Ravenholm or Lowlife?

Which one is scarier?

  • Total voters
    92
I HATE scary things (why i played Ravenholm during the day) but cause of Alex, i wasnt scared in Lowlife.

Gordon:Hold my hand so the scary things go away.

P.S. Ravelholm wasnt that scary till the fast zombies came.
 
Headcrab Pie said:
I HATE scary things (why i played Ravenholm during the day) but cause of Alex, i wasnt scared in Lowlife.

Gordon:Hold my hand so the scary things go away.

P.S. Ravelholm wasnt that scary till the fast zombies came.
Click to expand...

AT'S ALYX!!! WITH A Y!!!! ><

Sorry... just had to scream... :D

Yeah... Ravenholm ftw... Lowlife was jumpy, but I wasn't scarred cause I had to be teh man foh alyx. :cool: ;)
 
Just the fact that the whole place was infested with zombies and headcrabs terrified me!!! I hate zombies anyway, so that really didn't help!!!
 
Ravenholm was win. It was just one huge splatterfest.

And I love me some bloody stuff.
 
Oh sweetheart, you have no idea.

The antlion cavern in Episode 2 will be like Heaven for me.
 
At least in Lowlife you're fighting the antlions as well, whereas in Ravenholm you're just fighting zombies and headcrabs in the same environment all the time. It just repetitive which can also add to the dislike of Raveholm.
 
Iron Kat said:
At least in Lowlife you're fighting the antlions as well, whereas in Ravenholm you're just fighting zombies and headcrabs in the same environment all the time. It just repetitive which can also add to the dislike of Raveholm.
Click to expand...

But in Ravenholm we have the craziest character of the game! Father Grigori! It is just so fun which can also add to the love of Ravenholm. :thumbs:
 
taviow said:
But in Ravenholm we have the craziest character of the game! Father Grigori! It is just so fun which can also add to the love of Ravenholm. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Fair point, but he's not there helping you all the time (btw, I won't be getting into Shasta-styled arguament about it, you'll be glad to hear!!!:D).
 
Lowlife, cause of the dark, the music (really creepy), fast zombies, and the occasional "flashlight dies and a grenade pops out of nowhere" situation.

Ravenholm was creepy, especially with fast zombies (those guys in any stiuation are creepy), but it was dragged out for much longer, while the elevator situation in Lowlife was much shorter (though it felt like that elevator would NEVER COME!
 
I say lowlife

Low life because the zombine's.It wasnt really to scary it was just the zombines where like zombies who could run and hold grenades.You had to keep moving to get away from them before they blew up.It was also hard to see especialy when your light when out.It was more intense for me than ravenholm.I think ravenholm is probely more scary but you can see a lot more
 
Lowlife because of it's intensity.It has more close quarter combat and i'ts much darker than Ravenholm.And ohh!Those bloody zombine creeps...Very cool indeed.Ravenholm on the other hand is just as good.The first time we hear and see the fast zombies and the ever so unforgetable poison zombie and the sound effects are awesome.
 
Look, guys, I've been wanting to say this for a few days now so I'll just put it out: when I created this poll, I started it out with my pathetic, molested excuse for what I thought was an "intelligent question." I just thought that by simply asking which chapter was scarier wouldn't (to me) sound "intelligent enough" so I added more words to it. I sort of caked up "scarier" into "provides that scary atmosphere better." Pathetic, I know.

Anyway, I'll go back to the subject. Remember the absolute beginning of Sand Traps? The part where you're in that zombie infested tunnel with the cars blocking your path? That had to be one of my scariest moments in HL2. And don't forget that "song" that's played; not really a song but rather something reminiscent to the sound of boards of wood banging on each other. And if that creeped the sh*t out of me when I had plenty of firepower, some mobility and a bit of light, imagine what Lowlife would be like. That was just a tiny, little "taste" of what was to come in Ep.1's infamous zombie chapter.


btw, I thought up an idea that I think would put a finishing touch on Lowlife: at the end of the chapter when Alyx and you get in the elevator and the door/grating/fence closes separating the two of you and the zombies, a zombine comes near the elevator and martyrs itself during the beginning of your ascent leaving you and Alyx exposed. A fast zombie then hops into the elevator and you quickly dispose of it while another attempts to jump in; during the process, half of it is in the elevator and you'd then hear this distinct crunching sound when the elevator is almost out of sight from where you and Alyx were a dozen seconds ago, whereas it was broken in two; the zombie's upper half is still alive, frantically clawing at your legs while the rest of it is left behind.

The End.​


Criticism welcome.
 
