Have you ever wondered what it would be like to step inside of a horror movie? To put yourself in the shoes of the protagonist as they fight through countless obstacles just to come out of it all alive? Welcome to the world of horror gaming. Immersive, heart-pounding, and sometimes rage-inducing, horror gaming lets you be the protagonist, the final girl, the survivor. Whether you’re after blood and guts, or something more cerebral, this list will give you a wide selection of the genre’s very best. And if you’ve never experienced the thrill of fighting monsters, ghosts, aliens, giant animatronics teddy bears, or even your own mind, be sure to check out any of our top 13 horror gaming picks.
[customfont1]BioShock (2007) [/customfont1]
Though not typically thought of as a horror game, BioShock packs plenty of survival horror elements into this atmospheric first-person shooter. The city of Rapture, a once booming metropolis leagues under the sea is now crawling with homicidal lunatics in spooky masks and huge mechanical monstrosities. You, an unlucky plane crash survivor, have stumbled onto the city seemingly by accident and must fight these foes by collecting weapons, ammo, and, most importantly, health from your environment in order to escape. Depending on your decisions, you’ll get one of three possible endings ranging from hopeful to downright dark. This dystopian adventure is a fantastic addition to any gamer’s collection.
[customfont1]Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010)[/customfont1]
Lauded by many as the pinnacle of horror gaming, Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a twisted tale with some very entertaining game mechanics. Awakening in an old castle with no memories, you follow a trail of pink liquid to a journal that reveals you chose this amnesia to forget the horrors you’ve committed. From here, it’s a truly dark descent further into the bowels of the castle to find the mysterious man who supposedly played a part in your atrocities. The game only has two stats for you to monitor, sanity and health. Being in the dark hurts sanity, falling hurts health, and monsters hurt both. And there are monsters. Trouble is, you don’t have a weapon. It’s all flight and zero fight to stay alive, a truly exceptional entry in the halls of survival horror gaming.
[customfont1]The Evil Within (2014) [/customfont1]
The Evil Within is survival horror at its best. Plenty of blood, guts, and jumpscares for the more strong-stomached fans of the genre blend perfectly with likeable characters, a compelling storyline, and plenty of intrigue. After being called to investigate the scene of a multiple homicide at Beacon Mental Hospital, you, Detective Sebastian Castellanos, along with your partner Joseph Oda and rookie-in-training Julie Kidman quickly realize you have stumbled onto something far more sinister. Sebastian must fight his way through hoards of zombies and other grotesque monstrosities in order to determine what is real and what is simply the product of a deranged mind. The third-person style combat lets you fight with a variety of range weapons (melee is not an option) including a crossbow, shotgun, and grenades. You must rely on the limited amount of ammo you pick-up throughout the game and figure out how to conserve as much as possible for the increasingly challenging boss fights at the end of each chapter.
[customfont1]Limbo (2010)[/customfont1]
Limbo is a fiercely atmospheric experience, and one that can be played in just an afternoon. It’s a visually striking platformer, composed of black and white and silhouettes. The game moves with a certain fluidity, interrupted only by a player death, which are gruesome. From spiders to saws to spikes, the obstacles are endless and ruthless. The story, however, is less defined. Other characters are few and far between, nobody speaks, and the ending itself is widely open to interpretation. It’s a journey to an ambiguous end, but most players have no trouble coming up with an interpretation as to what’s going on in this wonderfully artistic outing.
[customfont1]Among the Sleep (2014)[/customfont1]
Fear of the unknown is a widely used storytelling device in horror. Among the Sleep takes this concept and twists it to a familiar yet foreign place. The game puts players in control of a toddler who gets out of bed in the middle of the night, and finds their mother is not in her bed. Accompanied only by a talking teddy bear, the toddler looks for his mother. Unfamiliarity with the dark, a lack of schema, and a wild imagination turn an ordinary house into a horrific landscape. The scares are of the jumpy variety, but the atmosphere is sufficiently creepy, and the scares do, on occasion work. Like Limbo, this is a shorter game, and has a fantastic ending that will make players think about everything they just played.
[customfont1]Until Dawn (2015) [/customfont1]
In this decision-based-outcome game, the lives of eight different horrible teenagers are in your hands. The gameplay is very reminiscent of a Telltale game, where the player watches most of the story unfold through lengthy cutscenes, almost like watching a movie. When the game does hand control over to the player, several types of quicktime events (such as pressing the right button when it flashes on the screen or freezing in place when the game tells you to) can determine whether the character being controlled advances in the story or if their journey comes to an abrupt end. It is possible to save the life of every character you have control over, but once a character is gone, they’re gone for good. With so many different actions to choose from, there are hundreds of possible endings, giving the game a high replay value.
