Silent Hill f

Silent Hill f takes the long-running horror franchise in a completely new direction, setting its story in 1960s Japan instead of the fog-covered town for the better. Silent Hill f expertly blends psychological horror with grotesque body transformations, crafting a disturbing experience that is both tragic and mesmerizing. Every frame oozes dread, and the hauntingly beautiful visuals serve as a chilling contrast to the decay creeping beneath the surface.

Dying Light

Dying Light taps into what makes horror games so irresistible. It’s got a scarcity of resources, infected humans transforming into zombies, and the fear of nighttime adding anxiety on top of it all. And while most gamers would argue the best horror games are linear curated experiences in nature, Dying Light uses its open-world to ramp up the horror in ways only it could. Threats aren’t fully scripted and can come from pretty much any direction in the map. Similarly, scrounging for resources takes on a new life given the large dynamic environments. Dying Light 2 would take the parkour of the first one and really polish it up while adding a paraglider for faster traversal. Though fans still largely prefer the darker tone of the first game over the more colorful style of the sequel.

Days Gone

Want to simulate what it would be like to outrun and outgun an ocean of zombies out in an open field? Well, Days Gone is the closest thing to that experience on the gaming market – yet nothing could prepare us for the sheer size of hordes that the game would bless us with. While it would have been amazing to mow down zombie hordes using pick-up trucks or even a combine harvester, Days Gone limits its vehicles to primarily bikes. Still, the bike controls are quite smooth and ramming into zombies is a fun, though less ideal, way to squash their huge numbers. The icing on the horror cake are the stealth sequences, which make for some terrifying moments when swarms get alerted. Now if only we could finally get a sequel that gives us more vehicles to mow zombies down with.

The Evil Within 2

The world design of The Evil Within 2 may not be as open-ended as the previous games on this list, but it makes up for it in its tightly crafted narrative. Sebastian Castellanos’ mind is still reeling from the events of the first game, but he still has to rescue his daughter, Lily within the surreal Union labyrinth. The stakes are more personal here than in the first game, amplifying the psychological aspect tenfold. The semi-open world design adds some interesting side stories and secrets to discover, nicely contrasting the more claustrophobic sequences. Oh, and the bizarre, surreal world can even be experienced in first-person thanks to a 2018 update to the game.

Sons of the Forest

Being stranded on an island full of cannibals has to be one of the more harrowing concepts in horror, and Sons of the Forest executes it frighteningly well. The size of the island and its predominant forest biome is four times larger than the first game. The larger layout both helps the player and hinders them with helpful NPCs and a host of new terrors lurking in hidden corners of the map.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

After developing The Evil Within, Tango opted to go fully first-person with Ghostwire: Tokyo. The more intimate perspective combined with a supernaturally shifting environment enveloped in fog gave it a unique brand of horror. The game’s developer describes battles with the phrase ‘karate meets magic’. You’d think being adorned with such supernatural abilities neuters the sensation of helplessness a bit, but no, the many occultic monstrosities populating the possessed Tokyo are enhanced with even more terrifying abilities than the player character, making for an unpredictable and haunting journey.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Stalker 2, actually the fourth game in the series, was first announced way back in 2010. Typically, games with development hell history turn out poorly, but Stalker 2 nailed the post-apocalyptic premise and gameplay the series had been celebrated for prior. The limited inventory space and sparse resources within the Exclusion Zone make for a true survival experience. Add on a hunger and sleep meter and some reality-altering anomalies within the open-world and you’ve got a game sure to raise players’ blood pressure.

Dead Rising

This 2006 game may be the oldest on this list, but it’s also one of the most iconic in terms of open-world horror. Willamette Parkview Mall makes for a fantastic locale to combat hordes of flesh-hungry zombies. Part of the endless charm of the series is the sheer variety of weapons available to smash zombie brains with. The first Dead Rising hosts 250 weapons ranging from useful shotguns to fun props such as Mega Man’s Megabuster. The horror aspect, while less severe than others on this list, still comes into play when dozens of zombies close in on a defenseless and unaware Frank.

