3 Terrifying Video Game Monsters

Games have been getting scarier recently. Ever since my newfound appreciation for Dead Space, I have been trying out other horror survival games and each one has given me some frightening creatures to face off against. I thought today I would collate the scariest of the bunch. Let me know if I missed out any of the scariest creatures in the comments below.

3 – THE WITCH – LEFT FOR DEAD

Left for Dead is a zombie game that seems to have inspired the World War Z movie. You play one of four survivors in an apocalyptic city and you have to fight your way to your getaway vehicle in a map full of Infected. It is a pretty simple game, but the premise makes the game so catchy. There are different monsters that are randomly generated throughout the map, so it is impossible to predict the outcome of the level. And the worst of those monsters is the Witch.

The Witch is usually first heard, before it is seen. It sits in a corner of the map and weeps. Its crying is ghostly and echoes around the map, so you are never truly sure how close you are to it. The trick is to leave it alone. If it doesn’t feel threatened, it won’t attack you. However if you stumble too close to the Witch (which is tricky, especially in the swamp map in Left for Dead 2), it will attack you. Whoever disturbs the Witch is usually a lost cause, instantly becoming torn to shreds. All your team-mates can do is pump as many bullets into it, while it is busy eating you and hope that you are a big enough meal to keep it occupied, until it eventually dies.

While I am on the subject of the Witch, I may as well tell a little anecdote. Once I was playing co-op with a mate. It was the first time I had ever touched the game Left for Dead, so I was relying on my mate to guide me through, while I just attempted to stay alive. I was loving the game and before long we got to an abandoned subway station. Sure enough, the wails of a Witch filled the room, only this was the first time I had heard one and had no idea what it meant. Sensing the chance for a bit of fun, my mate told me to go to the crying zombie on the floor and quickly shoot her, while he covered the door.

Yes! All guns aimed for the Witch is the best course of action in this scenario.

Eager to help, I bounded over. I racked up my shotgun and shot the Witch in the back of the head. The plan was for the Witch to turn around and kill me in a heartbeat, scaring the ever-loving shit out of me. However, by some fluke luck, I killed the Witch with one bullet. My mate watched gob-smacked, as he sent me over to kill the toughest boss in the game and I just ran back, grinning, announcing “Done!” Turns out the game allows anyone stupid enough and sneaky enough to get so close to the Witch, unseen, to kill her in one shot to the back of the head. It is nearly impossible, so it is quite the achievement. To this day, I have no idea how I pulled it off, as it is a struggle to replicate the kill, when I am actually trying. It is one of my favourite gaming stories.

2 – SLENDER NECROMORPH

Of course, Dead Space was going to feature, although it is a struggle, narrowing it down to just one Necromorph. I will have to go with the Slender-looking ones though, as they never fail to scare the crap out of me. They are tall, slender (go figure!), and, as I unfortunately found out one day, can kill you in one hit. They are often accompanied with some freaky music and you often see their sinister shadows long before you see the actual monster.

They also have the habit of breaking off into loads of smaller monsters, when killed. These aren’t as scary, but they are annoying as hell. They are hard to hit and so many times, they have chipped away at my ammo and health, until one of them manages to rip off my head and crawl inside my body, making me the next Slender-morph. I shudder thinking about facing them. Oh yeah, and speaking of Slender…

1 – SLENDERMAN

If you have a pretty adept computer, do yourself a favour and download this game for free, right now. It is a first-person survival horror, which features you, walking around a forest, until Slender gets you. You have no weapons, just a torch, and the goal is to get eight pages, before he gets you. It is really tricky and most of the time, he catches up with you. In fact, most of the time he toys with you for about ten minutes before he actually decides to finish you off.

Looking at Slenderman, I believe that Stephen Moffat was inspired by the game to make the Silence and the Whispermen in Doctor Who. Tall, silent and white-faced appears to equal terror in pop culture. I really want there to be a horror movie based on this character, if there isn’t one already. To put some context on the character, Slender is someone who has been spotted in photos across history and has inspired a little cult following. So yes, for all we know, Slenderman is actually real. Night night, readers!