Resident Evil 3. The first time Nemesis follows you into a "safe" area, and your entire body tenses up as you mash the buttons going "Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-SHIT!" 😂
For me it was the smallest thing ever, that door in the newspaper office with the window that cracks and then the door explodes outward gets me every time.
@@Khordinreaaaaal! I swear to god every time that happens there is like an artery or nerve or something on my right side of my head i feel it pulsing! Super intense.
It catches me every time I replay it. I’m never expecting it even if I’ve told myself, hey I’m in the second island it’s gonna happen soon. Also when flippin joker does the same thing after
The dogs jumping through the windows in the original Resident Evil. Made worse by the stupid capcom controls. I panicked, pushed left to turn and run and all that happened is I turned in circles until I was mauled.
It's a crime that didn't make the list. The first time experiencing that, not expecting it, I can't think of many moments that have made my heart jump out of my chest like that.
Opening the mansion door and the dogs barking and snarling scared me a lot. And yes, then they jump through the window and that just about made me nope out of the game. I know I personally never finished it but I think maybe my older brother did. The part where you stumble upon the zombie having a snack and he slowly turns his head at you (the area also had a lot of creepy crows) I think was about when I stopped playing 😂
I'm not super into horror games, but I think the moment where I felt the most anxiety and palpable sense of fear was the hospital basement/parking garage in Last of Us Part 2. Floor by floor you descend, and with each floor, the fungal overgrowth becomes more and more. There's this sense of something around the corner, stealthing around making sure there are no sleeping clickers to bump into or stalker around a corner. Until you get down to very bottom floor and there are spores everywhere, growth so thick it consumes everything. You think surely there's something coming. But there's not. So you get into the parking garage and find the ambulance and think "great! Here we are! That wasn't so bad." And then it's "GOOD FUCKIN LORD WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!?!" Boom, Rat King.
I know! I think the exact same thing, the video games in which I have ever felt the most fear and anxiety was Alien Isolation (I couldn’t finish it in more than a year because of the fear I felt) and exactly this building from The Last of Us I really thought I couldn’t bear it and wanted to stop playing
Your anxiety is notched up when you go back onto the Ishimura and it's all sterilized and "clean" from the nightmare that happened before. That's a great way to build up tension.
I don’t remember in which game this was, but strongly suspect it’s the second one. The level where you go in the Scientology (I know it has another name, I just don’t remember and it’s close enough) church. With the hiding creeps and their footsteps everywhere. That was the one for me. The whole atmosphere there was top notch.
A moment like this for me would be the introduction of the Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved. For a majority of the game, it's your standard sci-fi shooter. You're a super soldier fighting aliens on a ring-shaped planet with a group of space marines, nothing really special about that. Until you meet the Flood. All of a sudden, you're pulled out of the non-stop run & gun action shooter and dropped into a freaking horror game, facing off against hordes of ninja zombies. After several hours fighting the Covenant, the Flood came completely out of nowhere, and it was a terrifying experience. What's awesome is it still holds up 23 years later.
Might not be the scariest but it was definitely the most impactful to me. I remember picking up that Marine’s helmet and watching the video with my buddies, and then us all screaming as the Flood poured into the room.
Legit halo and left 4 dead were the only games that made me want a Xbox. To this day, I only bought my Xbox because of halo. Such a beauty in storytelling and lore. Awesome freakin music. Fun gameplay. That game is just ughhhhh *chefs kiss*
That level was sooo creepy, like we get through the fog into that installation & no alien is present in sight & with the ominous sounds, it's just makes you feel that something sinister is coming.
The Kakariko Village well from OOT. The idea that this whole torture dungeon with monsters (and Dead Hand) was hiding just underneath this idyllic village was terrifying to me as a kid.
The Forest, for what it is, the first true run through the game and not knowing much, had a many intense and jumpscare moments for me. And I don't get jumpscared easily, ever. Plus , the AI in that game, for the time, was very well done especially for ambusing/watching you. To just be roaming through a forest at night, trying to farm materials and you see a cannibal just staring at you through a treeline was mint intensity !
I have such a funny memory about the FEAR ladder. My dad was playing the game when I was a little younger and I swear, I have never seen a man punch his escape key so fast and hard from Alma popping up, so he could catch his bearings, just to unpause go down the rest of the ladder and getting jumpscared by that second guy and him ALT+F4'ing. He's not really a man who gets scared easily and he played a lot of horror games before, but FEAR was one of the only games I saw him play that brought that type of reaction out of him. I found it funny watching that happen😄
That was more or less my reaction to those duck billed creatures in Amnesia the Dark Descent. The water monster was bad enough, but soon as I saw Those things, I more or less quit and uninstalled the game for a while.
@@cruzcamel Oh yeah, the water monster was also a "Nope" moment for me and a sign to quit playing and uninstalling. I haaaate water monsters in general and only because of the water monster in Jak & Dexter. That was a childhood trauma when I played it 😂
Playing Alien Isolation in VR definitely added to the experience. At some point you do start to get used to the alien, that is until the level where the station is on fire. Seeing the alien materialize through the smoke in a narrow hallway really put the fear back in me.
The only time a game ever really freaked me out was a bad glitch during Harry Potter Half Blood Prince where Snapes mouth turned into solid black pixels and the pixels kept expanding across the screen. He looked like a demon. It was so unexpected in a HP game haha
One of my biggest moments of tension was when playing Dying light 1 and knowing that the sun has set and i am far from shelter, and out of nowhere a volatile person passes by, he sees me, he screams and calls for help And my biggest jumps care was in Madison, those sudden appearances.
The first time I encountered the night hunter in dying light was absolutely terrifying lol. I hadn't looked up any secrets or strats for the game yet so it genuinely scared the hell out of me
When I saw a Feral Ghoul Reaver for the first time in Fallout 3, in the subways for the president to escape. It's head was stuttering and flopping around as it was attacking me, I was terrified. I genuinely thought Reavers would be like that, then I learned that Reavers are just tough Feral Ghouls, and the stuttering flipping around was just Bethesda's incompetency. Scarred me for life though.
