Wednesday, February 25th, 2009...11:55 am
The 10 Scariest Video Games Ever (Rated 18)
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Ever since Haunted House appeared on the Magnavox Odyssey back in 1972, many video game developers have been refining their dark arts in order to create games of increasing complexity and sophistication with one aim: to scare the crap out of us. Recent major releases such as F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin and the imminent Resident Evil 5 suggest that their diabolical digital designs show no signs of abating.
So whether you’re a “lights off, headphones on, come get some-shouting” hard-as-nails type or more of the “hear-the-spooky-voice-on-the-title-screen-and-scream-until-the-police-arrive” variety, it’s time to grab a spare pair of pants and take a look at the top 10 scariest video games thus far (beware: contains mild spoilers and scary words…)
10. Doom 3 (PC/Xbox, 2004/2005)
Upon release Doom 3 was criticised for its cheap scares. Which is well-justified considering its limited MO hinges almost entirely on hellish creatures jumping out at you from dark places. Nevertheless, the crude and repetitive scare tactics can’t detract from the creeping sense of claustrophobia and uneasiness emanating thoughout the game’s poorly-lit environments.
Crap your pants moment: Don’t know about you, but whenever I’m walking down a dark corridor in a demon-filled Martian base and a woman’s voice whispers: “they took my baby”… and then everything goes red… and then I hear a baby squealing in the distance, I tend to feel a little uneasy. Maybe it’s just me.
9. Dead Space (PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360, 2008)
Much like the Necromorphs that try to eat your face throughout the game, Dead Space resembles a reanimated corpse fashioned from the butchered parts of 20-odd years of sci-fi/horror movies (particularly Event Horizon) and video games (particularly System Shock). Having stolen the best parts, however, its lack of originality becomes rather easy to overlook.
Set aboard a massive spaceship filled with the aforementioned monsters and innumerable flickering light bulbs, Dead Space employs some wonderfully-immersive gameplay features (HUD-less view, real-time user interface), tense atmosphere and superb audio-visual elements to provide plenty of well-choreographed jumps.
Crap your pants moment: Dead Space’s somewhat repetitious use of scare tactics means that it is difficult to pick one defining scary moment. However, the game’s atmosphere is so well-realised that even innocuous sounds – such as the brief static blip that precedes incoming communications from your crew members – can give you a fright.
8. Sanitarium (PC, 1998)
Taking place in an insane asylum filled with wall-butting patients, Sanitarium puts you in the role of an amnesiac who must discover the truth about his identity and incarceration. Despite the clichéd premise, the mysteries of this little-known but much-loved “Point and Click” adventure unravel into a rich psychological horror experience that flits between the ominous gothic asylum, bleak flashbacks from the protagonist’s past and the nightmarish Freudian delusions of his troubled psyche.
Crap your pants moment: OK, not likely to make you soil yourself, but the second level – “Innocent Abandoned” – is probably the most unsettling. Set in a town peopled entirely by weird, deformed children a strange backstory is gradually revealed – little girl with no eyes: “Everything was fine… until Mother arrived”.
7. F.E.A.R. (PC/Xbox 360/PlayStation 3, 2005/2006/2007)
By plonking a Japanese horror-inspired malevolent little dead girl into an otherwise standard first-person shooter, F.E.A.R. managed to elicit some fairly effective scares. Alma, the girl in question, is central to the game’s plot and gameplay, popping up now and then to shit you up; and it is her menacing presence that gives the game a pleasingly dark and foreboding atmosphere.
Crap your pants moment: Has to be Alma suddenly appearing over you as you climb down a ladder, then as your heart rate recovers you’re treated to another startling apparition as you reach the bottom. Two scares for the price of one.
6. Siren: Blood Curse (PlayStation 3, 2008)
Originally released in 12 downloadable episodes, the grim and gritty Siren: Blood Curse is easily the scariest PS3 exclusive. The plot sees you take control of several different characters trapped in a zombie-infested Japanese village. With an emphasis on avoidance over confrontation much of the game is spent hiding, running and sneaking around the beautifully-realised and highly atmospheric village. The paucity of weapons creates a real feeling of vulnerability resulting in periods of nail-biting tension as you attempt to elude the undead creatures.
Crap your pants moment: The third, almost unbearably tense chapter which puts you in control of a young girl trapped in an abandoned hospital full of undead nurses with just a torch to aid your escape.
5. Resident Evil (PlayStation, 1996)
Resident Evil, the daddy of survival-horror, pioneered many of the genre’s dubious staple features including dodgy camera angles, awkward controls, puzzle-based progression, fiddly inventory management and shite movie spin-offs. Combine this with the idiosyncratic stop-and-shoot aiming system, terrible dialogue (“Here, take this lock pick. I’m sure that you, the master of unlocking, will make use of it”) and god-awful acting and it all sounds a bit rubbish. But despite – or, in some cases, because of – these features, RE was a truly nail-biting, captivating and entertaining experience.
