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FFD: What makes a game scary?

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Kittens

Today is Halloween, a holiday we don’t really celebrate here at the Southern tip of Africa, but we try have fun with anyway. Here then is your obligatory Halloween-themed FFD.

Scary games have certainly made quite a comeback in the last generation, with awfully frightening titles like  Amnesia, Penumbra  and Slenderman paving the way for new generation scares by way of The Evil Within, and Alien Isolation – both out this month. They each take a different approach to scares. The Evil Within takes the gore porn approach, very much like Hostel or Saw, blended with creepy, otherworldly monsters from horrors of yore. Alien: Isolation, meanwhile, goes for pure tension; the sort of pants-wetting, white-knuckled frights brought about by something unseen; a terror in the darkness.

Oh, and if you haven’t tried it, you really should check out the Silent Hills demo, called P.T on your PS4 if you have one. While it does  sometimes employ cheap shock tactics, most of its scares are the spine-tingling, chilling sort.

Do games that throw death, torture and dismemberment at you give you the creeps, or do those horrible ones that have background sounds of babies crying, and other ghastly unseen terrors make you cry out for your mommy? What is it that makes games, or even movies, scary for you?

Last Updated: October 31, 2014

112 Comments

  1. Pieter Kruger

    October 31, 2014 at 10:33

    Another player stalking and murdering players online aka GTA V! Scariest thing ever!!????????????

    Reply

    • Guild

      October 31, 2014 at 11:02

      This is cool and epic. I like it

      Reply

    • Fnuik

      October 31, 2014 at 11:10

      Hahaha that’s awesome!

      Reply

  2. Bob the Zealot

    October 31, 2014 at 10:36

    KITTEHS make games SUPER scary 🙂

    For me its the atmosphere. The tension, suspense and threat of a scare is what gets to me. Games like Clive Barker’s Undying and Thief 3’s Shalebridge Cradle are good examples especially when I was playing Undying with headphones on and my little brother put his hand my shoulder. My life shortened by 10 years that day.

    Reply

    • Matewis Jubilai

      October 31, 2014 at 11:14

      Oh man, the Cradle? One of the most tense gaming experiences ever! I mean, it was an orphanage, which was converted into an insane asylum, which was abandoned after a fire, and which then became the supposed lair of a supernatural cannibalistic old hag. It’s the only thief level I did not have the nerve to fully explore 😛

      Reply

    • Mossel

      October 31, 2014 at 12:14

      Yes! I remember the Cradle! That was scary as fuck!

      Reply

  3. Cadis Etrama Di Umar

    October 31, 2014 at 10:36

    Anything that plays on your mind really. The unknown is far scarier than the known. This was the reason I always loved Silent Hill and why I consider it the pinnacle of gaming horror. Nothing is ever as it seems, and the game is built around psychological terror rather than gore. I always loved this quote from Shattered Memories:

    http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/8525/2469538-0089322269-Captu.jpg

    Reply

    • Lord Chaos

      October 31, 2014 at 10:52

      ^ This.

      No to jump scares, they have to work on your mind.

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the pout

        October 31, 2014 at 10:52

        Exactly. That’s why Doom 3 doesn’t fall under my “scary games” list.

        Reply

      • Mossel

        October 31, 2014 at 12:17

        Yes! Like The Conjuring did with the clap game…no jump scares, just pure mental torture.

        Reply

    • Mossel

      October 31, 2014 at 12:18

      It’s like in The Conjuring, as soon as you see the spirit/demon thing the movie becomes slightly boring and not scary anymore.

      Reply

  4. Captain JJ the pout

    October 31, 2014 at 10:36

    Atmosphere, sounds and silence.
    Didn’t find Doom 3 scary at all. All it was, was things jumping out at you. So sure, it gives you a fright, but it’s not scary. Things like FEAR got the mix quite well and The Forest is scary as hell because you feel so utterly alone.

