9. Condemned: Criminal Origins - Mannequins
The Condemned series certainly had its fair share of scares, from enemies jumping up behind you whilst you're looking at a mirror, to supposedly-dead bodies suddenly turning to look right at you whilst you were taking a picture of them. Many of these, however, were just quick jump-scares. As memorable as they were, the sequence that seems to have players most disturbed is the mannequin sequence in Criminal Origins. As a detective trying to track down a serial killer, you definitely encounter plenty of creepy places, some swarming with psychopaths, others just tense and atmospheric. Whilst traversing through one of the many dark and decaying buildings within the game, the player passes a row of mannequins at the end of a corridor. The mannequins are creepy by themselves but appear harmless until suddenly, in a split second, they move closer to the player. As they progress, the mannequins stalk and encircle the player at an uncomfortably close distance. You would think that the first movement of the mannequins would be the only jump-scare of the sequence, however their movement is so quick and unpredictable that often players end up jumping on multiple occasions. Whilst the mannequins never actually cause harm, their presence is most definitely intimidating. Everyone that has played the game will remember the scene for its tension - even some of those who have only heard of the game are aware of the mannequins due to numerous "reaction" videos on the internet. More than just your average jump-scare, the mannequins left players feeling uneasy throughout the entirety of the level.