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Are you a Scaredy-gamer? Are you freaked out by certain games that no matter how much you play the game, you still fear the evil beings projected out of the screen into your eyes?
If you're like me, chances are you're not. I don't fear what I see on my screen - whether it's on my TV or PC my mind just tells me it's not real. But there are one or two games that do make me jump out of my seat when I'm playing. Though these are few and far between, they feel like they are the best games ever when playing them.
The first game I ever considered scary was the old classic Doom. Sadly, you don't get all the fear in the N64 and Game Boy Advance versions. The N64 version just wasn't the same old Doom and the Game Boy Advance version is just on too small a screen. However, on the PC, with it's full screen and loud stereo speakers (I'm too cheap to get surround sound) and in a dark room, it's a brilliant game to scare ya pants off! The reason being the midi-music is just perfect at creating an eerie/evil effect
Then, as you think you've killed off all the enemies in the level, you hear an animal-like noise. You can't tell where it's coming from as the levels are maze-like, but when you do find it, a fireball is sent towards the cheeks of your backside and a loud roar emits from the speakers as the creature runs towards you to eat your flesh. It's at that moment I jump out of my seat and I go into panic mode, pressing the wrong keys and firing rockets in all directions, none in the right one.
But how many other games scare me like that? Well so far none that I can think of. There are games with hideous looking zombies like in the Resident Evil series, or characters that just look evil such as the Borg from Star Trek Vyager: Elite Force, but that's just not enough, not even with a few blood effects, to scare me.
Well here are what aspects I feel are enough, if perfectly done, to scare me in a game.
Music:
That's right. Music makes the games scarey. Whether the background music is ambience, or whether it's an evil, slow, eerie tune that tingles your ear-drum enough to bring you into a false calm whilst tingling your nervous system. If it's done right, just the slightest noise from another character or object will make you feel all tense and give you a shudder down your spine. A good pair of stereo headphones, whilst playing a game in the dark usually helps.
Sound Effects:
Sound effects need to be perfectly timed at a decent volume to make you jump out of your seat. This all depends on character movement and other aspects of the game, but when done properly it's guaranteed to make you at least lean back in slight shock or cause your heart to beat a little faster.
Graphics:
They don't need to be realistic to be scary. I mean, how realistic is a Cacodemon, or a zombie that can bite your arm squirting blood everywhere, yet your own character doesn't have a single mark on his or her body? The graphics just need to set the scene, look the part and create decent enough characters that for the split second they need to, scare you half to death.
However, despite those obvious aspects, the levels need to be well designed too. In Doom, there were many mazes, tricks and traps which could cause you to literally crap yourself at your own stomach turning mistakes. If you think that switch will make the ceiling collapse on you, don't pull it! If you think that slightly different coloured floor panel will generate 50 or so enemies all raring to kill you, then why step on it? Yet, it's those obvious traps that make you want to see what happens and makes you jump out of your seat when the obvious does happen.
Storylines can sometimes effect how scary the game is. If you've seen a cutscene where a creature goes into hiding and you know you've got to kill it, you follow it and it's not there, you're going to start to feel the addrenaline flowing through you as you scare yourself mentally trying to find it. If the game is set in an old dungeon, or in a hellish universe, or an abandoned space station, then you'd expect some element of terror. However that isn't always the case as I'm sure anyone who's played Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on Game Boy Advance will tell you. It's a good game, but far from scary despite it's Vampyrish theme.
So are you scared by anything in games? If so, which games, and what is it that scares you? Do you find you're not scared by games at all? If so, then why do you think that is? Or is it that you just ignore the stinking mess in your pants as you carry on playing not admitting to anyone you're scared?
By the way.....BOO!
If you're like me, chances are you're not. I don't fear what I see on my screen - whether it's on my TV or PC my mind just tells me it's not real. But there are one or two games that do make me jump out of my seat when I'm playing. Though these are few and far between, they feel like they are the best games ever when playing them.
The first game I ever considered scary was the old classic Doom. Sadly, you don't get all the fear in the N64 and Game Boy Advance versions. The N64 version just wasn't the same old Doom and the Game Boy Advance version is just on too small a screen. However, on the PC, with it's full screen and loud stereo speakers (I'm too cheap to get surround sound) and in a dark room, it's a brilliant game to scare ya pants off! The reason being the midi-music is just perfect at creating an eerie/evil effect
Then, as you think you've killed off all the enemies in the level, you hear an animal-like noise. You can't tell where it's coming from as the levels are maze-like, but when you do find it, a fireball is sent towards the cheeks of your backside and a loud roar emits from the speakers as the creature runs towards you to eat your flesh. It's at that moment I jump out of my seat and I go into panic mode, pressing the wrong keys and firing rockets in all directions, none in the right one.
