At first I thought that it was going to be a little hard to pick a single kind of scare that gets me the most in horror games, but after not actually all that much thought, I realized that I absolutely hate the feeling of being hunted! More than simply running away, being hunted I think puts you in the absolute most vulernable state as a player.

Even in otherwise innocent games, the second I know that I’m being pursued by some sort of unstoppable monster, I just lose it! I panic, try to leave the area by any means and /or just get consumed by the anxiety of it all. It’s even worse when you’re outright shown that there’s nothing you can do!

In particular, the Regenerator from Dead Space, the inmates from Outlast and of course the Xenomorph from Alien: Isolation all immeidately jump to mind. Two of them you can actually fight back against too, but it really doesn’t matter. Even if you score a win on them, they still manage to worm their way into the darkest corners of your mind. You’re always left wondering whether or not they’re really out of commission.

And just when you’ve gotten used to the thought that they’re really truly gone…BOOM, they’re back baby! As much as I enjoy Dead Space and the like, knowing these sorts of segmetns are there waiting for makes me want to reconsider playing through them sometimes.

There are plenty of non-horror games out there that challenge you be stealthy and not get caught, yet those aren’t really all that scary. Like, there are stealth sections in games like Uncharted 3 with an instant failure penalty for being caught, yet those enemies aren’t looking for you specifically and aren’t slowly closing in on you for the kill. The enemies mentioned above and segments like the fetus monster in Resident Evil 8 all have that killer intention though, and it’s absolutely unnerving to me every time.

I suppose there are scarier ideas in some games or more immediate shocks in others, but that knowledge that you are prey to this thing that’s chasing you down has to be the most awful feeling in gaming. Or, maybe that’s just me. What do you guys think?

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What’s the scariest type of gaming scare for you? How do you react to being hunted in a game?

Image compiled by Hatmonster