Is Half-Life Scary to you?

[MartinX]

Absolutely!

It's dark. It's creepy. It's a base 100 metres under the ground. It's full of aliens. Hell yeah!

 

[Fiberawptic]

If Half-Life 2 is scary then try BioShock

Bioshock is definitly not scary nor do i think its intended to be. I think of it as just a very wierd game that haves you saying 'what the ****' alot. Seeing how there are all those wierd people that like creepy jokes and do sadistic things for fun...

 

[FireStarter]

It's an unnerving experience playing Half-Life, but I found some things that were unintentional to be scary.

For example, when you're with the vort trying to find the curey stuff in the mines (Ep.2). After you smash a cart off a cliff and climb up a ladder, his face pops up RIGHT when you get to the top.

I jumped off the ladder into the water. Then lol'd.

 

[Snow]

I am also finding HL scary. The monsters don't scare me much (maybe headcrabs a little) apart from Barnacles.

Seriously. Barnacles scare the shit out of me. Even when they're a mile away.
They're even scarier when they burst through a ceiling - I just end up going straight to the menu and quitting.

On another note, I found Portal scary in places. Laugh if you want. Sometimes the overall ambience to it was just creepy. And the music was freeaky too (4000 Degrees Kelvin, to name one).

 

[barbarbarbarbar]

Its not scary in the real meaning of that word."Eerie" is the best word for it.What I'm trying to say is , Half-Life doesn't have any real OMG WTF moments , but occasionally Half-Life really makes me shit in my pants.

 

[Sledgehammer]

Ichtyosaurs.

On another note, can ichtyosaurs even be killed on hard? I fired 7 crossbow bolts and 3 pistol magazines into that thing and it still killed me.

 

[Mech Man]

Ichtyosaurs.

On another note, can ichtyosaurs even be killed on hard? I fired 7 crossbow bolts and 3 pistol magazines into that thing and it still killed me.

Of course they can still be killed. Just shoot it some more.

 

[gFrohman]

You have to use a lot more ammo than that to kill one of those - 7 bolts and 3 mags ain't gonna do it.

 

[arch5]

F.E.A.R. is too damn scary, especially when those near-invisible ninjas jump at you.

I have FEAR, but I stopped playing it. Why?
Because sometimes, even in the most innocent areas, a freaky face/zombie pops up on your screen and everything goes blurry. I'm too scared to play it because I'm worried about that happening. Scares the shit outta me.

Iv'e had it happen to me 2 times-

1. Near the beginining of the game when your in that abandoned building and u see that orb fly towards you then it dissapears, then you walk forward and BAM.

2. Idk where this part is, but it's when you just get done with a gun-fight and you go down into this little warehouse building with 2 shelves. Then you walk near the hallway entrance and............BAM.

 

[flamingdts]

I have FEAR, but I stopped playing it. Why?
Because sometimes, even in the most innocent areas, a freaky face/zombie pops up on your screen and everything goes blurry. I'm too scared to play it because I'm worried about that happening.

Iv'e had it happen to me 2 times-

1. Near the beginining of the game when your in that abandoned building and u see that orb fly towards you then it dissapears, then you walk forward and BAM.

2. Idk where this part is, but it's when you just get done with a gun-fight and you go down into this little warehouse building with 2 shelves. Then you walk near the hallway entrance and............BAM.

Cheap scares.

FEAR overused them to the point where its just plain annoying. FEAR 2 is a good example of same game, different number.

 

[arch5]

I'll never finish FEAR.

I have FEAR, but I stopped playing it. Why?
Because sometimes, even in the most innocent areas, a freaky face/zombie pops up on your screen and everything goes blurry. I'm too scared to play it because I'm worried about that happening. Scares the shit outta me.

FEAR overused them to the point where its just plain annoying.

*Sigh*. Now I'll never finish the game. ><

 

[swan_song1973]

theres one headcrab in hl1 which always gets me. its in one of the vents, before you get in the lounge room where the scientist has locked you out. thats it though, im not easily scared.

