Things in games that surprised/scared/dazzled you

Yeah, let's just list our various gaming experiences that really made us jump out of our seats for whatever reason.

In the first (quite massive) stage for Tomb Raider 2, near the end there is some chasm or something where you can climb down. I assume this was a bit of a secret area since it took me a few playthroughs before I noticed it. Anyway, once I made my way down there and ran around a bit I came across a couple of skeletons littered around the ground, and out of nowhere comes a bigass roaring T-Rex and scares the shit out of me.
I hadn't played the original Tomb Raider far enough to know that dinosaurs were a recurring theme in the series so it really got me since it was so damn unexpected.

Second is in World of Warcraft, it was just another day casting Astral Recall on my shaman (teleportation spell, is meant to take you back to whatever inn you assigned it to), only this time it teleported me into a random spot in the world, mid-air and rapidly flying in a random direction.
So there I was stuck with my character, unable to do anything and flying in the same direction until I reached the boundaries of the game world, continuing out towards the endless void. Managed to bring myself back by having some friends summon me back via a summoning stone.
Then I tried using astral recall again, and again appeared slightly outside the game world, this time falling down while I could see the ocean, and eventually the ocean floor disappearing in the distance. Kind of a creepy experience. Eventually I found out that this happened due to corrupt game files, because apparently your character movement is handled by your client instead of the world server. I'm guessing this is to reduce laggy experiences with higher latencies. Still, real WTF moment.

And third is Advanced Daisenryuku for the Genesis. I picked the ROM randomly, expecting it to be a quirky Japanese shmup or something. So I wait through the Sega logo, and the expected bunch of Japanese text. And then... a full-screen photo of Hitler appears, and an audio sample playing "DAS DEUTSCHE REICH! SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL!". Turns out this was a turn-based WW2 strategy game, and I can see why it didn't make it outside Japan.

I was completely impressed when I first played sonic1 on SMS... I had played only NES stuff before and I was completely blow away how colorful and fast everything was.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica.
Maybe the first and only survival horror I played.

I remember when you walk silently in a usina, no music, then you're grabbed by a monster hand.
I think this was the scariest moment; I really did jumped!

Silent Hill; walking in the sewers with the radio not working. Me and a mate shit our selves when a piece of rubble fell down and made a mighty crash!

Snatcher surprised me at how good it was, scared me with its suspense and random snatchers jumping out at you, and dazzled me by making me think that it's really an experience rather than a game.

A few things come to mind.
The first time I walked by the Genesis display at Toys R Us as a child (while choosing a nintendo game) and seeing the altered beast transformation on the television. Hearing genesis does what nintendon't. I just stared at it for such a long time, I didn't know that graphics got "better" and was amazed.

The first time I saw Mario 64. Again, I just stared in awe.

In Resident Evil 1, the hallway you go down in the beginning where the dogs jump out the window, maybe since at the time I hadn't really seen anything like it, but it scared the crap out of me.

My friend and I take our Dreamcasts home on launch day and load up Soul Calibur. Halfway through the intro we realized it wasn't cinema, but in-game graphics. We were blown away. This is the last time I remember really being impressed by graphics to such a degree.

Genesis : Back in the early 90's when i was in highschool i used to come across this toystore,
and behind their shop window they had a tiny tv which had a Genesis hooked up to it and running the Ghostbusters game,
Now I've always been a big GB's fan, but i swear every day I'd stop riding my bike to school and just stare at the screen for a while,
just seeing the game in action was just.. dazzling. :D



Snes : That Mario World demo that stores had running in a Snes kiosk was really dazzling too,
that demo screen where Mario would jump on Yoshi and eat that guy was awesome,
I'm pretty sure many a Snes was sold because of that kiosk.


PS3 : Even though i got Fallout 3 first the one that really impressed me was Oblivion,
just walking around in this bigass green lush world with people and caves and all that stuff..
It was so much more impressive then Fallout 3 in the visual department.

Uncharted 2 to me was a big oooaaahhh.... almost always (well, the museum part not)..... God of War 3 at first is impressive, then... boring...

I think i was really amazed when first i saw DooM. The picture of a hand blasting an Imp.... boy... so sexy :P And seeing that in action was... orgasmic...

When I played Resident Evil 2 for real the very first time, the room where a licker jumps through a mirror and attacks Leon scared me. Seriously, I couldn't sleep that night.

When I first played The Adventures of Batman and Robin and got to the Mad hatter boss.I still get a grin on my face when I play through it.It just impressed me so much.The first time I played Crysis also dazzled me at first.

Dazzled- When I first played my copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga. A legend and I was playing it.

Scared- Those Easter Island heads in Super Pitfall. It just shot out of nowhere and killed me.

Suprised- When I found out that the SNES pushed more units than the Genesis. I always thought Genesis was the top guy.

My latest WTF moment was just last night... Finding Vault 112 in FO3 was a trip. I won't spoil it for those who haven't played Fallout 3 yet... but man, it wasn't epic or anything... it was just...

really really really neat to find it that way

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NeoVamp

PS3 : Even though i got Fallout 3 first the one that really impressed me was Oblivion,
just walking around in this bigass green lush world with people and caves and all that stuff..
It was so much more impressive then Fallout 3 in the visual department.

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You're crazy to compare the two worlds like that. Oblivion is lush, but the Wastelands are absolutely gorgeous (they're the same engine anyway, Gamebryo Engine).

The amount of detail that's gone into the landscape for FO3 is 10x the amount of work that went into Morrowind and Oblivions landscapes. The mountains and hills of those two are so simple compared to what the landscape looks like in FO3.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OldSchool

You're crazy to compare the two worlds like that.

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Okay, maybe i shouldn't have compared them, blame it on the language barrier or something,
but what i meant was.. when i first played Fallout 3 and you emerge from the vault you see this enormous ravaged world in front of your eyes,
and that was an awesome moment, so much to do and so much to explore.

but at the same time everything was also very bleak and morbid, so when i later played Oblivion and you emerge from the sewers and you see this lush green ALIVE world,
man i just, i just stared at my screen and it was all so impressive.

Sure Fallout 3 (and New Vegas) are fucking awesome and more detailed, but the first time seeing the Oblivion world.. my jaw dropped.

The one that sticks with me came from Silent Hill. The character is walking through the school in the crummy world and has to pass through a large classroom because the hallway is blocked. There is nothing in the room but a table with a telephone on it. If you try to interact with the phone, nothing happens. As you approach the exit door, the phone starts ringing and when you answer it, it is your little girl saying through a lot of spooky static, "Daddy? Where are you Daddy?" and then the line goes dead.

My first thought was, that is just seriously messed up! It still managed to disturb me on subsequent playthroughs.

Discovering the T-Rex for the first time in the original Tomb Raider was a close second, but that didn't have the same kind of impact on subsequent playthroughs. Sure was cool the first time! I don't think my heartrate came down until it had been dead for quite a while. My first time through I managed to kill it with the basic pistols, so it took a darn long time!

Dazzled- Ecco the Dolphin. Amazing all around. Close second is the Gunship battle in Icecrown Citadel in WoW.

Surprised- In WoW when Kologarn rises up as you approach a chasm. Loved it.

Scared- TRex in Tomb Raider 1. After that, any time the tense music started, I immediately would run out of the room, take a breath, and then go back.