For me its probably meeting the Night Folk in RDR2 for the first time, the basement infected sequence in The Last of Us, or meeting the Divider for the first time in Dead Space 1
@@Mrchair905 fear series enemies play dead hide flank you if you hide in a room they typically just chuck grenades in the room but then again I’m old if your under 25 you probably never had the opportunity to play this masterpiece
One of my favorites is the first night a.k.a meeting Volatiles for first time in Dying Light, at that moment the game basically told you "your objective: survive and RUN for your life!".. The other one is from Condemned: Criminal Origins where you are inside a department store and all the mannequins move behind you if you don't look at them..
I miss games like Manhunt and the era it was made in. I truly wish some studios would come along again and make "adult" games again - they are sorely missed.
could you imagine in todays world of gaming technology how a game of manhunt would look & feel like but sadly I don’t think we will ever see another one again. maybe at least a remaster of it but doubt it.
Now the scariest things about games is wondering what franchise studios are going to try to make for so called modern audiences and ruin. People today get way too offended by every little thing that studios would be afraid to make a game like Manhunt.
Dying Light 1 and the first time you see a volatile is terrifying, seeing it in the cracks of a fence, then they just rush at you and pursue for so long, I was literally screaming.
The dentist in Bioshock got me the first time around as I was playing the game in the early hours of the morning, lights out, and headphones on. I don't remember there was any indication that there's a person behind you and when I turned around, got me good. Same thing with Man-Bat in Arkham Knight. Got me the first time but even though I know what's coming on replay, I still get startled.
Surprised Condemned: Criminal Origins wasn't a bonus mention. Especially when the scariest part ISNT the weeping angel mannequins, but actually a freaking BEAR!
I don't usually ever run away from a video game, no matter how scared it makes me feel. But RE Village did just that. In House Beneviento, the first moment you hear the giant baby before you actually see it. That house already had me so on edge that after hearing those sounds I turned around, ran straight to the closest save point and noped myself right out of there for the rest of the day. And of course, as one honorable mention I have to bring up Anima from The Evil Within 2. I'll never forget about the very first time I encountered her because she perfectly toys with my long-lasting fear of your typical, long-haired ghost girls.
I played the game on the recommended difficulty. Which was the hardest difficulty. And the hospital section is probably the hardest part of the game tbh. And it’s like fairly early. I don’t remember any other part giving me nearly as much trouble
Now this is the ultimate proof that terror and being scared changes A LOT from people to people. I suck at horror games because I'm extra-super soft. I had a PS3 and never dreamt of downloading Silent Hill's "PT". The weird zombies from Ocarina of Time made me leave the castle and only come back with a two-handed sword, power gauntlets, magic that froze them and magic that straight out burn them. Only then I felt safe. But for some strange reason (No ideia why) the Xenomorph from Alien Isolation, even at it's hardest difficulty and with several of them by the end, never made me flinch. If I were to guess (and it's a guess, nothing more) is because of my love for the Metal Gear Solid games. Quiet suspense music, you're crouching and super pleased that you're near the end of the room but suddenly the enemy sees you and BAM! Super loud Alert, Total change in music and all hell breaks loose. And the AI from these games was not dumb. Hide in the closet? They're gonna open that door. Hide in a cardboard box? You're toasted. The Xenomorph made enough sound for me to guess where he was. And if I got caught he'd finish me and I'd only get frustated to have to restart from the last checkpoint. And once I had the flamethrower, I felt pretty safe. Few jets, he bounces back and I get to keep exploring. And as to reiterate my point I don't mean the game didn't made me feel scared. But for me it was the killer androids. They would say weird defective sentences as they hunt you, took a ton of damage to destroy and unlike the Xenomorph, they never retreated. You either pass unseen or you have a very hard fight with a pretty lousy weapon.
Outer wilds was definitely terrifying. The fear of the unknown it invokes and the pure sense of vulnarableness in space made it really anxiety inducing. It was great!
Great video. I always find it interesting that Condemned: Criminal Origins is barely mentioned in today's lists. I felt like that game introduced me to the horror genre in a way other games didn't.
The German Shepherds in Medal of Honor Allied Assault always scared the crap out me as a kid. They almost had no eyes ( cuz of 2002 technology ) & it freaked me out.
Yes! I'm so happy you called out the redeads from Zelda! I grew up in the 90s and the N64 was my official first console outside of the Sega Genesis. Those redeads still haunt me to this day. Personally, I think what is most frightening about them is the initial scream. Couldn't handle it then and still can't handle it now. Even in later Zelda games, anytime a redead was reintroduced (cough*Windwaker and Twilight Princess*cough), my TV would instantly be put on mute. Thank you for the share!
Outlast 1 - definitely one of the creepiest games to play. So many moments, I just froze, and said to myself, "I can't ...i just cant go. I don't want to leave the locker... nope nope." The sounds will creep you out pretty bad playing during the day... and at night.... man... yeah. Creepiest game ever.
The department store in Condemned is a solid mention. Walking through a dark deparment store wirh druggies dressed as mannequins attacking you was terrifying.
ey the baby scene in resident evil made me drop my controller. it was so unexpected, to make it worse the game removes your ability to fight back in that moment so its run and hide. gave me outlast vibes. i feel like this is also what made RE8 such a gem of a game
Probably unpopular opinion, but the fear of being chased by the Dahaka in Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within had my heart pumping like no other game did.
Dead Space 1, I was playing it with a friend when Issac entered a corridor with sticky liquid on the floor. We started laughing about how he walks funny, next second he's getting dragged around by a giant arm and we're both having a heart attack. 100% effective jump scare, unforgettable.
In dead space 2 with that crying baby on washing machine along with nichole whispering issac i literally took my headphone off to hear i didn't here this shit.
Not a jump scare but a moment of realization. Mass Effect 1, when you speak with Sovereign for the first time and realize that something the size of a Star Destroyer is a sentient alien. Gives my chills every time.
Heck, even the little sharks freaked me out for a while. They are easy to avoid, except when you have to farm stuff from the kelp forests and the sharks are swimming everywhere. I was always frantically looking around at every chomp noise that sounded too close. By the end, they were more annoying than anything, but they could still jump scare me when I wasn't expecting it.
