Top 50 Best Survival Horror Games of All Time

I’m just going to cut right to the chase. I love survival horror games. It’s one of my most favorite genres, and I basically grew up on them. Today (with Halloween quickly incoming) I wanted to highlight my favorite ones for anyone looking to get into the spirit. So here today I present to you the top 50 best survival horror games of all time. Now here’s the list!

#50. – Alone in the Dark

Capcom likes to claim that their own Sweet Home was the inspiration for the original Resident Evil but anyone who has played Alone in the Dark knows that’s poppycock. This game originated on the PC but the home port to the 3DO is the version I’ve played, and is clearly the best iteration. The game uses fixed camera angles, tank controls, and per genre standard awkward combat. It’s not all bad though because this one features an incredible soundtrack and downright spooky atmosphere. Alone in the Dark is clunky, but I’ll be darned if it isn’t incredibly memorable and haunting.

#49. – Blue Stinger

This Dreamcast launch game is a bit light on the horror elements but satisfying enough to include on this list. Blue Stinger is pretty goofy but I have a soft place in my heart for it. This isn’t exactly a game you’ll find to be scary, but resource management is a key player here. The fact that you can purchase weapons, ammunition, and healing items diminishes some of the survival aspects though. There’s also a decided lack of enemies jumping out at the player. Blue Stinger is a bit clunky and it’s rough around the edges, but I like it plenty.

#48. – Evil Dead: Hail to the King

I love the Evil Dead. The original film, and even the two sequels rank among my favorite horror films. I was beyond jazzed when a survival horror game based upon them was announced. Myself and a friend sat down with Evil Dead: Hail to the King when it released and played through start to finish. I was disappointed to find this one had so many negative reviews because, while it does have issues, it’s pretty neat if you ask me. Think Resident Evil meets Evil Dead 2. The biggest drawback is the frustrating gameplay and high difficulty but big franchise fans will grin and bear it. Evil Dead: Hail to the King may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but in my opinion it’s one of the best survival horror games of all time.

#47. – Cursed Mountain

When the Nintendo Wii was announced I was expecting the survival horror genre to have a big presence on the console. Motion controls lend themselves perfectly to jump scares, after all. I was ultimately disappointed, but that doesn’t mean a few developers didn’t have the right idea. Cursed Mountain was a game designed for the hardware, and it makes great use of the controller. You guide a mountain climber who stumbles upon a haunted monastery in Tibet. You have a flashlight (which you aim using the Wii remote) and are required to draw symbols on the screen. That’s all a distraction though as you’re constantly attacked by ghosts and it’s fairly chilling to be honest.

#46. – Carrier

Before Code Veronica early adopters of the Sega Dreamcast had Carrier to meet their survival horror needs. It did a pretty good job even if at its core the game does feel like a Resident Evil clone. That’s not a bad thing by any means because RE is the most popular franchise across the entire genre. Carrier throws you into a more sci-fi setting than your typical zombie shooter. It uses the classic tank controls with combat (which has some nice quality of life improvements over RE) and light puzzles. It sure is a Resident Evil clone, but it’s a well made one.

#45. – Extermination

Speaking of Resident Evil clones next up is Extermination. It’s only slightly more inventive than it’s name is. Fortunately I don’t expect these games to re-invent the wheel every time. Extermination plays like your typical survival horror game. Wander through labyrinthine environments (in this case on a base in Antarctica), defeat foes, find keys, solve puzzles, and get the girl (well, not so much that last one). Where Extermination stands out is in its infection meter. On top of a regular health bar our protagonist also has an infection meter. Enemies both do damage to and infect your character when they attack, and when he’s completely infected his max health is lowered and constantly depletes. It’s a pretty neat system I’m surprised hasn’t been replicated more.

#44. – Five Nights at Freddy’s

If you’ve heard of just one game on this list chances are it’s Five Nights at Freddy’s. This phenomenon absolutely blew up and bred numerous sequels since then. Five Nights at Freddy’s is far from your typical survival horror title. In this game you’re stuck in one position; sitting in an office of a pizzeria featuring performing animatronic characters. You have limited control and can only shut the electric doors leading to the room you’re in, and check the cameras around the restaurant. You’ll need to keep track of things because at night the animatronics walk around and try to murder you. Hence the electrical doors, but the thing is, they have limited use because you’re only allotted a certain amount of electricity every night. The jump scares are intense, the lore is mesmerizing, and the game is atmospheric as heck. It’s clearly one of the best survival horror games.

