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    The 10 scariest moments in horror game history

    Pabio Posted on

    Video games have been terrifying gamers since the 70s, when Haunted House was released on the Magnavox Odyssey (ask your grandfather).

    Since those primitive days, however, horror games have appeared in “crawls and jumps,” with millions of people picking up their controllers in hopes of scaring themselves.

    So, with nearly six decades of video game history behind us, we wanted to know: “What are the scariest moments in video game history?” Well, that’s a tough question to answer. After all, what makes your hair stand on end might not bother someone else.

    Nonetheless, we think this list, which includes the most shocking moments from some of the best games in the scariest genre, will make even the toughest video game fans shiver.

    10. Mr. X Comes to Say Hello – Resident Evil 2 (1998)

    No one will forget their first encounter with Mr. Resident Evil 2 to ruin Léon’s day. I still remember turning the corner into the Racoon Police Department and being confused as to who or what this gray carcass was.

    The only thing I was sure of was that he wasn’t friendly, a suspicion that was quickly confirmed when he murdered me. Eventually, I managed to put enough lead into Mr. X to bring the bully to his knees, but we all know the story doesn’t end there. Mr. The only clue he’s after you? The sound of his horribly heavy footsteps.

    9. The Rat King Appears – The Last of Us Part 2 (2020)

    The Rat King from The Last of Us Part 2Naughty dog

    Like a distorted fusion of different infected, The Rat King is a formidable beast, but what makes encountering this horrible amalgam so memorable is the way the game uses your complacency against you. By the time you encounter the creature, you’ll literally be a veteran of the wasteland; After dealing with so many scary Cordyceps mutations, you’ll probably see them more as an inconvenience than a threat.

    Then you meet the Rat King, a brand new monster far stronger and deadlier than anything you’ve encountered.

    This messy mockery of a man (or men as the case may be) is basically unstoppable, forcing many players (or maybe just me) to unload almost their entire arsenal on it before it finally dies. Except… he doesn’t die! One of the trackers that made up the creature breaks away, forcing you to find it before it finds you.

    8. Isaac Clarke’s Eye Surgery – Dead Space 2 (2010)

    If you’re disgusted, you might want to look away now (pun definitely intended). THE Dead space the games are full of absolutely terrifying sequences, and the Necromorphs are definitely a very volatile nightmare fuel. Yet of all the scary moments in this terror trilogy, we think Isaac’s eye surgery might be the most gruesome.

    For what? Well, we’re no strangers to video game violence, but there’s something about eye trauma that makes us break out in a cold sweat. What makes this moment truly shocking isn’t the fact that it involves a needle slowly going into someone’s eye. It’s us who are responsible for the operation, and if we’re not careful, we could end up giving poor Isaac a baby blue.

    7. The Bear Trap – Until Dawn (2015)

    Mike from Until Dawn with his fingers stuck in a bear trapSupermassive games

    It may seem silly to say that the scariest moment of Until dawn – a game in which cannibalistic Wendigos stalk the player character – involves a simple bear trap that Mike gets his hand caught in, but it’s true. What makes this moment so terrifying isn’t the sudden, shocking violence (although I can’t lie, the steel jaws closing on Mike’s poor little finger still make me jump). This is the follow-up.

    You see, while Mike is pinned by the trap and screams in pain, we get a first-person perspective of “something” listening to the chaos. This creates a truly uneasy panic, as you desperately try to open the trap, knowing that an inhuman presence is getting closer and closer to you.

    As Mike struggles to pry his jaws open, keeping him trapped, you’re given another option, “amputate fingers”, and I don’t blame any player who mauled Mike in hopes of escaping the approaching Wendigo.

    6. The Child’s Bedroom – Layers of Fear (2016)

    Layers of Fear children's bedroomTeam Bloober

    Unlike other games on this list, which rely on monsters and shocking jumps to terrify the player, Layers of Fear is all about atmosphere, and few scenes are as atmospheric as the child’s bedroom.

    What begins as a rather pleasant trip to your daughter’s nursery turns into a traumatic nightmare as a haunting music box transforms the room first into a dark, dreary room full of possessed toys, then into a wreck in ruin before finally all reason collapses and you are left in it. a void occupied by creepy dolls.