State of Decay 2

The State of Decay series has quickly become one of gaming’s most immersive zombie survival experiences. There’s few games that can match the feeling of building outposts and combating zombies together with other co-op partners quite like State of Decay 2. The series has always been primed for co-op, yet the first game lacked any multiplayer, being a purely solo affair. Besides the four-player co-op, the additional facilities and utilities, as well as a far more diverse map made for an improved gameplay loop. The improved open-world may have sacrificed some of the memorable story moments the first had, but the series is certainly headed in the right direction, giving us optimism for State of Decay 3.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is another game that uses its semi-open world structure well. The Volga, Caspian Desert, and Taiga regions feel so distinct from each other, as opposed to the largely monotonous regions of previous games. But the game still hones in on those narrow tunnel corridors that the original did so well. The Metro series also evokes a peculiar sensation of dread with the semi-frequent hallucinations and horrific mutant creatures aptly named The Dark Ones.

Dead Island 2

Dead Island takes a more arcady and fun approach to its horror, though getting overwhelmed by zombies still provides some tense jump scare moments. The sequel partitions up its open world into regions, helping to make each area distinct. What really makes Dead Island 2 stand out from the rest is the environmental interactions. Most objects lying around can be used as weapons, and a number of hazards such as electric and fire can be used against zombie hordes.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Combining a spaghetti western wild west setting with a zombie apocalypse probably hasn’t been done in games before Red Dead did it with Undead Nightmare. It’s such a unique fusion of disparate elements, yet feels so satisfying and fun to experience. The addition of classic folklore monsters, from Chupacabras to Sasquatches, is just the cherry on top of a well blended horror-tinged desert of the Red Dead franchise.

Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid takes a unique twist on survival horror. It’s not about how you survive, but how you die in this game. Players are fated to get eliminated by a single slow zombie bite, yet the game manages to make this process rewarding and, above all, fun. The unlimited nature of sandbox mode puts all the tools in the player’s hands, giving control of the zombie population, weather patterns, and loot. It’s a top-down 2D game though, so if you’re just in the mood for a cinematic and graphically intensive horror experience, others on this list will have to substitute.

Once Human

One of the most recent entries on the list, Once Human prides itself on its community-focused gameplay. Players can craft and build base camps meant to serve as a home base within the game world. Hunger and sanity needs to be kept in check lest players lose their loot with a respawn. What helps separate Once Human from other multiplayer survival games is the wild creature design. I mean, there’s a walking bus monster that players can use for transportation for crying out loud. Once Human isn’t lacking in creative  charm.

Beyond Hanwell

Surprisingly overlooked despite its quality, Beyond Hanwell lets players loose in the rainy streets of Westminster London amid an outbreak of mutant anomalies. The sound and music in particular really create an unsettling atmosphere, which is further aided by the environmental details of within the first-person perspective. Your primary source of self-defense is a pistol and some other light weapons, but a bigger aspect of the game is simply exploring the old buildings for notes and objects that help uncover the mystery.

The Sinking City Remastered

Fans of Lovecraftian horror should check out The Sinking City if they haven’t already. It’s filled with a variety of weird monsters beyond the familiar mortal coil, and even features a mental stability meter that diminishes as you learn new truths. The semi-open environments help fill out the background lore of Oakmont well, and the motorboat is just plain fun to traverse the waters with.

Returnal

Rogue-like third-person shooter Returnal is relentlessly unforgiving, a game in which time is an agonising loop for astronaut Selene after she crash lands on the hostile alien world Atrophos. Otherworldly creatures stalk cadaverous biomes, hurling bioluminescent bullet hell between Selene’s scavenging for artifacts, resources, and ether. Its challenge can put players off but stick around and the accumulated muscle memory makes subsequent playthroughs a breeze. Returnal’s emotional narrative weighs heavier on successive runs too when the unfolding of events has already been discovered.

The Order: 1886

Despite its frustrating overreliance on then-outdated QTEs, The Order: 1886 oozed style and atmosphere. It’s steampunk story set within a vampire-enriched Victorian London expressed deep imagination too. Perhaps its sky-high expectation was ultimately it’s undoing but there’s enough here to warrant a sequel. Interestingly, developer Ready at Dawn have since been acquired by Meta, and Sony themselves renewed the IP as recently as December 2021 – a VR sequel, then, surely isn’t out of the question.

]]> 606230 https://gamingbolt.com/top-30-horror-games-you-need-to-play-2024-edition Wed, 16 Oct 2024 18:07:07 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=601622 Establishing how much fear can a game conjure in the name of entertainment is wholly subjective. Our nightmares aren’t collective. With this in mind, the top horror games on this list are deeply varied – cosmic nightmares, haunted houses, malevolence, gore, and hostility, it’s all here in ghoulish splendour. And, in a move which opens us up to rampant criticism, this rundown is presented in order, from chilling to terrifying.