#43. – Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

This was one of the more interesting remakes of its generation in my opinion. Silent Hill Shattered Memories is a re-imagining of the original story that takes a lot of liberties with it but is interesting in its own regard. There’s an interesting focus now on the cold. The original town of Silent Hill was damp and foggy, and this new one is snow covered and freezing. Also, occasionally everything freezes over and our protagonist is chased by mutated monsters. Did I mention he has no weapons this time around? That’s kind of important. The name of the game here is running just as fast as you can away from all incoming foes. This game is downright scary, and although it has an entirely different atmosphere from the original Silent Hill it’s still great in its own respect. It’s the best survival horror game when it comes to the Wii.

#42. – The Evil Within 2

The Evil Within 2 was a bit divisive at release. As you may guess this one is a follow up to Shinji Mikami’s first survival horror game following his departure from Capcom. It plays very similarly to the first one but takes a slightly more flamboyant approach to the formula. The stealth elements are more played out here and there’s more focus on them this time around. It’s also more wide open with more emphasis on sandbox design. The Evil Within 2 at heart is more of the same, but in this case that’s not a bad thing. I love Shinji Mikami’s brutal sense of survival and I found the horror elements to be just as effective as in the first game.

#41. – Alone in the Dark 3

Alone in the Dark 3’s biggest crime is that it’s locked on PC. In other words it was never ported to any consoles, and for someone like myself that makes it more difficult to play what with an archaic interface and bad controls. Alone in the Dark 3 is more like the original than the prior iteration, but with a wild west spin I really liked. The game has a lot of fun with the theme as you’ll face off against gun slinging zombies in a town based on old westerns. Later on things get a little more serious, but it’s still pretty over the top. I really liked this game and wish it would be released for home platforms.

#40. – Dead Rising 2

The first Dead Rising was my single favorite game of its generation. It was everything I imagined a zombie game could be with hundreds of on-screen zombies shambling toward you and hundreds of different weapons as you can utilize almost every blunt object as a destructive tool against them. Dead Rising 2 picks up where the original left off and uses the same premise. Hundreds of zombies, and hundreds of different weapons that can be used against them. Dead Rising 2 however adds in co-op play, and some new gameplay elements. You can now craft new weapons by combining items which is the single best new addition any of the sequels made. Also, you have to bring medicine to the protagonist’s daughter periodically which adds a new sense of urgency.

#39. – Michigan: Report From Hell

Here is perhaps one of the more interesting entries on this list. Despite the game taking place in the United States it was released only in Europe and Japan. It’s also the only survival horror game here wherein you play as a cameraman and the camera is your only weapon. You ‘tag’ items in view to bring them to the attention of the reporter you’re filming. That’s your sole means of interaction here. Things get interesting when a mist descends on the city and transforms the normal everyday citizens into leech-like monsters with a thirst for blood. It’s not the best survival horror game out there but gets extra points for uniqueness.

#38. – Dino Crisis 2

Perhaps I’m playing things a bit loosely here by including this one because Dino Crisis 2 is more of an action game than most others on this list. Ammunition is much more plentiful and you’ll deal with more dinosaurs here than in the original. In some ways it feels like a run and gun, and this is further heightened by the lack of jump scares this time around. This wasn’t the sequel to Dino Crisis I wanted, but truth be told, it’s still one of the best survival horror games around even if it’s lacking on the survival aspect.

#37. – Silent Hill Origins

This is one that came out of left field. The original Silent Hill felt like the origin story to me, and so I was a bit surprised when Climax (with the guide of Konami) decided to spell it all out for us. At first I was apprehensive, but truth be told Silent Hill Origins is one heck of a ride. It retains all of the spirit of the original games but with an engine that can handle the action significantly better. Plus, I can never get enough of exploring the town itself and you’ll do plenty of that here.

#36. – The Thing

No one could have predicted that any developer would pay a visit to the Thing, at least not when it was already a few decades old. Yet here we are, and ‘here’ isn’t a bad place to be. The Thing is a very unconventional survival horror game. It plays on the tropes from the film in that you can’t really trust any of your AI controlled teammates. You need to test them to find out if they’re the thing, and if they are, they erupt into a mass of extra terrestrial monster. There’s also a unique trust system with the NPCs that I haven’t seen replicated anywhere else. The Thing is a prime example of the right way to do a licensed game.

