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What "screamer" moment or cheap scare in a game got you the worst?

R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
I think I have to say the piano on the level Big Boo's Haunt in Super Mario 64. The first time I walked into that room I didn't expect anything but once that bastard started chopping away at me I nearly got a panic attack. I'm still quite scared of the piano though I know of course what to expect when entering that level.
 
N

NonEssentialFungus

Neo Member
When your first enter the second part of the Shalebridge Cradle in Thief: Deadly Shadows. You walk towards the front desk, hearing the sound of ticking clocks getting loud, and suddenly a shadowy figure runs past in the hallway ahead. That makes it sound rather lame, but combined with the atmosphere of the level (and the fact that it had been empty up until then) made me jump.
 
H

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Rösti;35339402 said:
I think I have to say the piano on the level Big Boo's Haunt in Super Mario 64. The first time I walked into that room I didn't expect anything but once that bastard started chopping away at me I nearly got a panic attack. I'm still quite scared of the piano though I know of course what to expect when entering that level.
Click to expand...
Super Mario 64 had some good moments that hinged on how radically different it was than any game that came before it in terms of presenting environments.

I once made a thread about scary moments in games that weren't inherently scary, and this was my pick...
in0UnR7xqSOYY.jpg

OH MY FUCKING GOD SWIM AWAY

I hated the way Mario controlled in the water and it was so murky to begin with. FUCK that eel.
 
R

Ramsiege

Member
My first thought was the bathroom scene in ED, but as that's been covered I'm going to go with Castlevania 64. The very beginning of the game when you first start playing, its raining in the game you take 10 steps forward and BAM! Lightning strikes the trees in front of you and knocks them down. Scared me the first time I played it when I was 10-11 years old.
 
T

Tymerend

Member
The original Silent Hill, I believe it was a room in the school that had a phone in it. Examined the phone, it wasn't working, go to walk out of the room...


Bastards.
 
M

Morue

Member
There's also this moment in Fatal Frame 3 where, if I remember well, you can see from afar, a ghost woman who is combing her hair, looking herself in a mirror. When you take a picture of her, she suddenly appears right in front of your face. I absolutely hated the game at that particular moment.

And, not really a screamer moment but it made me feel really uncomfortable : in Silent Hill 3, when you're in the subway station, you can find a newspaper talking about a man who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. And when you come close to the railway, you can hear a heavy breathing and feel that someone is pushing you...
 
B

Bulzeeb

Member
CcrooK said:
Not exactly a scream moment but those moments in the game where I shit myself. Example:

pNrPU.jpg
Click to expand...

this, when I saw that sucker for the first time and after destroying a limb or two my mind went all OMG what is this how do I kill that thing but then it was just another monster in the room
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Amnesia.

I picked up a vase and it exploded in my hand. Fuck.

No added sound cues. Just a fucking vase exploding. For no reason. In my hands. Scared the shit outta me.
 
D

Dipswitch

Member
RE4, when fighting the Bella sisters (Chainsaw wielding broads with bandaged faces). Was in that mine type area where you fight them and was up on one if the catwalks shooting down at all and sundry and kicking over every ladder they tried to raise to my level.

Unbeknownst to me, one of the crafty bitches had flanked behind me and climbed up. I just had enough time to spin around when I heard the chainsaw revving to observe my head getting lopped off. I shrieked like a 10 year old girl, dropped the controller and raised my trembling hand to my face while I regained my composure.

Nothing else in that or any other game has ever gotten me nearly as good as that.
 
R

ramine

Unconfirmed Member
When Nemesis crashed through the roof in Resident Evil 2. I shot every bullet I had to kill that thing but knew it'd come back, so I avoided that room for a solid couple of hours.
Also, when he breaks the wall.

I got Zelda on NES when I was 6. I used to get super scared of the hands coming through the walls to catch you. The fact that getting through a dungeon for me back then didn't make getting captured any easier!
 
F

feel

Member
I never see this one mentioned in these kind of threads, but in Condemned, if I remember correctly it was on the Subway station level, it's hard to explain since English is not my first language, but there was this balcony of sorts that overlooked some stairs that disappeared out of your view beneath you, and after you aproach the edge and look down into the stairs a hobo jumps up from below trying to grab you. Hardest I've ever screamed while playing a videogame. Loved that game.

edit-
found a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBczBuBDEBc
doesn't seem like much now, but back then it got me gooooood
 
G

Guerrillas in the Mist

Member
NonEssentialFungus said:
When your first enter the second part of the Shalebridge Cradle in Thief: Deadly Shadows. You walk towards the front desk, hearing the sound of ticking clocks getting loud, and suddenly a shadowy figure runs past in the hallway ahead. That makes it sound rather lame, but combined with the atmosphere of the level (and the fact that it had been empty up until then) made me jump.
Click to expand...

