The scariest enemy

[MattyDienhoff]

Usually I steer clear of making random polls, but I'm really curious to know what enemies we all fear the most. On the surface it might seem obvious, but while playing Half-Life just now (in a dark room, at night, aaah), it occurred to me that some of the enemies I fear the most aren't really obvious choices.

For example, snarks. I'm at that point in "Forget About Freeman!" where the tunnels are filled with nests of the little buggers. They're fast, small -- and, therefore, hard to hit -- and deadly on hard difficulty. They run a little faster than you and come in swarms, and that incessant squeaking they make when they're chasing after you... aahhhh. They scare me more than fast zombies, as peculiar as that may be.

Obviously, there's only space for so many poll options, so feel free to make additional mentions.

 

[ríomhaire]

Alien Slaves. Opposing Force demo scared the SHIT out of me when I was young. Second is the soldier zombie.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Poison Headcrabs, by far.

 

[Maestro]

Forcereally. Poison zombies are just scary, they can hit you no matter where you are and they leave you open to fast zombie rape.

 

[swan_song1973]

fast zombie, tied with the ichy though.

 

[Cornerstone]

The image of a 4 legged running ball sack, that shits out infant headcraps will haunt me for the rest of my life.

 

[Dynasty]

The fast zombies scare me when I know theyre coming, that whail followed by they're pissed off noises as they come flying at you.

BUT, the ichthyosaur from HL1 scared me the most, jumping into the water and just KNOWING that thing was about to appear in my face made me all tense and scared.

 

[Absinthe]

Icthyosaur. Hands down.

Although I did get scared shitless with my friend when the Gargantua showed up in Half-Life: Uplink. I remember the screams well.

 

[Reflex]

Poison Zombie always scares me.

 

[MattyDienhoff]

I think the main contributing factor to the Ichthyosaur's fear factor is that you can't effectively fight them from outside the water, so you have to enter their domain to attack them. Fighting underwater is definitely outside one's comfort zone. It makes maneuvering difficult, and of course there's oxygen to worry about.

And the Gargantua is scary not only because it's big and powerful, but because it's so damn fast. The adrenaline rush I get when I'm running away and I hear it stomping after me -- getting closer and closer -- is incredible. That scene in the parking garage in Surface Tension, with the Garg chasing after you -- flinging cars left and right -- was impressive enough in Half-Life, I can't wait to see it in Black Mesa Source.

Poison zombies really don't bother me, because it's relatively easy to keep them at arm's length, so to speak, and to avoid the crabs they throw at you. Quick, 'in-your-face' enemies bother me a lot more.

 

[Emporius]

Fast zombies and the icthyosaur.

FAst zombies scare me just because of their speed and relative silence. You turn around just to check your back and one is leaping at your face.

Fighting icthyosaurs is rather unnerving because there is no sound unless you're right beside them, and they often disappear into the murkiness of the water or blend in

 

[McGooTheWise]

Gargy scares the **** out of me. A 16 foot tall blue Tank with flamethrowers for hands, and a laser when he stomps that gibs people it hits. The only thing that can make him scarier is if he shot a laser out of his eye.

Gargy scares me.

 

[Oreolek]

Ichties. I'm always trying to avoid the water.

 

[FireStarter]

Sounds kind of lame, but Poison Zombies. They scare the HELL out of me.

One minute I'll be running around Ravenholm, and nothing's in sight. Next, I'll be yelping because a poison headcrab flew at me from out of nowhere and a creepy laugh-moan scares the hell out of me.

It usually leaves me yelling. "OH NO WHERE DID HEADCRAB COME FROM!" </reference>

 

[Iron Kat]

I put fast zombie because they damn near give me heart attacks every time I encounter them in Ep2.

 

[Disrupted_Hunter]

Icthyosaur was for me. I have a fear of sharks and that's the reason I don't go to the ocean much. And the Icthyosaur reminds me of a shark. So everytime I went into the water, I tried to hurry my ass out. It's pathetic how shark like things scare me, even if they are in games.

 

[Adabiviak]

HL2 doesn't scare me much (and I apparently scare easily by Internet standards). The fast zombies were pretty frightening the first time I saw them come off that roof at me in Ravenholm, but now they're just fun.

 

[knut]

Poison zombies and poison headcrabs. It's the noises, man. The low, rasped breathing, the truely mournful moans and the sqeaking, chirping and chittering of the headcrabs.

I remember when I first played Ravenholm and you come to the first place you meet a poison headcrab zombie, just at the bottom of the lift after the fast zombies rush you on the rooftops. On my first play through it wasn't there for I observed this hulking mass sillouhetted against the glow of a burning car/barrel on the other side of a chain link fence, lumbering away from the area. I must of spent too much time on the roof for it to eventually make it's way up the wood board ramp and into the next area. One way or another I had to go the same way as that thing but before I emerged into the next area I stopped by some of the vacant rooms for supplies when I heard the low breathing sounds from my speakers. It was either very close, but I suspect it was a sound bug, as they did not stop for a solid five minutes.