    Reply

    • Aries

      October 31, 2014 at 10:40

      Never played FEAR and probably wont ever, but watched my friend play through FEAR 2 and 3 and it was intense, not into the whole horror games, (Zombies aren’t horror)

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the pout

        October 31, 2014 at 10:41

        Agreed. Zombies aren’t really horror anymore.
        FEAR 2 and 3 were nothing compared to the first. Very watered down, much of the atmosphere lost.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          October 31, 2014 at 10:42

          Zombies are target practice at best.

          Reply

        • Aries

          October 31, 2014 at 10:42

          Glad that I didnt come across 1 then

          Reply

      • R1ker

        October 31, 2014 at 10:57

        Fear 2 and 3 was not really scary for me but I loved the first one. If you can you should really try to give it a go. It actually aged quite well.

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the pout

          October 31, 2014 at 10:59

          It really did age well. The particle effects were excellent (which they dumbed down in 2 and 3)

          Reply

  5. Hammersteyn

    October 31, 2014 at 10:37

    • Jonah Cash

      October 31, 2014 at 10:37

      Hahahahahaha!!!! That is brilliant!!!

      Reply

    • WitWolfy

      October 31, 2014 at 10:47

      • Captain JJ the pout

        October 31, 2014 at 10:48

        Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        Reply

    • Sageville

      October 31, 2014 at 10:52

      His “2 bitches, 1 bowl” reaction was waay better….

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the pout

        October 31, 2014 at 10:53

        LOOOOOL

        Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 31, 2014 at 10:56

        bwhahaha

        Reply

    • OVG

      October 31, 2014 at 13:13

      bwahahaha

      Reply

  6. Hammersteyn

    October 31, 2014 at 10:39

    I really love the psychology of Slender. You’re looking out for him and you pray you don’t find him but every damn time you do you get a fright.

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the pout

      October 31, 2014 at 10:42

      Me too. Want to actually try the arrival.

      Reply

      • Cadis Etrama Di Umar

        October 31, 2014 at 10:46

        Arrival is clunky as hell, some good scares though

        Reply

  7. RinceThis

    October 31, 2014 at 10:40

    Knowing the game is only 30% finished and the rest of the disk is unlockable DLC?

    Reply

    • CAE9872

      October 31, 2014 at 11:17

      Hahahaha yes!

      Reply

  8. WitWolfy

    October 31, 2014 at 10:40

    P.T…. SCREW THAT GAME!!!! IM SERIOUS.. SCREW THAT GAME!!! I HATE YOU LISA!!!

    Every time I saw a glimpse of her I wished I was playing a less scary game.

    Reply

  9. Pieter Kruger

    October 31, 2014 at 10:41

    That man nipple sometimes staring at me from the left of the screen is also pretty scary…….

    Reply

  10. Captain JJ the pout

    October 31, 2014 at 10:41

    Speaking of which. Anyone interested in a Five Nights at Freddy’s Steam code? I have a spare.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      October 31, 2014 at 10:42

      The honest trailer for that was kak funny

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the pout

        October 31, 2014 at 10:42

        Have not seen it. Will check it out.

        Reply

    • Captain JJ the pout

      October 31, 2014 at 11:10

      Seriously. No one?

      Reply

    • Viking Of Divinity

      October 31, 2014 at 11:11

      I’ll take it off your hands.

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the pout

        October 31, 2014 at 11:17

        There we go. Will send it on steam.

        Reply

        • Viking Of Divinity

          October 31, 2014 at 11:27

          huzzah!

          Reply

  11. Captain JJ the pout

    October 31, 2014 at 10:44

    I really enjoy horror games, way more than horror movies. But I can’t play one for too long, I get waaaay too tensed up.

    Reply

  12. Hammersteyn

    October 31, 2014 at 10:45

    Watched the conjuring last night. A lot of the scares are clapping hands or slamming doors. Also wind blew the sheet and it wrapped around the ghost. So simple but if done right very effective.