#35. – Resident Evil 2 Remake

I was super excited when Capcom announced they were developing a remake to my favorite Resident Evil game. I was skeptical however because Shinji Mikami wasn’t involved. While the end result was pretty cool it lost a lot of the spirit. Regardless, it’s hard to deny the quality in this remake. Raccoon City has never looked so good and the re-telling of the classic story is enjoyable through and through. This is one of the most gory video games I’ve ever played. You really feel like the zombies are rotting and that every bullet destroys their flesh. The game is pretty decent but you’re better off with the original to be honest.

#34. – Clock Tower

I’m not big on point and click adventure games. Never have been. With that said Clock Tower hooked me immediately. In Clock Tower you guide an orphan named Jennifer as she moves into a house which, as you may suspect, is not all it appears to be. It houses the scissorman who is on the hunt for anyone that wanders its halls. This is one of the best survival horror games released during the 16-bit era. You don’t have weapons and instead must rely upon your ability to hide from the deformed antagonist. It really hits the nerves when you have no way to defend yourself, and the cumbersome controls add a lot to the experience.

#33. – White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

Remember your high school days? Well imagine those, but you’re locked in a haunted school after hours, and a janitor is actively hunting you down. That’s White Day. As a mere student you have no weapons nor do you have a way to fight off foes. It’s a first person adventure game wherein you have to flight rather than fight. That’s nerve wracking in and of itself. There just aren’t a lot of moments where you feel safe in this game. That’s part of White Day’s charm; your nerves will be wracked and you’ll be stressed out in the end. I’ll be darned if that isn’t something I look for in the best survival horror games though.

#32. – The Evil Within

To be honest this game wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. As the next game Shinji Mikami made following Resident Evil 4 I was expecting something a bit more innovative. The Evil Within is a bit by the books. It follows the survival horror genre to a T. You have limited ammunition, stealth, labyrinthine areas to explore, etc. Where the Evil Within Stands out is in how brutal and inventive its violence is. You’ll be killed in so many different ways it isn’t even funny. Don’t expect to be able to avoid this because the Evil Within is hard. It’s brutal at times, and what I love about that is how much weight this adds to every enemy encounter. The game is spooky and startling, and you can do significantly worse if you’re looking for a good survival horror because this is one of the best.

#31. – Galerians

Now here’s a seldom mentioned survival horror game. Galerians is like Resident Evil. It employs tank controls, puzzles, and fixed camera perspectives as you battle a host of medical experiments gone wrong. The main difference between this and Capcom’s big franchise is that you don’t use guns here. You don’t even have melee weapons. Instead you’re armed with psychic powers with which you can dispatch the monsters and human enemies you’ll face. This actually makes the game feel unique from the other survival horror titles in the way that these powers work, and mobs of enemies are more threatening because of the mechanics. Galerians is virtually unknown, but it’s clearly one of the best survival horror games ever.

#30. – Silent Hill 4: The Room

After three successful installments Team Silent decided to do something a little different with this sequel. This is the only game in the franchise that doesn’t take place in the town of Silent Hill. Here you play as a man named Henry Townsend who lives in an apartment complex in the city of Ashland. This guy has been having some pretty serious nightmares and one day finds that he’s locked inside his apartment. A mysterious hole appears in his bathroom, and heading through it takes him to an alternate dimension. The apartment serves as a hub world which really hit me hard as a former introvert. This one is a bit more focused around action than puzzles. Silent Hill 4 is a bit of a departure, but it’s still one of the greatest the genre has seen.

#29. – Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Resident Evil 3 started out as a side story, but Capcom decided to name it as a full blown sequel to keep the mainline franchise on the Sony PlayStation. Some consider this the best of the bunch, but for me it still feels very much like a gaiden. That’s not a bad thing by any means. It basically uses the engine from the second title, and takes place just before it. Some locales are even shared between them. Here you play as Jill Valentine as she attempts to escape from Raccoon City at the beginning of the zombie outbreak. Some new conventions were introduced here such as creating your own ammunition, and of course there’s the Nemesis. This guy is more powerful than your typical enemies, and he follows you throughout the game. It’s downright tense and frightening when he shows up.

#28. – Alan Wake

This one was a huge surprise for me. It was in development forever for the Xbox 360, and by the time it finally released I wasn’t even paying attention. When I did pick it up I didn’t have a lot of hope but it’s incredibly unique. Alan Wake has all the conventions of a traditional survival horror game. You fight off otherworldly foes as you move from point A to B solving light puzzles along the way. The way you do battle is very unique. Enemies are generally humans that are possessed by the darkness. You have to use your flashlight (or any other light source) to chip away at their shadow shield before you can blast them to oblivion. It makes for some truly tense moments when you’re up against a mob. The television show format of the story is also unique but really intriguing.

