On the eve of Halloween, it is customary to remember the scariest games of a generation, decades, in the history of video games in general (underline the necessary). We decided to change the rules a bit and talk about some scary and creepy episodes in non-horror games. The list is mostly old games, but there will still be spoilers.

Max Payne. Prologue (A Cold Day in Hell)

Max Payne exemplary action of its time, even innovative, tells the story of detective Max Payne, who seeks revenge for his murdered family. The game can hardly be called bright or life-affirming, and the prologue of the second act generally turns into a natural horror. Not of his own free will, Max tastes the banned substance “Valkyrie” or “V” and embarks on a subconscious journey. Heading through the endless labyrinth, Max hears a voice pleading for mercy, a woman’s cry and the cries of a baby.

First stop in the guest room, looks like it just had a fight. The next corridor is already stained with blood, leading Max to complete darkness, the way out of which, like Ariadne’s thread, a thin line of blood is trying to indicate. The farther, the more it branches with arteries and seems to be really trying to confuse the hero. In the end, the hero goes to the children’s room, in which something terrible happened. At the beginning of the third act, Max has a similar experience again.

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Today, this episode does not scare at all, at least with outdated graphics, but 20 years ago it was perceived quite differently.

Batman: Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow Glitch

There are quite a few episodes in the Batman: Arkham series that make you shudder, this is the morgue in the first part, and the loving and sincere “ Hello ” from the Man of the Bat from Batman: Arkham Knight, but the episode at the beginning of Batman: Arkham Asylum was the most frightening. Experienced players will immediately guess what kind of moment we are talking about. Graphics artifacts appear on the screen, after which there is complete darkness and silence, and it seems that your video card has gone to its ancestors.

Of course, everything is fine with iron, and the Scarecrow with his hallucinogenic gas became the cause of this effect. Batman should be scared, but at this moment the player would hardly have refused a few drops of valerian. Now, 13 years later, this episode is perceived even comically (when you know, it’s no longer scary).

subnautica. Blood Kelp Caves

Man is always afraid of the unknown, and the least explored terrestrial biome is, of course, the oceans. And the authors of Subnautica skillfully use this fear. The game is bright and color-rich, but when it comes to deep diving, it often gets creepy and somehow not good.

First of all, the waning air accelerates the heartbeat, which every second takes away the hope for the successful completion of the expedition. And when you first dive into the endless and branched labyrinths of caves, the situation only gets worse. And when the first serious dive takes place somewhere called the “Blood Algae Caves”, it becomes clear that these caves do not hide anything good in their labyrinths.

Thief: Deadly Shadows. Shalebridge Cradle

The stealth genre in itself makes your hands sweat, hiding in the shadows from the next patrol. But when a castle filled with “mysticism” is added to this formula, it becomes truly scary. Especially when you find out that this building once served as an orphanage and a mental hospital. Simultaneously. One day, a fire broke out in the staff room and part of the building was damaged by fire. It is said that some doctors were cruel to the sick, one of the patients turned out to be a (former) arsonist and thus decided to take revenge on the offenders. As a result, the shelter was closed, the children were taken out, and the building itself remained almost abandoned.

And we know that if such an institution appears in a movie or a game, nothing good should be expected. The dense atmosphere of the castle is enhanced by its guests, the Puppets, who cannot be killed, maximum stun for a while, and the only ally is the ghost of a girl who was once killed here. The house “remembers” her, and in order to free the girl’s spirit, it is necessary to destroy several objects that hold her memory. Probably, the Puppets do not have their own will, but are simply bodies controlled by the consciousness of the house and without the permission of the house, no one can leave its walls alive, unless someone helps from outside. In addition to the spirit of the girl, the main character is accompanied by gloomy ambient, the sounds of living creatures, the creaking of doors and knocking on the walls.

Of today’s games, the level resembles Outlast only without modern technology and with even less light. Let me remind you that Thief is a series about a thief whose task is to collect as many jewels as possible and successfully leave the building.

This entire episode references the 1999 horror film House on Haunted Hill. In the old house (with history) they closed about a dozen people, and whoever survives until dawn will receive a million dollars.

Half Life 2 Ravenholm

A textbook example of a horror level in a non-horror game, without which no such top can do. In peacetime, Ravenholm was a mining town connected by tunnels to Black Mesa. After the Combine invasion, Ravenholm was able to take in refugees from City 17, but the Combines dropped a headcrab bomb on the city and after a while, Ravenholm turned into a zombie city. Only Father Gregory managed to survive, who agreed to help Freeman pass through the city.

In addition to the atmosphere of an abandoned city, the developers have increased the fear with the almost complete absence of bullets and a new super-fast type of zombie, which are very reminiscent of xenomorph runners from the movie Alien 3. Passing the level will take about 40 minutes and during this time you will have to actively use the gravity gun, objects such as circular saws , as well as traps, which Father Gregory prepared plenty to protect himself from attacks by former cohabitants and neighbors.

Later, Arkane Studios began development of the spin-off game Return to Ravenholm , and after fully completed 9-10 levels, the game was canceled. And even before Arkane, a prequel expansion about Ravenholm was planned, which was worked on by Warren Spector, the father of Deus Ex, System Shock and the Thief series.

A city similar to Ravenholm can be found in the game Resistance 3, there is also an abandoned mining town that hides secrets.

Spec Ops: The Line. White Phosphorus Incident

Spec Ops: The Line does not have classic horror elements and scares in a completely different way. A detachment of military men arrives in Dubai of the near future, which has swallowed the sand. Their mission is to find the previous battalion sent to evacuate the civilian population. During the time that the city has swallowed the sand, gangs have organized themselves in it, fighting with the same military, and both factions are not very fond of outsiders.

At one point, the detachment needs to break through the fortifications of opponents. The squad leader, the main character, decides to use the found projectile with white phosphorus. After the phosphorus has settled, the detachment descends to the place of impact and finds fifty dead civilians there, frozen in terrible poses, as if they had just been taken out of a cabinet of curiosities. The game gradually shows how the psyche of the military breaks down and PTSD develops, especially after such terrible deeds.

White phosphorus is one of the most dangerous weapons of our time, around which there is constant controversy, and here’s why. Upon contact with the skin, phosphorus particles burn out (up to 2760 ° C) the flesh until it disappears completely and cannot be shaken or extinguished as long as there is access to oxygen. Inhalation makes it worse, a small amount of smoke decomposes the flesh over time, in fact, the person begins to rot while in full consciousness.

None of the games on this list are as scary as this episode in Spec Ops: The Line, especially when understanding the effect of phosphorus on the human body and realizing that this weapon is not a fiction of science fiction writers.

Despite the fact that the game is from the previous generation and class AA, be sure to try it, you won’t regret it.

The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Moon

The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask will still stand out from other games in the series. This time, Link needs to save the country of Termina from the moon, which has de-orbited and inevitably falls on the country, apparently leading to its destruction. And you will not be able to become a hero the first time, and the second, and even the third. Link got into a time loop and has only three days to save the country, after the time expires the moon falls and destroys everything to the ground, and Link rolls back three.

The developers, apparently, deliberately made the moon so scary that the player would literally experience danger from its approach. But if you look around , the overall design of the game is unlikely to make you smile or have a twinge. The characters and the environment are no less terrifying than the falling stone that brings their death closer.

For promotion, check out the fan-made trailer for the game from Ember Lab, the studio that would later make Kena: Bridge of Spirits.