The horror genre has gone through a period of severe crisis in recent years. In particular we refer to the triple A, since it is undeniable that the indie scene has instead been flooded with productions: from the boom of Outlast to games such as Friday the 13th: The Game. In recent years, however, things have changed a bit, thanks to the return in style of Capcom and of the teacher Shinji Mikami. It seems that the scene is once again ready to offer some of the best horror games ever, we can only wait confidently for good news from these talented authors and development houses.
In this article, therefore, we are going to select the best horror games, examining the last six years of releases, practically all of the current generation. Before starting, we suggest that you also take a look at the best narrative games.
The best horror games
- Resident Evil Village Gold Edition
- The Quarry
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Dying Light 2
- house of ashes
- Alan Wake
- Little nightmares ii
- Resident Evil 2
- Resident Evil 7
- Remothered
- Alien Isolation
- The Evil Within
- Outlast
The Quarry
The Quarry, developed by Supermassive Games, is a teen horror adventure that allows players to control different characters and decide their fate through different moral choices. Together or with a group of friends, therefore, you will be able to enjoy a more than satisfactory horror experience, which takes up the good things done with the very popular Until Dawn and with The Dark Pictures Anthology; a set of definitely winning ingredients.
If the horror genre and, more generally, related to storytelling, is what you prefer, well, you have no excuses: The Quarry is definitely for you!
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Ghostwire: Tokyo
Master Shinji Mikami didn't work on it himself: he supervised the project and provided creative support to his team, finally declaring that it may have been the last horror project for him to participate in. News that displeases all fans, since we are talking about the Father of Resident Evil. That said, Ghostwire: Tokyo is an intriguing open world with a horror background featuring an extraordinary and fascinating setting. A disturbing and exciting production, which despite not distorting the genre or the open world structure used, amazes and will make fans of the best horror games happy.
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Dying Light 2
It's true, it's true, Dying Light 2 is not pure horror, does not try to scare the player with anxiety-provoking solutions. It's a fun action game, which makes parkour the backbone of the experience. Despite this, some moments of pure tension sometimes emerge: at night, for example, the world of Dying Light 2 changes radically, becoming very dangerous to navigate. The infected, therefore, manage to convey a little fear, and we are sure that lovers of thrills, zombie stories and highly adrenaline-pumping moments will find bread for their teeth.
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house of ashes
Third chapter of the Dark Picture Anthology collection, House of Ashes is a cooperative and story driven horror which allows you to play both locally and online: Up to five players locally, up to two online.
The peculiarity is that, especially locally, each player will control a different character and will be free to make his choices. Even online, House of Ashes turns out to be a very particular adventure: the two players will not necessarily have to occupy the same portion of the screen; exactly like in A Way Out, players will be able to face diametrically opposite situations, at the same time.
Horror lovers listening, take advantage, the experience is really curious. Also, should you like it a lot, you can retrieve a collection that contains all three episodes released at the moment, waiting for the last two.
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Alan Wake
However loved and essential, Alan Wake is a controversial game. Perhaps it will be due to its somewhat troubled development, due to the attempted open world approach then withdrawn in the running ... we will never know, nevertheless something really does not add up. In any case, however, Alan Wake, much more than Quantum Break, embodies the spirit of Remedy: there's a Sam Lake in shape and full of love for writing, original gameplay to the right point, if a little repetitive, and an experience that, overall, flows well.
What better way to recover it than by purchasing the remastered designed for current generation consoles? RTX and HDR are missing, but the work done on the graphics sector seems discreet, considering that the engine used has remained the same as the original version.
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Resident Evil Village Gold Edition
Resident Evil Village, released last year, has convinced critics and the public. The eighth chapter of the famous Horror saga signed by Capcom is a first person game with rather marked action dynamics and a strong exploratory component. On the occasion of the release of the very first, and also the last, expansion of the game, which will put us in the shoes of Ethan's children, Capcom has seen fit to release a complete edition called Gold Edition, which contains: the ability to play the main campaign in the third person; a new campaign as Rose, Ethan's daughter; a mercenary mode enriched with lots of new levels and characters.
In short, if, up to now, you have not yet had the opportunity to play Resident Evil Village, doing it now on the occasion of this complete edition is worth it.
