Horror means various things to totally different individuals. Some individuals hate clowns. Some are troubled by the unknown of a darkish house below the mattress. And a few (my outdated flatmate) will run away if a wood spoon will get too near brushing towards their pores and skin. The identical broad vary of fears might be present in video video games as effectively. Certain, there are jumpy moments in The Final of Us Half 2, and Bloodborne’s Yharnam is dressed to the nines in gothic horror, however right here we’re taking a look at these completely scary experiences – these video games that chill us to the core and are purely horrific, but good. With an emphasis positioned on what we discover the scariest, listed here are the 25 finest horror video games of all time.
25. Keep Out of the Home
In recent times, many have tried to seize the nostalgic, but deeply unsettling aesthetic of analogue horror – a subgenre centred round turn-of-the-millennium tech and located footage – however none do it fairly in addition to developer Puppet Combo. With a library of over 20 developed and revealed video games, there’s no scarcity of gory and intense homages to the period of the VHS or PS1 to select from, however Keep Out of the Home is the standout entry of the one-man studio’s work. A mixture of immersive sim and survival horror, you’re put to the take a look at as you try to flee the disgusting lair of a cannibal butcher.
You’ve three days to plan your escape: will you scramble for a weapon?; set the serial killer’s traps towards him?; or possibly assist different survivors? All of these are viable choices however sadly for you, the killer will adapt to all of them, barricading once-unlocked rooms, hiding objects, and extra, all to give you an unforgettable CRT-filtered nightmare.
24. Slender: The Eight Pages
Who knew that in 2012 a easy sentence like “Acquire all 8 pages” would depart such an enduring imprint on the creativeness of all those that learn it?
Impressed by the success of its creepypasta’s namesake, Slender: The Eight Pages arms you with only a flashlight and duties you with sneaking via a park at evening to gather a sequence of more and more creepy notes. Sounds straightforward, till you realise it’s worthwhile to keep one step forward of the “Slender Man” – a tall, faceless, tuxedo-wearing terror that stalks you all through the ten or so minutes it’ll (hopefully) take you to flee. It’s easy however efficient, and its stalking menace stays with you far longer than it takes to play.
23. The Evil Inside
Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s return to survival horror got here in 2014 with The Evil Inside, and its warped world didn’t disappoint. The Evil Inside presents difficult gameplay, restricted assets, an enticing story, and brilliantly horrific enemy design – The Keeper, Laura, Zehn, and Neun, to call only a few which have haunted one or two of our nightmares since.
This wickedly inventive, tense, and sure, robust sport doesn’t endure fools gladly, but you’d be an excellent larger one to not give it an opportunity. We could have seen that bleeding sport over the display screen a number of extra occasions than we’d like, but it surely by no means made us not wish to leap straight again in. That’s the definition of nice survival horror.
See our overview of The Evil Inside.
22. Condemned: Prison Origins
Condemned: Prison Origins – wherein you tackle the function of an FBI agent framed for homicide – is an unforgettable journey via a dirty metropolis. Combining survival horror motion with detective work, it builds a terrific sense of environment that all the time makes you are feeling on edge and uncomfortable, and that is the very best half about it. Even in the event you’re squeamish, we suggest you play this alone at evening with all of the lights off, even when it’s simply as soon as, to totally admire simply how scary it truly is.
21. Manhunt
Whereas many video games on this checklist have you ever taking part in an unwilling sufferer of horrors, Manhunt stands out by making you the architect (albeit below slight duress) of the fear. Scorching on the heels of the worldwide success of Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice Metropolis, Rockstar stunned the world by selecting to take its controversial video games to the subsequent degree.
James Earl Money, a legal sentenced to dying row for crimes too heinous to say, is given a second probability within the kind of a “starring” function in a mysterious director’s snuff movie. Bloody, violent, and questionably sick, Manhunt is M-rated for a motive, and that’s largely as a result of of its graphic depictions of homicide. Dying by crowbar to the face, wire chokes, and machete hackings are just a few of the grotesque stuff you’ll see.
You could have seen this type of factor in films, anime, and the like, however no online game at that time (or arguably since) had gone so far as Rockstar’s Manhunt.
