Halloween Question: What's the Scariest Game You've Ever Played?

It doesn't matter if the game was considered to be a "good" game or not. It may have even gotten poor to average review scores... but I want to know what the scariest game you've ever played is and what about it scared you so much.

And... go!

The Suffering and The Evil Within

PT. The use of the corridor and clever jump scares was as good as anything I've played. Plus it looked amazing.

Massive shame that was canned.

There are only really two games in my mind. The first was Dino Crisis. I have no idea why, young me probably was just in the right age for it to scare me. I wasn't afraid of Resident Evil that much though. Dunno, I guess I'm weird.

The other one is one of my earliest experiences with the Ocolus Dev Kit 1. I played a demo, it was called Dreadhalls or something like that. It looked pretty crappy and wasn't really made that well. But there was this statue that moved when I wasn't looking. And I was really scared, especially since I wasn't used to VR at all.

Dead Space comes to mind.

Yeah, PT was fantastic.

Clock Tower on the SNES is the scariest thing I've ever played though. Your an orphan girl stuck in a creepy old house in the mountains while a little man with giant scissors kills your friends and then hunts you down. All you can do is hide. Your only friend is the sound of your own footsteps, and some surprisingly awesome electronic music that kicks in during chase sequences.

Up until yesterday I would have said the original Dead Space. Due to the isolation and the cleverly concealed jump scares, you'll be swearing at your screen frequently and loudly. Anyway, I just finished playing Fran Bow for the first time yesterday. Jesus Christ, man. I've been a fan of psychological horror over the years but I was not prepared for that. That game deals with some incredibly heavy subject matter as seen from the prospective of the ten year old titular protagonist. It's brilliant but it's truly horrifying and very disturbing. You're gonna need a strong stomach to be able to get through that game, but it's worth it as it all leads toward a heartbreaking but honest view of mental illness and those who suffer from it.

The Last of Us hotel basement the first few times.

The only possible answer to me is Alien: Isolation.

Fallout 3. There are vaults and metro tunnels in the game that were really scary to explore.

-even Silent Hill did not feel that scary.

probably Penumbra: Black Plague or Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Fatal Frame on PS2 when I was a kid.

@dentalp1an: By the time I even found out what P.T. was, it had already been removed from the Playstation Store. I was so disappointed. ?

@sukraj: I never got a chance to play The Suffering, though what I have seen of it looks creepy. I was kind of turned off by The Evil Within because it seemed too much like "mainstream" horror, if that makes sense... and I'm generally not a big fan of that. Is it actually worth it as far as scares go?

@davillain-: I actually played Dead Space for about two hours. I quit because I didn't like how the main character controlled. It felt like I was controlling a brick stuck in molasses.

Sad times. Yeah I know a lot of people who were in that situation. It could easily have been the best survival horror ever made had it been finished...

@henrythefifth: I totally agree with you! I was really disappointed with Fallout 4 because it just wasn't scary in places like Fallout 3 was. Anytime I walked into an abandoned subway tunnel or building I was on edge... and The Dunwich Building was the best.

@with_teeth26: These two games, along with Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 are the games that have probably scared me the most. I need to get around to playing Fatal Frame as well.

@dentalp1an: I get freaked out just watching other people 'Let's Play' it.

Yes it's deff worth it if you can get hold of it for the original Xbox console.

Most horror themed games never scared me that much. Slender: The Arrival had a great creepy atmosphere though, and it certainly gave me a few starts. What freaked me out the most was that so many of the levels in that game reminded me of places I'd been to before. I usually played that game around 2 in the morning, and that definitely added to the uneasy feeling I had while playing it.

Alien isolation resident evil remake last of us dead space

For sure. Only scary place in F4 turned out to be the Museum of Witchcraft. They should've done something with the Glowing Sea. I had so much hopes for that place when I first entered it, and then it turned out to contain only few mundane locations...

While I remember, one real scary game is Alan Wake. Great story, great locations, great atmosphere. Its like playing through one of Stephen King's better horror novels. Now that's good game for Halloween!

I have never really been scared of a game but when I was very young I played Spawn on the PS1 and although it's not horror, I was freaked out by it for some reason. I played RE2 and the rest when I was a bit older and I never felt scared. I will say there are some games that create a really foreboding, what's going to happen now type of atmosphere and just off the top of my head they are:

RE2

RE3

Fallout 3

Alone in the Dark 4 (I think it was, back on the PS1)

RE 7 (from the demo)

Diablo II

@automattik: For games that focus on the scares and pull it off for me personally. I know little else that do it as well as the Remake of Resident Evil, the early Silent Hills + P.T., and Haunting Ground.

With that I'm still a fan of some of the other games listed here, especially The Evil Within (loving the sequel), but if you're looking for raw horror? I can't think of better examples than the three I just mentioned above.

I've never been scared in games but I have jumped a couple of times due to low sound then boom. I get more tense then anything with games and Resident evil 2 been most tense in a game I've been.

@skipper847: Isn't that tension cause by fear though? Resident Evil 2 scared me quite a bit back when I was younger... especially the Lickers and the sudden appearances of T-103 aka Mr. X. Even if you were playing through the game a second time, he was still scary because you knew he was coming and you just dreaded it.

@Enragedhydra: Yet another game I never played because I don't own any Nintendo consoles. Actually, I've never played any games that have a Cthulu mythos theme, which is why I am really looking forward to the new Call of Cthulu game coming out next year. ??

@mias: That's exactly why I love Silent Hill too. I feel like you need to have different elements to balance the pacing of a horror game. If it is just constant running from scary enemies it doesn't take long for them to become more tedious than frightening. You have to have puzzles, or bits of reading and deciphering, or even moments when you make it to a safe area and can just relax and take a moment to gather your thoughts or have your character meet up with others... and if you're put into a small sandbox that you have the freedom to explore at your own pace it's even better. ??

I forget until dawn

Toss up between first 2 silent Hill games.

i second this motion. couldnt even finish the game, too much anxiety.

also resident evil 4 regenerators

@BabyPulpFiction: Regenerators and Iron Maidens are the worst. I think it's the sounds they make that get to me... and the weird music that plays when one of them enters your field of view.