Still Wakes the Deep

A shoo-in for scariest game of 2024 so far, Still Wakes the Deep duties you as electrician Caz aboard a bleak, ocean-rusting North Sea oil rig before an accident occurs and situations go awry. It’s best not to know too much before stepping aboard, but safe to say The Chinese Room have delivered an atmospheric horror for the ages, replete in equal measure dread and mystery.

]]> 601622 https://gamingbolt.com/10-ultimate-hub-locations-in-video-games Wed, 29 May 2024 12:33:38 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=583633 The hub-and-spoke design style isn’t necessarily something that we see a lot of in video games, but when we do, it’s easy to see its appeal. Having a central location that you return to repeatedly throughout the length of a game and having something new to experience in that location each time can elevate an experience in meaningful ways. A handful of years ago, we highlighted several such notable hubs in games in a feature, from Mass Effect’s Normandy and Bloodborne’s Hunter’s Dream to God of War’s Lake of Nine and more. Here, we’re going to follow that up with a few more excellent hubs we’ve seen in games in more recent years.

THE VILLAGE – RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE

As the game’s name suggests, the Village is a massive part of the experience in Resident Evil Village. Blanketed in snow and deathly silent, it instantly sets your teeth on edge the moment you enter it early on in the game, and prompt encounters against terrifying, vicious enemies do an excellent job of setting the tone for the rest of the game. Throughout the experience, you return time and again to the Village, and it never loses its nightmarish charms. Exploration always feels rewarding, new threats keep presenting themselves at surprising times, and each time you come back, new areas – including optional ones – open up, allowing you to get ever more familiar with the Village and everything in it.

THE MOTHERLOBE – PSYCHONAUTS 2

Just like Raz, we all dreamed for years about setting foot in the headquarters of the legendary Psychonauts, and boy was it everything we had hoped it would be when we finally got to do it in Psychonauts 2. It doesn’t take long for the game to let players lose in the Motherlobe, and from the get-go, it’s a wonderful environment to traverse, full of charm, whimsy, and personality, and a unique aesthetic that only Psychonauts can capture. More and more of the Motherlobe also becomes available for players to explore throughout the length of the game, and it always remains a delightful experience.

MANTIS – STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR

Stars Was Jedi’s Mantis takes its fair share of cues from Mass Effect’s Normandy- a ship that you and your crew frequently return to during your swashbuckling adventures throughout the galaxy. Sure, it’s not as large, as layered, or even as populated as Commander Shepard’s ship was, but the Mantis has a lot of the same strengths. One of Jedi: Survivor’s biggest strengths is its core cast of characters, and having quieter moments where you can just talk to them about something important or nothing at all really makes the Mantis feel like a cozy home sailing through space.

UNION – THE EVIL WITHIN 2

Many were skeptical about The Evil Within 2’s semi-open world approach, but it’s fair to say that that actually turned out to be one of the game’s biggest strengths. The world’s saddest dad Sebastian Castellanos enters the virtual town of Union early on in the game, and though the more linear, guided sections within the town are obviously among the game’s most memorable, the town itself is also a highlight. From the risk/reward feel of its exploration to the excellent side quests and optional content on offer, Union is an excellent location that probably deserves more recognition than it gets- much like all of The Evil Within 2, actually.

THE HIDEAWAY – FINAL FANTASY 16

We’re going to cheat a little bit here and include both Hideaways. Final Fantasy 16 has its detractors, and yes, the game has its issues, but when you’re in the Hideaway, it’s hard not to be impressed with how lived in the game and its world feel. Not only is the Hideaway a place where you find some of the game’s best side quests, or a place where you can go to Clive’s room and peruse his wall of memories, it’s also where you spend a great deal of time with the game’s excellent cast of side characters. The second Hideaway in particular really does feel like a home for Clive and his band of outlaws.

THE NEXUS – DEMON’S SOULS

Being the very first game of its kind, Demon’s Souls hub location, the Nexus, was obviously notably less elaborate than the hub locations in a lot of other FromSoftware Soulslikes, but even now, it stands as one of the most memorable hubs in a game. In addition to being one of few places in the entire game where you can let your guard down, it also excels in other areas, from the captivating lore attached to it to some of the eccentric characters you meet there, to how strikingly beautiful it looks, especially in Bluepoint Games’ remake.

