This is more of a surprise than a scare, but in Silent Hill 4, when you're in the hospital, there's a room that has a HUGE face of Eileen in it that scared the crap out of me. I was not expecting that at all and I just about jumped out of my skin.

Also, Eternal Darkness creeped me out more than any other game the first time I played it. There were many times when I was hesitant to go into the next room because I didn't want to see what was in there. Yeah, the ememies in that game are repetetive, but the mood more than makes up for it. Plus you never knew when a Bonethief was going to burst out of a zombie.

you forgot the meaningless in horror games overall i mean the highest goal in it is to get nightmares... anyone want nightmares ill pass ill stick to mmorpg

Really good article... Its true, but horror games are still very fun and exciting.

I really do think Condemned did well. The whole atmosphere of only having what you could find on the ground to attack the enemies, constantly in the dark and only a flashlight to see what is up ahead.
Then you had the random psychological bits where the graphics started to grain over and you are not quite sure what is going to happen.

A horror game has never been scary to me because it's what I expect when I pick one up- I expect to see the works in a type of game like this, so seeing blood and guts, monsters/zombies and death scenes isn't anything surprising- though once in a while, horror games do come up with something you kinda saw coming, but didn't know when it was coming...

the problem is, is that your comparing games to movies
and as we know few horror movies are actually scary
there are a few good points but i disagree with immersion
i believe games are just as, if not more immersive. think about it, have you ever read a book and suddenly realised your looking at nothing but words after words? i have, but ultimately it became irrelevent and i was immersed in fairy land again.
games are a form of story telling thats interactive hence directly connecting user not only visualy and audio wise but physicaly aswell
consistency between our reality and the game's is what will make our break the tension
emotional desensitization due to repition will be why many are no longer scared
chuck on some headfones and crank the volume to near painful levels, turn out the lights, sit reeeal close to the screen an play left 4 dead or what ever (unfamiliar and increased sensory input = increased emotional output)
trust me gov
you'll be packin more gruts faster than the factory they were made in

Good article!

There's one game that made me scream in my sleep - Manhunt 2. To be more precise it was a hacked version of the game where none of the kills were censored. The Wii controls helped the immersion a lot (despite all the bugs and shortcommings)... it kinda made ME feel like a hunted psycho. Weird stuff!

The last time I was scared by a movie was thirteen when I was six. The last time I was scared by a game was yesterday. The kills in Nightmare on Elm Street are so over-the-top that I thought they were funny. Jason X was pure hilarity. I jumped out of my skin in Bioshock when I entered a foggy clinic then turned around to find a splicer 2 feet behind me. And in Bioshock when I opened a door to find 2 dozen frozen splicers in attack position and returning to find them all missing. And in Bioshock when I went to a flooded basement only to see a splicer sitting in the corner, instantly bringing thoughts of Psycho. And the first Pyramid Head sighting. And the chainsaws in RE4. And anyhting that regenerates. And the creepy baby necromorphs in Dead Space.

Oh, and before you talked about psycho in neighborhood is beleivable and monsters in space aren't, keep in mind that Freddy, Jason, Micheal, and Leatherface are all indestructable. They will always come back, no matter what happens to them. All game enemies are killable(with exception to Pyramid Head). Beleivable enough for you?

Sorry, the first sentence was supposed to say "...thirteen years ago when I was six." instead of "...thirteen when I was six." :P

I agree with Diamondis, fears are things developed over time and thus end up being every individualized. That being said, I don't find games particularly frightening but I will avoid clowns at any cost.

u know im realy wondering should i get dead space if i cover my face in doom

i think games like resident evil are good for being scared cuz at one point or another you only have like 10 rounds and like 50 zombies, plus your trapped. But i agree that there really aren't any genuinely scary games anymore. Bioshock was pretty creepy the first time through and all the characters are messed up but after that first time you dont get nearly the thrill you did your first time through. I think killdrones idea is pretty good, a game you die, and go all the way back to the beginning.(or have the choice of playing that way). Of course there'd be a warning on the case or on commercials but it would bring back fear in games.

I get scared playing Final Fantasy XI. Just when you think you're safe... BAM! RMT all up in your face =P lol

Damn... cant edit comments? Oh well, just wanted to say that the old Resident Evil 2 tv advert scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I think it got banned lol.

I don't agree. I ontain more adrenalin whit horror games like Silent Hill 1, Dino Crisis, Doom, that whit any horror movie or book.

OBTAIN, sorry.- No edit comment option??

While I think some good points are made in the article, I disagree with the premise. Nowadays, I get more goosebumps from scary games than from scary movies. The fact that you, the player, are the one moving through the setting makes a big difference, I think. Frankly, I blame games for desensitizing me to scary movies.

this is so true it just isnt scary enough i prefer to stick to movies books and stories for being frietend

In some most cases video games are better than T.V. and other entertainment devices... but i think it is damn near impossable to top its quality. However i think people would be a bit more pissed off if they had restart if they died... more cautious? mabye, but not scared.

I was genuinely in a state of panic and scared several times while playing Killer 7. There were situations where you could hear a creature approaching quickly and laughing. The fact that they were invisible and needed to be scanned, then shot, and you couldn't move really made for intense, frigthening times, at least for me. And that laugh always gets me.