Friendly Faceoff: Dead Space vs. Penumbra, which is scarier - Games

Good day to you all. Basically, my friend and I often debate things relating to gaming, one of the recent things that has appeared in our gaming related debates is "scary games". Out of immediate rememberance, I brought Penumbra to the stage, and my friend, being the awesome chap that he is, brought Dead Space to the table. He always attempts to tell me that Dead Space is scarier than Penumbra and I consistently deny it. So, tell me Facepunch, which is the scarier game, Dead Space or Penumbra [b]PS: This is friendly, if you read this my friend, you know who you are![/b] Penumbra is scarier in my opinion

FUCK penumbra

What debate? I do not see a debate here. I only see the victorious Penumbra. [editline]07:18PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Take_Opal;22829874]FUCK penumbra[/QUOTE] You mean "FUCK penumbra is scary"

Are you insane in the membrane? Dead Space is scary, but it's far more "LOL JUMP SCARE" than Penumbra. Penumbra has a real atmosphere, and you can't just blast your troubles away. When that monster sees you, and you see its dead dead dead eyes, it's fucking terrifying. When a necromorph sees you in Dead Space, it's target practice. Those fucking eyes stare into your soul [sp] literally, at the end of black plague[/sp] [img]http://www.pcactual.com/var/pca2009/storage/images/laboratorio/analisis/penumbra-black-plague/galeria/imagen-1/245111-1-esl-ES/Imagen-1.jpg[/img] I think it's cause it's just about human enough to lie in the uncanny valley. [img]http://www.transatlantis.net/blog/archives/uncanny_valley_chart.jpg[/img] Wheras the Dead Space Necromorphs just look like aliens, with vaguely human features. [img]http://files.playstatic.com/xbox-360/dead-space/dead-space-scan-7.jpg[/img]

Penumbra is currently winning 5-1. At least Dead Space is doing better than the England football team :v:

accidently voted dead space, was going to vote for penumbra

I've played neither, but I believe Dead Space is just a pretty scary really gory shooter, while Penumbra is one of the scariest games out there.

Penumbra is scary as fuck.

Dead space scares you but you can easily dispatch most enemies, and it's mostly scares that make you jump. I haven't played penumbra much but half of the time spent playing it I was running away from nothing screaming "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK"

Blargh, I played through Penumbra with just a small jump at the Worm bit.. Oh I mean I streamed Penumbra.

[QUOTE=Thund3rdome;22830281]Blargh, I played through Penumbra with just a small jump at the Worm bit.. Oh I mean I streamed Penumbra.[/QUOTE] Did you forget to turn your lights off? Were you wearing your headphones. I presume you were playing at midnight with surround sound on a 42" TV?

Dead Space was already too scary for me I don't even want to bother with Penumbra.

[QUOTE=gmaster;22829905] [img]http://www.transatlantis.net/blog/archives/uncanny_valley_chart.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE] I don't understand this chart.

You know. Penumbra is really damn overrated. Dead Space isn't that scary either. But Penumbra isn't really as scary as everyone wants everyone to believe it is.

[QUOTE=gmaster;22829905] Penumbra has a real atmosphere, and you can't just blast your troubles away.[/QUOTE] Dead Space does actually have a very good atmosphere, and it also does have well directed horror, like when the dude is banging is head in (i think) the medbay. But Penumbra does convey that feeling of hoplessness that makes it the truely scary game. So what i'm saying is that Dead Space isn't a shitty horror game, but it doesn't beat Penumbra

[QUOTE=adadadsd;22830555]Dead Space does actually have a very good atmosphere, and it also does have well directed horror, like when the dude is banging is head in (i think) the medbay. But Penumbra does convey that feeling of hoplessness that makes it the truely scary game. So what i'm saying is that Dead Space isn't a shitty horror game, but it doesn't beat Penumbra[/QUOTE] I agree entirely. I loved Dead Space, and it had some freaky moments, but it wasn't as good as Penumbra.

Having played both Penumbra blows Dead Space out of the water in the scare department. Both are good horror games, but while Dead Space has a good horror atmosphere it relies more on shock horror and just isn't very scary to me.

So, I think Penumbra is the clear winner. But what about between Penumbra and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem if you're playing full - insanity.

Once you hear about the tricks Sanity's Requiem plays, it is not scary.

True, but the bathtub scene was one fucking scary bit o' video game.

Never played Eternal Darkness. Is it on PC?

No [editline]07:51PM[/editline] Gamecube only.

It's a gamecube game

While i love dead space and have never played Penumbra, i chose Penumbra because i know you have no weapons, so it's basically run for your fucking life, barricade a door, hide and hope to god the whatever the fuck it is doesn't find you.

[QUOTE=Mumblecrust;22830516]I don't understand this chart.[/QUOTE] It's saying that there is a point where an objects looks almost human, but not in its entirety, so much so that it is scary or creepy.

[QUOTE=Mumblecrust;22830516]I don't understand this chart.[/QUOTE] It's basically saying that we're alright seeing things that look like humans and things that look nothing like humans, but if something is very close to being human form without actually being a human, then that freaks us out.

In my opinion Penumbra is the scariest of the two.

I couldn't get into Penumbra to be honest. Having actually played all of Dead Space, its scarier in my opinion.

Dead Space had a few "Oh shit what is that?" and a few jump-scares, but all things considered it wasn't scary at all (why should I be scared when I can just blast the fucker with a plasma cutter?). Even owen man in RE4 was scarier than many scares in DS. Penumbra instead was always scary and tense, leaving you very little room for relaxation (making the few jumpscares really make you jump).

Penumbra is scary, but I'm sick and tired of fighting dogs and spiders.