Cheap scares can work well in movies when done right, but when id attempted it for Doom 3, results were not exactly satisfying. The game was full of "monster closets" -- areas where enemies would hide and ambush the player when triggered from a certain distance. Maybe done once that could work. Not so much all the time. Lukcily, id has promised that Rage won't have such shenanigans.

"[In Rage] when you're going to the RC-Bomb base [from the demo] to deal with the Shrouded clan they're doing whatever they're supposed to be doing," begins Matt Hooper, "If they're supposed to be defending against you coming there, they'll be doing that. If they're just tinkering or having a conversation they'll do that. You will never see [a monster closet.]"

Good stuff. To me, an enemy that can actively seek you out or hold its ground in a defensive position is far more scarier than an enemy that sits still and jumps out at you. Rage sounds better and better the more I hear about it. Hopefully id can deliver on the huge promise.