Crap your pants moment: There’s only one real contender: those bastard dogs jumping through the window. One of the defining moments of the Resident Evil series and the survival-horror genre as a whole.
4. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GameCube, 2002)
Eternal Darkness took those Resident Evil-esque elements (dodgy fixed camera, inventory-juggling etc) and added a unique and inventive gameplay system, a Sanity Metre, that measured the protagonists state of mind and altered play accordingly.
As your character(s) encounter the game’s monstrous apparitions, their growing insanity manifests itself in a number of ingenious ways. Bleeding walls and hallucinated enemies may be fairly tame, but some of the more devious insanity effects have you questioning your own actions and even the condition of your TV, giving the horror a more psychological flavour. Nintendo liked the system so much they actually patented video game insanity. Nutters.
Crap you pants moment: When a seemingly innocent, empty bathtub offers a sudden gory vision.
3. Project Zero/Fatal Frame (US) (PlayStation 2/Xbox, 2001)
Taking its visual cues from Japanese horror films, a story from Japanese folklore and the setting from an – ahem – “actual haunted house”, the first of the Project Zero/Fatal Frame series combined effective grainy visuals with a grisly and chilling plot to create a genuinely creepy experience.
Putting you in the sensible shoes of a young schoolgirl (it’s Japanese horror – what did you expect?) searching for her brother in the haunted Himuro mansion, your sole weapon is… a battered old camera – an odd choice maybe, but it’s as good as Proton Pack when it comes to offing ghosts.
Crap your pants moment: The room with the dolls is quite distressing. Especially for this guy.
2. Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360, 2005)
This impressive Xbox 360 launch title remains one of the platform’s most disturbing games. Eschewing the usual supernatural twaddle which inundates the genre (and ballsed-up the sequel), Condemned opts for a more realistic setting, with players battling inexplicably-homicidal vagrants while on the trail of a serial killer.
While it may be considered something of a PR disaster for the homeless, the guttural, visceral combat – usually of the hand-to-hand or rusty-pipe-to-face variety – and tense, unnerving exploration of various wretched and gloomy environments make it a genuinely unsettling treat for horror fans.
Crap your pants moment: Out of countless potential candidates, the most unnerving moment must go to the pediophobia-inducing abandoned shopping mall level in which the mannequins have a disconcerting tendency to follow you when your back is turned (which can be seen here). Enough to put you off shopping centres for life.
1. Silent Hill 2 (PlayStation 2, 2001)
Like Resident Evil, Silent Hill has had its share of duff sequels and pointless movie spin-offs (only one so far, thankfully); but it’s fair to say that the first three titles in the series make most others on this list look about as scary as your average Wii game. However, due to its unrelentingly tense and oppressive atmosphere and compelling narrative Silent Hill 2 has the edge over the others in the pant-soiling department. Oh, and because of one other significant factor…
Crap your pants moment: Manifestation of the protagonist’s psychological torment or whatever, there is no scarier character in video game history than the iconic, pointy-faced S&M freak with an oversized sword and a penchant for unconsensual monster-shagging known, imaginatively, as Pyramid Head.
To give the uninitiated an understanding of how pant-wettingly frightening this character is all you need to do is imagine something evil and scary – then picture something worse raping it: that’ll be him.
Let us know your definitive pad-in-hand shit-in-pants moments (horror-game-related stories only please, none about dodgy curries and all-night Call of Duty sessions)…
147 Comments
February 25th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
You left out The Suffering! That game was scary start to finish. Walking silently through an abandoned, pitch black insane asylum with a flashlight, seeing glimpses of the residents’ last horrible moments.
Crap your pants moment:
Running through a dark, empty prison and setting off a metal detector… Then turning a couple hallways to hear the metal detectors chime behind you as your silent predators close in.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Has No one played though Theif: Deadly Shadows?
The Asylum level Is the Scarcest level In ANY game
I think you will have to Reorganize your list.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Any game featuring face huggers does nicely, IMO, like Blood and Alien vs Predator.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
These are scary games. Wish they could be movies.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
WEAK list, no System Shock 2? No Alone in the Dark (traditional ones)? Play some REAL games next time before spewing out a list.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
right on, i was hoping you would put silent hill 2 as number one, nice list. well done.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
What about Alien vs. Predator 2? The human campain is as scary as hell!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
silent hill 2 > fatal frame ? the list sucks sorry to say
year i know it’s your list and all that other personal opinion crap but silent hill is just lame survival horror. its scary because you dont have a shotgun and blast zombies all day long. but fatal frame is on another level entirely. did you even play the game through? if so tell me if you REALY can stand walking through that rope corridor. or if you try to evade it whenever possible. think about it.
February 26th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Resident Evil Used to scare the daylights out of me !
February 26th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I AGREE!!!!! I still have bad flashbacks from at least of those games!!!!!!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
1. Silent Hill
2. Resident Evil 2
3. Doom 3
Fear wasn’t that scary, it was too fps, Condemned was okay but doesn’t make it on my list.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
No System Shock 2? List disqualified.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
What about Sinistar? That giant floating head was scary as hell as a little kid.
