewriter...and you see that monster quickly run across the window outside the house. Then you walk down a hallway, turn right, and that creature is hanging out...and jumps at you.

To quote homer, scared the hell out of me!

Faldorian and Amish Warlord, great stories!

is_dead, I remember that feeling EXACTLY too. Pinching every penny to have enough money to repair my gun too. I just hope Irrantional keeps this exact same formula, cause IT WORKS!

I don't know if it was the scariest, but I thought Waxworks was pretty good. Nice music and atmosphere and it was very graphic (eg, images of bodies with their heads cut off, or with intestines cut out... ), especially for the early 90's. There was also a level with an octopus-like creatures, which ought to count for extra.

Here's another vote for AvP2. Good lord that was some scary shit.

Any interest in doing some multiplayer?