THE FORBIDDEN LANDS – SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS

Shadow of the Colossus is a singular experience that hits you in a way that no other game has ever managed to, and though the list of things that contribute to that is obviously long, the vast plains of the Forgotten Lands are surely high on that list. It’s hard not to be struck by the desolate beauty of the environments each time you return to the game’s central hub after felling a Colossus. There aren’t a lot of games that can legitimately make being “empty” an actual strength, but Shadow of the Colossus is spectacularly good at exactly that, and nothing examplifies that better than the Forgotten Lands.

THE THEATER – THE LAST OF US PART 2

We’re admittedly stretching the definition of a hub location here, because the Theater that serves as Ellie and Dina’s base of operations for the bulk of their time in Seattle isn’t really a hub as far as the game’s design and structure are concerned. It is, however, a scripted, narrative hub, and an excellent one at that. After each of Ellie’s harrowing excursions, returning to the relative calm and safety of the theater feels like a genuine relief each time. Some of the game’s most memorable scenes also take place here, while players also always have the option of taking the time to unwind by having Ellie sit down and strum away at the strings of a guitar.

JUBILIFE VILLAGE – POKEMON LEGENDS: ARCEUS

Jubilife Village probably could have been a much more impactful hub location if Pokemon Legends: Arceus wasn’t as technically hamstrung as it was, but even in its current state, it’s a genuinely well-designed base. For starters, having an actual ranch where you can physically see all of your stored Pokemon is a genius move. That in and of itself ensures that Jubilife Village lives long in the memory, but additional things like Galaxy Team’s HQ, the training arena, the beach, the farm, and more ensure that there’s more to the location than just being able to look at your Pokemon from across a fence.

KAMURA VILLAGE – MONSTER HUNTER RISE

Monster Hunter has often been known for its charming hub locations, and Monster Hunter Rise surely continues that tradition. Even from a purely visual standpoint, Kamura Village has a very distinct look to it that ensures that it sticks out in memory, from its art style to the architecture and interiors of the buildings to all of the smaller flourishes you can spot all over the village. On top of that, it also obviously serves as the place where you prepare for and select your next hunts, rendezvous with your friends in co-op, speak with NPCs, and most importantly, craft and upgrade gear.

The Evil Within 2

Shinji Mikami’s Tango Gameworks did an excellent job with the original The Evil Within, and many of those foundations were built upon in new and interesting ways with the sequel that came out in 2017. The Evil Within 2 is one of the very few games that manage to blend pure survival horror with an open-world design without one element overpowering the other. The biggest achievement of The Evil Within 2 is how these contrasting genres complement one another, making exploration enticing and horrifying at the same time. It’s a rather unique kind of game that deserves to be experienced by every horror fan.

Bloodborne

FromSoftware’s 2015 release Bloodborne feels like a loving tribute to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and the admiration for the author can be seen throughout Yharam’s gothic architecture and horrid creature designs that will continue to haunt your nightmares long after the credits roll. What makes Bloodborne so special is its ability to induce a sense of mechanical dread that goes hand in hand with the general tropes and jumpscares that you would see in any traditional horror game. Bloodborne’s horror is not only limited to facing that threat in the first place but also perfecting your grasp of its complex mechanics to the point that you are actually able to defeat that monstrosity.

Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 is easily one of the best entries in the long-running survival horror franchise, and that statement alone speaks volumes about the quality of the experience considering the series is home to some of the best games of this ilk. The protagonist James Sunderland’s’ search for his missing wife leads him to the desolated town of Silent Hill, which kickstarts the events of this truly horrid nightmare. Everything from the atmosphere to the jumpscares and the story are all bone-chilling in their own right, and Silent Hill 2 also adds an element of eccentricity to the whole affair which makes it one of the most memorable horror experiences.

The Last of Us Part 1

The Last of Us Part 1 takes place in a post-apocalyptic rendition of America where you step into the shoes of Joel, a cynical middle-aged man who must escort a girl named Ellie to a hospital in hopes of finding a cure for the Cordyceps virus. The Last of Us excellently blends stealth elements into the survival horror gameplay blueprint, and what we get is a rather fresh action-adventure experience that also doesn’t fall short on the horror element as well. But what’s most interesting about The Last of Us Part 1 are the characters which are some of the best that we have seen in recent memory, and the narrative does an excellent job of portraying the sheer brutality of a post-apocalypse without holding much restraint.