Run coward
February 26th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
you missed fatal frame. should of been first.
February 26th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Did you concider AvP 1 and 2?
February 26th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Ummm… how can you have this list and not include the Fatal Frame series? Those games will make you sleep with the light on.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
duckhunt is fun
February 26th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I disagree with the SH2 nod. SH1 was much creepier than its predecessor. It had all kinds of shit your pants moments, most notably the start of the game when you get attacked by faceless dwarfs wielding knives.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Deadspace was not scary at all and neither was doom 3 i can’t say for the others because I never played them but the first 2 are horrible choices
February 27th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Silent Hill 2?! Dude, no. The second one was child’s play. The first one though, HOooooooollyyyy shit. talk about crap your pants. God help me and my bedsheets if the phone ever rang while I was playing that game.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:17 am
I’m a complete pussy. I can’t play these games at all. I don’t relish being scared, and freak out even if I get tricked into watching a screamer on youtube (That maze trick? I was jumpy for a week afterward!)
But I can watch them if they’re not me playing them. I get waaay too immersed into games, so the zombies/monsters/scary noises etc feel like they’re actually happening to me if I play them. But the stories can be wonderful, so I’ll watch other people get maimed
God, you wouldn’t think I was 23 and been gaming ever since I could click a mouse. I need to grow a pair methinks. Oh wait, does being a girl excuse me for being a wimp? Or does the whole equality apply here too?
February 27th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Most of these games aren’t THAT scary tbh. Creepy in places but nothing has shit me up like this game has:
http://www.studiotrophis.com/site/projects/thewhitechamber
One section in particular freaked me the fuck out for ages.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:45 am
No. Just no. FEAR and Doom 3 don’t belong anywhere near this list. Do some research next time.
February 27th, 2009 at 3:39 am
I’m surprised System Shock 2 wasn’t on this list. I’ve played Doom 3, and the shock factor of stuff jumping out at you wears off after the first third of the game.
System Shock 2 really got me in the psychological department, what with the constant disembodied voices saying that “The Many has decided you must be removed for the good of all.” Also(for those that know what I’m talking about) the entire hydroponics deck was a nightmare complete with psychic lab monkeys and cyborg caretakers without faces.
February 27th, 2009 at 4:34 am
You gotta go back to roots, when atmosphere was manipulated by minds wielding bare text. Zork II, the topiary garden.
February 27th, 2009 at 6:48 am
No mention of System Shock 2?
You disgust me.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:21 am
great list, but I have to say that Bioshock deserves an honorable mention, if not a spot on the top ten. It incorporates all that “Fear” creepy little girl horror with some of the most suspenseful and disturbingly grotesque cut scenes and fighting sequences I’ve ever played through. Very intense, if i do say so myself. Keep up the good work
February 27th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
hmm doom 3 wasnt scary at all , and condemmed 1?Blood shot was WAY scarier and in all ways superior
my opinion at least
February 27th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Was the author not born before the year 2000? Ok, there are a few games before 2000 (Sanitarium, Resident Evil), but cmon, scary video games existed back then too! Doom I? Half Life I ? Sure by today’s standards they aren’t scary, but for their time hell yes!
February 27th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Easily number 1:
The Piano from Super Mario 64.
‘Nuff said.
February 27th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Props for including eternal darkness, many forget about it because its pretty rare and is gamecube exclusive. I needed a new pair of pants after the bathroom scene…
February 27th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
No System Shock 2?
You must die.
February 27th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Doesn’t Painkiller need to be on there somewhere? As well as being a great shoot-em(everything)-up, it also features excellent scare-peed-my-pants-there moments throughout the different episodes.
And I’m not even talking about the sequals like Overdose yet..
Everyone should keep adding comments about other games that employ scare tactics! I love games that screw with my mind, and scare the shit out of me.
Great list!
February 27th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
While I never played it and only caught it years after by way of YouTube clips, you forgot Harvester! It was terribly grim and so twisted. Some would consider Phantasmagoria (and its sequel) to be up there — hindsight makes the special effects seem cheap, but if you ever experienced it in a dark room and really got “in the mood”, it was an awkward chiller, and the last thing I expected from King’s Quest auteur Roberta Williams.
February 28th, 2009 at 12:19 am
The original “Thief – The Dark Project” had the scariest level I have ever played – Anyone who has played the Cathedral level knows what I’m talking about….
February 28th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Weak list. Most of the games on here aren’t scary at all.
Just because the game is “supposed” to be frightening doesn’t mean it actually is.
February 28th, 2009 at 5:57 am
i would put painkiller series on this list, it’s not so much any certain moments in the games but the entire atmosphere of these games are utterly creepy.