#27. – Illbleed

Despite the fact that the Sega Dreamcast was only on the market for a short while it had more than its fair share of survival horror games. Illbleed was one of the exclusives which still can’t be found anywhere else. It’s also one of the most unique of the bunch. What we have here is basically a B movie in video game form. You play through a variety of differently themed stages full of ghouls and ghosts. What makes Illbleed unique is the horror monitor. You use this to detect traps and more which can cause your death. This is the only game I’ve played where you can die from being scared enough. You have to monitor your adrenaline and try to avoid as much of the mayhem as possible. It’s a very unqiue and fun romp.

#26. – Gregory Horror Show

Here’s one we never got in the United States, but our friends in Europe and Japan were able to experience it. This is based on a CG anime series and because of this has a very unique blocky art style. It almost looks like a game for kids to be honest, but it clearly isn’t. You navigate a ghastly hotel retrieving various souls. Doing so is not always an easy task. Sometimes the people who have these in their possession will hunt you down. Relentlessly. Gregory Horror Show quickly becomes a game of cat and mouse as you’re fighting to get away from guests that want to spill your guts. It’s surprisingly frightening, and easily one of the most scary survival horror games ever.

#25. – Fatal Frame

Fatal Frame is a really cool survival horror game where you aren’t armed with a gun or even baseball bat. Instead you have just your camera, but that’s all you need. Fatal Frame is unique in that it’s mostly about solving a mystery. You guide a girl named Miku trying to find her brother who was lost while exploring a haunted mansion. Soon she discovers it’s haunted by hostile ghosts whom she must put to rest. Did I mention you don’t have a gun? That’s important. Miku defeats ghosts by taking photos of them. It’s a unique premise, and the game is filled with some fantastic scares.

#24. – Silent Hill 3

If you were ever curious as to what Harry Mason was up to after the events following the original Silent Hill then this is your game. Oh you didn’t care? Yeah me neither, but that doesn’t stop Silent Hill 3 from being an incredible game. You play as his daughter Heather as she discovers the ghouls from the town aren’t quite ready to let her live her life. She travels back to the town to put to rest her devilish birthright, and it’s quite a ride. This one is more violent and raw than the other titles in the series, and has some of the best combat (though that’s not saying much). I really liked learning more about the cursed town here. SH3 is a must for fans of the series.

#23. – Resident Evil 0

I feel like this one is unfairly hated on. Resident Evil 0 is far from the best game in the franchise but it was an enjoyable romp. This is a prequel to the original as you may have guessed. You play as Rebecca Chambers (of STARS Bravo team) and Billy Coen (a guy never mentioned before, or ever again). This uses the remake engine and looks absolutely amazing even today. There are a few unique elements such as the character switching (you can do so at any point later on) and the lack of item boxes (you just drop items now). It has some clever puzzles, and some memorable locations and jump scares. Plus, how can you go wrong with more Resident Evil?

#22. – Dino Crisis

Have you ever wanted to play Resident Evil, but with dinosaurs instead of zombies? Well Dino Crisis has your back. It’s actually very interesting to me that Capcom made another survival horror game when Resident Evil was so popular. Either way, you play as a redhead gal who has to escape an island inhabited by dinosaurs. You’ve got plenty of guns, but not that many bullets. You have to manage your supplies as much as in the classic Resident Evil games and that adds a lot to the tension. There are some really great encounters and set pieces here, and I absolutely love me some Jurassic Park inspired games. Dino Crisis is amazing.

#21. – D2

D was a pretty interesting FMV game. I really like that Kenji Eno tried something different with the sequel. D2 is a third person adventure RPG survival horror game. Yeah, it’s pretty technical if you can’t already tell. As Laura Parton (the girl from the original D) as she is on an airplane which crash lands in the Canadian wilderness. Unfortunately it’s inhabited by grotesque monsters that want to eat her. The game uses an RPG-lite battle system with a lot of resource management which is really neat. There’s nothing quite like D2 which is why it deserves such a high spot on the list of the best survival horror games.

#20. – Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly

The original Fatal Frame was scary as heck. Part 2 is bigger, more scary, and altogether better than the first one. Fatal Frame 2 is more of a prequel than an absolute sequel. It’s focused around the backstory of the camera, and it’s a very intriguing plot by survival horror standards. Here you have better graphics, gameplay, and scares. This is the point where I really got invested in the series because it’s here that Tecmo showed they really knew how to deliver on the scares. If you’re going to play it just be ready because you will be frightened, and often.