Resident 7 when Jack is walking around the initial part of the house and jumps out through the wall at you, and then when you can hear his footsteps wonering if he would be in the next room. God damn that increased my heart rate
Clock Tower, SNES, was the original heart stopper. I'll never forget The Slasher crashing through the sky light and the sound of the shears scraping across the wooden floor.
Falcon, I didn't think you were going to add the terror of going back to the Ishimura in Dead Space 2, but you did. Seeing that ship in Dead Space 2 was a big nope for me. Absolute dread, and every nightmare popped into my head, looking at that ship. Thank you for adding it. Also, at number 2, it's definitely well deserved. 👌
Regarding Bioshock, what always made my palms sweaty was the level where you enter a dark, flooded room and see a bunch of white mannequin figures. You explore, go deeper into the room, and then turn around to leave through the same door you entered through only to see that several of the “mannequins” are gone and have moved…somewhere.
Man. FEAR was my first full horror game experience. The scares are a bit silly but back then, when that generation just released it felt so cinematic and really ahead of its time in terms of scares
0:18 I wouldn’t know about the medical bay. I got so spooked by waiting for the tram (yes the one right there at the beginning) that I haven’t gotten any further into the game 😂
There was this game released in 1997 by acclaim studios called Shadow Man. It's a 3rd person adventure game based on the voodoo culture. This game was my childhood nightmare. Ngl it still has that eerie vibe regardless it's a 90s game and it's sfx added quite a lot to send chill down the spine.
@@patrickevans9604 Too bad the story is bad and the ending of the game is one of the worst experiences I had with a game that I loved before. I hated so much that I uninstalled the game immediately after finishing it
Outer Wilds isn't meant to be scary but it easily can be. HOWEVER, the DLC IS intended to be scary, and honestly I don't play horror games but some moments in Echoes of the Eye were just petrifying 😭 Having to navigate total darkness is probably the scariest thing any game can do
Honorable mention. Returning to House Beneviento in the Shadows of Rose DLC. That in and of itself brought back memories we believed abandoned. But then suddenly... mannequins are moving. I remember playing it before I had to goto work, because I had an hour before the time I left home to get to work. I saw the first mannequin and thought "Oh Lord its gonna move". But even though I saw it coming, it freaked me out so damn bad I said screw it and went to work an hour early.
The worst part in alien isolation to me is WAITING for the tram as the tension slowly rises, you know the xenomorph is out there, you know you can't escape until the tram arrives, all you can do is wait, hide, and pray. I'd love to see a list of similar absurd tension moments, that kind of terror is so much more effective to me than the in your face jumpscares, just... waiting The DS2 Ishimura sequence is a very similar thing at first
My personal greatest horror gaming moment is in The Last of Us part 2. The part when you stuck in pitch black room and there are many stalkers. These guys are insanely creepy. They don't just attack you. They move around. They wait, and wait, then boom behind you! I was so scared that I plant many bomb traps down to cover my back. So good.
I'm glad you guys put the redeads as number 1 on your list as they really creeped me out as a kid. That screeching sound literally made my sensitive air drums scream and gave me the chills as well.
One that traumatized me almost 20 years ago was the mannequin scene in Condemned: Criminal Origins. Nothing really happens other than mannequins moving towards you when you turn your back on them. You wait to be attacked, you wait, and you wait, and… it’s just mannequins. So incredibly unsettling.
since they're so iconic and the best leviathans in the game i think they didn't wanna spoil anyone that hasn't played Subnautica because they clearly showed and focused on the Aurora, as if hinting at them, but didn't show them deliberately to leave them as a surprise for new players.
My first experience with the ghost leviathan was when I was exploring and as I was coming up to a rock wall the damn thing swam out of the wall and attacked me. I knew about the regular leviathans and you could see them coming but that one cheated and scared the hell out of me.
The most memorable of my first time playing Subnautica was my first time seeing a Reefback. I heard its deep bellow and only saw its vague silhouette in the distance... Despite Reefbacks being really docile and non-threatening, that first time seeing such a huge creature in the distance, having no idea what it is... chills. And yeah, that Bioshock surprise dentist is such an excellent moment XD
The Psychomantis fight in MGS1. It wasn't as scary, as anxiety inducing. When the game screen would go black with "Hideo" on it, or reading your save file, or making you figure out to switch controller ports - completely screwing with your expectations of what a Boss fight can be.
The locker room in Silent Hill 1 is probably one of the most effective uses of jumpscares ever First time, you're faked out by a cat jumping out of the locker, then hearing it being eaten by something in the hallways of the school The second time, in the dark version of the school, you think be a monster cat or something in the locker, but nothing is inside except some blood Then a body falls out of one of the bigger lockers the second you turn away to leave the room No enemies either time, but just clever uses of fakeouts to get your heart racing
I've platinumed Alien Isolation multiple times across several systems and do at least a few full playthroughs every year since 2014. The medical bay level still fills me with dread. That level and the hive stress me out even now, so many years later. Brilliant game and the one game I think needs a sequel above all others.
Honorable mentions: The moment in Resident Evil 4 when you have to give Ashley a piggyback ride in the castle and then protect her. That was really stressful. Outlast 2, The Evil Within, Amnesia, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 7 also had some amazing moments like that.
I can't think of Ashley anymore with out thinking of rooster teeth animated skit about micheal (yes?) B*tching about how easy the game is with Ashley lmfao
1 Halo (Combat Evolved) - The first time encountering The Flood was so heart stopping and unexpected. The game quickly changed from being a straight out shooter game into being an overpowering survival horror nightmare 😢 2The Last of Us - The first time encountering a Bloater as it came along with a whole load of clickers in that generator/power room was so terrifying. 😅
Brainsucker from Bloodborne deserves a shout out. Never know when they are going to turn and sprint. I have played through the game at least three times, and I am terrified of those things every time.
