We were scared once. That moment of sheer adrenaline fueled terror. The distinct feel of our basic instincts kicking in as we in a moment contemplate whether or not the answer is flight or fight. Sometimes you want fight, but the rules of the game won’t let you, other times you wanna flee for your life but you’re trapped, forced to bear witness the visceral visions laid bare before you. (Provided you don’t shut your eyes or toss your headphones across the room) You unleash a scream like you’ve never screamed before, the fear welling up inside of you no longer able to be contained and bursting forth in explosive reaction.
Experiencing this in a game is thrilling, and watching someone else experience this can be pretty entertaining! Yet everyone who has ever played a game has a moment like the one described, a specific one (or more) burned into their memory that stand out from the rest. We were scared once, for we here at Marooners’ Rock have played our fair share of these games, and these are our tales.
Sometimes it isn’t the quality of the graphics, its the quality of your imagination!
Mike Robles – Friday the 13th NES
I love horror games. A lot. I have played some really good ones, and some really bad ones. The most I’ve ever been scared was when I was kid. It was the NES Game – Friday the 13th. No joke. I loved that game but it was the first game to ever give me nightmares. The musical sting when Jason appears STILL haunts me to this day. I put Friday the 13th on my NES Classic to remember how it played and sure enough, Jason jumping on screen still makes me jump. There have been plenty of amazing horror games to come and go in the recent years but to me, Friday the 13th on NES was the most scared I’ve ever been playing a video game.
If you jump, you’ll miss. If you miss they’ll get you. Don’t Jump. Don’t Miss.
Joe Siemsen – Resident Evil 4 Wii
In highschool a bud and I went on over to the local Wal-Mart and saw that Resident Evil 4 was now out for the Wii. Having never played it before and only hearing immense praise for this game I purchased it and we immediately went home to fire it up! Capcom did an amazing job translating the gameplay to motion controls, jumping and being startled actually could impact your aim so it was important to stay calm, we weren’t. At one point in particular I remember when Leon jumps down into a little pit area and I said to my friend “Is that a chainsaw?” and right on cue a TERRIFYING MAN shattered through the wall next to me and cut me in half. We both screamed high pitched squeals that we hadn’t emitted since we were much younger and nearly fell off my bed that we were sitting on in our reaction. Didn’t take long for our laughter to break through our terror but it was also 2 or 3 in the morning at this point, which I’m sure didn’t help matters. We continued and actually beat the game that night, screaming and jumping the whole way. It’s definitely a memory we both look at fondly now, but at the time we were terrified, and maybe a bit giggly.
Sometimes the setting in which you play a game is… EVERYTHING.
Aaron Giddings – F.E.A.R. PC
It was October 2005. I was a QA Analyst at Monolith Productions helping to put the last bits of polish on F.E.A.R. We’d invited a bunch of major gaming media folks to come play our game the next day, which meant that the latest stable build had to be loaded onto a bunch of Alienware PCs for them to use. Sometime in the afternoon before showcase day, the game crashed. This meant a new stable build, the need to load said build into each PC again, and someone to play all the way through the latest build to make sure it didn’t crash again. I volunteered. This is where I should note that the Monolith offices at the time had some odd things happen. A couple of rooms had to have CRT monitors, because LCD monitors mysteriously burned themselves out. Fire doors would randomly close. Offices would unexpectedly blow fuses. In this building, I would be pulling an all nighter. Alone. There’s a level late in F.E.A.R. that involves a bunch of ghost things in a warehouse that jump out and attack the player. I hadn’t seen this segment before. I got to it around 3am. The fact that no one came running down the hallway to check on me when I yelled confirmed without a doubt that I was alone in the building.
Dolls are creepy. Don’t care that this is a high fantasy storybook style story game. DOLLS ARE CREEPY.
Alex McCumbers – Final Fantasy IX – PS1
As a kid there were few things that terrified me more than dolls. Likely stemming from the constant trailers of the horrifying Child’s Play films on television during the 90s, I’ve always gotten the creeps by things that try to recreate humanity like dolls, statues, and puppets. This created a sense of dread anytime living dolls were involved. Funnily enough, I became so scared at a plot point involving dolls in Final Fantasy IX that I had to put the game down until morning.
Early on in the adventures of Zidane, Dagger, and their crew the player comes across a town that is secretly manufacturing fabricated Black Mage soldiers. They are essentially magic golems made of stuffing and thread and the build up actually created a sense of utter dread for the reveal of these creatures. Players dive beneath the town where monsters emerge from the mist that powers these machines in a sort of dungeon that reveals how things are starting to be put into motion with the overall conflict. It’s all very tame by most horror game standards, but there was something about it that triggered the wrong parts of my imagination.
