You know the feeling. That feeling of entering a big, open space after traversing an obstacle-filled landscape and knowing that a battle against a formidable foe is about to take place. Yeah, that feeling. I can think of no greater moment of dread than that one, especially the first time you encounter such in any given game. When I enter those large, empty, arena-style spaces where my only “defenses” are my skills and wits, well…they make me want to hide under a rock. Only, there are no rocks in sight.

My dislike of open spaces in games is less of a typical “boo, spooky” fear, though they can certainly come with that element. Hitting the swamps of Wraithmarsh in Fable 2 comes to mind, as players have no choice but to enter into open spaces to take on terrible banshees and their “shadow children.”

Granted, Fable 2 is not a cover game, as battling enemies large and small out on the open is all there is to do. But, in many cases, players can at least position themselves with some obstacles between their heroes and whatever is angry at them. With the banshees in Wraithmarsh, there are very few hiding opportunities.

Speaking of which, I can’t help but go back to the ol’ Thresher Maws in the first Mass Effect. The same thing applies – your team enters a wide, open space at which there may be a suspicious beacon of some sort. As you close into the beacon upon a flat, sandy plain, a Thresher Maw says hello! There’s absolutely no place to hide, it’s just the beast versus your handling of the MAKO vehicle and its weapons. Get hit by the Thresher Maw’s poison spray one too many times, and the MAKO is left like a sitting duck, totally vulnerable while repairs are made. It’s been a little while since I’ve played ME1, but the mere thought makes my heart race!

There are many creepy, claustrophobic places to explore in Fallout 76. However, my absolute least favorite place to be in the game is way out in in the southeastern most corner of a region called the Cranberry Bog. While enemy leveling as changed considerably since the game was first released, the Cranberry Bog is still filled with some of the game’s toughest enemies, including a huge, deadly behemoth. The mere sight of it makes me tense up and want to run the other way…fast! The spot where the behemoth “lives” is nearly devoid of structures, so there’s really no place to settle in to make an attack plan. (One could count the bog’s many trenches as cover, but they are confusing to navigate and become hindrances during fights.) Whenever I needed to travel to this part of the bog, my only hope was that other large creatures would spawn to distract the behemoth, so that I could get in and out unnoticed, and live to fight another day! (And with a larger armory!

As unsettling as it can be to traverse small spaces, caves that feel like they could collapse at any moment, and rickety, creaky houses that have seen better days, those big, empty spaces in games that mean bad news will always instill more personal anxiety. That feeling of complete vulnerability is all too scary, and all I can think in those moments is “yep, I’m gonna die.” I usually do, too. At least until I can get ahold of myself and remember that it’s just a game…and that, hopefully, I have a decent checkpoint saved.