got a bit of an obscure one; monkey island 2 lechucks revenge - the bunker ending sequence where lechuck is stalking you with a voodoo doll constantly and you can’t escape until you make a voodoo doll of him - you’d randomly be teleported to a room and you’d have no idea how close he was to you or if you’d stumble into him looking for items - also remember i was 5/6 years old back in 96/97, when my dad played this for me and my brother. something about the pixelated red eyes, lurching walk and his moving, living beard - i’ve had recurring nightmares for years even though to me now its a nostalgic MS DOS game
Thanks Falcon! I had actually subconsciously forgotten about "that ladder" in FEAR. lol Now I remember it all too well. Dropping my controller and yelling at a tv screen like a crazy teen lol
The most frightening moment in a game for me was in The Painscreek killings. It's your typical Walking simulator when you are sent to an abandonned town to investigate a murder which happened a long time ago. You're alone but hey it's sunny so let's chill. During the game, it started to get spookier and spookier when you realize there is more than one murder to investigate. Then, it started to get a little bit scary but not that much because you know you are alone. So until near the end, it was a scary level I could handle....AND THEN... you reach the lair of the Killer. You listened to his confession on a tape and this is when the game stops being a nice Walking simulator to become a whole horror game. The Killer is locked with you and you have to run for your life. I was so scared I quit the game.
For Fear, I would've put the elevator sequence, cause I remember that scene the most. You walk into a room with closed elevators on one side, and a glass front security room opposite them, nothing out of the ordinary. Just a basic, clean room. You go into the security room to hit the button that opens the elevator, and when you turn around to look out the window, Alma is standing on the other side just watching you. You can walk up to the window and she won't move, but she immediately disappears when you exit the security room - the only sign that she was there is a trail of bloody footprints leading from the window directly to the now open elevator door
THIEF. Quite underrated, I enjoyed it very much. It has a dark atmosphere with a lot of strange happenings, a very good stealth game. Chapter 5: The Forsaken you play in an abandoned orphanage, OMG, it brought me nightmares. But I replayed the whole game to go completionist, but I couldn’t get prepared enough for the “ghosts” 😂
1:49 Props to animators and sound design team. I watched spoiler reviews before playing this game. Knew about the baby scene, still scared tf out of me when it happened. Very good sequence.
I’m so happy to hear Manhunt get mentioned! I loved playing that game growing up and I still play it on my ps4 til this day lol I really miss that era in video games
Probably betraying my age here... When that T-rex emerged from the darkness in the original Tomb Raider...man. Brilliant.
Terrified me as a kid so I could never finish the game lol
Facts!
First time, I just noped out and ran back to the start of the level!
I was really young, my mum had to play that bit for me, i just couldnt get myself to do it🤣
My mate said the same thing!
Resident Evil 3. The first time Nemesis follows you into a "safe" area, and your entire body tenses up as you mash the buttons going "Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-SHIT!" 😂
Yes yes yes yes!!!!!!
Yea you find out real quick where the true safe areas are & it not being the safe rooms was terrifying
For me him jupping through the window made me throw the controller away
For me it was the smallest thing ever, that door in the newspaper office with the window that cracks and then the door explodes outward gets me every time.
@@Khordinreaaaaal! I swear to god every time that happens there is like an artery or nerve or something on my right side of my head i feel it pulsing!
Super intense.
Every time I replayed RE Village I dreaded having to play through the baby part again
It was only 10 or so hours long but felt like a 25 hour game, it was soo intense.
I be speedrunning that part lol
The sound design is the worst/best thing
@@DrunkDragons18 Baby skip lmao so risky
I laughed when I first saw it
Nothing has made my heart stop more than Man-Bat in Arkham City.
It catches me every time I replay it. I’m never expecting it even if I’ve told myself, hey I’m in the second island it’s gonna happen soon. Also when flippin joker does the same thing after
Man 😅 you know I'm the type which always act like I'm never spooked but dude that almost got me kicking the bucket
do you mean in arkham knight?
@@sibulss uhh I'm not sure
@@V_randyfr Yup, it was Arkham Knight, not City
The dogs jumping through the windows in the original Resident Evil. Made worse by the stupid capcom controls. I panicked, pushed left to turn and run and all that happened is I turned in circles until I was mauled.
It's a crime that didn't make the list. The first time experiencing that, not expecting it, I can't think of many moments that have made my heart jump out of my chest like that.
Opening the mansion door and the dogs barking and snarling scared me a lot. And yes, then they jump through the window and that just about made me nope out of the game. I know I personally never finished it but I think maybe my older brother did. The part where you stumble upon the zombie having a snack and he slowly turns his head at you (the area also had a lot of creepy crows) I think was about when I stopped playing 😂
Yeah. I remember I played that in the dark, with my home theater system, and that made me drop the controller 😅
I still to this day am traumatized by that moment. Any horror game I've played since, I stay the fuck away from windows.
You can always pause bruh
I'm not super into horror games, but I think the moment where I felt the most anxiety and palpable sense of fear was the hospital basement/parking garage in Last of Us Part 2. Floor by floor you descend, and with each floor, the fungal overgrowth becomes more and more. There's this sense of something around the corner, stealthing around making sure there are no sleeping clickers to bump into or stalker around a corner. Until you get down to very bottom floor and there are spores everywhere, growth so thick it consumes everything. You think surely there's something coming. But there's not. So you get into the parking garage and find the ambulance and think "great! Here we are! That wasn't so bad." And then it's "GOOD FUCKIN LORD WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!?!" Boom, Rat King.
Underrated comment fr
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I know! I think the exact same thing, the video games in which I have ever felt the most fear and anxiety was Alien Isolation (I couldn’t finish it in more than a year because of the fear I felt) and exactly this building from The Last of Us I really thought I couldn’t bear it and wanted to stop playing
Dead Space 2 segment was very memorable. The first game had such an impact that you could feel neck tightening just walking the ship again.
Your anxiety is notched up when you go back onto the Ishimura and it's all sterilized and "clean" from the nightmare that happened before. That's a great way to build up tension.
I don’t remember in which game this was, but strongly suspect it’s the second one. The level where you go in the Scientology (I know it has another name, I just don’t remember and it’s close enough) church. With the hiding creeps and their footsteps everywhere. That was the one for me. The whole atmosphere there was top notch.
That eye laser moment still clinching my butt..
@@GeoPePeTto As far as creepiness goes, the elementary school section takes the cake for me.
The segment in the first Dead Space game where you go from a silent space vacuum area to a sudden deafening roar of machinery was also terriying.