See our overview for Manhunt.
20. Inside
Anybody who’s performed Inside all the time desires to speak in regards to the ending. That’s completely comprehensible, Inside has one of the best finales of any sport of the previous 15 years. However the concentrate on these closing minutes means consideration is drawn away from the true deal with that’s the three or 4 hours prior.
Inside is a side-scroller dripping with an oppressive, unsettling environment. Enjoying as a younger boy in a world stuffed with ever-increasing hazard, it’s essential to clear up elegantly designed puzzles and escape all kinds of horrors as you push onward. It’s the concern of the unknown that retains tensions excessive. As you acquire the flexibility to manage others and put them to work within the sport’s finest conundrums, Inside’s unbelievable artwork path actually comes alive, showcasing a darkish, twisted world the place humanity has been diminished to faceless shadows of their former selves. It’s unforgettable stuff.
See our overview for Inside.
19. Visage
When Konami cancelled Silent Hills in 2015, a slew of non secular successors and video games closely influenced by the playable teaser got here out. This consists of Unhappy Sq. Studios’ first psychological horror, Visage. Set within the Nineteen Eighties, you play Dwayne Anderson, a resident of a big dwelling affected by the supernatural, as he tries to discover a approach out and study extra about what’s inflicting the paranormal exercise.
As you discover the darkish and eerily silent home, entities taunt you by breaking mild bulbs, turning on and off lights, and slamming doorways. This fixed barrage of sensory terror, mixed with the stress to keep up Dwayne’s sanity, makes Visage one of the tougher horror video games launched lately. It’s very a lot trial-and-error, however your persistence is rewarded with an enchanting story and many of leap scares. Whereas it will not be Silent Hills, the legacy of Konami’s unreleased sport programs via the veins of Visage whereas additionally efficiently establishing its personal identification.
18. Phasmophobia
Phasmophobia got here onto the scene like a bat out of hell. 4 gamers be part of collectively as beginner ghost hunters, armed with instruments like night-vision cameras, holy water, and radios. Wander via haunted properties and deserted prisons, calling out for spirits from the past, as you collect clues in an try and efficiently determine what form of ghost is haunting your location.
Because the clock ticks the probabilities of working right into a ghost improve, and so does the hazard. Nothing beats that second whenever you all of a sudden see your pal twist and contort after being caught by one of Phasmophobia’s many evil spirits, as you desperately scramble to the exit for a hasty escape. As scary as it’s, it additionally delivers laughs in equal measure, eliciting these involuntary feelings solely horror and comedy can present.
17. Lifeless by Daylight
Lifeless By Daylight launched in 2016 as a meagre however well-meaning asymmetrical slasher horror sport the place numerous bumbling youngsters prevented gnarly eviscerations from archetypal slasher film villains. By 2021, it had grow to be the Tremendous Smash Bros. of horror video games. Bringing in iconic killer characters from the films like Freddy Kreuger and Michael Myers to legendary horror sport villains like Resident Evil’s Nemesis and Silent Hill’s Pyramid Head, Lifeless By Daylight continues to evolve on its premise, routinely including new characters, options, and extra to its rock-solid basis.
One factor stays fixed, although: it’s simply as enjoyable to play the sport as a gaggle of seemingly helpless survivors in a single spherical as it’s to play as an enormous, highly effective, horror film monster within the subsequent. It’s deservedly established itself as the very best in its subject.
See our overview for Lifeless By Daylight.
16. Till Daybreak
Till Daybreak possesses all the very best (and worst) qualities of a B-grade horror film: camp, gore, dying, interpersonal stress, tacky dialogue, a predictable plot, and liberal use of leap scares. Its sport world – the Blackwood Mountain lodge – is comparatively small, however developer Supermassive made it as entertainingly hostile as attainable. This bitter panorama is captured with a eager eye on isolation, and Till Daybreak does a terrific job of encouraging the sense that you simply’re all the time being watched as the kids break up off from each other each bodily and emotionally.
Till Daybreak is a gleefully tacky homage to slasher films, set in a world constructed by a developer who clearly adores the style. Its (usually replicated) sturdy choice-and-consequence system was been genre-defining and permits gamers to actually experiment with the grotesque horrors hidden beneath its corny floor.
