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What Scares Game Developers?
John Callaham writes "Gamecloud has a new feature this Halloween asking game developers from id, Epic, Gearbox (among others) about what games scared them and why." From the article: "Todd Hollenshead - id Software: 'DOOM 3! Of course.' John Romero - former id and Ion Storm designer: 'My personal second scariest game was probably the Ravenholm section of Half Life 2. Man, when those screaming, galloping zombies are tearing around on top of a building and coming at you or clawing their way up a drainpipe - it's INSANE!'"
...of his own game! That's scary! :)
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Want to know what really scares game developers??
I can't believe nobody mentioned System Shock 2. Not for the "Holy Bajeezus" startle-the-crap-outta-you kind of scare, but for the unnerving, menacing, heebie-jeebies kind of scare that you get when a blood-covered guy with a parasite going out of his chest and onto his head runs at you with a steel pipe, saying, "I'm sooorrrrrrrryyyyy...." Or when a protocol droid steps gingerly toward you, saying, "That's the Tri-Optimum way," and you know you've got to beat feet before it explodes in your face. The game robs you of human* contact, constantly holding the possibility of finding someone else still alive on the ship just out of reach.
(*Yeah, I know "human" contact is something of a stretch, since it's just a game, but I couldn't help thinking throughout the game that there's safety in numbers.)
To a limited extent. The two most recent frightening experiences were the "We don't go to Ravenholm" level in Half-Life 2 and Resident Evil 4. Doom 3, not so much scary, I mean, it's doom, monster-in-a-closet is old hat, and it's cheap.
Going back further though, we have System Shock 1&2, which were both excellent.
System Shock 2 had me sitting wide-eyed the whole time.
So, I'll have to go with System Shock 2.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
"...and we're releasing it next month."
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."
Scarier words have never been written into a game. Never thought that text games would give my nephews nightmares... boy was I mistaken.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I almost had an heart attack playing Alien Versus Predator with a 4 speaker system. Just remembering those "blips" on the radar gives me chills... System Shock 2 was also very scary: because of the constant respawn of zombies and other not so friendly beings, one never could feel safe, there was no "clear area". Also, the best hard science fiction game I ever played!
All those are fairly scary .. but what truly terrifies them is Working for EA
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Anyone that has played Thief sure remember the haunts mumbling "Flames, nothing but flames, burning my flesh..." in the cathedral level. Not only that, when you disturbed them, they started shouting "Join us!! Join us now!!!".
Try to stand calm in a corner of a room with four of those haunts in "search-mode". Eric Brosius, the sound designer, did a fantastic job with Thief and System Shock 2, other of my favourites. Also very scary.
Those two, Thief and System Shock 2, should definitely be topping the list of the scariest games ever made. Weird none of those designers even mention them.
The craddle level in Thief 3 was "good" too...
Just my two cents.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former" - Albert Einstein.
Not only did this game have a really good story, but it was damn scary. With positional audio, a mere walk through some woods was reduced to a white knuckled adventure because as you're walking, suddenly you hear a second set of footsteps - which stop the second you quit moving.
Or being in a hotel at night and walking into a room with some... THING... in there, that's covered in rusty metal and dried blood that just turns and tries to kill you mindlessly. Don't even get me started on the nurses.
Anyway, the SH series of games has always been great for scares. They're my favorites.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
Play the Ocean House part with headphones and the lights turned off. IF YOU DARE!
My favorite part was when you fall into the basement laundry room and read a newspaper article about the decapitated child that was found there years ago. Then suddenly the washing machine turns on. THUNK-THUNK, THUNK-THUNK
"He's right behind you!"
RTFA for your answer. Bill Kunkel mentions "Rescue on Fractalus" which is what you're describing.
DAIKATANA!!! Oh, imagine the nightmare of having that attached to your resume on your way to your next job, being that a flop that big probably cost your current one.
I agree with a lot of other comments... System Shock 2 was scary, as was Resident Evil 4 (the Gamecube Resident Evils in general were quite well made).
I also remember Undying being pretty scary in parts... I thought that game was underrated.
my religion lies somewhere between buddhism and super monkey ball - pamphlet?
I have to agree with you on this one. Another thing scary about Deus Ex was the amazing level of detail put into the game environment... sitting all night with headphones on, lights out, and reading about how the world is crumbling in newspapers or public terminals.. the plague victims/zyme addicts made the atmosphere complete. Spooky. Not jump out of your seat scary, but complete immersion.