A moment like this for me would be the introduction of the Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved. For a majority of the game, it's your standard sci-fi shooter. You're a super soldier fighting aliens on a ring-shaped planet with a group of space marines, nothing really special about that. Until you meet the Flood.
All of a sudden, you're pulled out of the non-stop run & gun action shooter and dropped into a freaking horror game, facing off against hordes of ninja zombies. After several hours fighting the Covenant, the Flood came completely out of nowhere, and it was a terrifying experience. What's awesome is it still holds up 23 years later.
Might not be the scariest but it was definitely the most impactful to me. I remember picking up that Marine’s helmet and watching the video with my buddies, and then us all screaming as the Flood poured into the room.
Legit halo and left 4 dead were the only games that made me want a Xbox. To this day, I only bought my Xbox because of halo. Such a beauty in storytelling and lore. Awesome freakin music. Fun gameplay. That game is just ughhhhh *chefs kiss*
That level was sooo creepy, like we get through the fog into that installation & no alien is present in sight & with the ominous sounds, it's just makes you feel that something sinister is coming.
You forgot, you see a trail of bodies, bodies of the type of enemy that was the worst/strongest up until then.. very well done
The Kakariko Village well from OOT. The idea that this whole torture dungeon with monsters (and Dead Hand) was hiding just underneath this idyllic village was terrifying to me as a kid.
Baby
As a kid I couldn't go into jabu jabus mouth, the sound he made freaked me TF out.
as an adult, knowing what my next door neighbor was doing to his kid (maybe kids) makes that part of oot a life lesson
@@alidan what the f***!?
Edit: What in the absolute f***ing f***?!!!!
Dead hand was way more scary than the redead
The Forest, for what it is, the first true run through the game and not knowing much, had a many intense and jumpscare moments for me. And I don't get jumpscared easily, ever. Plus , the AI in that game, for the time, was very well done especially for ambusing/watching you. To just be roaming through a forest at night, trying to farm materials and you see a cannibal just staring at you through a treeline was mint intensity !
I have such a funny memory about the FEAR ladder. My dad was playing the game when I was a little younger and I swear, I have never seen a man punch his escape key so fast and hard from Alma popping up, so he could catch his bearings, just to unpause go down the rest of the ladder and getting jumpscared by that second guy and him ALT+F4'ing. He's not really a man who gets scared easily and he played a lot of horror games before, but FEAR was one of the only games I saw him play that brought that type of reaction out of him. I found it funny watching that happen😄
That was more or less my reaction to those duck billed creatures in Amnesia the Dark Descent.
The water monster was bad enough, but soon as I saw Those things, I more or less quit and uninstalled the game for a while.
@@cruzcamel Oh yeah, the water monster was also a "Nope" moment for me and a sign to quit playing and uninstalling. I haaaate water monsters in general and only because of the water monster in Jak & Dexter. That was a childhood trauma when I played it 😂
Playing Alien Isolation in VR definitely added to the experience. At some point you do start to get used to the alien, that is until the level where the station is on fire. Seeing the alien materialize through the smoke in a narrow hallway really put the fear back in me.
"A panic attack made manifest" is such a great phrase!
And an accurate description of Alien Isolation lol
For me it was the workbench ambush in The last of us 2. Definitely caught me off guard:P
Man! My whole soul left my body.
Oh man! That part! Ugh!
Same with me but it was the arrow when Ellie first encounters the Seraphites
@@oblebrun Oh yeah! I forgot about that part. Got just a little bit jumpscared too
The only time a game ever really freaked me out was a bad glitch during Harry Potter Half Blood Prince where Snapes mouth turned into solid black pixels and the pixels kept expanding across the screen. He looked like a demon. It was so unexpected in a HP game haha
😅
One of my biggest moments of tension was when playing Dying light 1 and knowing that the sun has set and i am far from shelter, and out of nowhere a volatile person passes by, he sees me, he screams and calls for help
And my biggest jumps care was in Madison, those sudden appearances.
The first time I encountered the night hunter in dying light was absolutely terrifying lol. I hadn't looked up any secrets or strats for the game yet so it genuinely scared the hell out of me
When I saw a Feral Ghoul Reaver for the first time in Fallout 3, in the subways for the president to escape. It's head was stuttering and flopping around as it was attacking me, I was terrified. I genuinely thought Reavers would be like that, then I learned that Reavers are just tough Feral Ghouls, and the stuttering flipping around was just Bethesda's incompetency. Scarred me for life though.
For me its probably meeting the Night Folk in RDR2 for the first time, the basement infected sequence in The Last of Us, or meeting the Divider for the first time in Dead Space 1
How about the bear in red dead 2?
That Xenomorph AI is easily the best AI I ever seen in a game.
TLOU2 takes that cake in my opinion.
@@Mrchair905 fear series enemies play dead hide flank you if you hide in a room they typically just chuck grenades in the room but then again I’m old if your under 25 you probably never had the opportunity to play this masterpiece
One of my favorites is the first night a.k.a meeting Volatiles for first time in Dying Light, at that moment the game basically told you "your objective: survive and RUN for your life!"..
The other one is from Condemned: Criminal Origins where you are inside a department store and all the mannequins move behind you if you don't look at them..
I miss games like Manhunt and the era it was made in. I truly wish some studios would come along again and make "adult" games again - they are sorely missed.
could you imagine in todays world of gaming technology how a game of manhunt would look & feel like but sadly I don’t think we will ever see another one again. maybe at least a remaster of it but doubt it.
Now the scariest things about games is wondering what franchise studios are going to try to make for so called modern audiences and ruin. People today get way too offended by every little thing that studios would be afraid to make a game like Manhunt.
Amen.
What's adult about it exactly?
It is just trying too hard to be edgy as Rockstar games are want to do.
Manhunt, Bully, The Warriors, Rockstar cooked really hard in the past..
Imagine what "modern audiences" would feel if they make those games again..
Dying Light 1 and the first time you see a volatile is terrifying, seeing it in the cracks of a fence, then they just rush at you and pursue for so long, I was literally screaming.
Fear 2s school hallway deserves a mention too, that moment was worse for me than any of the ladders in fear or side spooks
Just made a similar comment, found an old video from someone. Still terrifying!