Alan Wake 2

The original Alan Wake was more of an action-adventure experience, and developer Remedy Entertainment switched things up for the better with the sequel – making it a full-blown survival horror experience. And that feels like a natural fit for this kind of slow and more methodical gameplay where you have to use your flashlights to first weaken the Taken and then proceed to hit headshots with an actual weapon. Alan Wake 2’s biggest strength, however, lies in its narrative, which is best summarized by the statement, “It’s not a lake, it’s an ocean”. The rabbit hole of The Dark Place goes really deep, and you probably won’t be able to grasp the depth of the meta narratives and subplots that make it one of the most intriguing games that you will ever experience.

Dead Space (2023)

EA Motive’s modernization of the original Dead Space was just what fans wanted out of such an experience, and it beautifully presents the crippling survival horror of the original in a way that would placate a brand-new audience. The fresh coat of paint helps to really bring out the horrors to life, and there’s a palpable sense of tension pervading each step that you take through the dingy smoke-infested corridors of the USG Ishimura. It’s definitely along the lines of Resident Evil in terms of the moment-to-moment experience, but Dead Space takes the lead in terms of the narrative which is arguably a lot more engaging and structured than other offerings.

Outlast

Red Barrel’s Outlast is a consistently thrilling ride through a menace-infested Asylum as you try to uncover its deepest secrets. Outlast boasts an incredible atmosphere that ensures that you are constantly being unnerved by disturbing imagery and weird sounds. The game has some great environmental storytelling, and the fact that you can’t really stand your ground against the many horrors that persist also serve to keep adrenaline levels high throughout. Adding to the horror is the distinct visual presentation that’s largely dominated by shades of green and black thanks to the night-vision camera.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Silicon Knights’ Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem easily stands tall as one of the most creative horror games of the last couple of generations, and a lot of that can be attributed to the many ingenious design tricks that the team uses to unnerve the player from the very core. You have a Sanity meter that continues to rise as you face the many horrors peppered throughout the game, and once you reach a certain level – the game starts to play tricks on you like lowering the volume or bugs starting to crawl on the screen and much more. The primitive visuals and tank-style controls do mean that the game hasn’t aged all that well, but Eternal Darkness was definitely one of the most horrifying games of its time.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Frictional Games’ Amnesia series is home to some of the best survival horror games of all time, and 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent definitely stands out amongst other entries in the franchise. Daniel’s story about recovering his lost memories whilst exploring a dark and desolate castle is one that will stay with you long after the credits roll, and Amnesia does a really good job with its thick atmosphere and jumpscares that never fail to keep you guessing.

Alien: Isolation

Creative Assembly delivered one of the most horrifying experiences of recent memory with Alien: Isolation, a game that manages to capture the essence of cat and mouse chase so perfectly over the course of its entire runtime. Its biggest achievement lies in the design of Xenormorph’s, which has its own independent AI brain that can sniff out the player based on what you did in previous runs. That element of uncertainty forces you to be dynamic with your survival strategy, which isn’t something that you can say about many traditional horror games. In addition to this, there’s also the story of Amanda Ripley who never fails to keep you glued to the edge of your screen at all times.

The most recent reviews for these games celebrate the titles and the work Tango Gameworks put into them, while at the same time also making sure to criticize Microsoft for its decision to close down the studio.

“RIP Tango Gameworks,” reads one review for The Evil Within.

“RIP Tango Gameworks and damn Microsoft and corporate greed, people lose their jobs and their passion because a greedy executive wants to buy themselves another yacht,” read another note.

The reviews for Hi-Fi Rush similarly reflect the sentiment, with one review reading “RIP Tango. No more The Evil Within 3 and Hi-Fi Rush 2 now.”

Microsoft announced the closure of Tango Gameworks, as well as other studios, including Arkane Austin, earlier this week.

HOUSE BENEVIENTO – RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE

Resident Evil Village was a theme park of horror, but no area of the game was quite as startlingly scary (especially on your first playthrough) as House Beneviento. Starting out as a quiet but creepy house full of dolls, it quickly devolves into a sequence where you’re running through the darkness while being chased by a giant, horrifying baby that wants to swallow you whole. It’s an absolutely terrifying sequence, and nothing in the game quite matches up to that focused intensity.