 

[413]

I remember that one house from Highway 17... I went in there, saw a broken staircase, put some stuff to climb on... Expecting a poison zombie, I took my guns and went up. There wasn't anything harmless in there, so I went even more up. As I walked around, two rollermines destroyed the ceiling and scared the sh*t outta me. I threw 'em out the window and went downstairs. I thought it was over, but all of a sudden two more popped up.

Also, the really dark place with an elevator from EP2... And those poison zombies always manage to scare me when I find them around a corner.

 

[Emelyn]

The first game scared me more since I was younger back then, and that was the first time I saw the aliens. HL2 had its creepy moments like Ravenholm, but you encountered the enemies before so its not that scary. The first game had more of that effect IMO.

 

[Wester547]

I always was and still am of the school of sentiment that since first I played it, Half-Life is a deeply imposing and frightening game. From the quiet moods of the game that may allude a headcrab or two impending along the horizon to the piercing, terrible cry of the roaring Gargantua that asunders through the Black Mesa Research Facility henceforth (as the compound is slowly hollowed out), I feel VALVe Software gave fruition to an incredibly commanding, intuitive, engaging, immersive, adroit, but unsettling game world. Rather than using scant monster pop-ups every scene, I think that VALVe had a much more tacit way of building a certain terseness of tension that didn't superfluously advertise itself as horror (which I think is rather popcorn storytelling, even to a droll point) but unto that facet as a singularity worked just as well. I think rather than meticulously working out the puzzle of game design, that VALVe forgot the puzzle and let their thoughts flow forth unto themselves as they game came together (in some way, which is for a large part, why I think Half-Life works so well at the ebb at which it flows). And to add, a game does not need to be deemed the moniker of the horror genre to be intimidating in earnest, in my eyes. As far as enemies go, I always felt the headcrabs were underrated. They seriously prey on the fear of the body (and that which is not seen, which may be feared above all) and can be more dangerous than one may think upon first gander when in packs, in tandem (which I think speaks bounds and volumes for itself).

When a Tentacle forces a terrible shrill throughout the facility as it squirms itself about in stabbing motions, it always made gave me nightmares through that deep rumble alone (as they sing). When an Ichthyosaur wields itself underwater and abruptly rushes aloft at you through its voice alone (as it attempts to run you through), it is thoroughly disturbing and terrifying (IMO). This was never a forgiving game to me and you can tell that escalation continues to abound in it. It details forth such an ever-present conundrum and enigma in its tone (very much so encapsulated by the G-Man who I feel is so profoundly impacting that the presence he is can be felt off screen, and I'll touch upon him soon). I think it's easily still, despite its austerely dated engine, one of the finest pieces of work in the game world. The sound effects of this game have much to do with that. I never found the Marines themselves too scary, though. A mingling of flaccid talking material ("Freeman" everyplace was rather a vexation for me) and overused VAs didn't help that, even though the A.I itself, for the most part, still holds so as a milestone today.

Of course, it's not to snub the Nihilanth, either. A tortuous, dozen plus story tall fetus with atrophied legs and a splitting skull is enough for me to be more than a might bit aghast. But I always found it intensely fascinating through its auguring speeches alone, like a monolith of villainy and like calligraphy in air, in a way. But who to find the most imposing than the G-Man above all. Mike Shapiro is one incredible voice actor to be able to have the range to do someone of the G-Man's base nature and Barney Calhoun. But the G-Man itself is easily my favorite game character of all time. No game character has drew me in as much through sheer mystery (that I feel would be dulled in every way if his character was unveiled). He (or no gender/beyond gender?) has a certain low-key moroseness to his tone that makes a good screwing over of the player sound like a trivial matter, but it's always drudging to discern his ulterior intent. The way he adds accentuation to certain inflections and his nonchalant but other worldly stance alone is also enough for me to say such. The G-Man borders on the cryptic, always leaving the player pondering many a thought and thereby in the best of ways. But there's just this ineffable facet to him that cannot be worded into spoken language. Just looking at him, I know he's not human. And far be it from more to be said by me about this wonderful character (in my personal opinion).

