The most chilling/disturbing/scariest game or moment?

[Umnir]

Some say it's the scariest game ever. I have only tried it for short period. There are some hilarious reaction videos though at youtube from people who play it.

[Daedalus]

I've conquered Amnesia, but I have to say that the game that probably comes closest to unnerving me is System Shock 2. I only wish I could've played it when I was younger.

Ah well, I'm immune to fear so the thread is moot.

[ItBurn]

It's pretty hard to scare me nowadays, but there are some games that managed to do it in the past.
Mainly Clive Barker's Undying and Doom 3.

Amnesia has managed to scare me or at least make me real nervous. It's a major accomplishment. It's also a damn solid game. It's pretty refreshing, since all we get nowadays are fully bright games that actually TRY not to be too scary. Dead Space 3 is now going to be an action game rather than an horror one because less scary games sell more...

So yeah, give the Amnesia devs your money so that they can make more awesome games.

[Panoptic Blur]

Clive Barker's Undying was a beautiful piece of work. The Gothic mansion and catacomb levels were very atmospheric, but the fantastical dreamland worlds (Oneiros and Eternal Autumn) really blew me away.

Some of the boss fights were amazing too. I still think of the Lizbeth battle as being right up there in my A-list of memorable battles in beautifully-done levels.

STALKER - Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat are both great games too. They take an increasingly-effective approach: make the core game factors relatively gritty and realistic. Then, when the players understand that basis of realism, you can introduce one or two consistent fantastical pieces of futurism. Players will find it easier to swallow those sci-fi elements if they see the designer is being honest about the realism of the other non-sci-fi elements. STALKER has numerous levels where you're trading gunfire in the darkness against anarchists, zealots, and militarists... but the truly scary parts are the underground levels where your enemies are twisted people and beasts - and even your guns are matched by their claws and fangs.

[ItBurn]

Good point about Stalker, it did make me real nervous at times. Being in the pitch black basement of a dilapidated factory and seeing a mutant pass in the corner of your flashlight... The gameplay is awesome too. Open world with loot and quests. Plus at night in the later games, it's completely black. I mean, you see NOTHING. You don't want to be stuck outside.

I must have completed Undying 3 times. The atmosphere is just spot on. The howlers sometimes don't even attack you, they just run around in the periphery, but you know that at some point they're going to attack you when you least expect it. Being stuck in pitch black catacombs filled with invincible skeletons. It's just creepy overall and very fun to explore. The game mechanics are very advanced too. You can use spells and weapons at the same time. You can spend points in the spells you want to use. You can switch ammo types. I wish Clive would do more games. He did Jericho, which failed. I tried it. The game itself is kinda boring, but the atmosphere and story is interesting. I liked it overall, but it's just popcorn entertainment.

[MoonStalkeR]

Amnesia was fun to play once on the campaign (the hint popping up near first enemy ruined the surprise!) IMO the most frightening part was the overwhelming feeling of being stuck deep in the chambers of a rotting castle. That's what happens when you become immersed

[Panoptic Blur]

Speaking of horror gaming, there is a game in indie development called "Sound of Silence".

It is apparently going to take a different approach to fears. It will present the player with various frightening situations, and then gauge how the player deals with them. As the game AI gets a better idea for how the player reacts, it will tailor future challenges to the player's specific gaming style.

Adaptive horror - might be a new genre?

[Status Cruo]

The day I get scared by a video game, please call me a pussy and shoot me in the back of the neck

Anyways, here's something cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRCDz5tQ3Z8

I actually showed this to my daughter and I she started crying even before the baby turned into whatever the hell it turned into, so I guess the music had something to do with it. She was 2 at the time, and while it may seem downright cruel, I did it because I wanted to see if kids could really be scared of things they have absolutely no knowledge or preconception of, kinda like being unable to perceive the dangers in there surroundings.

[MoonStalkeR]

An unsettling experiment, yes, but nothing harmful. I too wonder how emotions manifest in young children, and have recollections from my own childhood, especially nightmares. While I didn't play Darkseed, a different user here posted that exact scene and I found it complexly disturbing.

[Status Cruo]

Are you sure it was a different user?

I may be momentarily shocked by "screamer" situations, like those dark, empty rooms in Blood with hidden, preying phantasms, but it isn't something that disturbs me or messes up my sleep.

[MoonStalkeR]

Thought that exchange took place many years ago, before you registered

This reminds me, I actually believe the soundtrack is the most disturbing part of any horror game. The games themselves aren't that potent with their surprise scenes and it's the music leaving those scary memories. Listening to the Unholy Voices track ending in a dark room by yourself is what I mean.

[DustFalcon85]

Doom 64 b/c of the scariest ambient music plus the Lovecraftian Satanic architecture levels the composed the majority of Doom 64. Especially the levels Dark Citadel, Pitfalls and last but not least Breakdown.

Speaking of Doom. Everybody should check out The Ghoul's Forest 3. A ZDoom wad created by CutManMike. Works best w/ GZDoom. It'll improve the visibility w/ the brightness and stuff in the opengl settings. That WAD will blow your pants off!