Abandoned schools and hospitals are already scary enough IRL
that game still sticks out to me for how it had me on edge
The dentist in Bioshock got me the first time around as I was playing the game in the early hours of the morning, lights out, and headphones on. I don't remember there was any indication that there's a person behind you and when I turned around, got me good. Same thing with Man-Bat in Arkham Knight. Got me the first time but even though I know what's coming on replay, I still get startled.
i fear open water, i fear deep water. i fucking finished subnautica twice and its sequel! nothing is stopping me from playing a survival
👏
You sir, are an absolute Chad. And I salute you. 🫡
Surprised Condemned: Criminal Origins wasn't a bonus mention. Especially when the scariest part ISNT the weeping angel mannequins, but actually a freaking BEAR!
Hello Falcon, it’s folks.
Hey
I don't usually ever run away from a video game, no matter how scared it makes me feel. But RE Village did just that. In House Beneviento, the first moment you hear the giant baby before you actually see it. That house already had me so on edge that after hearing those sounds I turned around, ran straight to the closest save point and noped myself right out of there for the rest of the day.
And of course, as one honorable mention I have to bring up Anima from The Evil Within 2. I'll never forget about the very first time I encountered her because she perfectly toys with my long-lasting fear of your typical, long-haired ghost girls.
Allen isolation should be number 1. Jump scares are good, but that game kept you terrified.
Agreed
Some of the most evolved horror out there
I can count the games on one hand I couldn't finish because the sweating was too much. This is one of them.
I played the game on the recommended difficulty. Which was the hardest difficulty. And the hospital section is probably the hardest part of the game tbh. And it’s like fairly early. I don’t remember any other part giving me nearly as much trouble
Now this is the ultimate proof that terror and being scared changes A LOT from people to people. I suck at horror games because I'm extra-super soft. I had a PS3 and never dreamt of downloading Silent Hill's "PT".
The weird zombies from Ocarina of Time made me leave the castle and only come back with a two-handed sword, power gauntlets, magic that froze them and magic that straight out burn them. Only then I felt safe.
But for some strange reason (No ideia why) the Xenomorph from Alien Isolation, even at it's hardest difficulty and with several of them by the end, never made me flinch. If I were to guess (and it's a guess, nothing more) is because of my love for the Metal Gear Solid games. Quiet suspense music, you're crouching and super pleased that you're near the end of the room but suddenly the enemy sees you and BAM! Super loud Alert, Total change in music and all hell breaks loose. And the AI from these games was not dumb. Hide in the closet? They're gonna open that door. Hide in a cardboard box? You're toasted.
The Xenomorph made enough sound for me to guess where he was. And if I got caught he'd finish me and I'd only get frustated to have to restart from the last checkpoint. And once I had the flamethrower, I felt pretty safe. Few jets, he bounces back and I get to keep exploring. And as to reiterate my point I don't mean the game didn't made me feel scared. But for me it was the killer androids. They would say weird defective sentences as they hunt you, took a ton of damage to destroy and unlike the Xenomorph, they never retreated. You either pass unseen or you have a very hard fight with a pretty lousy weapon.
I still remember the constant feeling of dread re entering the Ishimura in Dead Space 2. Such a brilliant part of the game and the entire series.
Gameranx has become a part of my daily ritual now. Stay awesome guys (and the best bird of gaming).
The Forest and Evil Within had some crazy moments as well
I wish I could play The Evil Within with no problem, but the shaky headbobbing camera gave me nausea and I couldn't finish the game..
@@irvancrocs1753. You can turn that off or lower it in the game options menu. I had the same problem.
For me Alien Isolation is one of the if not the best Survival Horror games I've ever played. I wish we would at least get a Next Gen update.
Outer wilds was definitely terrifying. The fear of the unknown it invokes and the pure sense of vulnarableness in space made it really anxiety inducing. It was great!
Great video. I always find it interesting that Condemned: Criminal Origins is barely mentioned in today's lists. I felt like that game introduced me to the horror genre in a way other games didn't.
Ah department store mannequins.
@@brodriguez11000 Yup! seeing those things move out of nowhere was a core memory for me
Solid game. I remember renting it from blockbuster 😂
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the most criminally underrated game of all time. The water monster made most people stop playing.
Luls I started playing with my sister and quit after being around the water splashes for a while.
How is it underrated? It’s consistently classed as one of the classic scariest horror games of all time
The German Shepherds in Medal of Honor Allied Assault always scared the crap out me as a kid. They almost had no eyes ( cuz of 2002 technology ) & it freaked me out.
Those fucking snipers in mission 5
Oh man! I remember! Wasn’t in that DLC mission, castle place? Lord that mission was so hard!!!
Yes! I'm so happy you called out the redeads from Zelda! I grew up in the 90s and the N64 was my official first console outside of the Sega Genesis. Those redeads still haunt me to this day. Personally, I think what is most frightening about them is the initial scream. Couldn't handle it then and still can't handle it now. Even in later Zelda games, anytime a redead was reintroduced (cough*Windwaker and Twilight Princess*cough), my TV would instantly be put on mute. Thank you for the share!
Manhunt and Piggsy mentioned. I'm a happy man. ❤
Outlast 1 - definitely one of the creepiest games to play. So many moments, I just froze, and said to myself, "I can't ...i just cant go. I don't want to leave the locker... nope nope." The sounds will creep you out pretty bad playing during the day... and at night.... man... yeah. Creepiest game ever.
Fear is the -mindkiller- heart stopper
May your blade chip and shatter. o>
The department store in Condemned is a solid mention. Walking through a dark deparment store wirh druggies dressed as mannequins attacking you was terrifying.
ey the baby scene in resident evil made me drop my controller. it was so unexpected, to make it worse the game removes your ability to fight back in that moment so its run and hide. gave me outlast vibes. i feel like this is also what made RE8 such a gem of a game
Fear had tons of great moments. The hall, the ladder, the vent, the office space. Alma just has that good way of scaring the crap out of you.
Probably unpopular opinion, but the fear of being chased by the Dahaka in Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within had my heart pumping like no other game did.
