Minecraft scary. Stupid creepers.

I want to be compelled to check my back every now and then and be afraid of the dungeon, like in Daggerfall. The dungeons in that game still make me freeze up now and then because of the ambient sounds and the actual threat of being killed.

It depends on what you mean by scary. I'd like to see more traps in all dungeons. Types that if you don't make you eyes bleed looking for them out of no where you are falling to your death that kind of scary.
But I'd also like a few to be where your walking around and out of the corner of you eye you see movement out of the corner of you eye you see a rat, kill it and as you turn a dragon mauls your back.

That I can agree with, my favorite scary games are more about atmosphere - the asylum in thief, or the laboratory x18 in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for examples.
I don't think OP meant to imply all dungeons should be like walking through dark tunnels full of undead clowns in man size jack in the boxes.

FEAR? Dead Space? hahahaha....


How about dungeons like this......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M627-obxNzg



Btw--Amnesia is the scariest game ever made hands-down, which is awesome.




Also, I voted for some. I dont want too many scary dungeons--just a few good ones. I really hate the undead, they freak me the hell out even in Oblivion. Still, I think every now and then I would have the urge to test my nerves. Skyrim, like OB, has the ability to mix and match, so you can have some simple dungeons manned by humans (not scary) and some really scary ones too if you so choose.

SCary dungeons to give me a wtf momemnt is fine, just not a OMG that was so scary I soiled by pants moments...

you thought dead space was scary? i got bored half way through that game. i point you to amnesia which is the current king of scary games.

I want the game to have a lot of intense and scary moments, but not only in the dungeons.

For instance in a foggy wilderness, when your low level character hears the epic hissing pants of a terrifying dragon somewhere near but could not see the beast, it would be a really intense moments before he could find a place to hide, or stumble upon the creature and be killed in a blink of an eye, which would be a terrifying if short moment.

Dungeons and areas with horror themes could add some spice to the game as well, with scary sounds and tense music and the like.

Arguable. Different things scare different people, this whole thread could be full of argument of which of the games he listed are most/least scary. He probably should have left the examples out to avoid derailment.

Hell yes, bring it on. I've got titanium nerves, an iron will, a cast-iron gut, adamantium skeleton, and... well... something else that is made of steel.

I chew through horror games like a grubby, gap-toothed child does through candy. Dungeons deserve to be scary, but vary it; some could just be visceral (gore, etc.), others more psychological (atmosphere, story, etc.). Daggerfall is the only game in the main series that even makes me approach something resembling "fear"... it's more along the lines of paranoia ("I know you're around the corner, c'mere"), which is still no stranger. Amnesia's use of ambience is a prime example of the invocation of fear in the absence of physical threat. There doesn't even have to be anything there: the worst fear is often one made up in your own mind. It is the fear of the unknown itself, that which the dark hides and sounds amplify, that wracks the mind with images of the worst possible fate one can envision. You can't be sure if it's just you losing your cool, or if there really is something there. Anybody who has suffered from night terrors or schizophrenia, or otherwise has had a very bad trip, knows this.

"Horror - the true horror that paralyzes the mind and scars it with nightmares - is never truly healed." - Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Sure make a few truly scary but not all. Make others wonderous to explore, so we can get lost in the natural beauty of a cavern or whatever.
It would be nice to have different themed type dungeons, some to make you gasp at the beauty and others to make you poop your jockeys in terror..

Some terrifying dungeons would be very cool.

:goodjob:

Yeah I like scary! Would love to walk into an ancient pitch black tomb. I have forgotten a torch so I use an enchanted item with night eye. Walking deeper into the cave something moves, my night eye duration is over and I quickley cast a light spell and all around me stands undead draugr's jumping out from the dark. Creepy sounds in the caves is a must!! the wind howling though the ice on the surface, undeads whispering, stone falling down from the roof and hitting ice right behind you. Stuff like that

I don't want dungeons to be like they are from a horror game like Silent Hill. But some scary and disturbing stuff would be nice, about the same level as System Shock 2, Thief and FEAR.

