Discussion: what’s the scariest game you’ve ever played?
After recently asking about kids’ games, it only seems fair to take things in the other direction: what’s the scariest game you’ve ever played?
Jing: Outlast. Or rather, I only watched a YouTube video of someone play the whole game. That’s right, I’m a chicken who doesn’t play scary games. Now, scary movies? Bring it.
Xairylle: Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly. I first encountered the game while hanging out with friends at a college classmate’s house since he had recently gotten his PlayStation 2. I came with them to play Final Fantasy X, but my amazing friends decided on Fatal Frame II instead; we got there and reasoned “they’re both FF”. I figured it was broad daylight so what the hell, right? But that was until they closed all the doors, windows, and curtains so everyone could feel the game. I remember a river, a red butterfly, a scary village, twins, blood, photographs, and other creepy things that just caused me to turn around and not watch. We never finished the game because we (thankfully) still had classes in the afternoon and towards the evening, but damage has been done. Looking at red butterflies will never be the same.
Mary-Anne: I don’t play scary games. I watch people play them. From behind my fingers. With my legs curled up on the seat. So nothing can grab them from below.
Iain: I guess the game that scared me the most was probably the original Resident Evil. That game created one of the creepiest atmospheres ever with haunting music and jump scares that threatened undergarment cleanliness. Considering I was about 12 at the time, it was not suitable entertainment for one so young and (un)fortunately my mother walked into my bedroom just as I blasted a zombie head into bloody pulp and the game was disappeared. It only re-appeared when she moved moved house two years ago. Even then it was only returned begrudgingly.
Charlie: I’m not sure why I play horror games. Every minute is like torture, and if I ever get an Oculus Rift, this habit will probably kill me. But I have played a lot of them. FEAR and the Dead Space series have given me some great jump scares. Amnesia and Outlast have both threatened my sanity. But I think I have to give the nod to Dreadout, a game that literally made me scared of an entire country. (Our review of Dreadout is here). It’s a short, imperfect, and unfinished game at present, but one of the ghosts in it scared the hell out of me repeatedly. Like, five times in a row.
Thomas: As someone who has bought Amnesia twice but played it for a total of 20 minutes, there aren’t a lot of scary games I’ve actually played through. But one game that I forced myself through despite being paralysed with fear at regular intervals was Metroid Fusion. Early on in the game the research station you’ve been sent to is eerily empty, spookily silent. Because of this set up, the game’s first few encounters are fairly unnerving affairs—it’s a technique that saw success when both Onimusha: Warlords and the original Devil May Cry used it.
But the real meat of the horror in Metroid Fusion comes from the game’s primary antagonist, the SA-X—a clone of you at full strength, born from the parasite that almost claimed your life, and the parts of your power suit torn from you to save it. Being at the mercy of the powers veterans remember wielding in Super Metroid is an intimidating reversal.
This is further enhanced by the way the game lets you know that the SA-X is near—the music cuts out, and slow, metallic footsteps fill the haunting silence. You know it’s coming, you know you can’t fight it, and you know it will find you. Panic sets in as you quickly try to plan your escape route. This isn’t a zombie from the first Resident Evil, either—it will hunt you from room to room as you flee.
Gaming has had a few terrifying stalkers over the years, from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis’ eponymous monster to Bioshock 2’s Big Sister, but for me, it’s Metroid Fusion’s SA-X that terrifies like no other.
Rishi: Deus Ex: The Fall . It wasn’t scary in the literal sense of the term. But that didn’t stop me from having sleepless nights long after I played it. I had shivers every time I thought about it long after I was done. The shoddy production values and watered-down gameplay for this entry were truly frightful. As if the developers were trying to force-fit a series known for design and oodles of gameplay systems meant for PC onto mobile. And then releasing it later on PC as well. Absolutely horrifying.
How about you?
The post Discussion: what’s the scariest game you’ve ever played? appeared first on Games in Asia.
The post Discussion: what’s the scariest game you’ve ever played? appeared first on Games in Asia.
