Mass Effect v.s Halo, wich Military Sci-fi franchise has the best creepy and scary missions?

[Deleted member 47654]

You can't be a good Sci-fi/Space opera shooter without some horror paced levels with zombie-like enemies. Halo and Mass Effect are the biggest hardcore sci-fi/Space opera franchises in gaming and (as usual) the horror elements are in check.
Halo creates the unsettling atmosphere with the use of dark environments, body horror and creepy noises, the classic (and effective) sci-fi horror stuff, some examples:
343 Guilty Spark, The Library, High Charity, Cortana. Well... there's no much to explain, everyone knows the flood and how they act.
Main threat: The Flood



Mass Effect takes advantage on Cosmic horror, this awesome mix of Weird environments, powerful enemies beyond our comprehension, and awesome (and creepy) music. Some examples: First time on Eden Prime (The Geth were scary to me) Feros (the Thorian), the Whole Cerberus plotline.
In ME2 we had the Collectors, this strange enemy that killed us the first time we met, and then we go to their own ship where we discovered some SERIOUS shit, then we have this crazy mission INSIDE of a Reaper, an enemy that can turn you crazy (indoctrination) even miles away from you. Mass Effect 3 had some scary missions, but they were generic to me, the music had no charm, and the... "magic" was gone (blame the over the top military setting)
Main threat: Geth (ME1, ME2 Overlord DLC) Reapers, Collectors, Husks, Banshees (ME3)


Which kind of space horror do you prefer?
WARNING: Images heavy

 

[Techno]

The original Halo's flood level was borderline horror to me. Needed to co-op with my bro for that level.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

I think Mass Effect worked on multiple levels where Halo didn't unless you were reading novels or something. Mass Effect had a real edge in showing the horror up close and in a cinematic fashion. The Gravemind is much less intimidating than Sovereign was for example.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

I think Mass Effect worked on multiple levels where Halo didn't unless you were reading novels or something. Mass Effect had a real edge in showing the horror up close and in a cinematic fashion. The Gravemind is much less intimidating than Sovereign was for example.

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I agree but sovereign wasn't in ME2, that was the Harbinger

 

[Katarn343]

The Gravemind from Halo 2: Anniversary beats anything else.

Also, I really liked Halo Wars 2's Flood design - they all look so putrid, bloated.

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[TheBaldwin]

Mass effect purely because i think the floods designs are kinda boring, the missions there designed in are incredibly slow and drab * cough * library * cough and are really one dimensional too fight against

Mass effect on the other hand has a really creep vibe to there enemies. Amazing art direction and sound design helps of course

 

[SofNascimento]

Mass Effect.

 

[Forerunner]

The Gravemind from Halo 2: Anniversary beats anything else. Best 343-era design, easily.

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Kill me or release me, parasite. But do not waste my time with talk!

 

[Moist_Owlet]

Half life 2

But out of the two in OP its halo

 

[KillLaCam]

Halo overall. But Feros was super creepy in mass effect

 

[FarSight XR-20]

Nothing in Mass Effect beats 343 Guilty Spark (Halo CE), High Charity (Halo 2) and Cortana (Halo 3).



"Dropship Victor 933 (...) Pillar of Autumn (...) need assistance. We are under att (...) attack by some new kind of hostile (...) isn't Covenant. (...) Captain Keyes has been captured by hostiles. (...) dug in at a large structure in a swamp (...) we need to pull out. Please (...) I will set this message to repeat at regular intervals. Dropship Victor 933, clear."

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

I agree but sovereign wasn't in ME2, that was the Harbinger

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When I said "in 2" (which I edited out for clarity) I meant halo 2 for gravemind.

 

[Toxi]

It's Halo. 343 Guilty Spark alone outclasses any horror missions in Mass Effect. The Flood also feel like a much more natural part of Halo's setting, while the Husks feel like they really just exist to give you zombies/human-sized Reaper enemies.

 

[Kalentan]

Honestly never really found the stuff in Mass Effect to be that scary or creepy.

 

[Akai]

The thing that scared me the most in Mass Effect was watching Kelly Chambers death in Mass Effect 2. Her screaming inside those Collector pods, while being turned into a fluid, is just terrifying. That alone was a good enough reason to replay the game, so I could save them all.

