Recently I have been rather disappointed in the amount of "Scary" games that have been coming out. Just because it is included in the "Horror" genre does not mean it is scary. The last game that I played that truley made me jumpy was dead space and that was only because I played it at like 2 in the morning with surround sound (THE ONLY WAY TO PLAY SCARY GAMES).

I was even a bit disappointed in Fear but that is another story for another time. In your guys (and gals) opinions: What makes a game scary? What changes should be made to the genre to make games MORE scary? And what, if any, games does everyone else find scary?

It's all in the atmosphere. You must feel vulnerable.

Bioshock had that, at least in the beginning.

There's no fear to be experienced if you know you can easily eliminate any random encounter.

The Scarecrow sequences in Arkham scarred me.

Admittadly it was night and I was alone but the game had done a nice job up until than of getting me into a routine with detective mode and maps and so on. Than BAM!!! they remove all of that and leave me hopelessly running around from basically a God, trying to din shelter from certain death.

As well as that the game did a nice job od building a quite, spooky atmosphere, making you wonder what's around the corner.

*chuckles* a Mario and Sonic avatars so close together

Nah, no games really scare me. Maybe I just don't get sucked in enough.

I got silent hill 2 just recently(Randomly also.) I have to play that.

Have you played condemned? That's a scary game, i like that.

Clock tower for the snes freaks me out for some reason. I feel as if I am there.

EDIT-

Willwillwritehiswill:
Have you played condemned? That's a scary game, i like that.

That game was pretty freaky, well the first one at least.

There is a game that you can buy of Steam that my brother showed me. It was a game played in a first person perspective and you were in a coal-mine looking for something about your fathers death if I recall correctly. The idea of it was all based around stealth, and you couldn't actually fight your enemies. In-fact, if you looked at them your character would panic and then the enemy would see you.

I can't remember what it was called, but it sure freaked the hell out of me.

Yahtzee's John DeFoe quadroligy

It has so much atmosphere that I have a constant feeling of that there is someone behind me wielding a machete...

Adventure horror games scare the living crap out of me. Any other horror game that gives me a weapon I usually just try my damndest to kill everything.

I hear Fatal Frame is terrifying.

I agree that Dead Space was the last actual horror game but it was ruined by the fact you can become a walking tank. The whole point of Horror games is vulnerability. If you have bollock loads of weapons, you just feel too much of a badman to care about the 'horror' aspect.
I want a game where you have no weapons what so ever, only the option to run like a pussy and hide like one too.

good atmosphere is key to horror. And also, you can't be a super powered space marine. The game has to clearly show that you are just some guy, with now super awsomeness. Best way? No guns. Everytime you get a gun in your (virtual) hands, things seem to just falls to pieces at your feet.

it's funny that nobody mentioned the underrated game called "Call of Cthulhu: Dark corners of the Earth" that was a insane game! hahaha

combat.

if you can kill it and not run out of ammo, IT ISN'T SCARY.

granted, this isn't always true

I played Silent Hill 2. Alone. At night.
Bad idea. That's easily the scariest game I've ever played...

I'm such a pansy I can't even finish Doom3 or Dead Space.

Not to sound above it all, but I don't get scared by much any more, and when I do it usually isn't that bad. Things do freak me right the heck out though and I come across some new creepy thing at least once every week to 10 days, and of course video games pretty regularly provide me with moments like this:

The best examples I can think of of the last one are when a Zelda game drops you into a bunch of powerful enemies, when you first encounter the Flood in Halo (which was also creepy, gross, tense, and suspenseful), and pretty much once a minute or more in Castlevania games until you really get the hang of them and at least once or twice a block/level unless you're an old pro.

i try to avoid any truly scary game.

scariest stuff i played was re4.
i've watched others play really scary games,but not me.

Orcus_35:
it's funny that nobody mentioned the underrated game called "Call of Cthulhu: Dark corners of the Earth" that was a insane game! hahaha

I am thinking of buying this, you would recommend? The main reason I have not is I am so weary of bethesda games crashing on me. I have had crashes at least once every 2 hours with both fallout3 and oblivion, and a crash to desktop kinda ruins the immersion. Did you find it stable?

TheNamlessGuy:
Yahtzee's John DeFoe quadroligy

It has so much atmosphere that I have a constant feeling of that there is someone behind me wielding a machete...

i have not heard of that.

could you link it,or tell me where to find?

Jonny49:
There is a game that you can buy of Steam that my brother showed me. It was a game played in a first person perspective and you were in a coal-mine looking for something about your fathers death if I recall correctly. The idea of it was all based around stealth, and you couldn't actually fight your enemies. In-fact, if you looked at them your character would panic and then the enemy would see you.

I can't remember what it was called, but it sure freaked the hell out of me.