    It’s a genuinely frightening sequence, and like many of Layers of Fear’s set pieces, it will leave you wondering what is truly paranormal and what is a symptom of the player character’s rapidly disintegrating sanity.

    5. Chasing the Dog – Resident Evil (1996)

    While it may seem quaint by modern standards, it’s hard to explain just how gruesome the dog chase scene in the original Resident Evil was. The shock and surprise of an enemy jumping out a window when you weren’t expecting it was incredibly new, and it’s even worse when you’re trying to run away and another damn dog comes crashing through the window blocking your path.

    That’s actually when I stopped playing the game in 1996. I just couldn’t take the anxiety anymore and wanted the game returned to the Blockbuster I rented it from the most as early as possible.

    Still, as an adult, I can appreciate the scene for the mortifying masterpiece that it is (it’s undeniably one of the most memorable moments in the entire story). Resident Evil games), and I grew to love the tense and discordant score by Makoto Tomozawa, Koichi Hiroki, and Masami Ueda that emphasizes the panic the player feels in that moment.

    4. Meeting Pyramid Head – Silent Hill 2 (2001)

    Pyramid Head is at the end of a strange corridor in Silent Hill 2Konami

    Everyone who played Silent Hill 2 remembers the first time you meet the character who (for better or worse) became the world’s most iconic monster. Silent Hill games.

    Yet as shocking as the scene is – Pyramid Head appears to do unspeakable things to hapless mannequin monsters – it’s not actually the first time you’ve seen the executioner of the Silent Hill mythos. No, you actually met Pyramid Head just before, standing at the end of a hallway behind bars, motionless and unresponsive.

    At the moment it seems strange, but compared to the things around you, it’s rather insignificant. Until you learn later in the game that Pyramid Head represents James’ unconscious desire to punish himself for what he did to his wife, Mary. So why didn’t Pyramid Head attack then? Because he knew that letting James live long enough to train, killing Mary was the worst thing he could do to her at that moment.

    3. See the Xenomorph for the first time – Alien Isolation (2014)

    A Xenomorph sneaks through an alien isolation corridor.Sega

    The powerful AI that causes the Xenomorph to hunt you down makes Alien Isolation thrilling, but arguably the most shocking moment in the game is your first encounter with the alien.

    Who can forget the panic when he emerges from the vents, invisible at first, but when you cower under your desk, his tail slaps against the deck of the ship, reminding you of the speed and strength of the beast.

    Eventually, you sneak around the corner and see the alien in all its glory for the first time, as it bursts out of the room. Only then does the true horror hit you; the creature is on the loose and looking for you. How will you survive? Well, screaming is no use because as you know, in space, no one can hear you scream.

    2. The Baby Chase – Resident Evil 8 (2021)

    The baby monster from Resident Evil 8 (2021)Capcom

    I don’t know what baby we meet while exploring the Beneviento House in Resident Evil 8 It’s true, but I know I never want to see him again. Everything about this creature is unsettling, from the hysterical screams it makes to its monstrous appearance and the gruesome way it devours any player unlucky enough to get caught by it.

    Yet what makes this greasy fetus so gruesome is that, unlike the other creatures you encounter in Resident Evil Village, it’s never explained. We know that Donna Beneviento is a master of illusion, but her cruel conjurations are normally harmless, so how can this creature – which would give Pyramid Head nightmares – harm you? It’s probably best not to think about it. This will only give us nightmares.

    1. Lisa is behind you – PT (2014)

    Lisa from PT (2014)Konami

    All those who had the misfortune (or chance) to play TP knows the terror of running into Lisa as you walk down a hallway that repeats itself endlessly. Lisa, for those who haven’t played the demo, is a ghost (we think) who can appear randomly blocking your path, looking at you through a window, or even looking at you through a crack in a door .

    He is a truly haunting figure whose elongated limbs and macabre face recall horror’s most wondrous monsters. Yet while it is frightening, it is, to quote Douglas Adams, “pretty harmless.” Emphasize “most of the time”, because the longer you play, the more likely you are that Lisa will attack you.

    Let’s just say that as horrible as she is from afar, she’s even worse up close, and there’s no way to defend against her.

    Looking for more spooky Halloween content? So check out our Terror-Tober calendar. We also have a list of 102 best horror movies and a guide describing the scariest manga never written.

    Pabio
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