5 Terrifying Horror Video Games You Might Have Missed
It might not be Halloween, but these lesser-known horror video games are sure to chill your spine. Can you survive our list of favs?
Fear is subjective. Something that scares me might not scare you. Unless it’s the paralyzing fear of having to make any lasting decision of consequence – then sames. But, there are some works of art that scare pretty much everyone. Today shine a spotlight on a few games that are sure to scare your pants off.
Sure, there’s Resident Evil, Silent Hill, FNAF, or Sneak King – those have had the chance to scare everybody. But I want to specifically highlight some game series that aren’t as well known.
Don’t get too spooked!
1. SOMA
Enter the world of SOMA and face horrors buried deep beneath the ocean waves. Delve through locked terminals and secret documents to uncover the truth behind the chaos. Seek out the last remaining inhabitants and take part in the events that will ultimately shape the fate of the station. But be careful, danger lurks in every corner: corrupted humans, twisted creatures, insane robots, and even an inscrutable omnipresent A.I.
You will need to figure out how to deal with each one of them. Just remember there’s no fighting back, either you outsmart your enemies or you get ready to run.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent was a powerhouse of horror when it was released in 2010. Then the sequels, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Amnesia: Rebirth are both great as well. SOMA is made by the same people and is also fantastic.
It’s almost as if someone took Bioshock and went full horror-mode with it. But SOMA plays with a lot of psychological and existential horror. By the product description “It is an unsettling story about identity, consciousness, and what it means to be human.”
2. Alien: Isolation
Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien, Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother’s disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions, and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission but simply to stay alive.
Alien: Isolation is one of the most accurately named entries on this list. Like the original Alien movie, Alien: Isolation plays with the horror of what you don’t see. This game does a great job of making you scare yourself more than the game actually does.
The designers of the game have talked at length about the AI built into the Xenomorph, in order to make the game feel realistic, and that feeling of dread being as palpable as possible. The name of the game might be Isolation, but you are certainly not alone.
3. F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) is an intense combat experience with rich atmosphere and a deeply intense paranormal storyline presented entirely in first person. Be the hero in your own spine-tingling epic of action, tension, and terror… and discover the true meaning of fear. Hyper-stylized combat for breathtaking cinematic quality action Gripping supernatural storyline for spine-tingling intensity of play Multi-player action with multiple gameplay modes and all single player capabilities Advanced graphics and physics for visceral movie-like experience Enemies with special abilities and A.I. so intuitive it’s like battling living, breathing players.
I’ll be the first to admit F.E.A.R. is not as scary as the rest of the games on this list, but it is still terrifying. What I really like about F.E.A.R. is the way it balanced horror with action. This is not a wholly horror video game. Each level alternates between paranormal, psychic horror; and gun-blazing action sequences.
The way F.E.A.R. uses that blend of theme only strengthens the horror in each horror section since it’s new and fresh each time. The action sequences break up the tension, only to drop you back in to start all over again.
4. Fatal Frame Series
Mt. Hikami was once revered as a spiritual place. It housed a unique religion based on beliefs and customs of worshipping water as a deity and is said to have been a site of many gruesome incidents and mysterious phenomena. This mysterious and intertwined story follows three protagonistsYuri Kozukata, Miu Hinasaki, and Ren Hojoas each of them explores the ominous Mt. Hikami, a place where many came to die, and the secrets it hides.
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The Fatal Frame Series asks “What if Pokemon: Snap took place just in Lavender Town?” It’s hard to pick one game of this series that’s “best”, but Final Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is probably it. Regardless, you can’t go wrong with any entry in the series.
Unlike the other games on this list, it’s probably the only game (along side Typing of the Dead) which lets players deal with the undead with something other than just guns and baseball bats. Your goal is to use your magic camera to take pictures of ghosts, without them getting to you first.
5. Outlast 2
Outlast 2 introduces you to Sullivan Knoth and his followers, who left our wicked world behind to give birth to Temple Gate, a town, deep in the wilderness and hidden from civilization. Knoth and his flock are preparing for the tribulations of the end of times and you’re right in the thick of it. You are Blake Langermann, a cameraman working with your wife, Lynn. The two of you are investigative journalists willing to take risks and dig deep to uncover the stories no one else will dare touch. You’re following a trail of clues that started with the seemingly impossible murder of a pregnant woman known only as Jane Doe. The investigation has lead you miles into the Arizona desert, to a darkness so deep that no one could shed light upon it, and a corruption so profound that going mad may be the only sane thing to do.
Outlast 2 doesn’t require you to have played the first Outlast. And, even though Outlast is also a very scary game, if you’re looking to sleep with a nightlight on, jump right into Outlast 2. It’s a fairly short horror video game, but you need to put the controller down so often, you won’t even notice.
Outlast 2 is very much a “run and hide” style of horror video game and chances are, you’ll die a lot before you get it right. But if you’re looking for that sort of rush you get by being hunted down, this is the game for you.
