Went with #3.
An 'internal fright' probably describes best the point I can sometimes (very rarely) get to with certain games, but only very specific ones. I genuinely do not get jump scares easily. However, a game with a great suspenseful, heavy-on-the-shoulders atmosphere / ambiance will immerse me enough to potentially give that sort of internal fright. The sensation of 'potential danger right around the next corner', and dread, is what I can perceive the most if well executed. I'd say the dread - at least for me - comes in the form of expecting that something might happen at any moment but it's not quite happening yet; even though I'm absolutely expecting something and it keeps me at the edge of my seat so to speak. I can think of a few specific games that managed to do it:
- Super Metroid (probably the only game that really did immerse me to that extent within the whole 8-bit to 16-bit era, no jump scares in it per se but a lot of mystery and heavy atmosphere, and the ambient music to help maintain the feel throughout the whole thing)
- Resident Evil 2 (at the time when it was new)
- Silent Hill 2 (again, back when it was new)
- STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl (specifically the X-18 Labs the first time I went in there, actually had a hard time going back in for my following playthroughs)
- F.E.A.R. (mostly the first half of the game, then it got less and less immersive with suspense; at least for me)
- DOOM (yes, yes... the Ultimate Doom, back when it was new and I was just a kid, dark alleys and flickering lights in an immersive first-person view was all new stuff to me)
- Portal (the original, and to this day I'm still surprised but I felt some dread toward the end of the game; I think it was due to the general atmosphere)
- Half-Life 2 (Ravenholm, specifically; and also to some extent the first portion of the map where we finally get at the very base of the Citadel and then enter it for the first time)
- Left 4 Dead (the first one, when it was brand new, I will always remember the internal panic that went through my mind the first time I heard a horde in the distance followed by the ambient beats that accompanied it; I never quite experienced anything like that before; but the 'suspense' quickly faded away after a few days and it just became an action-oriented game with a cute zombie setting)
There might be a few others I'm not thinking of right now but the gist it that I'm not easily getting jump scares since the typical "BOO!" moments that come out of nowhere are things I can usually see coming a light-year away. They're overall just too predictable, and even if I wasn't expecting it and it genuinely does come out of nowhere I don't really 'jump' off my chair per se. I just roll my eyes and go like "Oh... yeah, should have seen this one coming". Maybe it has something to do with age, but I also think that quite simply put my 25+ years of experience with video gaming in general allowed me to 'see it all' when it comes to tricks that devs have tried over the genera and generations. It might have worked here and there a few times but once you experienced it enough it's not that surprising or even unexpected anymore. But yeah, speaking for myself here.
What I do really like, however, is atmosphere and suspense. I'd take that over anything like a super dark corridor with a flickering light at the end of it only to have some spirit rushing and screaming at me Ghostbusters-style from half way because I walked on an invisible trigger that I can already picture in my mind in the map editor that the developer used to make the game. And I'm perceiving things on a mechanical level this way mostly because... well, because I'm not 12 years-old anymore and I don't see everything as 'really happening' within the game and not everything is magic and grand anymore; I'm understanding what's behind the curtain now and it does 'remove the magic' a bit. I like to compare this with loving a movie for 'x' number of years (if not decades) until you watch the Making Of and nothing is that impressive anymore and you go like "Ooooooh so THAT is how it was done... oh, ok".
Yeah, little tip: don't watch Making Ofs.