THE FRIGGING WORKBENCH – THE LAST OF US PART 2

The Last of Us Part 2 excels at keeping players on the edges of their seats, but while encounters against Stalkers or the boss fight against the Rat King are certainly heart-pounding moments, nothing in the game is as scary as that one damn workbench. You know the one we’re talking about. Throughout the entire game, workbenches are supposed to be a safe space where nothing will attack you, but just as Ellie begins tinkering with her weapons at that one particular bench, she’s quickly ambushed by attackers. It takes a while for your heart to stop trying to pound through your ribcage, and afterward, you never quite look at workbenches the same.

ANIMA ENCOUNTERS – THE EVIL WITHIN 2

The Evil Within 2 delivers a very distinct brand of horror throughout its runtime, and though the game is full of plenty of unforgettable moments on that front, it’s probably at its best when you’re faced with Anima. The haunting creature roaming the streets of Union is perhaps the game’s most terrifying enemy, from her ghastly appearance and the bone-chilling melody she sings to the fog that she brings with her and the fact that she can phase through walls and doors.

GETTING CAUGHT BY THE XENOMORPH – ALIEN: ISOLATION

It’s nearly impossible to think of many enemies in horror games that haunt players’ nightmares as vividly as Alien: Isolation’s Xenomorph does. The stalker foe is a menace for the vast majority of the experience, and having to avoid its attention is never anything short of being a harrowing ordeal. Always quick to react and shockingly intelligent, the Xenomorph is sure to make you jump right out of your skin every time you’re unlucky enough to be caught by it.

MR. X THROUGH THE WALL – RESIDENT EVIL 2

Speaking of stalker enemies that we still have traumatic flashbacks about, the Resident Evil 2 remake’s Mr. X is another iconic survival horror villain that has brought us dangerously close to several heart attacks. The game is filled with such moments, and none of them will catch you off-guard as violently as when the brutish Tyrant smashes through a wall to catch you unawares while you walk through the halls of the RPD building.

LISA ON THE BALCONY – P.T.

The fact that P.T. is considered to be one of the scariest games ever made in spite of the fact that it’s essentially just a demo should tell you something about how good it is at unsettling players. And that’s putting it mildly, honestly. A lot of that tension comes, of course, through Lisa, the ghostly apparition that haunts you every step of the way throughout the experience. Every appearance she makes is blood-curdling, but spotting her staring down at you from her perch up on the balcony is particularly horrifying.

AYUWOKI ENCOUNTERS – ESCAPE THE AYUWOKI

There’s a good chance that you haven’t heard of Escape the Ayuwoki, but as those who’ve played it will tell you, this is a genuinely nightmare-inducing game. It places you inside a haunted mansion where your goal is to explore your surroundings and solve puzzles so you can find a way to escape, all while constantly being stalked by a creature known as the Ayuwoki. From its unpredictable behaviour to its terrifying appearance to the game’s chilling atmosphere, every encounter with the Ayuwoki is sure to make your pulse shoot right up.

MEETING THE HUNTER – DEAD SPACE

From beginning to end, Dead Space keeps finding ways to make you jump out of your seat (or at least keep you on the edge of it), and nothing exemplifies the effectiveness of its brand of horror than your first encounter with the Hunter. Created as the result of a twisted experiment, the Hunter serves as a stalker enemy for brief sections of the game, and is, to say the very least, the stuff of nightmares. Watching it burn to a crisp later on in the game is quite a cathartic moment.

MARGUERITE BAKER – RESIDENT EVIL 7

Resident Evil 7 delivers more potent horror than any other game in the series has ever managed to do, thanks in large part to how intimately terrifying it makes every single one of its encounters feel. The Marguerite section is a great example of just that. Creeping through the old, decaying house while she roams its halls is scary enough as it is, and things only take a turn for the worse once she takes her hideous, spidery form. She’s also quite fond of jumping out at your out of nowhere when you least expect it, when is never pleasant, to say the very least.

GHOSTS THROUGH THE CAMERA – FATAL FRAME SERIES

Fatal Frame games hinge around one central concept- they force you to look directly at their scariest enemies in order to even know where they are. As a series, Fatal Frame has been inconsistent, but that one idea never quite loses its luster. Using the Camera Obscura to see what ghosts are in your vicinity is always terrifying, and it’s made even more so when you’re faced with the particularly gnarly foes.

