Jump scares in video games are most effective when the player least excepts them. Games like Dead Space and Resident Evil have perfected their craft at immersing you in their environments so well, that players all but expect to have their pants scared off at any given moment.
Over the generations, horror game developers have experimented and refined what it means to build and execute the ultimate jump scares that’ll have fans literally screaming for more. The best jump scares leave a lasting impression and more often than not, it isn’t pleasant.
10/10 Krypt Monster
Sure, the Mortal Kombat series is the granddaddy of all things visceral and gruesome, but Mortal Kombat 11 from NetherRealm Studios is home to one of the jumpiest of scares in the modern era. In the Krypt mode of MK11, you eventually obtain a blindfold that, once equipped, allows you to enter a spirit realm.
Once the blindfold is on, however, the world becomes dark and the idea is you are using your other senses to barely make out the faint outlines of objects about 2 feet in front of your character. As if the decreased visibility and the deafening environment sounds weren’t enough, each time you put on the blindfold a ghastly zombie-like creature lunges out to grab you at random.
9/10 Fatal Frame Broken Neck Lady
On the topic of ghosts and spooky apparitions, enter the Broken Neck Lady, also known in the Japanese version as Kubi ga Oreta Onna no Rei, from Fatal Frame. You first encounter Kubi at the Minakami Cemetery on the bridge just before you enter the building. At first glance, the bridge appears to be empty and safe.
However, equip your Camera Obscure and the Broken Neck Lady hastily enters the frame, and you get a full look at the damage she caused herself when she jumped off the top of a building.
8/10 Batman Arkham Knight Man-Bat
Sometimes the best jump scares come from the most unlikely of places. Batman Arkham Knight from Rocksteady Studios is a brilliant game worth your time, but there is a tiny bat problem over on Miagani Island that is worth your investigation time.
The Arkham Knight Man-Bat jump scare can be initiated once Batman reaches the very top of the building in the middle of the island. Man-Bat, a massive hideous mutated bat, crash lands on the roof above, screeches at you bloody murder, takes a meaty swipe at you, and flies off into the night.
7/10 Alien Isolation Alien
Maintaining a consent level of high tension is no easy feat for a video game but developers over at Creative Assembly really knew what they were going for when they made Alien Isolation. Jump scares in survival horror games are as common as tap water but what set Alien Isolation apart is the jump scares feel organic and apart from the overall gameplay loop, rather than a single scripted event.
You play as Amanda Ripley as you try to escape a derelict spaceship all the while creeping silently around enemies and narrowly avoiding the bloodthirsty Alien. The scariest part of this game is that you cannot kill the Alien, so you are forced to avoid contact at all costs or the game is over.
6/10 P.T. Lisa
Konami, the developers of the massively successful Silent Hill series, flexes their horror game chops with their 2014-released Playable Teaser, also dubbed P.T. Lisa, the demos antagonist and gruesomely jittery apparition, that relentlessly haunts you throughout your short playthrough.
Lisa is a nightmare creature who can be heard sobbing incessantly as you progress through the demo. The constant crying through your speakers scrambles your thought process making it very likely you will eventually get to meet Lisa, up close and personal.
5/10 F.E.A.R. Alma
Alma Wade, the main antagonist of the F.E.A.R. series by Monolith Productions, is horror incarnate, and she spends multiple games reminding you of how pissed off she is. Alma, an immensely powerful Psychic, is on a mission to destroy those who conducted horrific experiments on her because of her powers, all in the name of the all-mighty dollar.
While we understand why Alma is my have slight negative opinions about the Armacham Technology Corporation, sneaking up on people from behind is child play, and not in a fun way. In the first F.E.A.R. game, Alma suddenly appears from behind you while you are merely climbing down a ladder. This jump scare is iconic because it happens at such a random time and the fact that Alma looks like a young child adds an indescribable amount of creep factor to the event.
4/10 Condemned Locker Man
The brilliantly horrific minds over at Monolith Productions strike again with their hair-raising jump scare in their 2005 game, Condemned Criminal Origins. This jump scare comes after you leave the gymnasium and engage in combat with 4 addicts. After the fight, you are instructed to use your UV scan to follow a trail of blood to a series of closed lockers.
The game instructs you to open a locker after scanning it and upon opening it you find a lifeless body of a man. You are tasked with taking a picture of the body and upon doing so the corpse reaches out for you and thus beings the years of coping therapy to expel the terrifying image from your core memory.
3/10 Resident Evil Interrogation Room
Resident Evil enemies are, more often than not, a pain in the neck to deal with and soak up a metric ton of ammunition. Often, it is better to avoid confrontation and zip past most of the lower to mid-tier baddies à la, a botched Dark Souls corpse run. Sometimes, Capcom’s developers thrust you into pure concentrated terror in the form of pairing a jump scare with a boss fight.
The licker scene in the interrogation room in Resident Evil 2 will shake you to your very core because most of the lower areas of the Raccoon City Police station seem barren as if not much zombie activity was going on. Resident Evil 2 Remake puts a fresh new coat of paint on the original game and this scene, although heart-stopping for some, gets you just as good as it got you the first time.
2/10 Dead Space Elevator Necromorph
If you think about it, when a game’s music starts to swell, the violin section starts wailing, and the strobe light effects are in full swing, Dead Space might be hinting that something’s probably about to make you soil your jammies. Dead Space Necromorphs alone will have you running for the hills in fear, but this first Necromorph jump scare one that will leave your entire body ice-cold.
The ship is in full lockdown mode and everything that is alive on it wants you dead. This is made terrifyingly clear once you see your first Necromorph lunge at you only for it to be immediately eviscerated by the might of the USG Ishimura’s Elevator doors.
1/10 Resident Evil Zombie Dogs
The jump scare that started them all takes the top spot on this list because of the impact it had on how developers created effective and immersive horror with the technology available to them at the time. This jump scare comes early on in the game when you are just exploring the massive Mansion, in the L-shaped corridor that’s brightly lit and offers absolutely no indication that something terrifying is about to take place.
Simply walk forward to trigger the event, and get ready to beat feet in the opposite direction to come up with a plan for dealing with the zombie doggos. Fast-forward a few generations and Capcom is still reminding the industry why it remains the top dog in survival horror jump scares.