But how many other games scare me like that? Well so far none that I can think of. There are games with hideous looking zombies like in the Resident Evil series, or characters that just look evil such as the Borg from Star Trek Vyager: Elite Force, but that's just not enough, not even with a few blood effects, to scare me.
Well here are what aspects I feel are enough, if perfectly done, to scare me in a game.
Music:
That's right. Music makes the games scarey. Whether the background music is ambience, or whether it's an evil, slow, eerie tune that tingles your ear-drum enough to bring you into a false calm whilst tingling your nervous system. If it's done right, just the slightest noise from another character or object will make you feel all tense and give you a shudder down your spine. A good pair of stereo headphones, whilst playing a game in the dark usually helps.
Sound Effects:
Sound effects need to be perfectly timed at a decent volume to make you jump out of your seat. This all depends on character movement and other aspects of the game, but when done properly it's guaranteed to make you at least lean back in slight shock or cause your heart to beat a little faster.
Graphics:
They don't need to be realistic to be scary. I mean, how realistic is a Cacodemon, or a zombie that can bite your arm squirting blood everywhere, yet your own character doesn't have a single mark on his or her body? The graphics just need to set the scene, look the part and create decent enough characters that for the split second they need to, scare you half to death.
However, despite those obvious aspects, the levels need to be well designed too. In Doom, there were many mazes, tricks and traps which could cause you to literally crap yourself at your own stomach turning mistakes. If you think that switch will make the ceiling collapse on you, don't pull it! If you think that slightly different coloured floor panel will generate 50 or so enemies all raring to kill you, then why step on it? Yet, it's those obvious traps that make you want to see what happens and makes you jump out of your seat when the obvious does happen.
Storylines can sometimes effect how scary the game is. If you've seen a cutscene where a creature goes into hiding and you know you've got to kill it, you follow it and it's not there, you're going to start to feel the addrenaline flowing through you as you scare yourself mentally trying to find it. If the game is set in an old dungeon, or in a hellish universe, or an abandoned space station, then you'd expect some element of terror. However that isn't always the case as I'm sure anyone who's played Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on Game Boy Advance will tell you. It's a good game, but far from scary despite it's Vampyrish theme.
So are you scared by anything in games? If so, which games, and what is it that scares you? Do you find you're not scared by games at all? If so, then why do you think that is? Or is it that you just ignore the stinking mess in your pants as you carry on playing not admitting to anyone you're scared?
By the way.....BOO!
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Are you a Scaredy-gamer? Are you freaked out by certain games that no matter how much you play the game, you still fear the evil beings projected out of the screen into your eyes?
If you're like me, chances are you're not. I don't fear what I see on my screen - whether it's on my TV or PC my mind just tells me it's not real. But there are one or two games that do make me jump out of my seat when I'm playing. Though these are few and far between, they feel like they are the best games ever when playing them.
The first game I ever considered scary was the old classic Doom. Sadly, you don't get all the fear in the N64 and Game Boy Advance versions. The N64 version just wasn't the same old Doom and the Game Boy Advance version is just on too small a screen. However, on the PC, with it's full screen and loud stereo speakers (I'm too cheap to get surround sound) and in a dark room, it's a brilliant game to scare ya pants off! The reason being the midi-music is just perfect at creating an eerie/evil effect
Then, as you think you've killed off all the enemies in the level, you hear an animal-like noise. You can't tell where it's coming from as the levels are maze-like, but when you do find it, a fireball is sent towards the cheeks of your backside and a loud roar emits from the speakers as the creature runs towards you to eat your flesh. It's at that moment I jump out of my seat and I go into panic mode, pressing the wrong keys and firing rockets in all directions, none in the right one.
But how many other games scare me like that? Well so far none that I can think of. There are games with hideous looking zombies like in the Resident Evil series, or characters that just look evil such as the Borg from Star Trek Vyager: Elite Force, but that's just not enough, not even with a few blood effects, to scare me.
Well here are what aspects I feel are enough, if perfectly done, to scare me in a game.
