Recently I was really impressed with the atmosphere in Arx Fatalis - the first person perspective, the realistic footsteps, the environmental sounds, the soundtrack etc. The spider caves, something gross in the lower levels and especially the second level of the crypts really creeped me out. I don't get that often when playing games. Last time I remember being scared by a game was as a kid when I got trapped in Tomb Raider IV and the only exit was through a system of underwater tunnels where I knew an alligator was lurking, heh. Okay, unexpected minecrawler ambushes in the dark made me jump a few times in Gothic, too.

I'm not talking about the fear that you'll lose your progress and have to reload or something but genuine, partly irrational fear and excitement because you're so immersed in the game and a situation really gives you the creeps. What are your experiences? Any games you can recommend to relive that?

I'm currently trying out Realms of the Haunting and would love to play Amnesia - The Dark Decent but sadly the latter seems too advanced for my graphic card (demo took forever to load and wouldn't run). :(

Btw, if you want to talk about other kinds of immersion, without the creeps, feel free to do so, too.

Penumbra is pretty scary if you choose to go the stealth over combat route, and the game is actually geared for more stealth and less combat although you can go combat if you want to.


Also some levels in the Thief series can be pretty creepy/tense. Like Map 3 of the first game, called Down in the Bonehoarde.....which is a catacombs level full of zombies and traps.

Heavy Rain.

Especially the moments you play as Ethan, they're so gripping and rather sad. You can "feel" his desperation...

Mass Effect 2 (The moments before the push through Omega 4 relay, and the final confrontation...)

I think Sanitarium has a very disturbing atmosphere. It's not scary as such, it's just a kind of pervasive feeling of wrongness that is very effective in setting the mood of the game.

Project Zero/Fatal Frame series. Dear god.

The former orphanage/asylum (Shalebridge Cradle?) in Thief 3. That was a good one.

I have to finish Thief 3 someday....curse my OCD and open worlded GAMES!

Yeah I completely shat myself on that level, stealth all the way, hearing nothing and then a maniac behind me. I didn't play it again for weeks.

Fantastic level.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R series. For me personally, the atmosphere is amazing and really drew me in the first time I played. From start to finish, it was quite a tense experience, and I loved every minute of it.

Now, I'm a sucky FPS player, and I drop dead quite often in STALKER so I'll probably never finish it, but damn that game is impressive when ti comes to desolation and immersion.

Also, System Shock. And I don't mean 2. The first one. It was so...so well done.

2 is also pretty good when the enemies randomly spawn nearby when you're trying to collect stuff and look around.

I second this one project zero had great atmosphere

Heart of Darkness :-P

Fatal Frame. Hands down this is the series that absolutely causes me mass amounts of dread because of its atmosphere. I own the first three games and haven't beat any of them because I actually have to convince myself to play them with how freaked out they make me.


Also, System Shock 2 + headphone = Me being very paranoid and uneasy...

I second this. Black Plague's atmosphere is almost perfect, from the really haunting sci-fi music down to the chilling howl of the wind.