February 28th, 2009 at 10:50 am
clocktower man for playstation dude! just not sure what year
February 28th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Good or bad list, mainly depending on your definition of “scary”. Any tense FPS should have a few “jump out at you” moments, but games that actually cultivate creepiness and horror are very few. Thanks for putting Silent Hill 2 at the top, the game’s eerie atmosphere is unlike any other and stays with you long after the console is turned off. SH 1, 3, and parts of 4 are also disturbing and uniquely spooky. I agree with comments about Fatal Frame (1 and 2), both games are profoundly creepy but also full of ‘cheaper’ scares. The Suffering had just as many scary moments as most of the games on this list. Though rare & obscure (and a little hard to play!), Rule of Rose (PS2) was extremely disturbing and eerie. And The Thing (Xbox) was seriously underrated, both as a movie game and a scary experience.
February 28th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Um, for those of you that say they forgot Fatal Frame, look a #3.
Fucking morons!
February 28th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
what about echo night
February 28th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Silent Hill 3 had a moment that I think is comparable or maybe even scarier than Pyramid Head. It was in one of the last areas – the entire game built up, (spoiler) your father died and you are beginning to understand what your purpose is in the game. Then you walk into a room with nothing but a tub and a mirror covering one wall. As you walk towards the mirror, you hear the door lock, and some strange black stuff drips into the tub.
Well, if you haven’t done it, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAoDU9pyv7A – this part was pants shitting. And to make it even scarier, it serves no purpose in the game, it just creates more bizarre, scary atmosphere.
The haunted tourist mansion was pretty scary too, in 3. Danny’s very friendly.
February 28th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
What about Undying??
February 28th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
A not-very-popular game which I found very creepy was Arx Fatalis. It’s an RPG, so the horror-scary element wasn’t very pronounced, but there were a few things that I found just…disturbingly creepy.
March 1st, 2009 at 4:21 am
While Doom3 wasn’t the best game, it solidly deserves a place on this list just for the infant/bee hybrids–and the sounds they make, oh god, the screaming. That room with them was easily the most messed up/terrifying experience I’ve had in a game to date.
But yes, disqualified for lack of System Shock 2.
March 1st, 2009 at 4:39 am
good list i guess, needs ‘Half-life’ and ‘Encounter’ on 2600 made me shit myself
March 1st, 2009 at 5:55 am
I like Turtles
March 1st, 2009 at 4:42 pm
bioshock anyone…. totally submersive
March 1st, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Really? Doom 3? I mean it was scary for a bit maybe but… eh. Eternal Darkness too? Creepy sure, but terrifying… naw not really. Like Jeremy said, your lack of any of the Alone in the Dark series or System Shock 2 makes this list about as useful as a greased baby launcher.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Morrowind should really be in there.
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:05 am
I was TOTALLY hoping Eternal Darkness would be on here! It’s one of my favorite games of all time.
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:02 am
My favorite shit my pants moment was silent hill one. Running around the creepy school with the pictures of that white thing on the walls everywhere, the moment when you get the shot gun was pretty scary, but the startling scare i got was when you walk into the one room, and the phone rings. Fucking awesome. too bad its not on the list.
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:28 am
I agree with most of this list. But Left 4 Dead is scary s*&t too. Its only fun though if you play with 2 or 3 people. But c’mon… Zombies… that can RUN?!?!?!? Tell me that’s not scary.
Crap your pants moment: When that F(^&ing witch starts sobbing!
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 am
I’ve got to say, they’re a bit outdated now but for anyone who never got to try them thief 1&2 were excellent games.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 am
Cake Mania!!! HELLO?!
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I’m going to second that Silent Hill 1 “Zombie Toddler gang with butcher knifes” mention. Admittedly, I did not play Silent Hill 2, but when the “Lolly-Pop gang from hell” came at me with the butcher knives, I had to put down the controller and go spend some time in a well lit room.
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I like the fact you put in sanitarium. I was beginning to think I was the only one creeped out by it.
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:11 pm
”
Easily number 1:
The Piano from Super Mario 64.
‘Nuff said.”
ahahaha that thing made me scream and run out of the room!!!!!
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Eternal Darkness, Condemned, F.E.A.R., Silent Hill, Sanitarium: Yes.
Doom 3, Residint Evil: No. At least, not for me.
And I strongly agree with everyone mentioning System Shock 2. The Monkeys. Oh my god those damn monkeys. It’s been almost ten years, but I’m still not entirely comfortable when I visit the zoo..
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Agreed, silent hill made me scared, quite alot.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:23 am
I personally think that haunting grounds was pretty creepy cause she would freak out and stuff… but what eve…. i dont know that many that have heard of that game…
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 am
The scariest games I’ve played are Aliens Vs. Predator 1 and 2. Bastard aliens jump out of no where!
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:42 am
Where the hell is Enemy Zero for the Saturn? That game was scary as hell.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:51 am
1213 is not on this list. This means that this list is wrong.
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:01 am
People don’t remember Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth for the Xbox and PC. That game had some atmosphere… the game Vampire The Masqurade Bloodlines for the PC also had some moments of sheer brick shittery
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Um, not including System Shock 2 was a no-no, but there’s one more horror to the core that haven’t been mentioned: Clive Barker’s “Undying”.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I like this list, though I haven’t played most of the games on it. I’m very impressed to find Sanitarium up here though. I didn’t realize anyone else had ever even heard of it. The second chapter, which you mentioned, creeped me out so badly that I couldn’t touch the game for months (mind you I was barely a teen at the time). Great list!