I didn't leave that room for five minutes, and when I did I came out bunny hopping whilst throwing random grenades at the floor.

There wasn't nothing there.

 

[Apocalypse89]

Fast zombies. As weak as they are, something about a howling enemy that can jump at you from a roof half a block away just scares the hell out of me. I still dread any encounter with them in HL2 and the episodes.

Icthyosaurs are a close second though.

 

[amaranth]

Antlion Guards scared the shit out of me until I fought them a few times on Gmod

That sound coming after you in the tunnels...yikes

The Ichthyosaur sucks but you can usually sit outside the water and use the grenades or pistol to kill it.

 

[Lizardizzle]

i HATED the icthyosaur in HL1. I would not enter any deep water if I knew it had one in it. I would sit atop the water-line and shoot it's back when it rose to the surface. Each one took at least five minutes to kill

 

[kineaesth]

Maybe poison zombies.

(In one of the first houses in Highway 17, with the poison zombie) I climbed onto the top floor, and then it saw me and threw a head crab and I killed it and was all slightly maybe screaming in my head, and hid in the corner, and it went back to it's normal path, but I couldn't move because then it would see me and I kept shooting it and missing because I was so scared and I ran out of ammo and it was terrible.

or maybe rollermines?

I was once playing while sick and I made that abandoned house on the coast road my summer home, after getting rid of the rollermines. And I'd bring down the family and we'd play checkers and drink lemonade, and go to the fair, and it'd be wonderful. But then after rambling around alone for a while I got worried, because the only sound is the wind, and I became all paranoid, and so I made it into a fort and spawned lots of shit to help defend it, and then hid in the bathroom for the Combine that I thought would bust in at any minute. Honestly the wind makes me so paranoid.

Or just maybe the wind.

Also the first time a Stalker lasered me I screamed.

 

[Alientank]

Fast zombies definitely.

 

[lefty]

God is my scariest enemy.

 

[G(ordon)-man]

Gonarch. When I saw it I turned off computer and went to bed.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Ichthyosaur, closely followed by fast zombies.

 

[flamingdts]

Ichthyosaur

A few reasons

1. Its pretty big, and should be made bigger if Valve plans to put them in future series
2. The rapid noise that it makes. It creates so much tension when it's close to you and it makes this constant noise rapidly that tells you it's incredibly close and is about to hit you.
3. The unexpected movement. Normally, you see fishes turn in a systematic manner, like the head turning then the body then the tail. The Ichthyosaur moves and turns so quickly, you have no time to stay still.
4. In water that often hides the Ichthysaur's location. I was scared crapless in HL when I enter the water and hear the rapid noise that Ichhysoaur makes, but no matter where I look I can't see it. Then out of nowhere, it popped right in front of my face.

They need to include the Ichthyosaur in HL: Ep 3, possibly during the helicopter ride. When you're near your destination the Helicopter crashes and you fall in the cold ocean, forcing you to swim a small distance to the destination, but with Ichthyosaur in the path

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Itchy by FAR for me.

 

[NamelessHenchman]

Itchyosaur was pretty scary back then.

 

[Rizzo]

I fear nothing.

 

[CombineHunter]

Garg.

 

[altceva]

Poison zombie & poison headcrabs. It's a psychological thing, when I hear that squeak I'm instantly getting panic mode.

1% health. Just this.

Go and play the game sounds for poison headcrab in your winamp. You'll get chills only by hearing that noise.

 

[Geogaddi]

The indifference of good men?

 

[Cpt Tenacious]

If by "scariest" you mean the enemy that has made me jump up the most, it would be fast zombie.

 

[Ennui]

when I was 10 or 11 and playing HL for the first time I was absolutely mindblown / terrified by the huge tentacle monster in the blast pit.

 

[the cow says moo]

Where's regular antlion in the poll?

 

[Saturos]

Those fast zombies are pretty damn creepy imo, what with the way they move and the noise they make. Then again, the Gonarch and it's huge ball sac is pretty disturbing too. I voted fast zombie though.

 

[jet_porkins]

I voted Ichy because of a personal fear regarding depths and the possible carnivorous creatures below, but in the HL universe itself, the first time I played through HL2 I was terrified of the poison zombies. Those moans and wails are what got to me.

 

[MattyDienhoff]

Where's regular antlion in the poll?

There's room for only 10 options, and do you honestly think a regular Antlion is likely to be more feared than the Antlion Guard?

 

[the cow says moo]

There's room for only 10 options, and do you honestly think a regular Antlion is likely to be more feared than the Antlion Guard?

Oh, really? I had no idea.