What I want: A challenge to game developers.

Maybe you should try S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ? Or Condemned? It probably won't be what you are looking for, but it may be something you enjoy better than some of the ones you mentioned.

I don't think with the modern way things are done with "scary" video games that people will get really freaked out anytime soon. In the end people become accustomed to the pop out of no where monsters and it just turns into an annoyance. But for those that casually play the games or are more easily disturbed or freaked out most modern "scary" games will due just fine.

The whole thing is that there are certain limitations that will hinder "scary games" from being more than what they are (ie. graphics, ideas, people being desensitized, etc.).

Heck.... take a look at your "scary" movies.... they are just horror movies and you might get one or two good surprising moments in, but nothing over the top. Again, limitations and repetition.

I was a fan of Resident Evil 4 when it came out, but not so much b/c I thought it was scary as much as I praised how the game was redone (never cared for the series before until that game).

And if you make the game more realistic it will be both a good and bad thing unless developers do it just right. Yeah, everyone I know wants better and more realistic graphics. I am ready for VR! But, while it will provide new grounds to work on you can't stick with the same formula forever. Same game, better graphics..... you have to make advancements or get left behind. What I hope they don't do is make it so realistic it becomes annoying like shaking a zombie off or something.

In the end developers could do better both now and in the future. No one likes spam monsters, etc. and not many people care to see the same tricks at the end of the game they got when they started playing the game. Developers need to vary things up. Try randomizing when and where things appear or "pop up" and don't do it to the point of where it feels annoying or overdone. Take advantage of full HD audio surround sound and play the music at just the right moment. Make it to where I don't want to go into the next level b/c I don't want to face whats next due to it being scary or creepy rather than annoying. Don't feel you have to keep scary games confined to dark closed off environments. Ever heard of fog, dark night, using cover or trees, etc.? Use illusions or misdirection to trick the person into thinking they are right when they are dead wrong and will get sideswiped. This provides moments where people are truly surprised and then begin to question their actions. Keep the gamer on their toes.

Well, it sounds I am as annoyed as some of you people, but I think I am onto something.

hmm try Dead Space
get back to us with the results

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see my signature

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Ah..
And it didnt scare u at all?

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not really. It takes a lot more then crappy thrills to scare me. "OMG THEIR COMING OUT OF THE VENTS."

Yeah ummm.....All the arenas are VERY VERY noticeable in that game.

Hrm, I walk into a big wide open room "Quarantine initialized." Didn't see that one coming. Or it gets better, I walk into a room with something really big and obvious in it like a cooling chamber or an asteroid. "I'm going to interact with something here and then get attacked." And sure enough 9 times out of 10 that was true.

My suggestions:

Game has to be difficult.

No saves or autosaves, or at least make saves very scarce.. scarce enough to where you really, really, REALLY do not want to die. Although, this becomes less of an issue with games that feature true random enemy placement and behavior, although true horror based games might have less success doing this if they are built with a "one time" experience type of way.

Enemy has to be a monster/alien/mutation of some type.

Enemy should move fast, giving the player less time to think and plan.

Situations need to occur that leave the player in a state of panic because of indecision on how to negotiate the threat.

Use devices to limit human senses, aka darkness, loud sounds (venting arm, alarms), and thus making threat detection even harder.

Enemy type and behavior has to be extremely random.

My two examples, Aliens vs. Predator and Penumbra: Overture.

AvP left me racked in fear because I played it on hard difficulty with no saves (or I didn't save it) and the enemy (aliens) moved super quick, meaning you had to be on the ball with your aiming. Essentially, you had to be prepared 100% all the time or you die. Of course, this was pretty much a "one time experience" type of game, as expected with these types of games.

Penumbra: Overture.. just tried out the demo the other day. Very immersive, but (trying to not write spoilers) the enemy encounter literally gave me chills and made me jump out of my seat because I was completely unprepared and unaware of how to proceed, and given that I can immerse myself pretty well.. I really strived to survive.

Death is of course one of the best ways to instill fear, but it has to be done in a way where the game isn't just built to be ridiculously hard (aka ghost n goblins) where the player is trying for perfection, but more so where the player has to be caught completely off guard and presented with a challenge that also at times doesn't have an immediate solution.

you can't get scared if you don't want to be scared. some people scare easy (like me, i almost went in my pants playing FEAR) some people don't get scare at all. what you're asking for is almost impossible because there's always somebody somewhere who won't find a game scary. FEAR was scary because of the mood it sets you in, Doom 3 was jumpy because of the monster popping up everywhere and Dead Space is a good mix of both, jumpy and scary.

it's like today's horror movies, are they really that scary. maybe Saw 1 or 2 made me uncomfortable a bit, but that's it. in this day and age, we've seen it all, we've done it all. there's nothing to move us anymore if we don't want to. if you look to much into something, you'll find flaws and won't get into it. me, i get scared with FEAR and Dead Space because i let myself get into the games. when i played FEAR the first time, i had to turn on the TV and have lights on because i was scared. Doom 3 was almost like that.

and to the guy talking about having less save points, i don't think that's a good idea, that will just make it annoying. sometimes you make a mistake when you play and hit the wrong button, which happens to be fatal in a particular situation, i don't want to have to replay 15 minutes of running around and getting through a few hard points to get back to where i was because i was clumsy for a second.

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Agreed.