ok so it really annoys me when people claim a game isn't scary simply because you have a weapon in it????????? like I think not having a weapon (i.e. amnesia, penumbra for the most part) or having limited resources can be a huge part of a game! and can be really scary but
like holy fucking hell bioshock on a whole did not scare me that much but
just
the fucking plaster splicers.
i'll put me crying about them under a cut so i don't spoil the scare for anyone
ok so basically
you find a little secret area and you're like hey!! hey a safe! :D this is nice I love safes they have good stuff in them
but before you do you see a fucking plaster splicer sitting in a chair
you think
"oh it's just cohen being a dick again... haha... cohen... what a funny guy..."
so you go to crack the safe, not thinking anything will go wrong
then the lights flicker.
"huh well we are in a quickly crumbling city... probably nothing."
you turn around.
the splicer isn't in the chair anymore. now you're getting scared.
it's far too quiet. you walk up the stairs-- the splicers that you thought were just statues? those are gone too. you walk back down the stairs and you're attacked by a splicer covered in plaster.
oh shit.
you don't want to leave the room now. you don't want to go back upstairs you don't want to go back to the main area because you saw other plaster splicers there too and it's way to fucking quiet.
but you do, because how else are you going to beat the game?
so you go, and there is no music playing. maybe you hear a big daddy clomping around upstairs. if you've already harvested the little sisters, maybe that's comforting, something else being alive. ish.
you notice an area has been opened up. you decide, oh, i suppose i should check that out. what else have i to lose?
so you go down the steps and what do you find.
a room filled with water, and mannequins, and nothing else. there's no corners, nowhere for splicers to hide.
you feel comforted for a moment.
you run forward to get the plasmid and audio diary at the other side of the room.
you hear something.
you turn around.
and of fucking course.
the room is now filled with plaster splicers, all turned towards you. they're not moving. they're simply looking at you.
you are in a dark room, filled with splicers, and to kill them, you have to look away to get them to move.
.
.
and that is how you make a fucking scary game with weapons. you throw the player into something they've never experienced, something that isn't explained by a character. no encouragement from atlas no "just turn around slowly, boyo".
and the scariest bit?
if cohen had made them, they'd be dead. but because they're not, they intentionally covered themselves and fucking waited for you to make a move.