Oh my God the ocarina of time one! Core memory unlocked, I remember playing that as a child and being legitimately terrified of those things.
Dead Space 1, I was playing it with a friend when Issac entered a corridor with sticky liquid on the floor. We started laughing about how he walks funny, next second he's getting dragged around by a giant arm and we're both having a heart attack. 100% effective jump scare, unforgettable.
In dead space 2 with that crying baby on washing machine along with nichole whispering issac i literally took my headphone off to hear i didn't here this shit.
Yeah, I jumped out of my chair lol
He DOES walk funny! Like a sleep walker.. why?😂
Not a jump scare but a moment of realization. Mass Effect 1, when you speak with Sovereign for the first time and realize that something the size of a Star Destroyer is a sentient alien. Gives my chills every time.
Seeing price of Ubisoft games
That is the most terrifying jumpscare
Senua's Sacrifice and the crazy voice close to the end of the game is one of the most upsetting things I've ever experienced in a game.
I finished Subnautica, and not only the Leviathans terrified me, but the Warpers did too 3:08
Heck, even the little sharks freaked me out for a while. They are easy to avoid, except when you have to farm stuff from the kelp forests and the sharks are swimming everywhere. I was always frantically looking around at every chomp noise that sounded too close.
By the end, they were more annoying than anything, but they could still jump scare me when I wasn't expecting it.
Resident 7 when Jack is walking around the initial part of the house and jumps out through the wall at you, and then when you can hear his footsteps wonering if he would be in the next room. God damn that increased my heart rate
This has been a legendary list, my only confession here is that only the xenomorph filled me with enough fear that I freeze
Clock Tower, SNES, was the original heart stopper. I'll never forget The Slasher crashing through the sky light and the sound of the shears scraping across the wooden floor.
Congrats on 8 million subs you guys
Ty for the reminder to unsub 😂
Falcon, I didn't think you were going to add the terror of going back to the Ishimura in Dead Space 2, but you did. Seeing that ship in Dead Space 2 was a big nope for me. Absolute dread, and every nightmare popped into my head, looking at that ship. Thank you for adding it. Also, at number 2, it's definitely well deserved. 👌
I'm surprised your first encounter with Laura from The Evil Within wasnt on this list, that is a good one!
Regarding Bioshock, what always made my palms sweaty was the level where you enter a dark, flooded room and see a bunch of white mannequin figures. You explore, go deeper into the room, and then turn around to leave through the same door you entered through only to see that several of the “mannequins” are gone and have moved…somewhere.
For me it has to be the “Look behind you” moment in P.T. I’ve never gotten goosebumps from a video game until that moment.
I was watching the Game Grumps play this in all their silliness. I had to pause the video and take a couple of minutes in order to continue.
That "game" is one of the most tense and unnerving experiences I've had.
Just in time for my lunch break! Thx!
Man. FEAR was my first full horror game experience. The scares are a bit silly but back then, when that generation just released it felt so cinematic and really ahead of its time in terms of scares
0:18 I wouldn’t know about the medical bay. I got so spooked by waiting for the tram (yes the one right there at the beginning) that I haven’t gotten any further into the game 😂
me with outlast, ive seen the plane crash and a house and I stopped playing😭
There was this game released in 1997 by acclaim studios called Shadow Man. It's a 3rd person adventure game based on the voodoo culture. This game was my childhood nightmare. Ngl it still has that eerie vibe regardless it's a 90s game and it's sfx added quite a lot to send chill down the spine.
'The sisters awake...'
Dying Light 1, the first mission at night. Man, that was quite something!
Indeed. The volatiles were designed so well!
That game was amazing.
@@patrickevans9604 Yep, one of the greatest experiences in gaming for me
@@patrickevans9604 Too bad the story is bad and the ending of the game is one of the worst experiences I had with a game that I loved before. I hated so much that I uninstalled the game immediately after finishing it
Outer Wilds isn't meant to be scary but it easily can be. HOWEVER, the DLC IS intended to be scary, and honestly I don't play horror games but some moments in Echoes of the Eye were just petrifying 😭 Having to navigate total darkness is probably the scariest thing any game can do
The first thing that chases you in Evil Within 2 with all of the people and that spine is engraved in my mind.
Honorable mention. Returning to House Beneviento in the Shadows of Rose DLC. That in and of itself brought back memories we believed abandoned. But then suddenly... mannequins are moving. I remember playing it before I had to goto work, because I had an hour before the time I left home to get to work. I saw the first mannequin and thought "Oh Lord its gonna move". But even though I saw it coming, it freaked me out so damn bad I said screw it and went to work an hour early.
The worst part in alien isolation to me is WAITING for the tram as the tension slowly rises, you know the xenomorph is out there, you know you can't escape until the tram arrives, all you can do is wait, hide, and pray.
I'd love to see a list of similar absurd tension moments, that kind of terror is so much more effective to me than the in your face jumpscares, just... waiting
The DS2 Ishimura sequence is a very similar thing at first
What is also amazing at that moment that when doors start to close you can see xenomorph approaching in the darkness
My personal greatest horror gaming moment is in The Last of Us part 2. The part when you stuck in pitch black room and there are many stalkers. These guys are insanely creepy. They don't just attack you. They move around. They wait, and wait, then boom behind you! I was so scared that I plant many bomb traps down to cover my back. So good.
Falcon... i hate to stir the pot. I hope Gameranx is paying you heavenly because cot dang, you make these top 10s so entertaining.
I'm glad you guys put the redeads as number 1 on your list as they really creeped me out as a kid. That screeching sound literally made my sensitive air drums scream and gave me the chills as well.
Ahh subnautica one of the best games I've ever played ❤
Felt like it came outta nowhere too!
@@NiallHatton yeah for sure, I even rank it amongst my top 5 next to god of war ragnarok, sekiro and the witcher 3
One that traumatized me almost 20 years ago was the mannequin scene in Condemned: Criminal Origins.
Nothing really happens other than mannequins moving towards you when you turn your back on them. You wait to be attacked, you wait, and you wait, and… it’s just mannequins. So incredibly unsettling.
Absolutely loved Outlast 2, so much better done than first one. And one of the scariest games ever that really can be dreadful is Cry of Fear.
