Adventure Forums - Adventure games that have scared you (and ones that probably shouldn't have)

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The second chapter in Sanitarium sticks out to me as being one of the scariest moments in adventure gaming...not so much in the "Boo!" way, but way it is just overall disturbing.

And then there was that maze in the 7th Guest that would play scary music, with Stauf taunting you afterward, whenever you ran into a dead end...that used to really make me tense.

And yea, I didn't like that weird looking giant blob that just kinda materialized outta nowhere and jump on you all during the final palace of Zelda II.

--BPF

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeisureSuitedLooney

Puzzle of Flesh (Phantasmagoria 2) was another one...the way Curtis kept hallucinating at work was pretty freaky...especially the thing at his computer monitor...that made me jump so hard, I nearly fell out of my chair.

Puzzle of Flesh was okay, but not nearly as good as the first Phantasmagoria.
Even at the very beginning of the game (when you know nothing about the house or what is going to happen) going down into the cellar managed to creep me out.

Another haunting scene is watching the mutoscope of Carnovasch's last performance.

I notice that a lot of people quote Uninvited as a game that really scared them as a kid, especially this bit http://uninvited.ytmnd.com/

Dark Fall x100,000 ... that game gives me the wimpering willies just THINKING about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatchef (Post 429157)

I notice that a lot of people quote Uninvited as a game that really scared them as a kid, especially this bit http://uninvited.ytmnd.com/

Arrrrrrrrrrrgh! *brings back traumatic memories*
To be honest though, I was petrified from the beginning of Uninvited, especially when you were confronted with a cliché horror scenario about a car breaking down in the middle of nowhere and the only building in sight is a creepy, probably haunted and most definitely dangerous looking mansion!
*Hmmm, I know, I’ll go in!*
*walks through the unlocked door to be confronted by a killer ginger skeleton, and the only thing to defend yourself with is a pendent!*

I should have expected from the title ‘Uninvited’ really...

I have to agree with beatchef though; there is something about older games which makes them seem scarier than their modern counterparts. Even the games that aren’t purposely supposed to insight fear in you! It is probably the basic, less realistic graphics and the screeching synthesizer music. Now I know what hell must be like. The Devil must be in 8 bit!

I used to be frightened of ‘Lure of the Temptress,’ largely because of the box art.
http://www.internetstyling.com/fruit...eTemptress.jpg

I found ‘Aztec’ quite scary, partly due to the chilling sight of indistinguishable 3D male figures in loin cloths, but moreover, I hate being chased, and for large parts of that game you were being chased by indistinguishable 3D male figures in loin cloths with sharp objects!
(That was a bit of a mouthful)

Although it is a platform game, Barbarian II was another game which seemingly struck fear in me as a child. I think that it was mainly due to the opening sequence where a giant eagle tears off the roof of a house and snatches a sleeping baby (later to be bestowed with the pleasant title of ‘barbarian’). For a few weeks after I was frightened to go upstairs in case the eagle returned for me!

Now that I think about it, I found most Psygnosis games quite scary!

But the granddaddy of them all has to be ‘I Have No Mouth and I must Scream,’ I have to drum up the courage, even to this day, to put the floppy disk into the drive! There’s something about being at the mercy of an evil omniscient supercomputer which leaves you feeling nauseous. And the original story wasn’t even that scary…

Quote:

Originally Posted by saucyminx (Post 303855)

Tex Murphy: Pandora Directive - I was practically shaking when the alien was chasing me in Area 51.

Yes, that wasn't funny. Brrrr....

I don't like horror at all, I can't stand watching people being hurt, so I quit Phantasmagoria a bit after I let the ghost loose in the house. Buying that game was a mistake.

The 7th Guest had me spooked more than a couple times. I don't think I beat it.