March 4th, 2009 at 6:00 am
No system shock 2! that game is just flat out fuckin scary, im also surprised that galerians isn’t on there. Though it is also not very well known, but definately fucked up
March 4th, 2009 at 6:24 am
You guys are definately missing out on Vampire the Masquerade. Vampire -the Masquerade was not a horror or scary game as a premise it is actually a role-playing game with being a member of a modern vampiric society as it’s premise- however there is one ‘mission’ or act in the game that is exceptionally scary and without doubt trumps the scary moments i’ve enjoyed in any of the above- or any other game. The mission involves entering and exploring a haunted hotel in which you piece together the stories that are told to you by the deceased residents- these residents tell stories by making chandeliers break over you, by throwing cutlery from their draws around and exposing old letters, items, corpses and bloodstains- it’s such a scary mission it would have turned me- as i was eventually turned off of Doom3 for making me feel increasingly uncomfortable- but unlike doom3 every moment is exceptionally well produced and ultimately- more intriguing then scary that you delve deeper and are ultimately rewarded greatly.
Vampire is a linear role playing game and thus the moments in the haunted manor are all paintsakingly scripted- the moments do lose their allure and the horror does dissipate- however you will never forget your first run through the haunted manor- i highly recommend people grab this game and play it whilst it still has not significantly dated even if just for the chills.
March 4th, 2009 at 6:35 am
Strawberry Shortcake 2.0 was by far the scariest game! Being attacked by delicious looking muffins is horrifying!
March 4th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Can anyone forget Half-Life 2? Being in parts of City 17 scares the crap outta me at times. You think there is no one around and then-bang comes a headcrab outta no where.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Nearly had to read all the comments to get it, but finally Chrissy mentioned the one I first thought of, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. It was let down by a lot of bugs and some obnoxious difficulty spikes, but oh my god it was scary. It also had an insanity mechanic – seeing dead bodies and otherworldly creatures would slowly drive your character insane, causing weird picture distortions, hallucinations, and phantom sounds, plus he would start muttering crazily to himself.
Pity about the technical issues, but goddamn, what a scary game.
March 4th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
clive barker’s undying?
March 4th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Bioshock should have made the list.
March 4th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Missing two titles: Alien + Unreal 1
March 4th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
half life is def scary, gave me nightmares for a week
March 5th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
In my opinion, the main thing that makes a game scary is when you’re sat there playing on your own in the dark and you are actually hesitating as to whether to go on or not for fear of what might be around the corner. Not things that make you jump, but the anticipation of something that might make you jump. Its all about atmosphere.
Essentials for this list: System Shock 2, Clive Barkers: Undying, Aliens v Predator, Resident Evil, STALKER
March 5th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
if you claim that Fatal Frame isnt scary, youve never played it…
March 5th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Holy crap! There ARE other people that played Sanitarium! That game was so awesome and I definitely agree with you about the second level. Other random observations:
Eternal Darkness was brilliant, I really wish they would make a sequel to that. Of course Nintendo owns the rights and they’ve parted ways with Silicon Knights so it’ll probably never happen but hey, I can dream.
Left 4 Dead definitely deserves a spot on this list, if nothing else bump Doom 3 off and put it at #10 though I personally think it should be higher than that. Great creepy atmosphere and those witches… god I hate those witches.
Another poster brought up Vampire: The Masquerade while I agree that the whole haunted mansion level is incredibly creepy the rest of the game is not at all. I have mixed feelings about Vampire – it’s a fun game but the combat controls are unforgivably clunky (especially for a game built on the Source engine). It would be nice to see a sequel because aside from that it’s a great game.
I think the list overall is pretty good but the lack of System Shock 2 did leave me scratching my head.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Have you ever played Tomb Raider and arrived in a room too early and all the animals are frozen until you do something like step in a certain spot or turn your back and then suddenly get mauled by everything in the level? Scared the crap out of me the first time that happened.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
SYSTEM SHOCK 2 DUMBASS!!!
March 7th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Sorry, but this list really really needs to mention Sharebridge Cradle from Thief. I read a little about that level before I got there, making it ten times worse when it finally happened. I don’t think I slept that night. But walking out of the Cradle after finishing it, I felt like a total badass. Like Paul Walker at the end of training day when he’s walking out of the neighborhood.
March 7th, 2009 at 4:44 am
Without a doubt, one of the scariest shared moments of horror in video games was while playing Condemned with a friend. Both of us were leaning close into the screen, watching as I followed a stain with the fluorescent light towards a balcony. At the balcony, an enemy surged up, screaming and trying to claw its way over. Both me and my friend catapulted backwards in our seats screaming. Probably a “you had to be there moment”, but we both freaked out.