CYNTHIA AND THE NURSING HOME – ALAN WAKE 2

Alan Wake 2 is brimming with sequences that can get your pulse racing (including plenty of jump scares), but no part in the game is as chilling as the nursing section. From the palpable atmosphere to the eerie environments you go through to how things progressively get more and more twisted as you progress further, this is where the game is at its absolute peak. Encountering Cynthia serves as an appropriately horrific crescendo for this sequence.

DON’T TURN AROUND – FROM THE DARKNESS

From the Darkness is another game that you may not have heard about, but boy can it get you to scream in terror when it really wants to. Throughout its short runtime of an hour and a half, it delivers plenty of those moments. One that stands out in memory sees you walking through dimly lit environments in search of tools, and just as you start believing that there might not be anything too dangerous around you for the time being, you turn around and are faced with a horrifying creature staring you right in the face. It’s… not pleasant, let’s just leave it at that.

LUCY ENCOUNTERS – VISAGE

Visage really came out of nowhere when it launched a few years ago, but was instantly recognized by many as one of the scariest games you’re ever going to play. That’s abundantly clear even in the very first chapter, which focuses on Lucy, a girl who died when she ripped her own jaw off after being tormented by a demon. Her backstory is a chilling one (which is putting it mildly), and encounters with her even more so.

KITCHEN SCENE – HELLSEED

Another lesser-known game, and one that’s probably more flawed than the vast majority of titles in this feature- but one that can surely get you to jump up in terror from time to time. One particular moment that is hard to forget sees you exploring a kitchen in the calm darkness, only for the music to suddenly grow startlingly intense out of nowhere. As soon as you turn around, you spot a ghastly, decrepit woman slowly walking in your direction, only for lights to completely go out for a second, before coming back on and showing you the scene of a calm and empty kitchen once again.

THE JEFF SEQUENCE – HALF-LIFE: ALYX

Despite not being a horror game, Half-Life: Alyx can be scarier than the scariest horror games out there. The sequence where you’re shuffling through cramped corridors while the undead monstrosity known as Jeffs lumbers around is probably the best example of that. This entire chapter is filled with moments that can make you jump right our of your skin, because no matter how many times you lay your eyes on him, nothing dulls the sheer terror of watching Jeff angrily advance in your direction.

Sunset Overdrive

Despite launching in 2014 as an Xbox One exclusive (eventually arriving for PC), Insomniac Games’ Sunset Overdrive is still a classic that deserves more recognition. Its humor may not be for everyone, but the bombastic style and presentation, over-the-top combat and fluid movement, which would go on to inspire Marvel’s Spider-Man, all combine seamlessly. Coupled with an open-world playground littered with stuff to do and a compelling story, it’s a shame that more people didn’t play it.

Prey

Arkane Austin is dragged for Redfall, rightfully given its quality, but also because of its previous effort, Prey. As a reboot of the Human Head Studios’ FPS, it’s an immersive sim with a unique sci-fi setting and moral consequences from the perspective of one Morgan Yu, stuck on the Talos 1 station. Unfortunately, despite its well-designed environments, nuanced gameplay and frighteningly intelligent Typhon enemies, it failed to really make an impact sales-wise. Nevertheless, it’s still one of the genre’s best.

The Evil Within 2

You have to give credit to Tango Gameworks. Following the reception to The Evil Within, it returned to the drawing board and crafted a sequel superior in almost every way. Better graphics, more memorable sequences and terrifying scares, vastly improved gameplay and a story continuation that made us care more about protagonist Sebastian Castellanos and his family. Of course, as the story goes, it saw underwhelming sales and faded into the background. On the bright side, at least the developer bounced back and saw massive success with Hi-Fi Rush.

Days Gone

Bend Studio’s Days Gone is an interesting case – it sold millions, but many never tried it out until it came to PC and was offered free on PlayStation Plus. Its critical reception also left much to be desired, especially considering the high bar of PlayStation exclusives. Those who gave it a chance found a compelling open-world zombie shooter with interesting activities and an intriguing protagonist (despite some horrendous writing in sections). Fans still lament what could have been following reports of a proposed sequel being canned.

