Horror games are scary. It might sound redundant to say such a thing, but sometimes these "scary moments" aren't always expected. You go into these games realizing you'll come face to face with monsters, and possibly jump scares, but sometimes something else happens that completely catches us off guard!
Today I asked fellow Netto's Game Room staff to recall what those moments were for them, and why they were so scary. The thing is, such horrifying scenes do not always have to come from "horror games," which sometimes makes them all the more scary
Jeremy: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
I remember renting The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a child and as was common in this era, the rental game would likely have the previous players’ save file still logged. I saw how many heart pieces this person had obtained and could tell that they were quite a ways into the game, so I fired it up and was promptly attacked by a ReDead. Between their shambling gait, the trademark scream and the way that they latch onto Link and attack him, I was terrified. I turned off the console and had to convince myself to turn it back on and make my own save file, and planned to just ask my older brother to get through those parts. I’ve actually never beaten Ocarina of Time to this day, and I legitimately think I developed a mental block of sorts because of that experience. Like even as a 30 year old man, I still feel like I’m going to be intimidated by that sequence.
Jonsku: Groke
This is gonna be a bit weird but have you ever heard of the Groke from the Finnish children book series Moomin? That thing traumatized a whole generation of Finnish children (me included). Years later a small indie dev made a small game where you’re being hunted by that very thing. It is a fairly ingenious and well thought out experience because the Groke changes up her tactics as you go around the very dark winter map collecting gems, finding a weapon etc. You could see the game as an homage to the early 2006-2012 era of horror games where you got chased by a random monster. It is hard to find these days since the indie dev was hit by a cease and desist, but if you search in youtube “Mörköpeli” you’ll find it fairly quickly. It even had multiplayer where your friend could be the one chasing you as the Groke!
Ben: Half-Life Alyx
I actually ran to my TV and shut it off the moment I saw my first ReDead, but putting that aside…
One of my more recent memories of complete terror in a game came from Half Life Alyx. During lockdown at the start of 2020, me and some friends spent our time streaming games through Discord. Around the same time Half Life Alyx came out, and I was lucky enough to grab an Oculus Quest before they started selling out like crazy. So I strapped into the VR seat, setup the stream, and dove head first into the terrifying world of Half Life while everyone else watched from a “safe” distance. One friend involved was none other than Netto’s Game Room staff member Sagi, and he wasn’t shy about trying to convince me to do stupid stuff in the game. At one point he joked and told me to go pet a horrifying monster thing, which I refused to do, but it turned out it was the right call! Never expected that in a million years… That being said, my moment of pure terror came from the dark basement sections of one of the later stages.
I still remember the moment I entered the dark room, and I saw off to my left an area where a head crab (face sucker thing) was behind a locked chain-link fence. “Haha! The stupid thing is trapped behind the fence!” were my almost exact words. Just then, almost as if it actually heard me, the monster ran on over to the gate, ripped open the lock, and shot off into the dark. “IT’S IN HERE WITH ME!!!!”
What came next was a stage of full on terror as I was forced through darker and darker areas, with non stop enemies coming at me from all sides, as I tried to avoid everything and unlock the way to the next area. I knew it wasn’t real, but tell that to my brain that refused to believe me!
By the end of it all, my heart was pounding, and my body felt completely numb. I’ve always laughed at the dumb people in horror movies who clearly make the wrong choices. That day, I was one of those people.
What about you?
Now that we've shared our top moments that scarred us for life, what game was it for you? Feel free to share in the comments below!
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