[customfont1]Lone Survivor (2012)[/customfont1]
An independently developed game, Lone Survivor is a sidescrolling survival game set in a disease driven apocalypse. As the survivor, players navigate their apartment building, avoiding zombies, solving puzzles, and plotting to escape first the building and then the town. Story is given in a slow drip, and you learn more about both the outbreak and the survivor as it progresses. The mechanics and controls are basic enough; monsters are attracted to light and shadow, maintain your health, stay sane, etc. The only big gripe with this game is that the map is a top-down perspective on the apartment building, but it’s explored side to side (the ability to round corners is what allows for the map to have depth). The game encourages multiple plays by offering five total endings, but players may want to look up the criteria for each one.
[customfont1] Resident Evil (1996)[/customfont1]
Countless people can count Resident Evil as their introduction to horror gaming. Released as Biohazard in Japan, Resident Evil is an exploration survival horror game. Following the story of Chris and Jill, members of an elite task force, the game takes players to a monster filled mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City. The game presents very cinematically, with preset camera angles for rooms, a strong visual style, and a claustrophobic feeling, Resident Evil was a unique experience in its day. While some who visit the game may find it dated, it’s still a strong experience in survival horror, and spawned a franchise full of other great horror games. For more modern takes, players may want to try Resident Evil 4, or Resident Evil: Revelations.
[customfont1]Dead Space (2008) [/customfont1]
Dead space is a sci-fi survival horror game that takes place aboard an interstellar mining ship, the USG Ishimura. When a job goes horribly wrong, you, engineer Isaac Clarke, must fight your way through waves and waves of necromorphs (alien-like reanimated human corpses) using weapons that are essentially modified mining tools. The only way to kill the necromorphs is through strategic dismemberment, forcing the player to slow down, even in times of panic, and focus on the deliberate and tactical combat. Navigating the ship’s suffocatingly narrow corridors imparts a strong sense of claustrophobia and dread and keeps tensions high, as enemies could be hiding around any corner.
[customfont1]Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (2009) [/customfont1]
A horror gaming list would not be complete without a nod to one of the genre’s most popular franchises. Since the highly anticipated full version of PT (the hyper-realistic ‘playable teaser’ that came out two years ago) never did see the light of day, we’ll shift our focus to another favorite in the series. In Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, play as Harry Mason, a man desperate to find his daughter who went missing after he crashed his car in the mysterious town of Silent Hill. Harry must fight his way through other-worldly creatures while solving puzzles and taking photographs in order to unlock memories that give him clues to his daughter’s whereabouts. Perhaps a bit hoaky by today’s standards, the game still holds up, and delivers some surprisingly emotional twists that fans of the Silent Hill movies are no stranger to.
[customfont1]The Last of Us (2013)[/customfont1]
A Playstation exclusive, The Last of Us is one of those games that makes people take video games seriously as a storytelling platform. After the cordycep fungus leaps from ants to humans, the United States is effectively shattered. Twenty years later survivors are nomads, independent settlements, or living in heavily policed quarantine zones. As Joel, players make their way through the broken country with a seemingly immune girl named Ellie. And while the story is what really shines in this game, the combat, stealth, and exploration elements are all superb. It’s a fantastic game from start to finish, and players feel the weight of their choices as the story of Joel and Ellie unfolds.
[customfont1]Outlast (2013) [/customfont1]
In this first person survival horror game, you, journalist Miles Upshur are on your way to investigate a remote psychiatric hospital after receiving an anonymous tip suggesting unscrupulous practices. Upon arriving, you find the place in chaos, you are surrounded by death, and the patients have taken over. Your only means of navigating the dark corridors of the asylum is through the lens of your night-vision camera, which you must constantly re-stock with batteries lest you be trapped in the darkness. The game does not give you the option to fight back should you run into trouble. Your options are run, hide, or die.
[customfont1]Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014)[/customfont1]
One of the most popular horror games in recent memory, Five Nights is an incredibly simple concept that gets harder the more you play. As a night security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a Chuck E. Cheese knockoff restaurant, your job is to just watch the monitors and make sure everything goes okay. It becomes quickly apparent that your second job is to stay alive. With a mind of their own, the animatronic animals are making their way around the restaurant, and they’re out for blood. It’s exclusively jumpscares in this one, but they’re still fairly effective if you’re willing to let yourself be immersed in the game. Those looking for a particularly deep experience would be advised to dive deep into the games mythos and mystery, something the community has been tearing apart and theorizing about for as long as it’s been out.