I loved that car tunnel. I saw fast zombies coming, jumped into a vent and came into a room - when i looked out the window to the tunnel, a legion of zombies were banging the window. That was a hundred times scarier than the non-scary parts of Ravenholm, so to speak.

:p
 
All I remember is that song, cant remember the area.

EDIT: Wait yes I remember that part. Not as scary as Ravenholm first time round I reckon.

BTW Dr. Been, that would be a cool/scary addition. Might be a good idea for future episodes eh?

Also, at the end of the elevator area, I always love shooting the regular zombie clawing at the door.
 
:cool: When i first played Half-Life2 i ended up playing both of these levels back to back. And i discovered something kind of interesting.

They're apples and oranges, yah they're both scary but in way different ways. And at the same time they work better when played as one experience.
Ravenholm was scary, because it had this forsaken feel to the whole thing, you were constantly running into new enemies, which got scarier and scarier (fast zombies anyone?). This made it kind of a shock scare. Although there are a few just really genuinly scary moments ala, hanging torso's and the part where the fast zombies ignore the locked door and bust the windows. That was a particularly clever moment imo, because it drives home the fact that you are never safe.

Meanwhile, Low-Life doesnt really give you anything new cept for Zombines, but other than that, it's all old news. But the whole time, you're like "omg omg omg" becuase you never know when you'll round a corner and there will be an army of zombies waiting to rush you. You're constatnly turning around only to have a zombie with a grenade screaming in your face. To make matters worse, you have a flashlight that you can only run for short spurts. Meaning you have 10-20 second amounts of time when you're practically blind (try playing this level with alower brightness setting :cool: ). This allows all manner of ghoulies to swarm you ( i remember the moment i tunred my light on and realized there was a zombie right in front of me). and just when you think you've reached the end of the nightmarish place, you have to ride The Elvevator. and as some one cleverly noticed, they intentionally made it last longer than your battery. and SCREW the fact that Alyx is with you, she's pretty much worthless imo.

So in the end, Lowlife wins my award for creepiest, mearly because it utilizes natural phobia and psychological scares, and atmosphere to create a sense of eerieness. But really, like i said, they're pretty apples and oranges in terms of how they scare you.

i think i have the longest post so far :)
 
I really like the town environment in Ravenholm. And the name sounds so cool too.
 
Dude,Ravenholm is definitely scarier - I mean,in Lowlife you have Alyx with you,right?You're virtually all alone in Ravenholm and the surroundings and oohh...*shivers*

Anyways - Ravenholm,I voted!
 
Ravenholm didn't really scare me. The panic in Lowlife and the feeling of being so prone to attack in the darkness was rather nerve-wracking; hectic too.
 
Sorry my game crashed just after I'd completed ravenholm. Which chapter is "lowlife" in and what is it?
 
who is gman? said:
Sorry my game crashed just after I'd completed ravenholm. Which chapter is "lowlife" in and what is it?
Click to expand...

Lowlife is a chapter in Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and judging from the posts in this thread, I'd assume you'd eventually gather that it is a zombie chapter. In case if you're wondering why Valve named it "Lowlife," it's because it refers to the flashlight losing power due to the need of visibility in the mostly unlit chapter. I believe it also refers to the large amount of zombies and the atmosphere of death that's constantly present. Eh, you get the idea...
 
It's also underground. Note the "Lowlife.
 
Ok cheers. Personally the scariest things from my (very short) experience of the game were the fast zombies [shiver]. I just hated seeing them clamberin across roof tops in the distance knowing that they were heading towards me...
 
I agree with the guy who said that they are like "Apples and oranges"

Ravenholm gave you the kind of desolated and all by yourself feeling. It was a different kind of scared where you can see what crap is heading your way, but you can do nothing, but wait for it to come to you.(Like on the roofs waiting for the fast zombies). There is a certain bliss in not knowing whats coming.

Also some great visual weird things like the dead hanging people (Of course not much visuals in the dark Lowlife) and my favourite character in the game, Father Grigory.

Low life is really scary because you have to struggle in the dark not knowing what the hell is coming and the Zombines is a bit tougher competition, but like a lot of you have said at least your not alone.

In the end I felt more relieved (and proud!) after finishing Ravenholm.
So Ravenholm by a penalty shootout
 
I guess my final word on the matter would be that I find Lowlife fits into Ep. 1 way better than Ravenholm fits into HL2. As much as I enjoyed Ravenholm, I felt that such an excursion into garrishly lit, lurid horror was a bit distarcting in a game which generally depends on subtler atmospheric touches for its scares.

