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Top 10 horror games for Halloween
Fear is very subjective, what is terrifying for someone can be mild, even boring for someone else. Gore and monsters are usually taken for granted, but sometimes not knowing what you’re facing is more conducive to fear than bucketloads of blood. Our Game Monkeys prepared a list of the best and scariest horror games that you can play, to celebrate a truly terrifying Halloween.
Biohazard / Resident Evil
Gore - Violence - Jump scares
Resident Evil, or Biohazard as it’s originally titled, is probably the most famous horror videogame franchise ever. With 8 main entries in the series, there are plenty of games to play if you want to see it all. The main theme of the series revolves around biological experiments gone wrong, courtesy of the unscrupulous Umbrella corporation, but there is no shortage of variations, including the cannibal family shown in RE7 and the big sexy Lady Dimitrescu from RE Village. Most of the gameplay is about combat, with lots of jump scares especially in the first games. Fans consider RE2, RE4 and RE7 to be the best games in the series.
Silent Hill
Psychology - Mood - Player vulnerability
The second behemoth of horror games is without a doubt Silent Hill. Set in the small town of Silent Hill, perpetually enveloped in fog, players have to avoid the monsters and face their inner demons, where the line separating the two is often blurred. Combat is minimal, and the fear factor is mostly based on the eerie atmosphere and the fact that you’re basically helpless against the monsters. Silent Hill games are good for gamers in search of a more meditative gameplay, instead of adrenaline-filled action. Silent Hill 2 is universally considered the best entry in the series, but could it be dethroned by the recently released Silent Hill f?
Project Zero / Fatal Frame
Ghosts - Atmosphere - Jump scares
Project Zero, known in the West as Fatal Frame, is a series of games with a classic Japanese setting where players must solve a mystery (usually someone’s disappearance) and are faced with plenty of ghosts floating around and popping out of nowhere. The only defence is a cursed camera, the Camera Obscura, that can damage the spirits when you take a photo of them. The type of film used and the framing of the shot influence the amount of damage inflicted. The beauty of the game lies in its Japanese setting and the eerie, foreboding atmosphere, not to mention the unique photo-taking mechanics. All games are about equally good, with Project Zero 2 usually considered above the rest.
Amnesia
Player vulnerability - Atmosphere - Fear of the unknown
A first-person adventure where the player must solve puzzles and keep their sanity while exploring a dark castle full of monsters. The main character cannot fight the monsters in any way, so the only options are not to be noticed, or run away and hide. Things are complicated by the fact that even simply being in darkness depletes the sanity meter, and even looking directly at monsters will have the same effect. On the other hand, being exposed to light may make you be noticed, so there is no safe option. Players need to balance their game between these extremes, that’s why the game (and its sequels) is so scary and considered a masterpiece of horror gaming.
Little Nightmares
Disturbing visuals - Player vulnerability - Atmosphere
The Little Nightmares games are technically platforming adventures, but the imaginative and disturbing visuals, the unsettling design of the “monsters” and the underlying story propel the games directly into pure horror territory. Players control a tiny, distinctive character incapable of combat, and have to escape a haunting complex known as The Maw. Being detected by the denizens of the Maw results in a gruesome death, unless you’re quick enough to escape. The second game in the series is less claustrophobic than the first, but despite some additional game gimmicks it fails to reach the disturbing heights of the first one, especially the shocking finale. A third game has been recently released, featuring 2-player co-op.
Outlast
Gore - Jump scares - Darkness
Imagine traversing a dilapidated mental asylum at night. Imagine it full of beasts and scary inmates. Imagine you have no way of fighting your opponents, so your only option is to go around with stealth or run for your life. Imagine most of the place is in complete darkness, and the only way to see your surroundings is through your night vision camcorder. But the camcorder’s batteries run out quickly. Now don’t imagine anymore, just go and play Outlast or one of its sequels, because they are just as scary and terrifying as you imagined. Probably more.
SOMA
Tension - Atmosphere - Existential horror
The horror in SOMA doesn’t come from monsters or jump scares, though they are present to some extent. it’s more closely related to the story, the realization of the situation you’re in and the reality of the world. Cannot say more or we’d spoil the game for you, but if you like stories of existential horror SOMA is definitely the game for you. Truth be told, the story and lore take such a prominent role that you can even turn off the gaming part, making monsters harmless, and still enjoy one of the scariest and most unsettling stories ever told in a game.
Alan Wake
Psychology - Mind games - Jump scares
Alan Wake and its sequel deviate a little from the classic horror formula, in fact they can be best described as “psychological action thriller”. But, given the intensity of the main character’s situation and how brilliantly the game is written, we feel that Alan Wake definitely deserves to be on this list. The story is about writer Alan Wake, whose wife suddenly disappears. He starts finding hints about the disappearance as pages from a book written by him. A book he has not written yet… What is real, and what is imagination? Where will the search take him? You have to play the games to find out!
The Evil Within
Gore - Disturbing visuals - Violence
The Evil Within and its sequel are strange beasts, mixing together the psychological dread and tension of Silent Hill and the gore and combat of Resident Evil. Players control a detective sent to investigate a mass murder at a mental hospital,and will soon be trapped in a nightmare of hellish landscapes and twisted, horrifying creatures created by a deranged mind. It will take a lot of sanity, stealth and combat to unravel the mystery and get free of the nightmare. Players can defend themselves to some extent, but it’s usually best to use stealth to dispatch enemies or avoid them entirely. Most of the scare factor comes from the disturbing visuals and the horribly twisted creatures.
Dead Space
Gore - Tension - Jump scares
In the cold depths of space something horrifying is going on. The mining ship Ishimura has suddenly gone silent, and the exploration squad sent in to investigate quickly finds that most of the crew has been killed and turned to undead monsters by a mysterious alien entity. It’s up to the engineer Isaac Clark, armed with mining tools, to face the shambling Necromorphs and restore power to the Ishimura in order to escape. The setting is claustrophobic, and monsters could attack at any time with no warning. The best way to kill them is to shoot their limbs off, and then stomp them to death. Gruesome but satisfying.
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