Playing video games is great because they often provide the player with a truly immersive experience. Horror video games are therefore an essential part of the video game experience. The ability to scare you - a feeling that really feels like it's happening to you - is something special that only video games can do.
Lucky for you, there are plenty of good horror games on the market if you're in the mood to get scared. Sure, there are plenty of great franchises to play, but there are also quite a few independent game publishers who are developing their own iconic and memorable creeps.
To help get your blood pumping and your scares going, we've listed eight of the scariest video games of the moment for you. All you have to do is press play - if you dare.
1. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
BEST OVERALL
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard marks a significant shift in the franchise by the way it presents itself. The RE series has traditionally been a third-person series, but 7 shifted the action to the first-person and placed you in increasingly cramped spaces; the action is more claustrophobic, but placing the gameplay in the first-person only intensifies that terror. As a result, the game plays like a more traditional horror game before taking on more of the characteristics of the RE series.
The real highlight of Biohazard, however, is its PlayStation VR functionality. Playing the game in virtual reality makes it truly terrifying and makes you feel like you're actually in the middle of it. And by replacing the traditional zombies with mutated humans, the horror of the game only intensifies. So play it ... if you dare.
Buy: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
2. The Evil Within 2
BEST CONTINUED
An open-world sequel to the first game, The Evil Within 2 focuses on Detective Sebastian Castellanos who returns to the hell of the first game when it turns out that his daughter may still be alive. The game balances third-person shooting action with a specific focus on survival.
As Sebastian dives deeper into this world, he meets numerous disturbing characters as an intense psychological thriller unfolds. It's definitely worth your time even if you haven't played the first game, and it's an excellent sequel. It's also a bit like Resident Evil, if you like that.
Buy: The Evil Within 2
3. Alien: Isolation
BEST IP TITLE
Ridley Scott's Alien is one of the most iconic horror films of all time, with the famous statement, "In space, no one will hear you scream." Playing Alien: Isolation, however, is likely to trigger multiple bursts of pure terror. In the 2014 video game, you take on the role of Amanda Ripley (yes, the daughter of Ellen Ripley) as she searches for the flight recorder of the ship from the original Alien. Once you arrive at the space station, Amanda encounters a Xenomorph and must survive accordingly.
Isolation follows the tone and spirit of Ridley Scott's original film and emphasizes survival gameplay. You sneak through the station in a first-person perspective as you dodge, outwit and defeat enemies. However, the Xenomorph cannot be defeated, so you must flee to survive. It's a truly horrifying feeling that gives way to true terror.
Buy: Alien: Isolation
4. The Last of Us
BEST CONSOLE TITLE
You've probably heard of The Last of Us, as it's one of the most acclaimed video game series of all time and soon to be an HBO series with Pedro Pascal of The Mandalorian. The game revolves around a post-apocalyptic world that has been overrun by some kind of mutated fungus, which turns people into creepy-looking zombies and causes you to not be able to trust the remaining people.
The Last of Us, a third-person action game, may not be scary enough for some people reading this list, but it's still full of suspense, horror and one of the most compellingly told stories in video game history. Plus, when you're done with this, you can jump right into The Last of Us 2 to continue the adventure.
Buy: The Last of Us
5. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
BEST INDIE
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a first-person adventure game with horror elements and tells the story of Daniel, who wakes up in the empty halls of a castle with no memory of how he got there or who he is. From there, Daniel must explore the castle in search of who he is, while also unraveling the mystery of the castle.
As Daniel walks through the castle, he encounters horrific creatures, but all he can do is run away or hide from them. With no options to remove the threats, the tension is especially high. Moreover, Amnesia saves many of its best scares for moments when you think you're safe, which means you're never quite safe. The title was released in 2010 by independent games publisher Frictional Games, which specializes in making horror games.
Buy: Amnesia: The Dark Descent
6. Dead Space
BEST CLASSIC
As systems engineer Isaac Clarke, you must power a mining ship in deep space. Only, the problem is that the ship is crawling with the undead. Appropriately titled Dead Space in 2008, Dead Space was almost universally praised for its suspenseful gameplay and inspiring ways of taking on the dead. Using your tech tools, you dissect all sorts of creepy crawlies scurrying about the ship. The series was supposed to grow into an entire trilogy.
However, it was recently announced that publisher EA Games is working on a next-gen remaster of the beloved horror classic. The new version will reportedly bring players "an enhanced story, characters, gameplay mechanics and more as they fight to survive a living nightmare aboard the desolate mining starship, the USG Ishimura, all while unraveling the terrible mystery of what happened to the slaughtered crew and ship." So if you missed it now, you might want to wait for the next-gen update.
Buy: Dead Space
7. Layers of Fear
BEST PUZZLE GAME
In Layers of Fear, you take on the role of a painter who has been tasked with finishing his masterpiece. Only, the more you work on the painting, the more your mental state begins to fail. Throughout the game, you experience hallucinations about the painter's troubled and disturbing past. The fears in Layers of Fear come from the sudden and shifting environments, how one thing is still there one moment and gone the next. You're never sure what to expect, and that provides plenty of opportunities to be frightened. It's a decidedly atypical approach to a horror video game and one that will stay with you for a long time.
Buy: Layers of Fear