    Reply

    • WitWolfy

      October 31, 2014 at 10:47

      Nah that movie sucked dude. Try VHS 1 and VHS 2. Now thats horror baby. I like my POV movies.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 31, 2014 at 10:51

        VHS is awesome the first time when you watch it as you have know idea what the different stories will be about.

        Reply

        • WitWolfy

          October 31, 2014 at 10:58

          This is a video from VHS 2, a biker that becomes a zombie. Awesome stuff.

          Reply

    • R1ker

      October 31, 2014 at 10:59

      I don’t know – I actually found the conjuring very disappointed. Did not really had the horror for me. I loved the first Ring movie though.

      Reply

      • WitWolfy

        October 31, 2014 at 11:03

        Insidious is a much better movie than Conjuring IMO. You guys should also give “Afflicted” a chance, its also a POV movie, its good but I’m scared if I tell you what its all about that it might ruin the plot.

        Reply

      • RinceThis

        October 31, 2014 at 11:03

        Agreed. It was fun, but not that scary.

        Reply

  13. Sageville

    October 31, 2014 at 10:51

    Darkness, I kak myself when the lights go out, creepy stomach noises surround me and then they queue up some sphincter-clenching violin music.

    Reply

  14. Thats_how_I_Troll

    October 31, 2014 at 10:53

    The amounts of bugs on release these days??

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the pout

      October 31, 2014 at 10:54

      EA must be the biggest horror publisher around.

      Reply

  15. Alien Emperor Trevor

    October 31, 2014 at 10:53

    Anticipation. When you know something’s coming but you don’t know what or when. You’re walking alone through a place where stuff’s obviously gone/going down, you see flickers of movement & they mess around with light & sound.

    And that damn FEAR ladder. I think that’s the biggest fright I’ve ever got while playing a game.

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the pout

      October 31, 2014 at 10:54

      That part where she comes at you on her hands and feet between the cubicles in the office, that one scared seven types of kak out of me.

      Reply

  16. RinceThis

    October 31, 2014 at 10:58

    I liked Dead Space as there was no hub and very little music. You also didn’t know when you would get attacked when you were checking your inventory making it extremely immersive.

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the pout

      October 31, 2014 at 10:58

      Dead Space was a decent scary game. When you’re that alone it’s all kinds of terror.

      Reply

      • WitWolfy

        October 31, 2014 at 11:05

        Dead Space 1 and 2 revived the horror genre for me. Then turned around and killed it with the 3rd installment.

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the pout

          October 31, 2014 at 11:07

          Agreed. Tried the 3rd co-op, was fun but got boring quickly. They turned it into an arcade experience, which pretty much ruined it.

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            October 31, 2014 at 11:13

            Agreed. It was fun, but it should have had a different name on it.

      • Mossel

        October 31, 2014 at 12:16

        Did you play it with kb+m or controller? The input lag and mouse acceleration with kb+m is unbearable and the controller just feels so damned slow for me! Takes like 3 seconds to turn around…I’m used to playing with high mouse sensitivity.

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the pout

          October 31, 2014 at 12:19

          Tried kb & mouse on first, controller on second. Controller was painfully slow, I agree. I don’t recall input lag on the mouse, but it was a long time ago.

          Reply

    • Matewis Jubilai

      October 31, 2014 at 11:08

      It’s especially awesome on the highest difficulty where you don’t have enough ammo to shoot, uhm, to death each of the necromorphs in the beginning of the game

      Reply

    • Norm (@e3zype3zy)

      October 31, 2014 at 11:10

      I have it on Origin, but yet to download & install it. :<

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        October 31, 2014 at 11:57

        Is it in your quarantine folder?:)

        Reply

    • Viking Of Divinity

      October 31, 2014 at 11:13

      Dead Space: Event Horizon the Game.

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        October 31, 2014 at 11:20

        Oh man, can you imagine an actual Event Horizon game. WIN

        Reply

        • Matewis Jubilai

          October 31, 2014 at 11:24

          Must have Sam Neill, or no deal!