Opposing Force, the first expansion, is kind of another story for me. To be fastidious, I didn't find the map design to be as clean as Half-Life's and most of the enemies either felt like The Fly Rejects or Half-Life rehashes (I say too cute and cuddly for the intergalactic set of invaders known as Race X). They didn't feel nearly as intriguing as imagined, but good enough for a Half-Life expansion, I suppose. I didn't like the marines of Opposing Force at all, either. Bad VAs. A quick smack to the temple with a prepped Pipe Wrench and a quick get away does away with that, hehehe. The only foe I found very imposing was the Gene Worm, however much a vague monstrosity in nature. Even moreso than the Nihilanth, and that's saying a lot. It just sucks that the method to kill the Gene Worm wasn't so well thought out, by my eyes. Kind of muted the impact, killed the mood, and dealt way with the experience for me, to speak with candor. Oh well.

Half-Life 2 itself isn't as.... scary, per say, as much as challenging. I find the Striders to be very awesome as Sci-Fi fan by nature, and I do think the headcrabs and zombies were ameliorated upon. I wasn't ever too impressed with the Combine (outside of the Advisors and the aforementioned Strider). And whilst I think Half-Life 2 draws close in a number of select sequences that I think are of note, I still hold the original as the most frightening and still my favorite game of all time, at length. It might sound like a hyperbole but to draw this post to a duly-befitting close, I think VALVe Software created one of the most cajoling mythos and story arcs ever. And that's something to be proud of, by my eyes.

 

[Nixt]

Half life games make me happy in my pants, not scared.

 

[lambda prodigy]

Ravenholm scared the shit out of me and lowlife too, but besides that it was more action then horror.

 

[TheOneFreeMan]

Cheap scares.

FEAR overused them to the point where its just plain annoying. FEAR 2 is a good example of same game, different number.

Actually there were never that many instances of "thing pops up on the screen" in FEAR. Those two are the only ones I can really remember.

The thing which really got me about FEAR was the music. The music changed depending on which area you were in, rather than certain music just playing like a CD player at pre-determined times, and it never seemed to miss a beat as far as atmosphere was concerned. The music in FEAR kept the tension right up at fever pitch at just the right moments; I actually found it quite mentally draining to play for long periods of time just because the tension was always kept so high.

FEAR didn't really use cheap scares that much. It didn't overuse enemies, which kept you thinking that the scary ones were going to come back, and then when they didn't and you'd just forgotten about them ... they were back again. It did suffer from a rather limited range of enemies though. There's only so many Replica soldiers you can kick the ass of before it gets old.

Back to HL2, I don't remember being scared at any point of playing it. I was thrilled and motivated to go on, and my excitement level was there, but never really too scared. Oh wait ... my first encounter with Fast Zombies did scare the crap out of me a bit. But that's pretty much it. HL2 just isn't that kind of game; it's designed to be an action thriller, not a horror game.

 

[Rizzo]

I have never been scared in my life.

 

[ROBLOXER106]

I am also finding HL scary. The monsters don't scare me much (maybe headcrabs a little) apart from Barnacles.

Seriously. Barnacles scare the shit out of me. Even when they're a mile away.
They're even scarier when they burst through a ceiling - I just end up going straight to the menu and quitting.

On another note, I found Portal scary in places. Laugh if you want. Sometimes the overall ambience to it was just creepy. And the music was freeaky too (4000 Degrees Kelvin, to name one).

Portal isnt scary. Its Fun. Portal isnt scary. Its the other way. Its good. Even theres some stuff obout love. like companion cubes, the ''Still Alive'' song. aaaannnddd..... other quotes

 

[GlaDoS]

I was showing Hl2 to my friend and i got to ravenholm and cut 3 zombies in half with a saw blade he puked it was hilarious

 

[Hobopro]

I has never been scary for me, just exciting.