Flood was also pretty scary back then, but I was ~9 years old when I 1st played Halo: CE. Don't find them scary anymore, but I still find certain animations, like the Brute and Marine to Flood transformation creepy.

 

[-Tetsuo-]

Neither is particularly scary, but 343 is like the best halo mission ever so imma go with halo

 

[The Living Tribunal]

The first encounter with Sovereign remains one of the most memorable moments in gaming imo but overall i don't think Mass Effect can match the oppressive feeling of most Flood-centric levels in Halo.

 

[Truant]

Halo lore is dumb and obviously an afterthought. Mass Effect is where it's at. Cosmic horror wins.

 

[Omanisat]

It's definitely Halo. 343 Guilty Spark alone would win this, but add in The Library, Quarantine Zone, Gravemind, Cortana, etc. and it becomes a no-brainer. The only missions in Mass Effect I'd really consider horror-esq are the rachnin and asari monastery missions in 3.

 

[Enduin]

Mass Effect. Some of those random side missions exploring abandoned bunkers or derelict ships were really creepy and especially harrowing once a bunch of crazy biotics or other shit popped out and absolutely wrecked you.

 

[SofNascimento]

The Gravemind from Halo 2: Anniversary beats anything else.

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This looks very cool. I wonder how long until I can play on PC.

 

[Deleted member 43077]

neither are that scary but Halo is just way cooler so uhhh...Halo

 

[chaosaeon]

The first minute of this gives a weird unnerving feeling of unknown space. That feeling happened a lot in ME1 and not as often in the later games. The "empty" planets in ME1 had some real potential to have very alien and unsettling atmosphere or creepy secrets.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

Halo lore is dumb and obviously an afterthought. Mass Effect is where it's at. Cosmic horror wins.

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Cosmic horror is strong if you let be carried by the awesome art direction, lore and music that Mass Effect has, if you only want shoot shoot and bang bang, well... This is not for you.
That being said, after Virmire i was really afraid of losing one of my squadmates in almost every mission, ME2 was a torture until i realized that none of them could die until the final mission, thats another way to put the fear inside you.

 

[Chirotera]

As a Mass Effect fanboy that would die on the altar of that series, going to give this one to Halo. The first few encounters with the Flood were genuinely kind of scary (at least when I first played them near release). Nothing in Mass Effect really unnerved me in the same way.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

The Gravemind from Halo 2: Anniversary beats anything else.

Also, I really liked Halo Wars 2's Flood design - they all look so putrid, bloated.

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Holy shit, i can smell the rotten flesh already. I remeber reading about the Mark VI not being capable to hide the flood's stench.

 

[Deleted member 20284]

More of the CE flood discovery stuff executed that way for some missions would be more than welcome. Legendary Library levels not so much.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

The first minute of this gives a weird unnerving feeling of unknown space.

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1 hour loop, enjoy
Edit: Holy shit, its from the same channel

 

[Zhukov]

Neither series had any effective creepy/horror/scary bits.

Not that I'm complaining. They're not really that kind of game.

 

[Steel]

Halo. You're never actually alone in Mass Effect's creepy bits. I suppose you have cortana in Halo, but she's attached to the suit.

 

[Slammin_Hammon]

The flood were pretty spooky, but there are some really good moments in Mass Effect. Getting randomly attached by thresher maws, boarding seemingly empty ships to be attacked by husks, and all the reaper stuff.

 

[Adder7806]

Mass Effect by a galactic mile.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

Mass Effect. Some of those random side missions exploring abandoned bunkers or derelict ships were really creepy and especially harrowing once a bunch of crazy biotics or other shit popped out and absolutely wrecked you.

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Yup, the random side missions in abandoned planets were always scary to me, this unknown feeling that only ME1 has

 

[Laughing Banana]

As a Mass Effect fanboy that would die on the altar of that series, going to give this one to Halo. The first few encounters with the Flood were genuinely kind of scary (at least when I first played them near release). Nothing in Mass Effect really unnerved me in the same way.

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I dunno man, collector ship especially in insanity gave me the creeps, lol.

 

[Deleted member 19924]

-

 

[Deleted member 47654]

Neither series had any effective creepy/horror/scary bits.

