DayZ is a horror-themed mod for developer’s Bohemia Interactive’s PC military simulation ARMA 2. The undead-apocalypse inspired experience drops players into an open world teeming with zombies and other individuals competing over limited resources. And that really should be enough tension for anyone.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":507351,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']Some players, however, can’t get enough of a good thing, even if the thing in question is pants-wetting anxiety. A few intrepid hackers, modders, and all-out trolls have taken to the DayZ servers to make their virtual neighbors’ lives more horrifying than they already are.
Ghostman
One mysterious figure has decided to devote his free time to tormenting DayZ player Z0mbiemaster. He does this by entering Z0mbiemaster’s game and stalking him, similar to the creepy Internet meme Slender Man.
One would think that this targeted “haunting” would ruin its subject’s experience in the game, but Z0mbiemaster doesn’t seem to mind. He’s more frightened of the guy in the ghillie suit slowly pursuing him than he is of the zombies actively trying to eat his brains, but he’s obviously having a lot of fun with it.
“Ghostman,” as his victim has come to call him, has struck several times. Skip to the 4:33:00 mark in this video to see a well-executed (and hilariously literal) jump scare.
The scary demon voice
OK, not all of the people on this list make DayZ better for everyone else. Take YouTube user TheBeachedHippo, for example, who attempts to strike fear into the hearts of his fellow players by watching them from afar and yelling at them in what he describes as a “demon voice.”
While Ghostman’s antics add to the game, Hippo is basically just a guy shouting from a rooftop and antagonizing everyone he sees. He’s trying really hard, though.
[aditude-amp id="medium1" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":507351,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']
More creepy noises (only better)
I showed you that last video, so I could show you this video.
YouTube user BestBudGaming takes the same approach as TheBeachedHippo but understands that you can’t just yell at people and hope to scare them. Horror is about keeping people off balance, and BestBudGaming accomplishes that with science. Or, more specifically, “How we do this is through a program that allows us to play sounds as if it [sic] were played directly through our microphones,” the description on the below video says.
The effect selection includes a few creepy voices and the sound of a helicopter, the last of which sends many players ducking for cover or frantically scanning the skies (in DayZ, the arrival of a helicopter usually means that a bunch of guys are about to show up and re-enact that scene from every Vietnam movie ever made). Apparently, some players can’t handle that kind of stress.
[aditude-amp id="medium2" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":507351,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']
The Axe Man
The Axe Man is responsible for some of the creepiest game footage I’ve seen in a while. He operates similarly to Ghostman in that he isolates and torments individual players, but while Ghostman takes the more subtle approach, Axe Man appears as a grotesque, indestructible killing machine.
Did I mention that he can teleport? Or that he stalks his victims while playing creepy audio of a young girl singing? Yeah, that information is kind of important.
Well, maybe that guy isn’t having such a good time. But look what happens to these two people when the Axe Man finds them. Hilarity, that’s what.
[aditude-amp id="medium3" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":507351,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']
Alright, maybe they aren’t quite enjoying themselves, either. But at least they can laugh about it.