I hated the demon monster in the school flashbacks that school is creepy as hell
Great Video. I really miss those great gaming moments, they seem to get rarer the older I get.
subnautica is definitely a horror game cause they definitely had intent to scare the players with the giant leviathans
Grounded should be a horror game with all the spiders.
Its more terror than horror
subnautica is one of those games that you wish you could experience again for the first time.
#8 the reaper leviathans are WAY more terrifying than ghost leviathans
since they're so iconic and the best leviathans in the game i think they didn't wanna spoil anyone that hasn't played Subnautica because they clearly showed and focused on the Aurora, as if hinting at them, but didn't show them deliberately to leave them as a surprise for new players.
My first experience with the ghost leviathan was when I was exploring and as I was coming up to a rock wall the damn thing swam out of the wall and attacked me. I knew about the regular leviathans and you could see them coming but that one cheated and scared the hell out of me.
The most memorable of my first time playing Subnautica was my first time seeing a Reefback. I heard its deep bellow and only saw its vague silhouette in the distance... Despite Reefbacks being really docile and non-threatening, that first time seeing such a huge creature in the distance, having no idea what it is... chills.
And yeah, that Bioshock surprise dentist is such an excellent moment XD
The Psychomantis fight in MGS1. It wasn't as scary, as anxiety inducing. When the game screen would go black with "Hideo" on it, or reading your save file, or making you figure out to switch controller ports - completely screwing with your expectations of what a Boss fight can be.
One of the greatest boss fights of all time
Half Life 2, We Don’t Go To Ravenholm Anymore was one of the scariest video game experiences of my life when I was a kid.
The moment CyberScam 2077 was released.
The locker room in Silent Hill 1 is probably one of the most effective uses of jumpscares ever
First time, you're faked out by a cat jumping out of the locker, then hearing it being eaten by something in the hallways of the school
The second time, in the dark version of the school, you think be a monster cat or something in the locker, but nothing is inside except some blood
Then a body falls out of one of the bigger lockers the second you turn away to leave the room
No enemies either time, but just clever uses of fakeouts to get your heart racing
ALIEN: ISOLATION. No comparison.
I've platinumed Alien Isolation multiple times across several systems and do at least a few full playthroughs every year since 2014. The medical bay level still fills me with dread. That level and the hive stress me out even now, so many years later. Brilliant game and the one game I think needs a sequel above all others.
Honorable mentions: The moment in Resident Evil 4 when you have to give Ashley a piggyback ride in the castle and then protect her. That was really stressful.
Outlast 2, The Evil Within, Amnesia, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 7 also had some amazing moments like that.
I can't think of Ashley anymore with out thinking of rooster teeth animated skit about micheal (yes?) B*tching about how easy the game is with Ashley lmfao
@@MsAriesQueen context?
1 Halo (Combat Evolved) - The first time encountering The Flood was so heart stopping and unexpected. The game quickly changed from being a straight out shooter game into being an overpowering survival horror nightmare 😢
2The Last of Us - The first time encountering a Bloater as it came along with a whole load of clickers in that generator/power room was so terrifying. 😅
Brainsucker from Bloodborne deserves a shout out. Never know when they are going to turn and sprint. I have played through the game at least three times, and I am terrified of those things every time.
Best time stamps. Number 1, Number 2... helpful👍
8:35 Even after all these years the jump scares in FEAR still get me...
got a bit of an obscure one; monkey island 2 lechucks revenge - the bunker ending sequence where lechuck is stalking you with a voodoo doll constantly and you can’t escape until you make a voodoo doll of him - you’d randomly be teleported to a room and you’d have no idea how close he was to you or if you’d stumble into him looking for items - also remember i was 5/6 years old back in 96/97, when my dad played this for me and my brother. something about the pixelated red eyes, lurching walk and his moving, living beard - i’ve had recurring nightmares for years even though to me now its a nostalgic MS DOS game
Thanks Falcon! I had actually subconsciously forgotten about "that ladder" in FEAR. lol Now I remember it all too well. Dropping my controller and yelling at a tv screen like a crazy teen lol
The most frightening moment in a game for me was in The Painscreek killings.
It's your typical Walking simulator when you are sent to an abandonned town to investigate a murder which happened a long time ago.
You're alone but hey it's sunny so let's chill.
During the game, it started to get spookier and spookier when you realize there is more than one murder to investigate.
Then, it started to get a little bit scary but not that much because you know you are alone.
So until near the end, it was a scary level I could handle....AND THEN... you reach the lair of the Killer. You listened to his confession on a tape and this is when the game stops being a nice Walking simulator to become a whole horror game. The Killer is locked with you and you have to run for your life.
I was so scared I quit the game.
the whispering voices in the Roanoke forest of RDR2...that creepd me out so hard, because at first i thought they were in my room, not in game lol
For Fear, I would've put the elevator sequence, cause I remember that scene the most.
You walk into a room with closed elevators on one side, and a glass front security room opposite them, nothing out of the ordinary. Just a basic, clean room. You go into the security room to hit the button that opens the elevator, and when you turn around to look out the window, Alma is standing on the other side just watching you. You can walk up to the window and she won't move, but she immediately disappears when you exit the security room - the only sign that she was there is a trail of bloody footprints leading from the window directly to the now open elevator door
THIEF. Quite underrated, I enjoyed it very much. It has a dark atmosphere with a lot of strange happenings, a very good stealth game.
Chapter 5: The Forsaken you play in an abandoned orphanage, OMG, it brought me nightmares.
But I replayed the whole game to go completionist, but I couldn’t get prepared enough for the “ghosts” 😂
1:49 Props to animators and sound design team. I watched spoiler reviews before playing this game. Knew about the baby scene, still scared tf out of me when it happened. Very good sequence.
The first time the Berserker shows up in the first Gears of War was heart pounding. Also more recently any of the EMMI
segments in Metroid Dread.
I’m so happy to hear Manhunt get mentioned! I loved playing that game growing up and I still play it on my ps4 til this day lol I really miss that era in video games
Fatal Frame 2 Crimson Butterfly deserves a place on this list… that game had some great scares!!!
My favorite game of the series by far