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Little nightmares ii
Coming out next February 11, Little Nightmares II is the sequel to one of the most original and acclaimed horror video games of the last generation.
This second chapter is obviously aimed at players who have already had the opportunity to appreciate the prequel, not surprisingly an atmosphere returns – always wonderful – quite recognizable in the eyes of enthusiasts.
Also, to top it all off, we point out the presence of a coop mode, which allows two players to face the nightmare together.
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Resident Evil 2 Remake
Do you have any idea what it's like to become a classic twice? Way back in 1998, the adventure of Leon e Clear terrified and amazed every single owner of PlayStation. After the excellent first chapter set in Spencer Villa, the saga first moved to the chaotic streets of Raccoon City and then inside what today is one of the most iconic and present places in the collective memory of the players: the police station. You understand well that, after the success of this title, the announcement of remake could not go unnoticed. We all awaited him with the greatest impatience and, when he was finally released, many positive acclaims followed including ours, which we clearly invite you to read.
Well yes, after a R evil 7 courageous and capable of bringing the brand back into fashion, he really thought about it R evil 2 to take back the scepter, now too long absent. This precious restoration operation is not only capable of intelligently winking at the fans, for new players it presents itself as a completely new and satisfying adventure, a perfect mix of old-fashioned horror and gameplay mechanics belonging to the present day , despite the presence of somewhat awkward movements which increase discomfort and insecurity.
If you have never played it, neither the original nor the remake, we recommend them both, since one does not exclude the other; despite the arrival of remake, it is always a good thing not to forget the original work. Indeed, we will tell you more: if it were up to us, we would insert the original work in every operation of this type, so that everyone could recover it and perhaps appreciate the work even more. Today, by the way, the remake it is really cheap, so we seriously advise you to try it.
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Resident Evil 7
Arriving at a time of absolute turmoil for the franchise, the seventh Biohazard has brought the series back to the crest of the wave, thanks to an artfully packaged product capable of mimicking the first Silent Hill and the very classic Resident Evil. The perspective then underwent yet another change: after the transition from fixed cameras to the third person, we arrived at the subjective, making it possible to experience horror to play even in VR.
Even the narrative component knows its stuff: after a very tense incipit, you will have to deal with a family that has fallen into disgrace, struck down by a plague that we will leave you the pleasure of discovering.
We are talking about an absolute must in the genre, so if you have never played it, even in view of Resident Evil 8, we advise you to do so.
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Remothered
Definitely less noble than the series R Evil or the new intriguing projects of Shinji Mikami, Remothered, the adventure created by Chris Darril and companions, could not fail to be included in this article.
This project born with the intention of paying homage to the great classics of the past (a bit like the latest effort by Invader Studios, daymare: 1998), embodies the essence of 90s horror, but builds a strong and well-structured story around it, truly capable of intriguing until the end. Furthermore, and this is perhaps the element that made us appreciate it so much, it violently drives away every typical stereotype of the genre, from the super policeman to the well-endowed woman. In Remothered we control a common lady and, rather than wink at much more famous video games, she prefers to be inspired by cinematography, therefore by projects such as Do not open that door, The dawn of the Living Dead e Saw – The Riddler.
The Spanish gaming landscape needs projects like this, so do yourself a favor and give it a try.
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Alien Isolation
donate to Alien a respectable videogame transposition, it wasn't easy. The Creative Assembly, the masterminds behind the development of Aliens: Insulation, has managed to package a solid product from start to finish, full of exciting gimmicks and extraordinary moments of pure terror. One of the most successful aspects of the project is in fact the artificial intelligence of the alien, always unpredictable and unable to offer moments of tranquillity. In short, you will always be breathing down your neck, ready to jump off your chair.
The entire game setting is truly appreciable, honorable mention for the interlude sequences and for the extraordinary lighting system, effective also in the recent version Nintendo Switch. Old school mechanics and limited saves complete the package; a wonderful survival experience.
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The Evil Within
This generation of consoles has not only seen the return in style of Capcom. Also Shinji Mikami, Father of the saga of R Evil, is back – under the wing of Bethesda – with a new IP: The Evil Within.