See our overview for Till Daybreak.
15. Alan Wake 2
Taking cues from the likes of David Lynch, Stephen King, and David Fincher, Alan Wake 2 is a deeply cinematic dive into the surreal. It’s a sport of two halves and follows the intertwined journeys of titular author Alan Wake and FBI agent Saga Anderson. In Alan’s chapters, you’ll blast ghostly figures and clear up Resident Evil-esque puzzles in a nightmare model of New York Metropolis. However the additional you enterprise, the stranger issues get; you’ll write new pathways via actuality, witness a weird Finnish horror film, endure an anxiety-inducing chat present, and participate in the very best rock opera you’ve ever gunned your approach via.
Issues are extra grounded however equally mechanically fascinating when taking management of Saga. Her chapters see the story rework into a mix of Hannibal and Zodiac, with Silent Hill-like exploration and fight sitting neatly subsequent to police procedural work. As you examine a chilling chain of ritual murders, you’ll want to rearrange clues in your proof board and drill deeper into the minds of your many suspects. This all provides as much as a deeply formidable, ceaselessly disturbing expertise, however one which’s by no means afraid of derailing the strain to ship an sudden comedy punchline.
See our overview for Alan Wake 2.
14. Soma
‘Elevated horror’ has grow to be an essential half of spooky cinema over the previous decade, combining chilling scares with inventive path that explores formidable matters or lofty subject material. This strategy is far rarer in video games, however Soma is undoubtedly one of the subgenre’s shining interactive examples. Set in a decaying underwater analysis facility, it navigates themes of identification, consciousness, and the function of synthetic intelligence whereas additionally subjecting you to nail-biting stealth horror conditions.
Soma sees developer Frictional Games return to the playbook it established in its prior sport, Amnesia: The Darkish Descent, and so it is a non-combative expertise with an emphasis on avoiding hazard in any respect prices. Progressing deeper into its dread-filled narrative comes solely by way of cautious exploration of the ability’s barnacle-encrusted corridors and completion of puzzles, with every one unlocking new areas and much more chilling monsters to cover from. For frights with an excellent serving to of thought, that is the ocean flooring journey for you.
See our overview for Soma.
13. Clock Tower
Regardless of by no means being launched outdoors of Japan, Clock Tower is a 16-bit survival horror traditional that deserves its place on this checklist due to its pioneering stalker-psychopath gameplay. Jennifer is a teenage orphan stranded in a Resident Evil-like manor and she or he’s tasked with point-and-clicking via its impressively detailed, oppressive world. Worst nonetheless, she has to keep away from the dreaded “Scissorman” who very similar to Mr. X, Nemesis, and Pyramid Head, is a near-unstoppable power who’s all the time lurking close by. With a number of endings to expertise, you’ll actually have motive to replay this horror repeatedly.
See our overview for Clock Tower.
12. Forbidden Siren 2
The PlayStation 2 was dwelling to many giants of the survival horror style, due to the likes of Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 2, and even Deadly Body. However equally scary traditional that’s much less well-known is Forbidden Siren 2. The story follows a gaggle of stranded survivors on a distant Japanese island. Exploiting the very best J-horror tropes, this episodic-style thriller has a steep studying curve: making an attempt to grasp the distinctive ‘sight jacking’ skill – which helps you to peer via the eyes of each mates and foes to navigate its rain-soaked ranges – it difficult, however as soon as mastered, you’re left with a refreshingly distinctive horror expertise.
11. Resident Evil
It’s onerous to think about what horror in video video games would seem like with out the arrival of Resident Evil. The first within the long-running (and intensely profitable) sequence arrived in 1996, letting gamers discover the zombie-infested, puzzle-riddled Spencer Mansion, and it’s honest to say the survival horror style hasn’t seemed again since.
Though primitive by right this moment’s requirements, Resident Evil set the mould for every thing that adopted. The isolation, the restricted assets, the relentless sense of dread, and leap scares… These are all issues Resident Evil pioneered in video video games, and with out it the survival horror style merely wouldn’t exist. Sure, Clock Tower outlined the blueprint, however Resident Evil masterfully executed the concepts and propelled survival horror to the lots.
