Scariest Video Games Ever?

[LynxVGL]

The Alien in Rescue on Fractalus

According to head developer David Fox, this shock moment made Rescue on Fractalus! "the first [computer] game to really scare people

 

I second that. First time that Alien appeared when I played Fractalus I dropped my controller! And then the tension from there on out of landing to rescue a pilot and not... knowing... until... the... very... last... moment.... if it was a human or Jaggi.

 

Great 8-bit times.

[viking24]

When I was about 9/10 I used to watch my brother playing Quake on our Windows 95 computer and it scared the hell out of me. I used to play it in secret (my parents would not have approved) and used to hesitate when walking around the corners in case a scrag was there. Also I hated that huge white snowman thing which threw lightening at you. It is still pretty creepy now when I play it due to the NIN sound effects. I wouldn't play it with the lights out. Also, the werewolves were frightening.

 

I am currently playing Resident Evil 4 on the Ps2 and finding it fun rather than scary.

[DickNixonArisen]

I WISH I wasn't scared by RE games... then I could play them.

[RJ]

And then the tension from there on out of landing to rescue a pilot and not... knowing... until... the... very... last... moment.... if it was a human or Jaggi.

 

If you look closely, alien pilots had a green helmet.

[toptenmaterial]

Bump for Hallowe'en!

 

Oh, and the background audio in Dodongo's Cavern in Ocarina of Time is kinda freaky.

[Rex Dart]

[Pengwin]

I'll split my answer into two here:

 

Classic games that managed to scare me:

Rescue On Fractalus (been mentioned before, but the first time an alien bashes on the window is soooo scary)

Resident Evil (when that first zombie turns his head towards you, really freaked me out and set up the rest of the game for me)

Silent Hill 1 (IIRC, the controller would rumble a heart beat into your hands...as the tension rose, the heart beat got faster)

 

Recent games:

Amnesia (need I say more, this HAS to be the scariest game ever made)

Penumbra Trilogy (also by Frictional Games - surprised they've not been mentioned before)

Dark Messiah - Might and Magic

 

That last game I included for one particular incident: I was playing the underground level, the one with the spiders. I thought I had killed all the b*****ds (btw. I am a massive arachnophobe), which in itself was bad enough for me. However, as I turned, one of the eight legged demons that I had missed jumped up at me. SO I got a full view, of a particularly well modeled eight-legged freak. I jumped so much, the controller left my hand and actually hit the ceiling. My arse left the sofa, and I think several newly discovered expletives left my mouth. To top it all off, my eight-year old was sat next to me. He laughed so much, my shame was cemented for life. And to this day, he still won't let me forget it:

 

"Dad, you rememberthat time you were playing Dark Messiah..."

"Shut up!"

"It was sooo funny, the way you jumped."

"Shut up!"

"Didn't you like the spiders?

"Shut up!"

"They were really scary, weren't they?"

"Shut up!"

"Wanna play it again?"

"That's it! Go to your room till you eighteen!"