The next day I fired it back up and felt rather silly after finishing that event and quickly beating down the Black Waltz that served as a final boss of the area. From there I fervently devoured everything about Final Fantasy IX and to this day it is one of my absolute favorite games, but I never will forget that time it got under my skin.
Dalin (left) and Matthew (right) wish they had Amnesia when it comes to this game.
Dalin Briggs – Amnesia The Dark Descent – PC
I don’t usually play scary video games, I am an absolute baby when it comes to horror. Even Oxenfree had me pausing the game from time to time to bring the nerves down. However, I remember at a friend’s house, my buddy told me he got this awesome new game that I had to try, and the only way to play it was in total darkness with a headset on. We had made a bet to see if I could play the game for an hour without taking off the headset. “What game?” I reasonably asked. “It’s called Amnesia: The Dark Descent, you’ll love it” he replied. It doesn’t take a great sleuth to see what comes next.
I believe I made it close to 15 minutes, mostly because of how long I took to read the note at the beginning of the game. I continued to push on, encouraged on by my friend, into the state of terror. Amnesia left me trembling, unable to strike the “w” key to continue through the twisted halls. It became nearly impossible to leave the safety of my hiding spot. The first glimpse of the monster I caught caused me to rip the headset off, yell explicit words, and demanded we shut the game off. to This experience is undoubtedly the most scared I have ever been playing a video game. To this day, no matter how much I try, I cannot get more than an hour into Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Matthew Hlady – Amnesia: The Dark Descent – PC
I was in high school when “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” came out. Long before I even saw a monster, I was getting the heebie-jeebies. Once I think that I have the game figured out, and am not so skittish, I get stuck in a dungeon. I find a monster patrolling the halls, walking the same way that I need to go. Going back isn’t an option, so I put out my lantern, plunging the game into near-pitch darkness, and creep behind this shambling figure. After a few seconds, it rounds a corner. I slide forward, peer around the wall, and watch it disappear behind another. Still feeling my way through the black, I check the next corner, leaning out to see what’s become of the once-human abomination. The hall is empty. I stare into the dark. Did I miss it go ahead? Can I just not see— wait did I hear something behind me? Before I can even turn around, a sickening, wet, tearing sound bursts through my headphones as something claws at my back. “OH F#&% $%*#@&!!!” I find myself screaming at my laptop as an unworldly screech rings in my ears. “Run run run run run run RUN RUN RUN!!!” I scream this so loud as I try to escape that my parents bolt from the kitchen, asking if I’m okay. Once miraculously safe again, I pant “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Just a… just a really scary game.”
Ryan got scared twice, and that’s ok because GAMES CAN BE REALLY SCARY. LIKE REALLY REALLY SCARY.
Ryan Richie – Castlevania II – NES & Bioshock – Xbox 360
What a terrible night to have a curse. As a child playing Castlevania II for the NES this sentence flashing across the screen and heralding a sudden change in difficulty would send shivers up my spine and test my tiny reflexes. Not to mention the music. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest had the eeriest soundtrack of the 8-bit era. Quaint by today’s standards, the music set the tone for the the sprawling gothic adventure, and the tonal changes between day and night are burned in my memory.
As an adult I have played many games in the horror genre but the one game that stands out to me as far as the adrenaline rush brought on by fear isn’t necessarily a horror title per say. The begin moments of Bioshock were some of the most nerve racking of my gaming life. It’s very effective in your first playthrough of throwing you into this world where creepy little girls, their lumbering protectors, and hook handed stalkers roam dark corridors and you’re unsure of what lies around the next corner. Of course, as we learn more and become more powerful the fear fades, but it’s hard to top those early hours as far as tension building.
Zombie mode can be quite thrilling!
Matt Kowalski – Call of Duty Black Ops 2
The most I have ever been scared in a video game was when I was playing Black Ops 2 with friends. We were attempting to do the original Tranzit Easter Egg and I was the last man alive on the final step. We had flown through levels why trying to complete different steps but we were having difficult with the turbines. We had luckily set up three of them before my teammates had died but mine had yet to be set up. Sadly, I missed the bus and had transverse through the fog and deal with the fog dwellers. As I was making my way through. I neared death due to the little bastards jumping on me and barely escaped the grasp of a zombie. Luckily, I was able to kill the zombie which granted me max and ammo and was able to reach the Diner. Upon reaching the Diner, I set up my turbine to complete the final step but it refused to activate. I chucked grenades at the turbine with the goal of having it spark and luckily as I was getting surrounded I was able to throw a monkey bomb and use my last grenade to complete the easter egg. I remember gasping for air due to the pure fear of failing my teammates and dying and came out the Hero
And those are our stories to be told in light because they happened when there was none. If you too have a story of a distinct moment playing horror games, share it with us…
If you dare!