In fact, the system has since been frequently improved upon and the unique is arguably weaker than most of its sequels. However none of it will have been attainable with out the progenitor and its significance to the style is unquestionable.
See our overview of Resident Evil.
10. 5 Nights at Freddy’s
There was all the time one thing inherently creepy about being in a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant as a child, a dimly lit, rat-themed party middle with unhappy pizza, a principally damaged arcade room, and a large animatronic animal band that may shut down in between songs to stare into the souls of kids with large, dead-eyed seems to be. 5 Nights at Freddy’s is a complete sport in regards to the fleeting pleasure and haunted magic of a seemingly lifeless assortment of animatronic pizza restaurant mascots who all of a sudden spring to life and grow to be horrifying nightmares, though as a substitute of being a child at a party, you’re an worker tasked with watching the restaurant after darkish and surviving the evening your self.
You’ll flip via safety cameras and different numerous gadgets whereas unsettling mechanical faces pop up sporadically or usually go bump within the evening, however what makes all of it so distinctive is that 5 Nights at Freddy’s is one of the few horror video games that almost all youngsters can play with out enduring a lifetime of trauma. It’s uncommon to have a sport sequence that may cater to each younger and grownup horror followers, but it surely’s principally as a result of it incorporates a factor we will all agree on: animatronic animals are terrifying.
9. Resident Evil 4
By the point Resident Evil 4 rolled across the played-out system of the sequence was in want of a reinvention. Not solely did Resident Evil 4 shatter expectations, it shortly turned recognised as one of the best video games of all time.
Resident Evil 4 as soon as once more places you within the footwear of Leon S. Kennedy, who’s in rural Spain to rescue the president’s daughter. However that plot shortly thickens as he will get tousled in a narrative wherein a brand new lethal virus threatens to comb the world.
Though its scares are a contact lighter in comparison with its predecessors, Resident Evil 4 nonetheless packed a punch due to its lightning quick zombies (referred to as Ganados) and chainsaw-wielding maniacs, who had been by no means too far behind.
On any Best Of checklist, Resident Evil 4 would seemingly fare larger. However judged purely as a horror sport, it takes a slight step backwards in comparison with the earlier three video games, choosing a extra gung-ho, motion strategy. It’s however nonetheless a improbable horror sport, even when it does focus extra on roundhouse kicks than leap scares.
See our overview of Resident Evil 4.
8. Left 4 Lifeless 2
Earlier than asynchronous multiplayer turned the brand new horror pattern, there was Valve’s co-op zombie slaughterhouse. Because the title suggests, every mission of Left 4 Lifeless sees 4 gamers stranded in a quarantine zone and the group will solely make it out alive in the event that they work collectively to beat the undead hordes. Each the unique and its sequel are improbable, however we’re going for Left for Lifeless 2 right here, which improved on the system in just about each facet.
Left 4 Lifeless’s enduring attraction lies in its good AI director, which finds new methods to deploy zombies and generate scares in each match. This random lottery retains issues unpredictable even in the event you’ve performed the map in query 70 occasions already. Possibly it’ll shock you with an sudden Boomer, which explodes right into a fountain of inexperienced goo that baits different contaminated. Or maybe it’ll throw a Smoker into the fray, who can bind you with its meters-long tongue and drag you away out of your allies. Or, in the event you’re actually (un)fortunate, the cube roll will end in a Witch; Left 4 Lifeless’s most frightful foe who, if disturbed, will unleash an prolonged rush of devastating, lightning-fast blows.
With snappy gunplay, improbable degree design, and an entire ‘80s horror franchise’s price of blood able to chuck all around the partitions, Left 4 Lifeless 2 stays an everlasting horror traditional and one of the very best zombie video games of all time.
See our overview of Left 4 Lifeless 2.
7. Outlast
With Outlast, developer Crimson Barrels took the discovered footage film style and expertly turned it right into a five-hour interactive nightmare. Outlast offers gamers nothing in phrases of protection; it’s a sport of cat and mouse, the place you’re the mouse and the cats are hyper-aggressive, disfigured sufferers at a supposedly deserted psychiatric hospital.
