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General discussionEffectiveness of jump scares(42 posts)(42 posts)
(42 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 08, 2015
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LoboBlanco: Ravenholm just made me paranoid. It´s one of the scariest places in my memory.
Exactly this. I HATE jump scares, but oddly, Ravenholm was both scary as shit and awesome as hell!

I also remember the first Aliens vs Predator, playing the Marine and being hunted by the aliens... oh boy oh boy oh boy !
Posted March 08, 2015
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eRe4s3r: TL;DR

Jump scares are not scary to me, but of course I have an reflex reaction to them. I actually find games utilizing them to be the "cheap" kind of horror. Only horror game so far that actually made me feel really really tense and anxious was Alien Isolation. And only until I understood the gameplay properly. It's funny but the longer you play Alien Isolation, the less scary it becomes, but in between all the tension it finds some GENIUNE creepy moments, like running away from robots (Which are very creepy...) into a vent and suddenly being face to face with the Alien. THAT made me avoid ventilation shafts nearly the entire game. And this happened very early (From what I hear, some people NEVER had that happen to them.. hah ;p)

But I will say this, headphones or proper 5.1 or better sound system are absolutely vital to actually feel the horror in horror games properly. Especially in Dead-Space the sound environment in certain sections... or when the Alien just randomly drops down a vent in front of you completely out of nowhere....
For a TL;DR is pretty long, if I dare say, longer than the not meant to be short answer? ._.
Posted March 08, 2015
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eRe4s3r: TL;DR

Jump scares are not scary to me, but of course I have an reflex reaction to them. I actually find games utilizing them to be the "cheap" kind of horror. Only horror game so far that actually made me feel really really tense and anxious was Alien Isolation. And only until I understood the gameplay properly. It's funny but the longer you play Alien Isolation, the less scary it becomes, but in between all the tension it finds some GENIUNE creepy moments, like running away from robots (Which are very creepy...) into a vent and suddenly being face to face with the Alien. THAT made me avoid ventilation shafts nearly the entire game. And this happened very early (From what I hear, some people NEVER had that happen to them.. hah ;p)

But I will say this, headphones or proper 5.1 or better sound system are absolutely vital to actually feel the horror in horror games properly. Especially in Dead-Space the sound environment in certain sections... or when the Alien just randomly drops down a vent in front of you completely out of nowhere....
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GioVio123: For a TL;DR is pretty long, if I dare say, longer than the not meant to be short answer? ._.
It's a subversion of the rather pointless TL;DR thing some people do ;) Believe me, I read posts if they are interesting because that's what we are here for, no? I figured at least 1 person would find that funny and if I managed to make someone smile then mission accomplished ;)
Posted March 08, 2015
I had the exact opposite experience playing FEAR and Resident Evil 4.
To me the atmosphere in FEAR, the sounds and visual effects, were far creepier than the actual jump-scares.
In other words the anticipation was the source of the scare for me.

The only times I felt stressed in Resident Evil 4 was when I was running out of ammo. To me the zombies were just walking meat-bags.

It doesn't take much talent to do jump-scares in my opinion, just an element of surprise.
It takes real talent to design a game-world that in itself is very creepy, as this requires convincing sound designs, visual designs and lighting effects.

The bottomline though, is that people are scared by different things.
I'm rarely scared by monsters and zombies, however paranormal stuff get to me very easily.
So scary games for me are stuff like FEAR, Condemned, Amnesia, PT and Fatal Frame.
Posted March 08, 2015
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R8V9F5A2: however paranormal stuff get to me very easily.
Likewise, I actually found that the world and sound design in Resident Evil 4 was fantastic, whereas FEAR was... Offices. Offices everywhere. I'm not scared of zombies per se, Resident Evil just felt so... Weird at all times, minus the zombies -suspense caused by constant lack of resources was an added bonus, altho after some time I found that the game starts dropping shit that you're running out of whenever you need it. Condemned seemed to try the same thing, but the plot and how it handled what was happening just felt so contrived to me that it completely exploded any suspense of disbelief I've ever had. Amnesia and Fatal Frame were great tho. I'd also throw in some bonus points to a relatively unknown Crysis mod The Worry of Newport which has managed to keep me at edge in spite of it being a walking sim and me knowing for a fact that nothing will harm me.
Posted March 08, 2015
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R8V9F5A2: however paranormal stuff get to me very easily.
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Fenixp: Likewise, I actually found that the world and sound design in Resident Evil 4 was fantastic, whereas FEAR was... Offices. Offices everywhere. I'm not scared of zombies per se, Resident Evil just felt so... Weird at all times, minus the zombies -suspense caused by constant lack of resources was an added bonus, altho after some time I found that the game starts dropping shit that you're running out of whenever you need it. Condemned seemed to try the same thing, but the plot and how it handled what was happening just felt so contrived to me that it completely exploded any suspense of disbelief I've ever had. Amnesia and Fatal Frame were great tho. I'd also throw in some bonus points to a relatively unknown Crysis mod The Worry of Newport which has managed to keep me at edge in spite of it being a walking sim and me knowing for a fact that nothing will harm me.
Play Resident Evil 1 Remastered
Posted March 08, 2015
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Elmofongo: Play Resident Evil 1 Remastered
Yeah, I heard you the first time and am planning on doing so anyway :-P With tank controls. Tank controls are awesome.
Posted March 08, 2015
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Elmofongo: Play Resident Evil 1 Remastered
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Fenixp: Yeah, I heard you the first time and am planning on doing so anyway :-P With tank controls. Tank controls are awesome.
And you better play as Chris Redfield.

6 inventory spaces, no grenade launcher, shotgun not avaliable in the first 5 minutes of play. And much, much better story in terms of presentation. The characters don't talk that much until the end and basically no Barry Burton.

Edit: oh an no lockpick.
Post edited March 08, 2015 by Elmofongo
Posted March 08, 2015
For me, it's a weak effect. Because I watch many horror films, and I'm a horror game collector.

They overused "jump scares" (cliche jump scares)and therefor most jump scares are predictable. Even if I encounter a new one, it's not effective as the first days when I scared from them.
Posted March 08, 2015
They're effective for me the first few times, after that becomes boooring.
Posted March 09, 2015
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eRe4s3r: It's a subversion of the rather pointless TL;DR thing some people do ;) Believe me, I read posts if they are interesting because that's what we are here for, no? I figured at least 1 person would find that funny and if I managed to make someone smile then mission accomplished ;)
What a weird subversion ._.
But it's fascinating, don't you think so too Zach?
Posted March 09, 2015
I rarely feel immersed enough to be scared or twitchy about any event in a game. I do love a good jump scare but almost from a comedic perspective. In games like FEAR (I've only played 2 & 3) and Dead Space (2 & 3 as well), instead of feeling spooked, I feel an appreciation for how effective a scene or event is played out. Not sure I'm making sense here - I basically think "wow, that's awesome" than "wow, that's scary".
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General discussionEffectiveness of jump scares(42 posts)(42 posts)
(42 posts)