 

[MrJenkins01]

Only Ravenholm was scary imo, some other scary moments, but overall it wasn't too bad

 

[G(ordanfree)Man1]

lol the zombines are the worst for me because they take the longest to kill then start running after you with a grenade in hand and poisons zombies' moaning is odd but it is hilarious when regular zombies catch on fire and they're like "YABBA MY ICING!!" ...funny

 

[Thor_God_Of_War]

I will admit, Ravenholm was the part that made me jump the most. Especially meeting that fast zombie for the first time, got my heart racing. Then, i plugged it all into the console, for a super-powered shotgun (wheee:afro and it was just pie and whipped cream after that. When they jump at you, it is kind-of freaky, but, usually one round from the super shotty, and blam, I've just cleared out an entire pack of Fast Zombies. :thumbs:

 

[Coolchris330]

Half Life 2 was not scary for me. Half Life is designed primarily to propell the story forwards. It's a very good game story-wise. However, it was never particularly jumpy or frightening. There was a bit of atmosphere in Ravenholm but nothing that I found particularly scary.

Half Life 2 is better story based, not horror based.

EDIT: BBFC say "Strong Bloody Violence and Moderate Horror"

 

[Fiberawptic]

half life was never a 'scary franchise' persay like Doom 3 or Fear, nor does it intend to be. I think a better word would be "eerie" or "mysterious", because its subtley creepy with its dark and gloomy atmospheres... its not about retarded demons and ghosts jumping at you, rather eeriness of a messed up world...

 

[Lester]

Yeah HL1 was scary i remeber wan i was in those vents MAN THOSE HEADCRABS(Could)BE SCARY
I Had to pause the game for minutes o.o

 

[DonHessu]

Scary? Nah, but it has that disturbing feeling what you have in Doom 3 and its expansion... And I like that feeling.

 

[CaptinDirt]

Ravenholm was the only jumpy part, especially when you meet the fast zombie.

half life was never a 'scary franchise' persay like Doom 3 or Fear, nor does it intend to be. I think a better word would be "eerie" or "mysterious", because its subtley creepy with its dark and gloomy atmospheres... its not about retarded demons and ghosts jumping at you, rather eeriness of a messed up world...

Yes, it barely has that eerie dark atmosphere, but Episode 2 didn't even have that, it was even less scarier than Episode 1 when you were in that hospital...So Half Life 2 then was the only "gloomy" game IMO and not the episodes.

 

[Schall]

nah =/

 

[Tampashrew]

3 things scared me in the entire series: Gargantua following me in hl1, Waiting for the elevator in episode 1 with my flashlight battery dead and all the flares used up, and last but not least (this one really just got me tense not scared) the antlion guardian chasing you in the tunnels in episode 2

 

[Pwner 347]

Half life 2 may spook a 10 or 11 year old, but one you see it, you get over it in a matter of seconds

 

[Gman]

I Thought Ravenholm was scary at the bit were you are on the Building and the fast Zombies Come at you.One time i went into a building and i went "Ha Ha you will never get me".But It came threw the Glass roof.It Scared the BeJesus out of me!!!!LOL!!!But the rest of the game is not Scary.

 

[GTSRace]

I think the game is much scarier for me since i always play it with bose headphones, so sounds are right in my ear and very crisp and loud. First time i ever played HL was ravenholm, w/ headphones, at night, and it was def scary. I was really shocked by the dead decaying bodies and the weird shit like bottom half of legs hanging by a rope! The concepts in half life are extremely creepy, dead bodies in the sewers, what happens in the citadel, very creepy, sad and dark game. (Which is what makes it the best one out there)

 

[r_rr]

I was startled a few times, and I do tend to panic on that antlion guard chase. Other than that I wasn't really scared.

 

[dallozdoppler]

It wasn't.

 

[scotland1]

Ravenholm scared me (I was 11).

 

[Danimal]

When I first played Half-Life 1, I think I may have been 13, I felt a generally scary overtone from the game though eventually the action side of things took over.

The only thing in Ravenholm that made me jump was the first fast zombie encounter. I had no idea it was coming.

 

[Freols]

Never scary, but definitely creepy and disturbing. It presents a very believable dystopian future (aliens aside!!), and the bleak locations and music help.