Additional, Outlast successfully turns sight into an in-game useful resource; the bulk of the hospital is barely seen via the inexperienced, grainy lens of your digital camera’s evening imaginative and prescient, and that digital camera depends on batteries sparsely scattered all through the constructing. When you possibly can see what’s chasing you, Outlast is as scary as any sport on this checklist. When the lights exit, it stands practically in a league of its personal.
See our overview of Outlast.
6. Alien: Isolation
Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien is a masterclass in concern, constructing uneasy stress and suspense by way of the menace of its single, lethal extraterrestrial. On paper, it’s an idea not simply translated into online game kind, however developer Artistic Meeting completely nailed it with Alien: Isolation. Eschewing pulse rifles, gung-ho Colonial Marines, and gallons of acid blood in favour of stealth, inventive options, and uncooked terror, Alien: Isolation calls for that you simply outwit a single, indestructible xenomorph that stalks you across the sprawling Sevastopol house station.
Alien: Isolation is a first-class licensed sport due to its unrivalled consideration to element in the case of replicating the movie’s universe; every thing from pc interfaces and poster fonts to lighting and sound results are genuine to the unique film’s visible fashion. Nevertheless it’s the xenomorph, powered by refined synthetic intelligence, that actually makes Isolation a best-in-class Alien sport. The beast fairly actually has a thoughts of its personal, succesful of studying your techniques and discovering new methods to hunt you. With solely stealth, guts, and some choose instruments that will help you survive, Alien: Isolation is a terrifying horror simulator in a approach few different video games on this checklist are.
See our overview of Alien: Isolation.
5. Lifeless House
Resident Evil 4 redefined the survival horror style, inspiring a slew of imitators to quickly observe. However regardless of Lifeless House carrying its Resident Evil 4 affect on its sleeve, it delivered a brand new degree of intense horror that meant this sci-fi scarefest was a triumph in its personal proper.
As Isaac Clarke, you’re tasked with exploring a derelict spacecraft with terrore lurking round each nook. Its dimly lit corridors are suffering from monstrosities from god-knows-where, and unlucky crewmates mutilated right into a disfigured mess. Lifeless House personifies our concern of the unknown and graphically illustrates the deep house horrors we’d solely ever actually seen within the films.
Necromorphs, the zombies of the sequence, are the epitome of terror and their grotesque designs and unpredictable nature made them a formidable foe. And in contrast to horror sport enemies, a bullet to the mind received’t put them down so it’s worthwhile to study the artwork of dismemberment as a substitute.
Lifeless House forces you to unlearn acquainted habits then, and it made you are feeling weak regardless of being armed to the enamel. However each gun within the universe isn’t sufficient to dampen Lifeless House’s scare.
See our overview of Lifeless House.
4. P.T
(*25*)
P.T. could not have been a full launch and it’s not out there to obtain, so we debated whether or not it ought to even be on this checklist. However the playable teaser – therefore the title P.T. – is one of the scariest video games ever made and as such, deserves recognition.
The end result of a cross-industry, once-in-a-console-generation collaboration between acclaimed creators Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, P.T. was revealed by way of a nondescript teaser at Gamescom 2014, adopted by an in any other case quiet launch on the PlayStation Retailer. Hours later, the enigma was solved, and P.T. was revealed to be Silent Hills. However regardless of the code being cracked, the answer wasn’t completely clear and P.T. would go on to grow to be an obsession for gamers throughout the web. Twitter, Reddit, Twitch, YouTube, NeoGAF, and different boards all tried to piece collectively precisely tips on how to attain its true ending.
Then there was the sport itself, which was as terrifying as its reveal was fascinating. P.T. was set in a single, superbly rendered looping hallway. Turning a nook remained as scary the primary time because it was on the fifteenth. The delicate adjustments to the setting on every loop preyed on gamers’ expectations of familiarity and added disturbing life to a seemingly restricted play space. In fact, Silent Hills would by no means come to fruition with Konami formally cancelling the challenge a day after P.T. was faraway from the PS Retailer. With that, the weird story of one of probably the most terrifying video games ever got here to an finish, however its legacy will all the time stay.