March 7th, 2009 at 5:53 am
K hands down the scariest video game of all time is the first silent hill for Playstation, the noises in that game was just messed. Also funniest horror game is probly clocktower 2 for playstation
March 8th, 2009 at 5:20 am
I know these top 10 lists cant exactly please everyone, but I would have to say BioShock deserves a spot on this list. I have played through a number of these titles and few can hold a light to the unique immersive experience that BioShock provides. The premise of a deteriorating haunted utopian society with crack addicted residents at the bottom of the ocean is just pure genius. System Shock 2 also deserves a spot. Anyone who actually found Doom 3 or F.E.A.R scary will drop a deuce while playing BioShock.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MANHUNT!!!!!!!!!!
March 10th, 2009 at 1:55 am
Clive Barker’s Undying should reside on this list. First Silent Hill had far more scare factor than the second one. System Shock 2 is also a top 10 spooker.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:26 am
Thank you for finally writing something about Eternal Darkness, a constantly frightening game, that scene you mentioned was a scary jump moment, but overall that game is just creepy, especially if you play through it all four times, by the end you’re walking around in public looking for an opportunity to throw down some spells and call lighting down on people.
March 10th, 2009 at 4:27 am
I agree with Sean and quite a few others, Bio-Shock should have been on that list.
March 10th, 2009 at 10:37 am
You need is some Area 51. Stuff pops out of nowhere.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Funny you should mention Pediophobia in the condemned article, wrote something on that recently as well.
Good list, nice and diverse although it could go a little more indepth.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:53 am
I just have to say I completely agree with Silent Hill 2 being the scariest game ever and the whole series can make you crap your pants. My crap my pants moment was in the very beginning of the SH2 when you are in the street for the first time, you hear the radio go off and see no enemies but when you walk by a van…BAM, a crazy crawling monster scurries out from under the vehicle and makes your heart jump right into your throat. Right then I knew that this game was going to be sick. The mind games the psychologists who helped develop SH2 play on you makes deserve the top of this list.
April 10th, 2009 at 6:29 am
How can you not have Nocturne? That game scared the SHIT out of me! Hard as hell too. It was for PC and came out around ’98. It was easily one of the best horror games of its day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturne_%28Game%29
April 10th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Not bad, however many of those games mentioned are in fact not 18 rated. Fail.
April 17th, 2009 at 1:28 am
I personally think that dead space was the most scariest game form all the games……
April 20th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Resident Evil used to scare the crap outta me. The sub par graphics made it even better. As things would jump out at you, you’d just think “ah shit what the hell was that thing!?!?!”
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:14 am
Ripper…. Take 2 Interactive. Even had Christopher Walken in it.
April 26th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Left 4 dead?
April 29th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Yeah, wheres System Shock 2 and Thief games?
May 11th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Condemned was insanely scary. So much so that I stopped playing it about 1/3 of the way through.
I only read this list to see if it was on there, and I’m not surprised it’s in the top 3.
May 16th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Wow these comments are so full of fail.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Fata, too bad your comment has the most fail.
I assume you are under 20 years old?
Back to the topic: I agree with System Shock 2. But not Bioshock. It wasn’t nearly as scary as SS2. It had it’s moments but on the overall it’s much more of an FPS.
June 12th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
No penumbra on this list?
How could you miss that.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
There is a scary bit in brothrs in Arms Hells Highway, You are walking down a burning tunnel when a kids face flashes on screen twice. Scary if you are arround 10 or something
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:10 am
I agree, Thief: Deadly Shadows has a very creepy asylum level. the whole game gets me on edge though really, the thing is, it’s not meant to be such a scary game.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:51 am
RE1 freaked me out, mostly because I had to play the import verion with the swap-trick, and playing thta game in only black and white only added to the effect.
Also, I’m glad to see that Siren: Blood curse is on here, although I think the first one is the most scary one.
As people said, system shock NEEDS to be on here, also call of cthulhu, nocturne, etc should at least get honorable mentions…
A few more that no one mentioned so far:
Phantasmagoria (Old, but a gem)
Darkseed (Also Dated, but creepy nonetheless)
Alien vs Predator (I’m talking about the old Atari Jaguar version – Creeeeeepy)
Cold Fear ( Love it or hate it…)
Nightmare Creatures
My 2 cents…
July 5th, 2009 at 2:55 am
i don’t know bout anyone else but when im playing left 4 dead i get freaked out by the witch, just the music gets my heart pumping
July 15th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Every list is great if silent hill is no. 1 on it. Doesen’t matter which one. The people who disagree..play it. Try to play it. Especially sh1…
July 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I definitly agree with most of the titles, but for me playing dead space with surround sound was the scariest game. Doom 3 was also pretty scary but as you get to later areas the scaryness fades. the original Resident evils were also really scary, but RE5 and even 4 were not scary at all. Also siren was not scary…and eternal darkness not so much either…for me DeadSpace is the winner…i mean it was banned in a couple of countries….and hearing moans and pipes falling and simply nothing at all in parts was creepy as hell!