Not that I'm complaining. They're not really that kind of game.

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The key here is that these games are not suposed to be scary, so when this bit of space horror hit, it is effective for most of the players.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Dead Space!

Out of those two, it's a hard choice. Probably ME, though I generally prefer Halo's art. The ME2 DLC with the AI (Overlord) was pretty damn creepy.

 

[SOTC is a 6/10]

Halo did it better, I never found ME creepy, whereas the Flood levels in 1 and 2 freak me out.

 

[Zhukov]

The key here is that these games are not suposed to be scary, so when this bit of space horror hit, it is effective for most of the players.

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"Most of the players" must be scared of their own shadows then.

 

[Asbsand]

Great thread OP!

I think Mass Effect is a deeper setting but in terms of creepiness it's more shock value than anything, except that the Reapers are effectively Cthulhu gods that tie into the theme of "what is existence?"

Halo just has genuinely scary sequences though, and feeling of claustrophobia. Mass Effect only ever achieved that inside the narrative but never its gameplay. I also have to say, I didn't appreciate the redesigns to Husks and the design of the Banshees in ME3. That was too fixated on being "creepy" but comes on too strong so it achieves the opposite, like an edgy rock band. The original husks have more subtlety because they literally look like they're former people who had their consciousness replaced by chips and tubes. Also, don't get me started on the tonally confused parts of ME3 like the krogan ruins where you pull out a flashlight and it's all "oooh mysterious" but then besides some interesting exposition nothing comes of it.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

"Most of the players" must be scared of their own shadows then.

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Maybe, not all kind of horror or fear works for all people.
As an example, i've played the vast majority of Resident Evil games (even Re2make) and i find Dead Space way more scary.

 

[Tetrinski]

Halo did it first, and did it better.

 

[KomandaHeck]

Every time you open the galaxy map in Mass Effect, and its reminder of how unimaginably vast our galaxy is, let alone the universe, is scarier than either franchise's horror-themed missions.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

If anything, this thread is a stark reminder that we need more space horror. I love the genre to bits, but it's slim pickings in games, movies and books, though all of these art forms produced some genuine classics.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

An FPS or the more action oriented is usually more tense because of the immediacy of enemies and failure being a wrong decision away.

I feel like almost all sci-fi shooters have that one horror inspired hallway or room that comes naturally because player characters are designed to be rather vulnerable in shooters.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

Great thread OP!

I think Mass Effect is a deeper setting but in terms of creepiness it's more shock value than anything, except that the Reapers are effectively Cthulhu gods that tie into the theme of "what is existence?"

Halo just has genuinely scary sequences though, and feeling of claustrophobia. Mass Effect only ever achieved that inside the narrative but never its gameplay. I also have to say, I didn't appreciate the redesigns to Husks and the design of the Banshees in ME3. That was too fixated on being "creepy" but comes on too strong so it achieves the opposite, like an edgy rock band. The original husks have more subtlety because they literally look like they're former people who had their consciousness replaced by chips and tubes. Also, don't get me started on the tonally confused parts of ME3 like the krogan ruins where you pull out a flashlight and it's all "oooh mysterious" but then besides some interesting exposition nothing comes of it.

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Thanks!
And yeah, ME3 did a lot of this stuff wrong, as you said the original husks were better and this part on Tuchanka felt like trolling.

 

[golem]

The flood missions in Halo were pretty creepy but overall they were underutilized in the series imo. Would love to chat with another Gravemind or maybe even the Primordial. Flood/precursor lore is really interesting in the books. Couldnt give a rats ass about the reapers anymore however

 

[Chirotera]

I dunno man, collector ship especially in insanity gave me the creeps, lol.

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I'll grant the Collector ship, haha. Or the first time you see Sovereign flying off from Eden Prime. Even in a universe where you don't know the rules yet, that seemed pretty crazy.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

Halo did it first, and did it better.

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Metroid did it first.

 

[Zhukov]

Maybe, not all kind of horror or fear works for all people.
As an example, i've played the vast majority of Resident Evil games (even Re2make) and i find Dead Space way more scary.

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Are you implying that people find the Resident Evil games scary?

Because that's news to me. They go back and forth between unintentionally goofy ("Master of unlocking") and deliberately camp ("Your right hand comes off?").