Also, many times for make the player truly afraid, the player character must be noticeable weaker than whatever it is that is lurking around in the shadows. Now, I don't want lots of high level monsters in a dungeon or anything, but it would be neat if you went to a dungeon to slay a beast and while walking there keep seeing dark shadows moving around and odd sounds, knowing that whatever it is is playing with you and can probably kill you easily. So you're being watched while clearing the path from normal monsters or whatever.

I agree with this in oblivion they were some hard monster but not strong enough to kill you easily like you said freddo of course i don't want every dungeon to have a monster that will kill you in 1 or 2 shot but it would be nice if you went into a dungeon or cave and found a creature / monster with such amazing strength that you need to level up a bit more so you can at least be a match to it and thats something that oblivion lack in my opinion.


I would love to go and into a cave and find a monster with such strength / magic that would make me retreat and later in game i can come back and kill it and have that feeling of accomplishment in me that i finally defeated the monster

I don't mind a few scary places, but I don't want unscary places to be scary for the sake of making them scary. But I much prefer mystique over scaryness. One of the coolest moments for me was in "The Longest Journey" (point & click adventure game), where I was standing there like a question mark trying to figure out what to do next, when there suddenly was a shadow moving over the wall, or something going on at the corner of the eye. The setting was as unscary as they get, inside a normal room fully lit by daylight, and it just *worked*. Only happened once during the game. So bright can also be very effective. Monsters in the dark is old and exactly what you'd expect and completely lacks originality. Also it becomes a lot more effective if you *don't* get to talk about it to other NPCs for a very long time. Maybe at the end of the main quest someone else will mention having the same kind of experience. Dust in my eyes? Game glitch? The stuff that makes you go "whoa, what the hell was that", that will be nagging you for a while...

The dungeons must be scary ,but not so scary that would stop me from exploring it further from the entrance,lol

Daedric dungeons and such should be Bioshock level disturbing, nothing to over the top.

It would be nice to have about 15 out of the 130 dungeons be scary, and I mean Dead Space 2 scary. Oh, and please make most dungeons dark, so that we have to have torches or a night eye spell. Dungeons in previous games have been more than bright enough to see in without a spell or torch, and that ruins the tone I think should be set.

All of the games you listed are too scary for me, but I'm not sure that's possible in a game like Skyrim. They use both general spookiness AND restrictions to make the player terrified. When you're up against monsters that are stronger than you, you move too slowly to run away from them, and you never know where one of them is waiting behind a pillar to pounce at you, even the most generic dark setting is instantly unsettling. In Skyrim, however, enemies and their capabilities are pretty much known quantities, the player is capable of dishing up anything anyone else can (although dragon encounters could certainly break this mold and be scary if they make you feel unprepared and at a massive disadvantage in a dark and claustrophobic space), and the only one who ever sneaks around is the player.

That said, I'd love to be scared [censored]less from a couple of dungeons if it can be done.

Hell yes dungeons should be scary... well certain ones anyway. If a dungeon is full of zombies and skeletons it should have a good Silent Hill vibe to it, with unsettling music and everything! On the other hand, an abandoned fort full of bandits shouldn't be very creepy at all.


My idea for a scary dungeon type: Dreugh Hive

Just imagine it kinda like an "Alien" hive... there could be poor villagers cocooned up against the wall, while larvae slowly eat them alive! And there would be lots of nooks and crannies for Dreugh to pop out from and make you crap yourself!

I like the idea of dungeons being disturbing... although I haven't played Bioshock, so what I think of as "disturbing" might not be what I actually voted for in the poll

I think they should be scary, but not by all means. Limit the efforts and development, lol. No need to overscary it, so to speak.

i thought the original res evil and fear where a lot scarier than dead space not sure what ppl find immensely scary about ds.
its quite subjective though.
i voted some scary bitz, because most still need to be for other activities, fear scary due to the style fitting best imo.
example:
ghost actually commit paranormal phenomena instead of just floating around, no sneak attacking ghosts, doesn't make sense to me, they should always 'appear', and even disappear so to keep the suspense, skellies could construct suddenly out of bone piles, make you think twice with all those bones around, sounds and movement of enemies that arnt actually there, just to keep you on your toes, miniature set pieces like trap doors or cave ins, suddenly moving the player. stuff like that.