I like to think of myself as somewhat sophisticated when it comes to the kinds of horror games I like. I’ll go on and on about the likes of Signalis or Soma and how they can chill us to the bone by confronting us with the nightmarish possibilities of existence. I’ll dive into stuff like Alien: Isolation and talk about well it inspires terror through its unpredictable, bloodthirsty xenomorph.
I’ll even try to justify games like Majora’s Mask as horror titles and dig into themes and such that might not even be there. However, when it comes to enemies that really skeeve me out, I cannot pretend that I’m not just some simple-minded kid at heart. The enemies that freak me out most across all games and genres are…bugs. Yup, that’s it. I HATE dealing with bugs in video games.
Okay, it’s not just bugs that immediately trigger may “Nope!” reflex. Rather it’s anything that makes them worse than normal, real-life bugs. Put a normal-size fly in a game? Okay, we’ve got no problem. Make that fly the size of a basketball though (like Fallout’s Bloatflies), then imma gonna want to either kill it with fire or get the heck out of there!
Give it an evil-looking spiked body, red angry eyes, a razor sharp stinger AND make it emit an awful sound (like the Cazadors) and I WILL high-tail it in the opposite direction every chance I get! It gets even worse the bigger the bugs get too.
I think most of if not all the biggest scares I’ve had outside of horror games (and some in) have been at the feet(?) of virtual giant spiders. Why, oh why do game devs love putting giant spiders in their games?! Resident Evil, Skyrim, Limbo, Baldur’s Gate 3, Dragon Age, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong…on and on the list goes! In particular, I remember the Limbo spider and the first Frostbite Spider encounters to be particularly bad scares.
I just wasn’t expecting them to show up the way they did. Slowly stalking up and webbing up the kid in the former game, and slowly dropping from the ceiling in the latter. AND they both made some sort of horrible hissing sound!!! Augh! Just the thought of it gives me goosebumps! I’ve straight-up skipped games like Resident Evil on Gamecube because I know there’s at least one really furry giant tarantula waiting for me in there should I ever decide to play it. Yeah, no thanks.
The absolute worst, most freaky enemy I think I’ve ever enountered was in Bloodborne though. No it’s not the insect-like Great Ones chilling all over Upper Cathedral Ward (though they’re plenty creepy). Rather, it’s those awful fly-men that are wandering around certain areas. They are everything I can’t stand to see. Not only are they some body horror nightmare fusion of man and fly, but they’re also obviously deformed and at least partially rotting!
Can you see it?! This is NOT a healthy eldritch abomination! Its eyes are clouded; its skin(?) seems partially melted; it’s got torn and/or malformed wings jutting out at odd angles; it has a nasty buzzing sound for a voice AND they attack by biting the hunter’s head! AAAUUUGHHH! No! No! No! Nope! Uh-uh! I don’t care if I can one-shot that thing; I am not going anywhere near that! One heart-stopping surprise attack from behind is more than enough for me, thanks! While we’re at it, it’d be great if I didn’t have to fight any more giant spiders! Seriously…just keep th bugs away from me, okay?
What kind of enemy freaks you out the most? How about bugs? Do you share my distaste for them? Let us know in the comments below and in the poll at the end of the week, and then stay tuned for more Spooktober!
Image compiled by Hatmonster
VIRTUAL BASTION 