The third part of my feature series on fear in videogames (the first one is
here and the second one
here).
Another game that contained a good dose of jumping moments was the original
Manhunt. While most hide-in-the-shadows-and-stab-them-from-behind games do, the heavy dark atmosphere of this particular one was intensified by violent nature of the game and the presentation layer, namely noisy VHS look and dramatic camera action. Ambience was further amplified by excellent voice acting, occasional "Boo!" kind of scare, invisible demiurg scheming against the main protagonist and somewhat unpredictable enemies (the AI in Manhunt was interesting, hunting, chasing and going back to regroup). The last episode of the game, Deliverance, truly succeeded in keeping player at their toes. I don't know about others, but enemy that can't be killed instantly, has extremely powerful weapon and charges at the player out of nowhere definitely does qualify as scary in my book. While Manhunt didn't really scare me to death, it was quite intense and last levels made my hands sweat.
After that there was quite some time without virtual scares - until
Doom III showed up. I remember it as being quite scary, even if this resulted from cheap tricks such as lights going out, imp bursting out of the ceiling and skulls flying through the room all of a sudden. But one can't deny the storyline, the increasingly thick atmosphere created by reading logs, hearing voice transmissions, and seeing people killed by hell's forces - which really makes player feel like a part of space base's population being decimated right now. I played Doom III alone at night and it made me jump more than a couple of times, although the scripted nature of the game took away some of the scare. Nevertheless, I didn't finish the game because of difficulty level and fear effect combined.
On a side note, I had a nightmare after playing Doom III repeatedly and watching The Matrix (there was also a hint of
Donnerjack in it). The two experiences combined into a dream in which I had the opportunity to play the game in total virtual reality immersion (just like in the movie, even the chair and method of connecting was the same), but something went wrong and I could not get out. I remember the fear of dying (because death in the virtual world would result in me dying for real), I also remember dodging fireballs and trying to explain situation to some other player who, unaware of the danger, cheerfully charged at imps...
My totally scariest experience, also resulting in nightmares, was actually quite a recent one, namely playing
F.E.A.R. (in this case truly
nomen est omen!). The atmosphere was really scary, the enemies would sometimes appear all of a sudden, player would have weird flashbacks and visions, plus add a spooky little girl haunting player every now and then. The moment when dead tortured man moves all of a sudden, the unexpected appearance of the main antagonist on the roof, the corridor slowly feeling with blood - this was the epitome of my virtual scares.
I was playing F.E.A.R. alone at my place at night with high fever, as I was really ill. It felt damn real and I actually had a stomach ache too, so my poor mind interpreted the stimuli of hurting stomach and fear together as a good excuse to enter panic mode, as if something really bad was happening. With fever weakening borders between what's real and what isn't, pain in stomach and hands shaking I've finally decided that enough's enough, turned the computer off and went to sleep. I thought I would have a break from the thrill, however it turned out not to be that easy. I had terrible nightmares all night long, in my perception just as real as if I was still playing the damn game. Waking up from them was one of few times in my life when I was too frightened to get up and turn the light on. Truly one of the scariest game-induced traumas in my life.
Next in line of scares came the famous Ravenholm level in Half Life 2. It contained all the necessary horror ingredients - hints of danger that lies out there ("we don't go to Ravenholm"), spooky abandoned places, atmospheric sounds and finally the horror incarnated - howling, jumping zombie-like things that would hunt me (err, Gordon Freeman). This was truly a masterpiece in scaring a gamer, even more so because of the contrast with other levels, which, while sometimes tense, provided more "normal" setting, thus making Ravenholm part stand out so much more, amplifying the effect. And speaking of the effect, whenever I heard the characteristic howling of these terrifying creatures, I was reduced to shaking jelly before the monsters even arrived.
On a side note: bonus points for
Gryffindor Valve for the character of father Grigorij.
The last scary game I have played so far is not chronologically the most recent, but I just had time to finally give it a try -
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. It is the very definition of scary game, based on Lovecraft's prose, oozing with atmosphere and containing fear-centered gameplay. In the beginning, the player does not even have any weapon and is forced to hide, sneak and run away from enemies. There is no health indicator and being hurt is signalised to player via protagonist's heavy breathing and vision problems. Other than physical side, mental health also plays important role, with the main character losing his sanity over the events of the game. Fading or blurring vision, shaking hands, panting - the game does convey a sense of fright and horror very convincingly. So convincingly in fact, that it has joined a line of games I have been unable to finish due to being too scared to actually play it.
And so we have reached the end of the list of the games that have managed to make my hair stand on the end. In the final episode of the series, I will write a little more about what can really make the virtual experience so frightening. Stay tuned!
