Sure, horror flicks are great, but you know what can really get your blood pumping? Horror video games – a subgenre of games that are only growing in popularity, with fear junkies clamoring to get their hands on the best horror games on PS5, the Nintendo Switch, and other platforms.
While horror games often share key characteristics – a nightmarish setting, gloomy colors, and a pervading sense of doom – they can vary wildly in content and theme. Read on (if you dare) to find out what horror game is best suited to your particular brand of masochism.
If You’re A Gore Fanatic: Resident Evil 2
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Blood and guts may be a turnoff for some players, but for others, it only adds to the fun. All Resident Evil games are gory, but Resident Evil 2 might just take the blood-spattered cake. In this remake of the 1998 original, you’ll play as rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield, who must fight their way out of a city rampant with bloodthirsty zombies. The game’s sharpened graphics and over-the-shoulder camerawork mean there’s no escape from the endless parade of zombie entrails being sprayed across your screen, but if this ocean’s worth of wet blood somehow isn’t enough for you, there’s always the rest of the franchise to fall back on.
Buy Resident Evil 2 on Amazon
If You’re Into Paranormal Activity: The Medium
Ever wanted to communicate with spirits? Well, get a taste of the malevolent supernatural being haunting every frame of The Medium, and you might start regretting that wish. As Polish spirit-medium, Marianne, you’ll trace the story of the mysterious Niwa massacre while toggling between two worlds – real and spirit – both filled with their own sickening secrets.
The narrative is twisted, but what will really spike your adrenalin is the gradual realization that neither realm is safe. The Medium is suffused with perpetual anxiety about the future, mingled with a constant dread of the past. In other words, it’s the perfect cocktail for paranormal fans.
Buy The Medium on Amazon
If You’re A Fan Of Jump Scares: Tormented Souls
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If you love leaping out of your chair in fright, this one’s for you. Tormented Souls follows protagonist, Caroline Walker, as she investigates the mysterious disappearance of two twin girls from an eerie mansion-turned-hospital, where creepy creatures lurk in the shadows, and you never know what’s coming next. Tormented Souls doesn’t overload you on jump scares, preferring to keep you in a near-constant state of anxiety, but when there is a shock, it’s so well-timed that you’ll likely end up hurling your controller against the wall out of sheer panic. The use of Dutch-tilt camera angles adds another layer of tension to this unsettling thrill ride.
Buy Tormented Souls on Amazon
If Aliens Freak You Out (In A Good Way): Alien: Isolation
Ellen Ripley may have been able to keep a cool head in the face of space-based terror, but don’t be so sure you will do the same. Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game set 15 years after the events of the 1979 film Alien. You’ll play as engineer Amanda Ripley, Ellen’s daughter, who investigates her mother’s disappearance while using stealth tactics to stave off the Alien creature hot on her tail.
Alien: Isolation stays true to everything that made the original Alien great, such as its shadowy, misty graphics and resourceful female protagonist, but it also adds its own subtle twists, like the slight shifts in sound that give players clues as to where the Alien is lurking. You may feel on edge at every moment, but you’ll gain new appreciation for the horrors of space, not to mention a classic franchise.
Buy Alien Isolation on Amazon
If You Like High-Tech Horror: Observer: System Redux
Science fiction and horror go hand in hand, and you’ll never feel the chilling effects of technology more than in Observer: System Redux. In this upgraded version of 2017’s Observer, you’ll play as detective Daniel Lazarski, who investigates a murder in an apartment complex crammed with creepy characters. The twist? Thanks to your cybernetic abilities — it is 2084, after all — you’re able to hack into the minds of suspects and victims alike, exploring their deepest fears and reliving their final moments. When you uncover the dark depravity buried in their brains, there’s no doubt it’ll make your skin crawl.
Buy Observer: System Redux on Amazon
Whatever your tastes – zombies, aliens, even animatronic animals inhabiting a pizza restaurant – there’s no doubt you can find a game that caters to them perfectly. Just don’t forget the most crucial element to consider when purchasing any horror game: above all else, it has to be scary. There’s just something about the torturous pleasure of being terrified that keeps us coming back for more.