Music:
That's right. Music makes the games scarey. Whether the background music is ambience, or whether it's an evil, slow, eerie tune that tingles your ear-drum enough to bring you into a false calm whilst tingling your nervous system. If it's done right, just the slightest noise from another character or object will make you feel all tense and give you a shudder down your spine. A good pair of stereo headphones, whilst playing a game in the dark usually helps.
Sound Effects:
Sound effects need to be perfectly timed at a decent volume to make you jump out of your seat. This all depends on character movement and other aspects of the game, but when done properly it's guaranteed to make you at least lean back in slight shock or cause your heart to beat a little faster.
Graphics:
They don't need to be realistic to be scary. I mean, how realistic is a Cacodemon, or a zombie that can bite your arm squirting blood everywhere, yet your own character doesn't have a single mark on his or her body? The graphics just need to set the scene, look the part and create decent enough characters that for the split second they need to, scare you half to death.
However, despite those obvious aspects, the levels need to be well designed too. In Doom, there were many mazes, tricks and traps which could cause you to literally crap yourself at your own stomach turning mistakes. If you think that switch will make the ceiling collapse on you, don't pull it! If you think that slightly different coloured floor panel will generate 50 or so enemies all raring to kill you, then why step on it? Yet, it's those obvious traps that make you want to see what happens and makes you jump out of your seat when the obvious does happen.
Storylines can sometimes effect how scary the game is. If you've seen a cutscene where a creature goes into hiding and you know you've got to kill it, you follow it and it's not there, you're going to start to feel the addrenaline flowing through you as you scare yourself mentally trying to find it. If the game is set in an old dungeon, or in a hellish universe, or an abandoned space station, then you'd expect some element of terror. However that isn't always the case as I'm sure anyone who's played Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on Game Boy Advance will tell you. It's a good game, but far from scary despite it's Vampyrish theme.
So are you scared by anything in games? If so, which games, and what is it that scares you? Do you find you're not scared by games at all? If so, then why do you think that is? Or is it that you just ignore the stinking mess in your pants as you carry on playing not admitting to anyone you're scared?
By the way.....BOO!
If you're like me, chances are you're not. I don't fear what I see on my screen - whether it's on my TV or PC my mind just tells me it's not real. But there are one or two games that do make me jump out of my seat when I'm playing. Though these are few and far between, they feel like they are the best games ever when playing them.
The first game I ever considered scary was the old classic Doom. Sadly, you don't get all the fear in the N64 and Game Boy Advance versions. The N64 version just wasn't the same old Doom and the Game Boy Advance version is just on too small a screen. However, on the PC, with it's full screen and loud stereo speakers (I'm too cheap to get surround sound) and in a dark room, it's a brilliant game to scare ya pants off! The reason being the midi-music is just perfect at creating an eerie/evil effect
Then, as you think you've killed off all the enemies in the level, you hear an animal-like noise. You can't tell where it's coming from as the levels are maze-like, but when you do find it, a fireball is sent towards the cheeks of your backside and a loud roar emits from the speakers as the creature runs towards you to eat your flesh. It's at that moment I jump out of my seat and I go into panic mode, pressing the wrong keys and firing rockets in all directions, none in the right one.
But how many other games scare me like that? Well so far none that I can think of. There are games with hideous looking zombies like in the Resident Evil series, or characters that just look evil such as the Borg from Star Trek Vyager: Elite Force, but that's just not enough, not even with a few blood effects, to scare me.
Well here are what aspects I feel are enough, if perfectly done, to scare me in a game.
Music:
That's right. Music makes the games scarey. Whether the background music is ambience, or whether it's an evil, slow, eerie tune that tingles your ear-drum enough to bring you into a false calm whilst tingling your nervous system. If it's done right, just the slightest noise from another character or object will make you feel all tense and give you a shudder down your spine. A good pair of stereo headphones, whilst playing a game in the dark usually helps.
Sound Effects:
Sound effects need to be perfectly timed at a decent volume to make you jump out of your seat. This all depends on character movement and other aspects of the game, but when done properly it's guaranteed to make you at least lean back in slight shock or cause your heart to beat a little faster.
Graphics:
They don't need to be realistic to be scary. I mean, how realistic is a Cacodemon, or a zombie that can bite your arm squirting blood everywhere, yet your own character doesn't have a single mark on his or her body? The graphics just need to set the scene, look the part and create decent enough characters that for the split second they need to, scare you half to death.