July 29th, 2009 at 11:12 am
i remember a funny time when my brother was playin eternal darkness,and he got to the bathtub bit. it gave me a little scare,dont know about my brother,but after he was done playin he had to go to the toilet and i told him ‘dont look in the bath’. he didnt want to go after.
resiednt evil was a scary game to me when i watched my dad play it,probably because i was 4 years old at the time. there was one room on the game my dad went in,that had 1 zombie that walked around doin nothin,didnt know if it would attack or not. when it eventually did,it had the shit blown out of it by a shotgun.
i played silent hill 2,but not properly. i used action replay
it was all a peice of piss cos i had cone heads knife,but in the hospital the radio was goin off and i couldnt see owt and i was like ‘whut the fuck?’ and a nurse pops out from around the corner.gave her a shootin.
started playin no.3. wierd as. cant do it tho. im a resi man.
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August 1st, 2009 at 8:16 am
When I was younger (about 4 or 5) I would watch my uncle play games like Gabriel Knight and Phantasmagoria. After watching some of the parts, like the voodoo ritual in GK and the head slicing timed item event in Phantasmagoria. These old school games scared the sh!t out of me then. But these days, I played F.E.A.R. 2 and a couple times I would catch myself jumping.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:23 am
why cant u do darkwatch. you should play it, you’ll poo your panties
August 4th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
When the history of my glory is written, your species shall only be a footnote to my magnificence.
August 6th, 2009 at 3:13 am
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
The insanity system of that game was a very innovative way to scare people
August 26th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
silent hill 1 was much scarier than SH2.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I’m looking around websites for the scariest game on any console.
I’ve heard alot about silent hill, mainly silent hill 2, and guess what. Silent hill is on the ONLY console’s I don’t have. :S Ugh .. Stupid thing.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
#1 is the Suffering. that whole game was a shit your pants moment alone in a dark prison with monsters modeled after each mode of execution as well as a sadistic doctor bantering at you with random flashes of grotesque and horrifying images. turn off your flashlight and listen to the sounds i dare you!
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
What about Casper?
October 5th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
i have to say that call of cthulhu was the scariest game ever.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:30 am
You can never add resident evil, I haven’t played some of these games, actually,I’ve only played Dead Space, Resident Evil, and a demo of Siren; Resident Evil shouldn’t be on the list, the soundtrack didn’t provide any intensity, the sound wasn’t scary, and zombies are honestly the least scariest thing that exists (yes, they do exist, it’s called Rabies). Resident Evil Did define survival, but the true grandfather of survival horror was the japanese only classic: Clock Tower, you were being chased by a demon child with a pair of fricking scissors, and his satanist culty mother who makes dahilia look like child’s play, and his deformed hills-have-eyes goliath brother who chases you, and you never knew when he was going to pop out and murder you. That game, needs a remake! PS3 forever!
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:56 am
Manhunt 2 was scary as hell, you have to fight the freaking KKK and a bunch of damn rapists, and by that i mean people who enjoy necrophilia and sexual torture!, not only that, but the main character seems like the pussy until the storyline unfolds and (spoiler) he finds out leo doesn’t exist and is a part of him that made him murder his family and kill his best freind, VERY BRUTALLY.
And resistance deserves at least to be number ten, it was scary, but the design, the angel, the darkness, and just the fact it had a mix of mutant alien zombies that could convert you to one of them. It is what would happen if someone was smart enough to make a horror movie about the third reich (Nazis)
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Decent list. I think the scariest moment I’ve ever had while playing a video game, and anyone who knows what I’m talking about can back me up, is that scene in Dino Crisis 1 when you’re walking down that dark hallway with all the windows for the first time, and you get just around the corner and that fucking velociraptor jumps through the window onto you. I distinctly remember having nightmares.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
i have to say THIS LIST SUX!!!!!! IM ELEVEN AND THESE GAMES DONT SCARE ME!!!!! fable 2 had one scary part SPOILER*** you open a demon door an everything looks nice and pretty, you walk in the house and BAM a bunch corpses on the floor, and the house is totally wrecked and it turns to night. scared the crap outa me walkin back
November 12th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
GUYS, half-life 2 : episode 1 – the part where you are trapped in a garage without lights, zombies walking around it and you must wait for the elevator – that part is fuckin scarry !
December 10th, 2009 at 8:06 am
my worst shit-in-pants gaming moment was when i was playing bioshock and in dental the room filled with white fog and a splicer appeared on the operation chair i picked up whatever was in the register on the table behind the chair and another white smoke filled the room. i turn around, and the dentist was standing right behind me staring straight ahead and i couldnt help but udder a supressed yelling noise and i couldn’t find my controller in time(it was 3 a.m.) and that god damned dentist killed me…
January 15th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Silent Hill 2= scariest fucking game created
January 15th, 2010 at 7:35 am
@Filip the part in Revanhome was so much more scarier
January 21st, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Am I the only person in the world who thinks that the original Clock Tower for PlayStation belongs here? Jesus, that game still gives me the heebie jeebies
January 21st, 2010 at 11:38 pm
the suffering has 2 b the freakiest game of all time ,after that condemned and fear , its pretty funny my other half played fear for about 30 secs and then told me 2 turn it off any thing freaky and he is well out of the room .
