Elite: Dangerous is the most terrifying game ever created.

[Rankaze]

This game definitely can be scary if you allow yourself to become fully immersed in it. But that's part of the fun.

There's only one game, though, that I ever had to just stop because it was freaking me out, though, and it wasn't one of the games people usually list when thinking of scary games.

That was Metroid Prime 2. Somethng about the world of Dark Aethyr just seriously messed with my head. To this day, I still have not finished it.

 

[DidierDrbois]

It's pretty creepy yes, the stars' "whisper" tens of thousands of light years from the nearest living soul is unnerving, but the creepiness is rather pleasant if that makes any sense. Alien: Isolation was similar I think. As far as scary games go, I have three words to contribute with.
_
Amnesia: Dark Descent. It's sick. Through and through sick.

 

[Fian]

Doom 3 played in a darkened room with loud headphones on a flashlight level. Peering around, hearing the ambient noises as well as the thud of your own raised heartbeat.

I have never played a game, seen a movie or read a book that scared me as much.

 

[AdriánGuth]

good story bro

 

[who?]

Scariest I experienced - Shalebridge Cradle (in Thief: Deadly Shadows). A conscious insane asylum, sharing with an orphanage. Creepy as . PC Gamer devoted a 10 page feature just to this one level alone.

You have a few, wimpy weapons and no idea what you'll be facing, just can hear the voices and sounds and screams in the distance. You go deeper and deeper without finding anyone. The lights flicker when the inhabitants are close, but you can't see exactly where they are. Eventually I saw someone walking really slowly in the distance and approached them, and they lunged at me. I turned and ran, out the door, up the stairs, along the hall, into a room. Turned around thinking I must be safe now, and THERE IT STILL IS!!! Jumped up and turned off the machine.

There's something about having your "safe zones" taken away that makes the fear far more intense. If they introduce anything like that to Elite (so enemies, even NPCs, or especially Thargoids) can follow you from sector to sector, maybe even into the stations... that would be good.

 

[Zaclobsterboy]

The sound certainly makes this game atmospheric...sometimes just floating in the vast expanse of deep space with the occasional noise of your ship as it adjusts slighty is amazing. Imagine the experience if and when hostile aliens are discovered and they start hunting or attacking unsuspecting explorers...

 

[Obtuse]

I think the creepiest noise in game so far though has to be when fuel scooping, that manic laugh scream sound you get...gives me nightmares.

 

[William J Smith]

Doom 3 was fun, shooty shooty, bit of a cutscene, shooty shooty, then got past the bit where you let the scientist out of the mass compactor, and you go down a blind corridor and you can hear voices.... then a baby crying, that changes into laughter and then a panel falls off the wall behind you.....

Was sure glad I was sitting on a commode at that time

Bill

<<still at Zaonce, trying to figure out howto get the toy out of this over sized kinda egg I've been sold.....

 

[RailBalco]

Fo' shizzle ma nizzle!
Srsly, this game is sooooo scary! Sometimes I just fly through space, enjoying the view and sounds in my 7.1 headset almost on full volume. It's so immersive! 5.1 speakers are lousy in comparison with well set 7.1 headset and ingame sound settings. Sometimes I hear something in my ship, somewhere in engines room perhaps. I'm flying around, when I hear that screeching and silent squeaking. Usually it's late after midnight and when I hear this, I'm afraid I will look behind myself ingame with freelook and will see some nasty long haired, little, wet girl, standing behind my captains chair, just waiting for me to turn on her and die by fear! :O
No idea when I was so scared like during this game. Horror movies are easy peasy, usually laugh during these. But this game sometimes scares me less!

 

[Jakester13]

Scary as hell and great for it's time: System Shock 2. I never finished it as I ran out of underpants.

Now don't laugh - I am in my 40s- but of recent games I have found Minecraft pretty scary too. When you're deep down in the depths, digging/mining whatever and then you hear them.... the zombies, creepers and endermen. It's a game where you can really lose a hell of a lot upon death (like all the OP, enchanted gear, diamonds, that you've been amassing for days), and as you learn this the hard way the genuine fear of death creates a great deal of tension and atmosphere.

Elite is incredibly atmospheric, and there's lots of tension especially in busy systems... "Will that guy interdict me? Or that one?" but panic/fear is usually self-inflicted. i.e. Forgot to throttle down during hyperjump, now accelerating, nay, hurtling towards a fiery star. Come in too hot on Station Approach, letterbox unreachable.

Of course when out there, in the black, exploring, it's the space madness that'll get you first....

 

[Doolittle]

Easily scared fella or is this an elaborate wordy wind up?

Same thing I was thinking. Only PC games he has seemed to have played are Doom and something called Outlast (which is in alpha) and looks more like a FPS/movie sequence game. Elite scary.........never ever crossed my mind. Stalker still IMO was one of the scariest. Now Dying Light is pretty close. Outlast looks to be good, but haven't heard much about it. Don't particular care for FPS that rip you out of the emersion with cutscenses and no play game sequences. They aren't scary games, but rather horror movies with some interaction.

The good thing was the jaw dropping moment firing Elite up for the first time. Tense moments, but scary.....?

 

[micky1984]

Considering the amount of players( a loose term real players play open) playing solo i would say hes correct about it being scary but not for the reasons stated just scared players not wanting to die at the hands of a human

 

[Lobstris]

Scary as hell and great for it's time: System Shock 2. I never finished it as I ran out of underpants.

I was reading this thread wondering why no one had mentioned System Shock 2 yet? The cyborg midwives on level 5(?), and the darn psi-monkeys near the start of the game. System Shock One was great with the CD audio too.

[after cutting off transmission from Rebecca Lansing to the player] "I prefer a quiet station, thank you."

 

[Justor]

Binary stars are the worst..... when you drop out of hyperspace and seem to go through one of them, then the heat alarms start going off and you're flailing at the controls..

Bill

<<passes the OP an oculus rift, some surround sound headphones and a copy of Alien:Isolation......

I love Elite Dangerous, but Aliens Isolation is the best horror tension filled game I have every played ... more than Outlast and that is saying something. The sounds and level design is amazing.

Do agree one thing with Elite, it can go from quite cruise to chaos very quick ( One thing I really love about it)
The real tension point for me is when you are in a War Zone, everyone decides you must die and gangs up on you...

Hull dropping fast.. come on FSD... hurry up.. :-O , hit the wrong button, cargo haul open, cannot jump Noooo!

PS. I saw some new info saying that the Valve VR is coming for Alien Isolation, VR and that game would be the first game to cause a flood of heat attacks!

Now that may change in Elite future releases when you can go down on a planet, getting jumped by some Alien animals exploring around ... that would be a wild experience

 

[EAGLE 5]

Pro-tip: OP you might wanna throttle down while you're still in hyperspace. Keeps ya from sundiving if ya know what I mean?

 

[Kayweg]

I was reading this thread wondering why no one had mentioned System Shock 2 yet? The cyborg midwives on level 5(?), and the darn psi-monkeys near the start of the game. System Shock One was great with the CD audio too.

Probably the best gaming experience i ever had, fond memories.

As far as i'm concerned, ED got nothing on SS 2 (and quite a few other games) when it comes to "terrifying".