          Reply

        • Viking Of Divinity

          October 31, 2014 at 11:29

          It would be amazeballs scary, It would take the best elements of Silent Hill and Resident Evil, and put them in a blender with takashi Miike films. Boom, game done, best horror evar, roll credits.

          Reply

        • Ranting Raptor Llew

          October 31, 2014 at 11:32

          No thank you. I like my pants clean

          Reply

      • Admiral Chief 0

        October 31, 2014 at 12:06

        There are not enough adult diapers in the world for that!

        Reply

    • Ranting Raptor Llew

      October 31, 2014 at 11:41

      It was good for the first bit. But the attacks started becoming a little predictable eventually

      Reply

  17. Ryanza

    October 31, 2014 at 11:07

    What makes a game scary. Well online DRM of course.

    Reply

  18. Deejay Kza

    October 31, 2014 at 11:09

    Watching mum & dad “gettin’ thangs on” would be utterly horrifying.

    Reply

  19. fred

    October 31, 2014 at 11:09

    it needs to cut you off from the real world , draw you in to explore , and then smack you in the face when you think nothing is coming. Alien did that last night to me . Alien with VR will be a good scare.

    Reply

  20. Matewis Jubilai

    October 31, 2014 at 11:14

    I really detested entering those underground labs in STALKER, especially the first one.

    Reply

    • Viking Of Divinity

      October 31, 2014 at 11:16

      Oh God, I remember that…. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. got night right for me…. It was terrifying.

      Reply

      • Matewis Jubilai

        October 31, 2014 at 11:17

        Oh yes, definitely the first fps I played which got the night right, as in “I can’t see a damn thing!”
        Didn’t appear to affect the bandits though 😛

        Reply

  21. Matewis Jubilai

    October 31, 2014 at 11:16

    Of all the games I have ever seen, not necessarily played, the one that look the absolute scariest of all of them, is Fatal Frame.

    Reply

    • Ranting Raptor Llew

      October 31, 2014 at 11:46

      Dude I still want to try Fatal Frame!

      Reply

  22. Lardus-Resident Perve

    October 31, 2014 at 11:18

    What makes games scary? These days, the PRICE TAG!

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the pout

      October 31, 2014 at 11:19

      Nothing scary about the Steam Halloween sale then ;P

      Reply

      • Mossel

        October 31, 2014 at 12:19

        The layout is quite scary though…

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the pout

          October 31, 2014 at 12:24

          Agreed.

          Reply

  23. Anon A Mouse

    October 31, 2014 at 11:19

    When you pre-order a game and don’t know how big the day one patch is going to be or if it will even work.

    Reply

    • Ranting Raptor Llew

      October 31, 2014 at 11:32

      Why does this not have more upvotes?

      Reply

    • Norm (@e3zype3zy)

      October 31, 2014 at 11:49

      Upvote for you!

      Reply

    • Matewis Jubilai

      October 31, 2014 at 12:00

      Ugh that happened to me when I bought Anno2070 a week or so after launch, by which time two 500mg patches were released. Guess which service I had to use to download them with my 384kbs adsl line? U-#$%#$-play 😛 had to wait two days before I could actually play the game…

      Reply

  24. Rock789

    October 31, 2014 at 11:21

    In terms of more recent games, PT was freaking scary! Really unique, scary little demo / game.

    I also love Outlast – that game really gets intense because of the tension it creates… You can never fight back – there are no weapons. So it’s all about making sure you either are not seen or you better start running!

    And I’m really enjoying Alien Isolation too – the atmosphere is top-notch. And, due to the fact you’re being hunted by something that you cannot kill (you can hurt, but you can’t kill), it really escalates the tension (and thus the scare factor).

    Oh, and special mention for the original Dead Space – that game was a sleeper hit for me. Hadn’t heard much about it, other than it was pretty good, so bought it to play over the Christmas holidays. First chance I got to play it was late at night (like after midnight)… And man, did it give me goosebumps and frights aplenty! I remember I couldn’t play it for more than an hour or so at a time, it was just so intense (my nerves felt shot after each session). Really awesome game!