However, despite those obvious aspects, the levels need to be well designed too. In Doom, there were many mazes, tricks and traps which could cause you to literally crap yourself at your own stomach turning mistakes. If you think that switch will make the ceiling collapse on you, don't pull it! If you think that slightly different coloured floor panel will generate 50 or so enemies all raring to kill you, then why step on it? Yet, it's those obvious traps that make you want to see what happens and makes you jump out of your seat when the obvious does happen.
Storylines can sometimes effect how scary the game is. If you've seen a cutscene where a creature goes into hiding and you know you've got to kill it, you follow it and it's not there, you're going to start to feel the addrenaline flowing through you as you scare yourself mentally trying to find it. If the game is set in an old dungeon, or in a hellish universe, or an abandoned space station, then you'd expect some element of terror. However that isn't always the case as I'm sure anyone who's played Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on Game Boy Advance will tell you. It's a good game, but far from scary despite it's Vampyrish theme.
So are you scared by anything in games? If so, which games, and what is it that scares you? Do you find you're not scared by games at all? If so, then why do you think that is? Or is it that you just ignore the stinking mess in your pants as you carry on playing not admitting to anyone you're scared?
By the way.....BOO!
I'm not really in to those kind of games but I have seen my mate play on them. In a way, I find them quite funny.
I agree that the mixture of music, sound effects and graphics in perfect balance can make a game scary.
I suppose younger gamers find those games scary because they aren't old enough to understand that it is just a projection of images on a screen.
I agree that the mixture of music, sound effects and graphics in perfect balance can make a game scary.
I suppose younger gamers find those games scary because they aren't old enough to understand that it is just a projection of images on a screen.
heh Edgy, I told you not to make me pee myself :-P
Scaredy games, I like it.
I don't really get scared of games, I never really have, even when I was young. I think we don't really get scared of games that easily even if it is a game like Resident Evil as we are in control and we have the power to fight that thing off where as in real life we wouldn't know what to do.
It's true though, if I showed a five year old Resident Evil they would run to Mummy and say "Mummy, he's showing me Zombies which are trying to suck my head off" Man, that sounds dodgy but all the non-dirty minded out there carry on...
A setting in a game really adds to the whole 'scaredy' way but something that would make me jump out of my seat is a sudden burst of action which frightens you. You know what I mean, films like Final Destination used it adding sound to make it really sharp and quite stunful (is that a word? heh) A real life example is you walking down a street, turn a corner and something is right infront of you though you didn't know it. And as I said before sound really adds to all this scary stuff.
The setting does too. As graphics get more advance we will genreally feel more in the place of the character and feel as though we are in that 'haunted house' or really are 'shooting Zombies'. For kids - not good. Not adults - they'll crave this stuff.
The best setting for me would have to be in a graveyard and then in a haunted house with frwkay pictures and mist etc SImple, but does it for me.
I want to make a game now :-)
Scaredy games, I like it.
I don't really get scared of games, I never really have, even when I was young. I think we don't really get scared of games that easily even if it is a game like Resident Evil as we are in control and we have the power to fight that thing off where as in real life we wouldn't know what to do.
It's true though, if I showed a five year old Resident Evil they would run to Mummy and say "Mummy, he's showing me Zombies which are trying to suck my head off" Man, that sounds dodgy but all the non-dirty minded out there carry on...
A setting in a game really adds to the whole 'scaredy' way but something that would make me jump out of my seat is a sudden burst of action which frightens you. You know what I mean, films like Final Destination used it adding sound to make it really sharp and quite stunful (is that a word? heh) A real life example is you walking down a street, turn a corner and something is right infront of you though you didn't know it. And as I said before sound really adds to all this scary stuff.
The setting does too. As graphics get more advance we will genreally feel more in the place of the character and feel as though we are in that 'haunted house' or really are 'shooting Zombies'. For kids - not good. Not adults - they'll crave this stuff.
The best setting for me would have to be in a graveyard and then in a haunted house with frwkay pictures and mist etc SImple, but does it for me.
I want to make a game now :-)
Because of the fact that I have just inherited a great deal of money, I decided to buy one of those virtuall headsets that plugs into your P'C.
Now even teletubbies scare me.
Now even teletubbies scare me.
Music definately has influence over a game's power to scare you sh*tless, as games such as Resident Evil - Code: Veronica on the Dreamcast prove. I bought RE-C:V on Saturday and I can safely say that it is one of the few games that has actually succeeded in genuinely scaring me.