There were many moments in King's Quest VII that disturbed me, too. Like that scorpion you have to get by or the boogeyman jumping on you all the time in Ooga Booga (I was so relieved when I could disguise myself and avoid him). Or the many ways you can die in the cemetery or those bones that would grab you. Or that nightmare monster... or the swamp... Ok, I had a lot of moments that creeped me out in King's Quest VII. I was like 13. XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psychocandy (Post 303723)

Remember that ominous dead guy in the desert of King's Quest VII?

"You... are... far... away... from... life. And love... And... hope..."

Yeah, THAT guy. He gave me a dramatic case of the heebs like you wouldn't believe.

Yeah he spooked me, too. (I also think he looks like Zelgadis from the Slayers!) Couldn't he also kill you somehow? :crazy:

Shivers 2 scared me very much... The uncanny mood & the somber ambience and not knowing what awaits you in the darkness....in the caves...

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsa (Post 429199)

?!! You don't like horror but you buy Phantasmagoria ?! :D You didn't read the description of the game ?!?

Guess you didn't see what happened when

Don gets hold of Adrienne ?
Or
When the big bad demon catch hold of Adrienne ?

:devil: :devil: :devil:

Scratches really frightened me. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure if I want to play it a second time. Just thinking about it gives me nightmares. Then I could mention a few freewares. 7 Days a Skeptic scared me enough that I couldn't finish it. Trilby's Notes really creeped me out too, but I wasn't afraid of 5 Days a Stranger as much.

OMG, I thought no one else shared my fear of Zelda 2! I wasnt' necessarily scared of the ghost that came up, but I did find the entire game to be reeeally creepy. Granted, I was in like, the 2nd grade at the time, but the game as a whole just had a really eerie quality about it, like it was the definition of limbo or something. I dunno, the whole map had this really post-apocalyptic feel and sometimes you were fighting yourself which is straight out of an Edgar Allan Poe story (William Wallace, I think?).

i was scared of dr fred's voice in DOTT, and i tried to finish the game without talking to him.
Eventually: i FACED MY FEARS!!

I scare easily and that's why I almost never watch scary movies. But I love scary games, or at least games that are scary to me. ;) I really haven't got a clue to why I love to get scared in front of a computer but not in front of a TV.
Scratches and Barrow Hill scared me quite a bit. Dark Fall The Journal as well.

King's Quest 6, the whole land of the dead segment freaked me out.

I'm sure there are tons of games that scared me when I was a kid .. not too many adventure games as far as I can remember .. but I remember Doom and Duke Nukem 3D was really scary for me. The moaning .. and the pigs with the red eyes through the dark really scared the shit out of me!..

I always thought Dune II was scary, too. The fog of war .. man, you could never guess what was going to come .. if it would be one of those huge, nasty worms of a batallion of the enemy! :D

Grannys Garden really got me when i was about 9 or 10. I wonder if teachers knew what an effect that game could have because it was meant for kids. The updated version looks cute and more suitable.

The Last Half of Darkness got me aswell, playing that in the dark many years ago. A DOS game agreed but very atmospheric.

I remember when I first died in Riven, which was early on after opening that one book, I was shocked. Like I was seriously shocked. I had no idea you could die in Riven and it completely changed the outlook of the game for me. Knowing that I could die in the game made it a lot more overwhelming and freakier. It didn't help at all when I ran into the little ghost girl a little bit after this discovery. Damn, I had chills running through my body the rest of the playthrough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahefner (Post 303988)

The ghost is the graveyard adds great atmosphere (I always hoped there was a puzzle to be solved with the ghost, but I guess not).

Um... My memory might be a bit vague, but I think the hidden treasure subplot is connected to the ghost?

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatchef (Post 303678)

When I think back to my gaming past as a very bored child in a seaside town full of retired people, I remember a lot of traumatising moments. It may seem funny now, but at the time the graphics were all state of the art, or pandered to your imagination far more than now, and as a child things seem more 'real'.

So, what games from your childhood scared you or freaked you out? I'll start, maybe we can get some sort of support group going hahaha!