Nex Machina

Nex Machina is the final hurrah to Housemarque’s arcade shoot ’em ups and bullet hell titles (or so we thought at the time). A twin-stick shooter that combined elements from Robotron and Smash TV, even bringing on original designer Eugene Jarvis as a creative consultant, it offered gorgeous voxel graphics and fast-paced, intense action. Critics may have embraced it, but the sales said otherwise, leading to Housemarque famously stating that “Arcade is dead.” Fortunately, it didn’t stray far from its roots when it delivered the acclaimed Returnal for PS5.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

With all the high-profile exclusives on the GameCube, from Metroid Prime to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, it’s a miracle that various third-party titles stood out. Silicon Knights’ Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem sadly wasn’t quite there, despite combining a long-running horror saga with multiple protagonists with an innovative Sanity system that messed with player perception in a fourth-wall-breaking fashion. Even with rave reviews for its story, mechanics and scares, it never received as much attention as the genre’s greats. Hopes for a sequel were buried long ago, but when it comes to compelling horror stories in video games, Eternal Darkness is still one of the greats.

Oxenfree

All these years later, and even with a sequel, the original Oxenfree remains as compelling and unique as ever. The story of Alex, who ventures to Edwards Island with her friends, alternates between teen drama and compelling supernatural mystery with incredibly well-written dialogue. Even better is the dynamic dialogue, allowing one to respond however they wish, leading to different results (and endings). Memorable stories come and go in the games industry, but Oxenfree’s deserves to be highlighted more.

Jusant

In this era of climbing games, where many emphasize the difficulty and frustration that comes from falling down on all that you’ve ever known, DON’T NOD’s Jusant hits differently. Despite its post-environmental disaster world, it offers a relaxing and meditative vibe as you scale a mysterious rock and attempt to piece together the history of its residents. With responsive controls and interesting platforming challenges that never get frustrating, Jusant is a remarkably chilled-out time.

Stories Untold

You probably heard of No Code for their work on the upcoming Silent Hill: Townfall, but horror adventure Stories Untold remains their most memorable work. It’s a surreal experience, seemingly starting as a series of standalone episodes before connecting incredibly. With unorthodox mechanics, including the player playing someone playing an old-school PC adventure game, Stories Untold is unlike anything else out there.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

Falcom’s Kiseki series has always been considered an RPG series with a lower budget, but it made for it with strong characters and writing. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky exemplified this best, introducing us to a fantasy world with airships and magic (but in a more grounded fashion). As Estelle Bright, players embark on a journey to become a full-fledged bracer, joined by Joshua and encountering all kinds of characters and occurrences along the way. Despite a slow start, the first game offers an amazingly realized world, a solid battle system with challenging fights, and an incredible soundtrack that’s still memorable

Mad Max

Another post-apocalyptic open-world title that didn’t quite land with several critics, Mad Max was still a strong adaptation of the source material. Players scoured the wasteland, engaging in vehicular battles while scavenging for parts, but ventured on foot to interact with various survivors and infiltrate strongholds for some solid beat ’em up action. Despite how monotonous the environments could get, it was still worth checking out for fans.

CrossCode

With its 16-bit style visuals and addictive hack-and-slash combat, CrossCode is already one of the best action RPGs few have ever played. However, it also offers a massive world with dozens of hours of gameplay, a great story that plays with established MMO tropes, and one of the more well-written protagonists out there. Coupled with a fantastic soundtrack, it’s a wonder that CrossCode doesn’t have more players.

Tacoma

Gone Home from Fullbright understandably isn’t for everyone, but Tacoma, a sci-fi title focused on rewinding and reviewing conversations in an abandoned space station, is definitely worth checking out. The conversations in question occur via Augmented Reality, leading to the exploration of different spaces at different times of the recording to piece together what happened. It’s an engrossing mystery and a solid adventure title that deserves more attention.

Vanquish

While everyone talks about Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising and NieR: Automata, PlatinumGames’ Vanquish is nearly forgotten. It’s a shame because despite the corny story and voice acting, it offered a new take on cover-based shooting, with rocket-powered sliding encouraging one to reposition quickly. Slow-mo allowed for more precise shooting while memorable boss fights and scenarios added some style to the proceedings.

As Dusk Falls

Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger, and some parts could have been better, but as a narrative title about two families inspired by the likes of Fargo, As Dusk Falls is an intriguing adventure from INTERIOR/NIGHT. Players make decisions at different moments, causing the plot to branch extensively, and every little choice and QTE has an impact. With solid acting and writing, its story is begging for a continuation and an expansion of the unique presentation.