HEXMOJO Asks: What Are the Scariest Games You've Played?

Only four more days remain before Halloween. Though my place doesn’t have that Indian-summer vibe to give off that legitimate Halloween feel—because it’s terribly polluted—establishments around me are starting to decorate their halls with cobwebs, spiders, ghouls, zombies, and plastic jack o’lantern. And with that, we'd like to ask what games scared the heck out of you.

Only four more days remain before Halloween. Though my place doesn’t have that Indian-summer vibe to give off that legitimate Halloween feel—because it’s terribly polluted—establishments around me are starting to decorate their halls with cobwebs, spiders, ghouls, zombies, and plastic jack o’lantern. I’m quite amused by this sight because usually when September comes, people are eager for Christmas, and I can already hear Christmas songs around the malls and on the radio; today, more and more people start to appreciate Halloween. 

Now, I’m not going to talk about the origins of Halloween. That’s a bit clichéd, isn’t it? I’m here to ask you guys the scariest video game(s) you have ever played. I’m talking about games that stopped you from playing for a while, gave you sleepless nights, made your palms sweat like hell, made your heart skip a beat out of fear, and even invaded your dreams. 

I actually have a few games that scared the shit out of me (and they don’t have an order of preference or something like that). Let’s get started, shall we?

1. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

To be honest, this is the first Resident Evil game I have played although I am aware of its predecessors; it just happened that I bought Nemesis as soon as I saw it in stores. Nemesis is intense and atmospheric, and the creatures took me out of my pattern of killing random zombies on the streets of Raccoon City, making my playthrough a bit unpredictable because of those damn Hunters, crows, and dogs. One creature stood out, and I think you all know who I’m talking about: Nemesis. That hulking abomination of a bioweapon. Nemesis even showed up in my dreams years after I played the game; I remember that particular dream where Nemesis is chasing me inside a mall infested with zombies. 

2. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

I’ve played the first three Fatal Frame games on the PlayStation 2; however, the first game I played was The Tormented, and then I managed to get a good deal of buying Crimson Butterfly and the first Fatal Frame. Just like what the critics say, Crimson Butterfly is the scariest of the three, and I really like how the game incorporated the “high risks mean high rewards” concept in its combat. 

What I mean is since the characters use the infamous Camera Obscura to exorcise hostile spirits, instead of aiming the camera at the ghost and charge its power before taking a shot, Crimson Butterfly flips the combat and makes the player get closer to the ghost for more powerful shots. The closer you get, the stronger the damage you make against the ghost. An unforgettable part of the game for me is where Mio, the game's protagonist, has to fight the ghost children, and they are so hard to catch because they keep disappearing and moving. 

3. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Okay. You can call me a chicken shit for this one because I failed to finish this game because it gave the chills to the bottom of my spine. Here’s the thing: you are Daniel, a man suffering from amnesia, and you wake up in a castle filled with monsters lurking and stalking to tear you apart. One problem though: you can’t fight and kill these beasts. You must maneuver the castle stealthily, and when you see them, you must run like hell and hide somewhere and hope they won’t see you. 

Another way Amnesia screws with you is that when you hide in the dark, your sanity depletes, and you will hallucinate, making you vulnerable to the fiends. This game has made me feel terribly defenseless, thanks to its gameplay and oppressive atmosphere. It has scary and memorable creatures as well—especially that invisible water monster called the Kaernk. The puzzles are challenging but rewarding, and some levels are really thrilling and nail-biting (I’m looking at you, Kaernk.)

4. Resident Evil HD Remaster

This is the most recent game I’ve played and finished, and I actually enjoyed every minute of it. I played the original PlayStation game before this, and I found the game quite unnerving, but the voiceover and dialogue took me out of the horror (anyone want a “Jill Sandwich?”). This version of the original is a remake which first appeared on the Nintendo Gamecube back in 2002 with its top-notch prerendered background and detailed character and creature models, and thank you Capcom for bringing this to the seventh-generation consoles because I finally got the chance to play this through the HD remaster. 

I mean, seeing the Crimson Heads for the first time and chase Jill—the character I played that time—gave me nightmares for quite a while. After that incident, I made sure to burn the remains of those zombies I killed to never see another Crimson Head in my playthrough.

Those are the scariest games I’ve played, and I’m pretty sure I forgot some more, but these four games were the memorable (or at least they were the ones I remembered scaring the hell out of me). This time, I want to know your choice or selection. What are your scariest games of all time? And if you have memorable scares while playing those games, do share them here!