3. Amnesia: The Darkish Descent
Are you afraid of the darkish? Effectively, in Amnesia: The Darkish Descent, it’s your finest pal. Sort of. With gameplay mechanics that helped spur a rebirth of the survival horror style that had drifted into action-game territory, trendy horror video games are indebted to Darkish Descent.
Beginning with the protagonist, Daniel, waking up alone at midnight fort of Brennenburg, he has no reminiscence of how he bought there, therefore the title. As he explores his environment he realizes there’s a shadow stalking him, and wandering in regards to the fort are different creatures that can give chase in the event that they spot you. This wouldn’t be an enormous downside in the event you might struggle again, however the factor is, you simply can’t. Your solely defence is to run and sometimes disguise at midnight – a stark distinction to extra action-oriented horror video games like Resident Evil 5 which had come out the 12 months earlier than.
However right here’s the kicker: keep at midnight too lengthy and also you’ll lose your thoughts. It’s not the primary sport to have a “sanity meter” (Everlasting Darkness says hi there), however its implementation in Amnesia is fairly ingenious. You’ll must steadiness the sport’s use of mild to see what the hell you’re even doing with hiding within the darkness to keep away from monsters, the identical darkness that’s slowly driving you insane.
Amnesia’s sequels and follow-ups all construct upon The Darkish Descent’s mechanics in good methods, and different builders have taken discover, with Resident Evil 7’s resolution to change to a first-person perspective owing lots to Amnesia’s success. The Darkish Descent nonetheless holds up right this moment, even when the controls and interface are somewhat tough on consoles, so in the event you’re within the temper to sit down at midnight for 10 hours, make a journey to Brennenburg. Simply don’t keep at midnight too lengthy.
See our overview for Amnesia: The Darkish Descent.
2. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
There are a lot of contenders for finest entry within the Resident Evil sequence, however our vote, emphatically, goes to the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, which additionally occurs to be the spookiest in a protracted line of high quality RE spookies.
The authentic Resident Evil 2 took every thing profitable in regards to the survival horror system established by its older brother and refined it. The places had been creepier, the enemies extra menacing – this was the introduction of the notorious Licker and Mr. X – and the scares had been larger and badder. The adventures of Leon and Claire in Raccoon Metropolis not solely turned a benchmark for Resident Evil however for the style as an entire (till our subsequent entry got here alongside a number of years later).
In each approach that 1998’s Resident Evil 2 improved on its predecessor, the remake additionally replicated in form. It’s a major instance of tips on how to take an older sport and reanimate it for a brand new era of gamers. Pioneering a brand new era of scares which are usually imitated, however hardly ever equaled, Resident Evil 2 sits atop the pile in the case of the style’s most well-known sequence.
See our overview for Resident Evil 2.
1. Silent Hill 2
In the case of representing actual terror and its penalties, it doesn’t get any scarier than Silent Hill 2. It’s an more and more disturbing and psychological journey into the repressed ideas of its unassuming protagonist, and the tortured souls he meets alongside the best way. Emotional tragedy, guilt, anger, abuse, and the horrible methods the ensuing trauma manifests are dealt with with a grace and maturity that solely strengthens Silent Hill 2’s disturbing subject material. The mounting feeling that you’re fleeing from an inescapable mistake, all main as much as the haunting revelation on the finish and a devastating struggle towards one of video gaming’s most menacing antagonists, makes Silent Hill 2 the scariest sport of all time.
The authentic Silent Hill 2 is probably the bleakest, most sombre sport ever made and Bloober Group has efficiently recreated its depressing magic, making certain the remake is a deeply efficient descent into genuinely uncomfortable terror. With the 2024 remake, Group Silent’s nightmarish imaginative and prescient is preserved. It’s a contemporary reminder not simply of an period the place Konami was a grasp of survival horror, but in addition of the numerous energy of Silent Hill 2’s unrelenting distress.
There’s simply one thing about that PS2 model, although, that retains us coming again to its barely pixelated fog and uniquely haunting environment. It’s honest to say that we’ve been seeing that stressed city in our goals ever since we first stepped foot in it again in 2001. 23 years later, nothing has been extra terrifying.
See our overview for Silent Hill 2.