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Shit list. No System Shock 2. Fail.
January 29th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Thief Deadly Shadows scares the piss out of ya when it’s not even a slasher game.
February 19th, 2010 at 7:14 am
I aggree with a few ppl here, including “Janne”
I would have ‘WITHOUT A DOUBT’ Silent hill (1) on the list, possibly at the top. You just dont understand unless you have played that game. Scariest shit EVER!
February 19th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
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March 17th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I was planning on being upset until I saw Silent Hill 2 as number 1. Hands done scariest game. Excellent choice and good list.
March 17th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Thief: Deadly Shadows is the only game i have ever screamed outloud at. The Asylum level, where you have to verse fucking wierd zombies, that get back up just when you thought you had killed them! Creep around in the dark doing tasks for a wierd creepy dead girl! Its fucking wierd guys PLAY IT!
April 13th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Someone else played Sanitarium?? I had to quit playing it because of the nightmares. Not kidding. I stopped right at the beginning of disk 3.
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:31 am
This ain’t a horrible list, but being an old timer gamer from the days of Coleco, the first game that truly gave me a fright as an adult was Alien Vs. Predator for the Atari Jaguar when playing as the Marine. Nothing more terrifying than hearing that Predator rattle noise in surround sound and realizing you were in a room with a cloaked killing machine.
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:20 am
Did anyone spot the one window early in Innsmouth (Call of Cthulhu’s town) where you spot a Deep One dragging a corpse out of the room? That was freaky as hell.
And I loved Condemned!
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:41 pm
no silent hill homecoming that game made me do a shit every 5 minutes
June 21st, 2010 at 7:09 pm
the scariest thing about Doom 3 was the endless grey corridors… also being attacked by a big, fat zombie weilding a chainsaw in a corridor full of blood stained walls and writing in blood… only to be tricked as he disappears, but then appears again, but does another trick, only to attack you and (if you are on Veteran) most likely decapitate you from behind. Scary shit. I once played it for something like 48 hours straight just to finish it, and had nightmares of dark, empty, claustrophobic corridors for so long. Wouldn’t happen anymore.
July 6th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
i havent heard of most of these games but doom3 is not scary at all and fear isn’t all that scary either. i’ve never played silent hill 2 but i’ve heard that it kinda sukz i’ve heard so it’s not me sayin it sukz so dont hate. other than that i geuss the list is pretty good, i wouldnt really kno becuz like i said i havent heard of most of these games but the one that looks scary is is “siren blood curse” and “project zero” the pictures look pretty scary =D
July 17th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
omg i dont know when this list was written but it needs to be updated ive played jericho quite jumpy at times but man you need to to get ur heart pumping try playing alan wake at 1-3am that game is a guaranteed scare fest
July 19th, 2010 at 2:46 am
Siren, F.E.A.R, Dead Space, you’ve got to be kidding me! These games are about as scary as a petal. Personally I didn’t find Resident Evil frightening either, it was just a nuisance if anything else. However, I’ve yet to play Project Zero/Fatal Frame, the original one I mean, because I’ve only ever played some Crimson Butterfly and that’s sucking so far in terms of being scary, I also find I get bored with it easily, but hey usually originals are better.. In a lot of cases at least. You left out a LOT of the classics in this list too, I can’t believe you left out System Shock 2 of all things. Silent Hill 2 though I do admit is frightening, it was the first real game I ever played that actually made me throw it in the corner for weeks on end before I decided to give it a go again. It truly is a masterpiece though, music, atmosphere, storyline (and once you start digging into everything such as the characters’ backgrounds, why everyone sees Silent Hill in different ways etc. You find you just keep wanting more,. It really is more interesting than I make it out to be just so you knw), it all just falls in so easily. I found that once I got passed the Apartments I really got dug into the game. If you haven’t given Silent Hill 2 a shot already I suggest you do so! Somehow I found Abe’s Oddysee kinda scary for a while, in terms of the environment that is. I love that game though, one of my favourite PS1 games ever. Way ahead of its time as well.
July 19th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Very good list…..Silent Hill 2 being number 1, great choice….probably the scariest game of all time and probably the scariest villain of all time. Screw the haters!
July 24th, 2010 at 2:27 am
Doesn’t anyone remember twisted metal? The game itself wasn’t scary, but the cut-scenes were creepy as shit.. I remember Axle’s videos and Crazy 8′s prologue from TM Black specifically
July 24th, 2010 at 10:23 am
how about Hotel 626?!..Choose Asylum and you’ll be freak as hell!..Hotel didn’t show up the ghost too much..btw Resident Evil not scary at all..i enjoyed the game..i like the game though..the enemy walk way to slow..
July 26th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
resident evil is FEAKY dude. When the dog jumps through the window, i just about threw the bloody controller at the tv. RE 4 should be there though. Someone jumps out of a refrigerator on FIRE and is only a few feet away! You must play.
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