I'm pretty sure you mean Penumbra. Those were okay, they got a little boring after a while though and some of the puzzles are a little obtuse.

ctrl-alt-postal:
I am thinking of buying this, you would recommend? The main reason I have not is I am so weary of bethesda games crashing on me. I have had crashes at least once every 2 hours with both fallout3 and oblivion, and a crash to desktop kinda ruins the immersion. Did you find it stable?

CoC has crashing bugs out the wazzoo. Other than that pretty good though.

might I recommend, simply because Condemned and Silent Hill 2 were already mentioned, Eternal Darkness. seriously, there are some mind melting bits in that game

I'm too much of a coward to play scary games. I barely got through the underground bits in STALKER.

Part of that was due to the atmosphere. It was dark, creepy and claustrophobic. There were also strange noises like screams and yells. You couldn't see there origin, but they were terrifing.

Scarriest moment in the game was in the first STALKER. Entering a narrow corridor with flickering lights in the room at the end. I saw a monster appear for a moment and then a gut wrenching scream before I saw it start walking down the corridor. No music, just more screaming. I truly started shitting masonry.

bioshockedcriticjrr:
might I recommend, simply because Condemned and Silent Hill 2 were already mentioned, Eternal Darkness. seriously, there are some mind melting bits in that game

I remember a friend showing me that game. I had nightmares for the next week.

Play Fatal Frame. Play it, and be terrified. So very terrified...

I know what a scary game needs. It needs a monster that stalks, and that you KNOW it enjoys to stalk. It won't even suddenly leap out in surprise. It'll show itself, nonchalantly, and approach with an eerie calm. Then, when you see it and go "Oh Jesus...", it knows it's time to charge!

Fatal Frame is the scariest game I have ever played. It was all about the eerie setting. I mean, it made me nervous that something was going to happen even if nothing was going on. I was always afraid to open doors or even pick up the camera to look around. The ghosts themselves and the battles weren't that scary, honestly. It was the whole atmosphere.

play any game, with all the blind shut, at 4am in the morning after staying up from 6am, drink 10 cups of coffee over the course of the day, turn down the thermostat to around 60-70 (or as cold as your wallet can handle) strip down to shorts and a shirt.

you will be on edge, vulnerable, cold and alone.

Music / sound plays a HUGE part in the scare factor for me. I think that's the only part of silent hill that really gets me on edge. If it didn't have the weird noises i don't think i'd be dreading going round the corner into the next corridor or whatever. For example in Homecoming, within like the first ten minutes of the game theres the sound of the baby crying when your in the hospital. Thats horrible. There we go, kids... they scare me too...

Other than that i think the real sense of being vulnerable or alone.

In all fairness i haven't really played that many "scary" games cause i'm a terrible wimp. I'm getting there though xD

Pr0 InSaNiTy:
I agree that Dead Space was the last actual horror game but it was ruined by the fact you can become a walking tank. The whole point of Horror games is vulnerability. If you have bollock loads of weapons, you just feel too much of a badman to care about the 'horror' aspect.
I want a game where you have no weapons what so ever, only the option to run like a pussy and hide like one too.

I have already made such a game on paper. The problem is, I have no means to produce it without a big budget gaming company on my side. Also, when Escapists read the idea, they said that non-inspirational gaming companies would make the game a shooter. There goes hope.

FalloutJack:
I know what a scary game needs. It needs a monster that stalks, and that you KNOW it enjoys to stalk. It won't even suddenly leap out in surprise. It'll show itself, nonchalantly, and approach with an eerie calm. Then, when you see it and go "Oh Jesus...", it knows it's time to charge!

The Regenerator in Dead Space gave me the same scare. You can hear it moving on the vents, but it does not show up, until you fight a bunch of normal monsters. Then the moment you think that you're just fighting a bunch of normal monsters, it appears with them. The Regenerator is the only real scare in Dead Space considering it cannot be killed by your overpowered weapons.

Jonny49:
There is a game that you can buy of Steam that my brother showed me. It was a game played in a first person perspective and you were in a coal-mine looking for something about your fathers death if I recall correctly. The idea of it was all based around stealth, and you couldn't actually fight your enemies. In-fact, if you looked at them your character would panic and then the enemy would see you.

I can't remember what it was called, but it sure freaked the hell out of me.

Do you perhaps mean Siren: New Translation? I think there's a part in that game where you travel into a coal mine...

Games that are dark and have noises that perhaps make shivers run down your spines or noises that make you feel regret for what you've done (see 'The Sorrow', 'Laughing Octopus' and 'Screaming Mantis' from the MGS series). Games that also have human-like beasts that you would probably only imagine in your worst nightmares also scare me (see the ENTIRE Silent Hill series).

Silent Hill 2 wasn't all too scary for me when I played it- until I got to a certain part. That part is what made me snap and instantly declare the game scary from then on.

Said part is below, and is put in spoilers because I doubt everyone would want to read it and, well, there are spoilers for anyone who hasn't played it/doesn't want to know where things are.