Key takeaways
- Horror games vary in combat mechanics, with some offering defense mechanisms while others rely solely on escape.
- Encounters with monsters in games like Outlast and Amnesia often lead to instant death, providing intense fear.
- Games like Resident Evil and Alien: Isolation feature Dr. Features merciless enemies like Salvador and xenomorphs for players to avoid.
Horror games are designed to instill fear in any player who dares to enter their haunted halls with atmosphere, audio, and monster design. In some cases, players are given tools to protect themselves as they explore the dilapidated environment, and can even heal after taking damage to protect themselves from the cold and unyielding grip of death.
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Combat-focused horror games
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But not all developers practice the same compassion, and in certain games, each stage welcomes the terrifying prospect of meeting their demise. These monsters aren't going to give their prey a chance to escape, and encountering one can mean the end for players unless they can escape before experiencing death's cruel embrace.
6 The last of us
If the clicker catches the player, it is game over
- issued
- June 14, 2013
- OpenCritic rating
- the mighty
The last of us was a resounding success, shattering everyone's expectations and resulting in a true masterpiece. In a world where a fungal parasite has turned many people into zombie-like creatures, leading to the collapse of society, people flock to the slums to find something resembling life. A glimmer of hope is seen in Ellie, who seems to be immune to the infection, and with her, it may be possible to synthesize a cure.
Their journey to doctors capable of making the vaccine is long and arduous, which means passing through some truly dangerous places inhabited by infected creatures known as clickers. These mushroom people get their name from the clicking sounds they make, which they use as echolocation, as their distortion makes them blind and terrifying to watch. If players are unlucky enough to be caught by one of these creatures, they can quickly join them to death.
5 Outlast
Depending on the difficulty, all enemy encounters are deadly
- issued
- November 4, 2013
- OpenCritic rating
- strong
Outlast In 2013 horror arrived on the scene in fashion, with its asylum setting and very rarefied horror players. Players will spend most of their time as reporter Miles holding his camera and in night-vision mode to see what horrors are headed their way, until they have the misfortune of running out of batteries.
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Good horror games create characters that are absolutely terrifying, and the Outlast series managed to give us figures to run and hide.
The poor wretches left to rot within the asylum are not at all dangerous for miles, but they are the deadliest danger. Enemies like the infamous Chris Walker won't play around when capturing the player, and instead cut off their adventure there and then. And on Crazy Difficulty, every potential enemy is an unstoppable force that will prematurely end Miles' research and his life.
4 Resident Evil Village
House Benevento's mini-boss is notorious for more than just its hideous design
Resident Evil Village
- issued
- May 7, 2021
- OpenCritic rating
- the mighty
Resident Evil Having matured and grown since the first title was released in the 90s, it is one of the longest-running horror gaming franchises of all time. Starring creepy protagonists like Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the series went on to introduce Ethan Winters, a family man searching for his wife Mia. Resident Evil 7And then on her kidnapped daughter Rosemary Resident Evil : Village.
Divided into four parts and each part assigned to four lords, Ethan meets each of them, and defeats them in hopes of tying his daughter together. One of these lords is Donna Benevento, who relies on terrifying illusions to thwart her enemies. While exploring the haunted house, Ethan comes face to face with a giant and deformed child that screams for him as he runs through the hallways hoping to escape. A child cannot be defeated with a weapon, leaving the only option is to run and hide. But if the players fall into the child's row, they will immediately be swallowed whole, with no second chance given.
3 Amnesia: The Bunker
Darkness is a death sentence
- issued
- May 16, 2023
- OpenCritic rating
- strong
Amnesia is a long-celebrated indie horror franchise that rose to fame with its debut game dark lineage, Each of its games is inhabited by cold terror and brutal monsters. Encountering any monster Amnesia A trend continues, always resulting in a grizzly end the bunker.
Set during WW1, French soldier Henri escapes enemy bombing and becomes the safety and shelter of a bunker, only to find himself trapped there with something far more dangerous than enemy troops. Known as the Beast, this creature thrives in its dark habitat, killing anyone who has the misfortune of falling into its path. Darkness is the ally of demons, creating a dangerous and terrifying environment for the player. Light can probably keep it at bay, but once they draw its ire, its lights go out.
2 Alien: Alienation
Xenomorph It's unstoppably deadly
- issued
- October 7, 2014
- OpenCritic rating
- strong
Based on the popular horror movie series, it shares a name, Alien: Alienation Taking place between the first and second movies, Ellen Ripley's daughter stars as she searches for answers about her mothers disappearance during her mission on the Nostromo. After hearing that the ship's flight recorder has been salvaged and that the space station is stationed at Sevastopol, she boards the station and finds more than she bargained for.
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Along with robbers and androids, there is a much bigger threat that fans of the series are afraid to face: the xenomorph. This fearsome creature stalks through the structure, reacting to any sound it hears and attacking the source without mercy. While a flamethrower can also keep the creature at bay, it remains a deadly threat that is an instant death sentence for the unprepared.
1 Resident Evil 4
The terrifying Dr. Salvador brutally kills his victims
- Platform(s)
- PS4, PS3, PS2, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, Wii, Nintendo GameCube, PC, Android, iOS
- issued
- January 11, 2005
- OpenCritic rating
- strong
Nothing could be simpler for Leon S. Kennedy. What should be a simple evacuation mission turns into a nightmare for both him and his payload, Ashley Graham. As the president's daughter, her safety is of the utmost importance, and only Leon stands between her and the army of infected villagers. They are also infected by Las Plagas which Sadler aspires to spread the parasite around the world.
In order to get them both out safely, Leon will have to fight through a whole cornucopia of monsters, cultists and ganados. As a trained agent, Leon has the necessary expertise to handle most of them, though he meets his match when Dr. Salvador arrives on the scene, relighting his chainsaw. One of the fastest-moving enemies of how dangerous those villagers can be, he's a terrifying example, and if he gets too close, he can take Leon's head off with just one swipe.
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