From a strictly narrative point of view, the adventure of Sebastian Castilians, the protagonist of the game, has an edge over many other exponents of the genre: crazy, sick and visceral, the tale of The Evil Within it is extremely peculiar and courageous, it confuses the user from start to finish, surprises them with excellent revelations and terrifies them on many occasions. Furthermore, the idea of tackling delicate issues such as illness, treatment and schizophrenia makes the story even more mature and overwhelming, especially if we experience all of this through the eyes of a grieving policeman attached to the bottle. In fact, this is the real strength of the game Mikami: unlike other titles belonging to the same genre, there are no heroes or superstars, only men and human sensations, so as to facilitate the relationship between the player and the protagonist. Fortunately, then, in support there is also a gameplay yes, sometimes not very refined and crude, relying a little too much on trial and error, but also capable of satisfying.
True, the sequel The Evil Within 2 in some aspects it is a significantly better product than its predecessor, also because it was able to completely drive away the quotationism in favor of a more characteristic production capable of distinguishing itself, although there are references to other titles. However, all that aura of mystery, the courageous themes and the presence of a crazy and unforgettable story have been lost, so we feel like recommending the first chapter. After all, once finished, you could consider buying the second one.
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Outlast
We close our roundup with another title belonging to the indie scene, after all, horror has forcefully moved over there.
Developed and published by Red Level Barrels, a company made up of people formerly involved in the development of titles such as Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell e Uncharted, Outlast it was greatly appreciated and within a short time it gained a warm fan base. Its sequel went slightly worse, but despite this it still managed to establish itself.
It certainly doesn't boast the care of other exponents of the genre, but it remains an experience recommended to all enthusiasts.
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How to choose the best horror games
As we also reiterated at the beginning, the horror genre, just like that of pure stealth, has been somewhat lost in recent years. In the recent period, there are more games that try to hybridize a horror component within them, rather. The birth of real triple A horror games is therefore less widespread but, despite this, there is certainly no shortage of noteworthy experiences, absolutely comparable to the best horror games available in circulation.
What are horror games?
But what are horror games? Well, if you are not used to dealing with games related to this genre, it is legitimate to ask. After all, also thanks to the various streamers and content creators, the idea you might have of these games could be really far from reality. The most common mistake, in fact, is to think that they are titles without action and in which you control a helpless character who must do everything to escape from the clutches of the scary super villain. Sometimes that's the case, it's true, and titles like Outlast or Alien Isolation come close to this definition, although they don't quite espouse it.
On the other hand, however, there are games like Resident Evil or The Evil Within which, starting from an action game base, also integrate a horror and anxiety-provoking component within them. And they are the ones that are the most popular, at least in the triple A area. Furthermore, games of this type often include a lot of puzzle solving and backtracking: a continuous going back and forth in the areas previously explored by the players, which change over time offering new exploration opportunities. As can be understood, therefore, they are very varied titles that, only rarely, play at being a constant and anxiety-provoking escape from the enemy of the moment. It is trivially necessary to carefully select the most suitable title for your palate, after which, despite some modern introductions and breaks with the past, you will be ready to enjoy some of the best horror games on the market.
A genre that is less and less present and pure?
We have partially mentioned this before. Unfortunately, also due to a triple A market which offers less and less discounts and which tries in every way to satisfy the whims of the players, titles that are purely similar to the genre are disappearing more and more. What you can do, if you are really interested, is to go back in time and recover great horror films of the past such as Silent Hill 2, or move completely to the indie scene, which sees - annually - the arrival of several interesting productions. Outlast, just to give an example, comes from that world.
However, even less scary and more hybridized experiences with other genres still manage to have their say in the panorama: Resident Evil 2 Remake and also the exceptional Resident Evil 7 prove it, games that are not only focused on fright, but still worthy of terrorizing with inspired creatures, excellent settings and excellent sound design.
How we picked the best horror games
To select the best horror games available on the market we embarked on a journey through time, fishing for everything good that has arrived in the horror scene. We have given great priority to the hottest names, but we have absolutely not avoided the indie scene and lesser-known titles by those who only navigate the triple A streets. Furthermore, as already extensively described above and driven by the market, we have - inevitably - included titles that may seem distant from the genre, which above all have other components inside them, even before the horror one.
Choose the ones that best suit your palate! Having said that, especially to the youngest among you, we suggest that you also take a serious and in-depth look at the titles of the past, which we have told and described in this article. We refer to experiences such as the aforementioned Silent Hill 2.