The Shalebridge Cradle is a great example of how to do slower-paced horror, but there's still a few "jump" moments here and there. The whole first half of the level is a masterclass in how to build up atmosphere, and it's no surprise that the guy who designed the level also did Fort Frolic in Bioshock.

Not a jump scare, but holy shit, going up those stairs. That had to be the slowest I've ever progressed in a video game on purpose.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Silent Hill 3 - subway station - when you meet Insane Cancer for the first time, standing still in the shadows, until the huge cancerous blob of flesh starts to run at you.
 
D

dreamfall

Member
I still have nightmares of Verdugo in RE4 every time I play it. It was one of the scariest fights I've ever had in a Videogame. The first time, I didn't have enough ammo and the cryo tanks kept exploding after he was past them. I kept saying "HOLD ON LEO PLEASE!!!" He was chasing me down, and I kept dodging everywhere. I waited a whole summer to pick it up again!
 
P

Parallax Scroll

Banned
Zombie inside the iron maiden in RE:Code Veronica... but that's because I was particularly on edge since I was 1 hit away from death and out of healing items.

He got me. =(
 
eso76

eso76

Member
the dog.

i was just OMGOHFUCKFUCKFUCK and emptied a clip on ceiling, floor, furniture, ran in circles...and of course died.

Later the same day i told my older brother he should really try that amazing new game and anticipated the moment when he would face the dog.
He didn't jump, from the outside at least, didn't move, didn't say a word. The dog chewed him up good but he managed to kill it...he stood there, took a few more steps down the corridor, hesitated again...dropped the controller, stood up and said "...fuck...this...".

Before that, i believe it was just Intellivision's advanced dungeons & dragons
 
J

John Rabbit

Banned
i can't find the exact part (been awhile and i'm actually replaying it) but somewhere in condemned you're working your way through a basement and come to a flooded area with one those guys that squirm across the ground at you motionless under the water. i was playing it with my girlfriend and we both *knew* he wasn't dead.

the fact that he rushed at us and then leapt out of the water still made us scream like children.
 
T

trimon

Member
Rygar 8 Bit said:
resident evil 2 licker jumping through the window in the police interrogation room
Click to expand...

THIS!! The only time my brother gave me the controller during his play through. He said it'll be fine. He already cleared up the area. So all I did was go up to get the thing off the shelf. The controller flew out of my hands and he was laughing his ass off
 
G

Grimm Fandango

Member
Rygar 8 Bit said:
resident evil 2 licker jumping through the window in the police interrogation room
Click to expand...

This.

I was playing on my N64 in my room, all dark (might have had headphones on too). I knew some shit was going down when I saw the camera angles in the room but the shiny object caught my attention. And when the piece of shit jumped through the window, I jumped in my skin so hard. I killed the bastard then turned off the console (didn't save) and ran into bed.
 
J

JNT

Member
Hawkian said:
OH MY FUCKING GOD SWIM AWAY
Click to expand...
Damn that eel! Or any other water-living monster for that matter.

I remember being scared shitless by a huge spider that camouflaged itself as a boulder in the second level of Thief.

Also, this:
Headcrab_poison.jpg

Every. Single. Fucking. Time.
 
N

namDa65

Member
There's this mod, Korsakavia, by the makers of Dear Esther.

I recall being in a hospital alone. At first I was in a room with a chair and a door. The ambience and atmosphere is chilling. I open the door into the main hallway of the hospital ward and as soon as I step out, a shadow flies by and I scream and fall out of my chair.

Embarassed, I come back up to my pc, and look around but theres nothing there for 5 minutes. I quit the mod and continue playing counter-strike source.
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
Hawkian said:
Super Mario 64 had some good moments that hinged on how radically different it was than any game that came before it in terms of presenting environments.

I once made a thread about scary moments in games that weren't inherently scary, and this was my pick...
in0UnR7xqSOYY.jpg

OH MY FUCKING GOD SWIM AWAY

I hated the way Mario controlled in the water and it was so murky to begin with. FUCK that eel.
Click to expand...

Definitely this.

Another memorable scare was RE4 oven. Classic.
 
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