But then, playing it well into the night didn't help.
Resident Evil - Code: Veronica at 3am, anyone?
You're a bigger man than I am....
But then, playing it well into the night didn't help.
Resident Evil - Code: Veronica at 3am, anyone?
You're a bigger man than I am....
Sgt Pepper wrote:
> Because of the fact that I have just inherited a great deal of money,
> I decided to buy one of those virtuall headsets that plugs into your
> P'C.
>
> Now even teletubbies scare me.
*
Teletubbies GENUINELY scare me, anyway.
Ooooh, fuzzy!
> Because of the fact that I have just inherited a great deal of money,
> I decided to buy one of those virtuall headsets that plugs into your
> P'C.
>
> Now even teletubbies scare me.
*
Teletubbies GENUINELY scare me, anyway.
Ooooh, fuzzy!
Sgt Pepper wrote:
> Because of the fact that I have just inherited a great deal of money,
> I decided to buy one of those virtuall headsets that plugs into your
> P'C.
>
> Now even teletubbies scare me.
I bet they're brilliant for games like Doom (though a high epilepsy risk I bet)
> Because of the fact that I have just inherited a great deal of money,
> I decided to buy one of those virtuall headsets that plugs into your
> P'C.
>
> Now even teletubbies scare me.
I bet they're brilliant for games like Doom (though a high epilepsy risk I bet)
Well, I don't really think you can get scared of a game, but you could call being surprised scared, I suppose.
The element of surprise may make you jump, but never really make you scared. I agree about sounds a lot. On Doom for the GBA, I noticed that when you've killed loads of things and think you've got them all, you always seem to hear a slight growl, indicating you haen't. This might make you nervous; wondering what's behind each corner, not knowing what comes next. But really, isn't that what being scared is? Being unsure of your surroundings and curious of what might happen next?
People may call this scared, but it depends on how you define being 'scared' before you can say that you are or are not scared.
Meanwhile, people who get scared of TV programs and films are more likely to get scared from games. The simple reason is what you can do with games. On Films all you can do is dress some guy up, giving them a different look. But when you make games, anything is possible. Monsters don't have to fit the shape of the human body, they can take whatever shape or form the designer chooses.
Take Resident Evil, it looks very realistic, probably the closest we've got to lifelike expressions and characters yet. But if you saw some of the monsters in real life (Even though that isn't possible - it's just a 'what if' setence) that you do on resident Evil, you'ds crap yourself, the simple reason is because they don't look like 'blokes dressed up', they look like different creatures.
That's the beauty of scary video gaming, any form or creature is possible to create.
Good luck on GAD Edgy, you've shattered my chances :-)
Good post
The element of surprise may make you jump, but never really make you scared. I agree about sounds a lot. On Doom for the GBA, I noticed that when you've killed loads of things and think you've got them all, you always seem to hear a slight growl, indicating you haen't. This might make you nervous; wondering what's behind each corner, not knowing what comes next. But really, isn't that what being scared is? Being unsure of your surroundings and curious of what might happen next?
People may call this scared, but it depends on how you define being 'scared' before you can say that you are or are not scared.
Meanwhile, people who get scared of TV programs and films are more likely to get scared from games. The simple reason is what you can do with games. On Films all you can do is dress some guy up, giving them a different look. But when you make games, anything is possible. Monsters don't have to fit the shape of the human body, they can take whatever shape or form the designer chooses.
Take Resident Evil, it looks very realistic, probably the closest we've got to lifelike expressions and characters yet. But if you saw some of the monsters in real life (Even though that isn't possible - it's just a 'what if' setence) that you do on resident Evil, you'ds crap yourself, the simple reason is because they don't look like 'blokes dressed up', they look like different creatures.
That's the beauty of scary video gaming, any form or creature is possible to create.
Good luck on GAD Edgy, you've shattered my chances :-)
Good post
Unnerved and disturbed, but never really scared.
The only game that has ever made me jump is Silent Hill 2. In the toilets in the grimy puke-infested prison. There was "something" in one of the cubicles and it made a sudden violent noise.
The only game that has ever made me jump is Silent Hill 2. In the toilets in the grimy puke-infested prison. There was "something" in one of the cubicles and it made a sudden violent noise.
AvP is the only game that truly scared me. A classic and no mistake.
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