When you walk into that flooded area of Lowlife and Alyx says the water is "nasty." I adds to the dank, oppressive feeling of LL (absent in Ravenholm in everything but the mines segment). I liked the Hospital for the same reason--and for the triumphant return of the poison zombie.
 
nokori3byo said:
It adds to the dank, oppressive feeling of LL (absent in Ravenholm in everything but the mines segment). I liked the Hospital for the same reason
Click to expand...

In my opinion, I found the first half of the hospital portion to feel more like a party; what-with the music and all. It had anything but that oppressed feeling. I could've sworn everybody around me; zombies and Combine soldiers alike, were about to stop killing each other and just "rock out" to the msuic. I'm serious.
 
Ravenholm is much scarier due to it's creepy enviroments, it's one strange character, and the introduction of the fast zombie. Which is better is harder to tell, for one Ravenholm is scarier, Lowlifes dark enviroment is fun, Ravenholm is longer I think, Lowlife has the zombine... tough call. I'm gonna go with Ravenholm though. And yes Ravenholm is scarier.
 
Map Designer: Hey boss, this level doesn't really fit anywhere in the story, should we toss it?
Project Leader: what's it called?
Designer: Ravenholm
Leader: WTH?!?!?! HAVE YOU TOTALLY LOST IT SON? THAT'S MY FAVORITE LEVEL!!!
Designer: ya, it's cool. . . but it has nothing to do with the story really. . .
Leader: SCREW THE SCRIPT. HELL,screw a debugged engine! keep it!
Designer: but. . .
Leader: do you like your job?
Designer: yes. . .
Leader: then it stays! and throw some giant bug things in it for good measure!
 
Well, don't ak me why, but I find flourescent lights creepier than corpse fires. For an example of what I'm talking about, check out the area of Ravenholm where Father Grigory makes his first appearance. Despite the shrivelled corses on spits, it's actually a very warmly-lit and dynamic scene. Also, like most of Ravenholm it's outside. Compare with Low Life: dark, deep underground, claustrophobic as Hell, coldly lit, grimy, etc. etc.
 
Dr. Breen said:
In my opinion, I found the first half of the hospital portion to feel more like a party; what-with the music and all. It had anything but that oppressed feeling. I could've sworn everybody around me; zombies and Combine soldiers alike, were about to stop killing each other and just "rock out" to the msuic. I'm serious.
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not the only one. I found the hospital awesome but the music just felt so out of place. I'm supposed to be evacuating what city now?
 
The first time I played Ravenholm I was mad high so it was pretty scary to me.
 
nokori3byo said:
I guess my final word on the matter would be that I find Lowlife fits into Ep. 1 way better than Ravenholm fits into HL2. As much as I enjoyed Ravenholm, I felt that such an excursion into garrishly lit, lurid horror was a bit distarcting in a game which generally depends on subtler atmospheric touches for its scares.
Click to expand...

I think that's a good point. I feel pretty much the same way, and found the circumstances of going to Ravenholm a little offbeat.

Alyx: We don't go there anymore...
Eli: Do NOT go through Ravenholm!
*explosion; rubble blocks path*
Alyx: Meh, whatever. D0g, show Gordon how to get to Ravenholm.
Gordon: brb

Having said that, I found Ravenholm a lot more frightening than Lowlife, because I'd never played anything quite like it before. The only part of Lowlife that really had me on edge was the final section; waiting for the elevator. And because I'd lost my skills with switching quickly to the gravity gun (first time I played it) I kept getting blown up - or blowing myself up - and so it became more frustrating than frightening.
 
Dr. Breen said:
Yeah, I agree with you. That was really well composed. If Valve's good at something (although, at least in my opinion, they're good at pretty much everything), it's setting the atmosphere. That was one of my scariest moments in Ravenholm. I don't know the actual name of the song that's played in the part you mentioned above but the GCF sound file is called HL2_song7.mp3; if you listen carefully, you can hear these "chirping" sounds -- it really adds to the creepyness. What can I say? That scene "delivers."
Click to expand...


Hm, that song never really was that creepy to me---it's supposed to be, but since i had heard it many times in the e3 2003 ravenholm and the e3 2004 ravenholm, i was just so used to hearing that song ;p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

bbson john
Hi everyone. I am new to this forum!
Replies
11
Views
6K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
MFL
Fascinating look at the ongoing psychological evolution of flat hieirarchies.
Replies
2
Views
2K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
B
Marc Laidlaw releases Half-Life 2: Episode Three's plot
Replies
32
Views
39K
BabyHeadCrab
BabyHeadCrab
-smash-
Using Unity at Valve - Vision Summit 2016
Replies
5
Views
6K
Ennui
Ennui
B
Gabe Newell's AMA summary (January 17, 2017)
Replies
1
Views
24K
Gerzowktz
Gerzowktz
Back
Top