    Reply

    • Ranting Raptor Llew

      October 31, 2014 at 11:32

      The atmosphere in Alien Isolation is probably the best I’ve experienced in any game (horror or other) in a long time. It feels “real” in a sense

      Reply

      • Rock789

        October 31, 2014 at 11:43

        That’s the exact word I’d use to describe it… I really nailed it in that regards – you literally do feel like its you in the game… YOU are being hunted. And that is scary as hell (and awesome that they got it right!).

        Reply

    • RinceThis

      October 31, 2014 at 11:53

      Couldn’t play it for more than an hour at a time because GIRLYMAN! *RUNS

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the pout

        October 31, 2014 at 11:57

        So it’s not just me then?

        Reply

        • Rock789

          October 31, 2014 at 12:00

          You too?! You cut me deep… You cut me real deep…

          Reply

          • Captain JJ the pout

            October 31, 2014 at 12:01

            I think I cut myself a bit there too actually ;P

          • Ranting Raptor Llew

            October 31, 2014 at 12:02

            emo

          • Captain JJ the pout

            October 31, 2014 at 12:12

            lol

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            October 31, 2014 at 12:27

            I think we had visual cues before we found out about the cutting 😉

      • Rock789

        October 31, 2014 at 11:59

        Your face is a girlyman!!! :p

        Also, a little something for you to remember and think on… “Hello batsy… Wanna play?! **said in joker voice**

        🙂

        Reply

  25. Matewis Jubilai

    October 31, 2014 at 11:22

    Perhaps a bit lame, and perhaps because I was little, but Friday the 13th on the NES completely freaked me out

    Reply

  26. CAE9872

    October 31, 2014 at 11:27

    Recent games – Demons Souls!!! Knowing that if I take on this boss and DIE, I need to then trek through ALL those enemies AGAIN to retrieve all my souls. And if I die on the way its gone forever…

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief 0

      October 31, 2014 at 12:01

      The only fear in that is the fear of repeat

      Reply

  27. MakeItLegal

    October 31, 2014 at 11:29

    DLC…..

    Reply

    • Kensei Seraph Forget Terra

      October 31, 2014 at 12:13

      You nearly made me choke on my lunch.

      Reply

      • MakeItLegal

        October 31, 2014 at 12:16

        for me that really is the most scary thing about a game is the DLC that comes with or with out or on the disc or not

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the pout

          October 31, 2014 at 12:18

          Agreed. I see my Steam games update with a 1Gig patch and then suddenly a day later there’s new DLC available. So I already technically have it, I just need to activate it.

          Reply

          • MakeItLegal

            October 31, 2014 at 16:18

            ha ha , they didn fool you 🙂

  28. Ranting Raptor Llew

    October 31, 2014 at 11:31

    What makes a horror game?

    1) Musical Score
    2) Environment (Both graphical and setting)
    3) Tension
    4) Not knowing what is after you

    It’s all a combination. Alien Isolation, good as it is, loses some scare factor because you know what is after you. However, it piles on the tension and so gains that lost ground back and really makes the game super creepy. It’s environment, musical score and graphical use of shadows etc work together perfectly.

    Pure gore with twisted monstrosities is not scary. It’s simply shock value. Being shocked at an image is not the same as feeling scared about something

    Reply

  29. Mossel

    October 31, 2014 at 12:22

    Going up to the surface in Metro 2033 was shit scary. Checking you stopwatch every now and then only to realize you have about 3 minutes to get to the church, kill some nostalises and somehow manage not to break your gasmask!

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the pout

      October 31, 2014 at 12:25

      Yes. Forgot how scary that was. And it actually did the book some justice.

      Reply

      • Mossel

        October 31, 2014 at 12:36

        I really want to read those books! It’s next on my list! Reading some Ayn Rand classics I missed out on right now.

        Reply

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