Granny's Garden - So, you're playing an educational game when you're like 5 years old. You have a really active imagination. The primative graphics are pretty disturbing to you, as are the descriptions ... then there's a time limit on something and you're not that good at maths so you fail the question, and then this shows up:

http://www.redkeyreddoor.com/wordpre...g_witchbig.jpg

Arghhhh! Traumatised. It still looks pretty disturbing now, in an abstract way.

Zelda 2 - Okay, this is a silly one. A year or so after I got a NES. When Link dies there's a silouette of Ganon and an (at the time) scary laugh. And it comes from nowhere, in a game that was otherwise pretty tame. I think it scared me so much because of my traumatisation from Granny's Garden.

Shadowgate - Same sort of time. More well written descriptive text. Really creepy music. Really creepy graphics. I should've known better. I've gone into this room, there's slime.. what? I don't know what to do.. i'm dead? Wha? This is scary! Big skeleton! (Death) Traumatised. Again.

Asylum (Atari ST) - Made to play this by a friend at their house as he thinks its so cool. Another text adventure that's well written, and it's about murderers in an insane asylum. Hmm!

Okay, after all that I was reduced to NES games that were by Nintendo that either featured Mario, Mega Man or Kirby. Still, not a bad way to lead your gaming life.

Then..

Maniac Mansion - Not the NES version (that had far less disturbing graphics for the Edisons), the PC version. Left alone with it at a parent's friend's house. Hey, this is cool, nice music intro! These people are funny! Look at their big heads! The writing is funny, i'm enjoying this. Okay, i'm in the house, in the Kitchen.... what the hell is that? Zobie nurse! Arrghh. Run, run! captured! Still played a bit more... these people are coming from nowhere, at random, so I don't know what to do or when to run, so I don't want to even set foot in the mansion. So scary! Wouldn't go down hallways in the dark for ages after that.

Theme Park Adventure - Very disturbing. Only found out today what this was called, another case of being left alone with a disturbing game in an unfamiliar setting (parent's friend's house)

Operation Stealth - What's going on? I've been Disavowed? Creepy animation of being carried off and killed. No-one will know I ever existed?

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Amiga) - Played for hours with no problems... the Nazi bit. Get into a fight, lose it because the sucker punch doesn't work twice. What, Indy's dead? I'm responsible? Hitler takes over the earth? Noooooo. Traumatised. (I really loved Harrison Ford as a kid)

Monkey Island (Amiga) - lalalala this game is really funny, cool, get really far in it, really enjoying it.... aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! What the hell is that?? Traumatised. (Can you guess what it was?)

Beneath A Steel Sky - My character can die? Ay any time? Freaky graphics too. I want to play.. but... he could get killed at any time.

Darkseed (Amiga) Demo version. Played any demo going. Okay, I'm some man and i'm walking around. Creepy music. Getting louder, what am I meant to be doing? An alien is coming out of his head! Argh!

Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis - Indy, dead? Nooooooo

The Dig - That bit where you can ressurrect someone you shouldn't, and I did. You know the bit. For some reason it really chilled me.

7th Guest - Full stop.

Alone in the Dark - Should have known by the title. The zombie coming up through the hatch at the beginning. Okay, I was about 14 by now, but those zombies are pretty disturbing even though they're not traditionally scary. Foolish enough to persevere, then go downstairs and the entire room full of sitting zombies.

Some sierra adcenture , set in the middle ages, i'm sure it's part of a long series. Do this. Dead. Do that. dead. Do somethigng else. Dead. Maybe not scary, but very disconcerting.

So the theme of what made me scared? Games with time limits in which you had to do something or get killed or captured, at any time, at a random interval. Mostly games that really immersed you, either in their writing (I get lost in books) or graphics, and THEN did that. It probably all stems from Granny's Garden. Never thought about that until today!

.....

:shifty:

Gabriel Knight 3 was scary, the night bits especially and the bits in Montreaux's house. Especially the attic.

Thus endeth my short reply.

The witch is truly terrifying, but what kind of threat is that?

"Now I've got you! I will send you home at once."

I can live with that.

If there are any prospective kidnappers out there; that's not a threat that works.