#19. – Clock Tower 3

Clock Tower 3 is a departure from the installments that came before it. Those were point and click affairs, and this is a third person adventure game. It’s still scary as all heck though. Now it uses pre-determined camera angles. In that sense it feels more like Resident Evil, but in the best way possible. Basically in this game you have to be prepared to run. You’ll be doing that a lot, and because you’re pretty much defenseless it’s absolutely terrifying. It’s not a good Clock Tower game, but it’s a fantastic survival horror title.

#18. – Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Eternal Darkness is unusual for a few reasons. For starters it was one of the only premier titles for the Nintendo Gamecube that had an M rating. Silicon Knights came up with some very inventive ideas here. It’s an action adventure title where the survival horror elements come into play as the sanity effects. As your character sees and experiences monster attacks they lose their grip on reality. This can result in effects such as their head falling off and reciting shakespeare. You also have things like memory cards jokingly becoming corrupt, volume going up and down, etc. These are really neat effects and the game is amazing because of them.

#17. – Resident Evil

This is the first one. The game that started the survival horror craze. Resident Evil was very unique and ambitious when it was first released. You had your choice of two different characters who progressed through a story at different paces. All of this with a huge mansion to explore with a horde of zombies chomping at the bit for you. Resident Evil is the whole reason you’re reading this list of the best survival horror games right now. It was such a landmark game, and it’s an absolutely thrilling title to play even now. Yes, even in it’s original form.

#16. – Dead Space

EA was down with the survival horror genre. This was apparent with their release of Dead Space. What’s more is that they obviously understood what made these games so special. In Dead Space you play as Isaac Clark who is an engineer investigating why a ship has lost contact. Your main enemy here are crazy aliens called necromorphs. You can target different parts of their body to disable them, and will need to do so to take them out efficiently. The real high point is the sequences where you go into space and it’s dead silent. So chilling.

#15. – Parasite Eve

Survival horror games and RPGs were arguably the two biggest genres in the last 90s. Parasite Eve combines them into one premiere game, and the results are amazing. You explore decrepit environments and do battle with deformed monsters, but in turn based random encounters. It sounded strange at the time, but it really worked well and continues to be an amazing game even now. I didn’t much care for the storyline but the combat kept me hooked. The dreadful feeling starts sinking in when you’re running low on ammunition and have quite a ways to go before you’re in a safe zone.

#14. – Resident Evil 4

This one was such a big departure from the Resident Evil series that at first I didn’t even want to like it. The over the shoulder camera perspective didn’t feel like the proper evolution of the series. Instead it was a revolution, but one that worked in the end better than I expected. Leon S. Kennedy returns in this adventure through the Spanish countryside which is now infested with brain controlling parasites. You have to fight your way through the countryside, and then a dusty old castle. This is one of the be survival horror games, but also the one that brought Resident Evil down a bad road for several generations to follow.

#13. – The Last of Us

The Last of Us is easily one of the best games to come from any Sony owned studio. Naughty Dog hit it out of the park when they tried their hand at the survival horror genre. Here you play as a guy named Joel who, after losing his daughter at the onset of the zombie pandemic (which is oddly caused by fungus this time around) becomes a cold shell of his former self. One day he meets Ellie while completing a job to escort her to a resistance group, but discovers that she is the only person who up to this point is immune to the undead fungus. Soon he decides to take her across the ruins of civilization to a place that might be able to make a cure using her. It’s a harrowing, frightening, and downright haunting game which has left a big lasting impression with me.

#12. – Deep Fear

Anyone who has played this little known Sega Saturn exclusive will probably scoff at its inclusion here. Deep Fear really struck a chord with me for some reason. This game is a clear cut Resident Evil clone using the same basic combat system and pre-rendered backgrounds. The main difference here is that Deep Fear takes place on the bottom of the sea in a fortified lab. People begin transforming into flesh eating fish monsters and it’s up to you to get to the bottom of it. What’s interesting is that some rooms are limited in how much air they have. It depletes as you occupy said area, and goes down faster when you run or fire bullets. It’s an interesting system which adds to the claustrophobia.

#11. – Dead Rising

This was the game I always wanted. Dead Rising is basically a spoof of sorts of the classic horror film Dawn of the Dead as the entire play area is a shopping mall, and hundreds of hungry zombies are hot on your tail. What’s cool and unique about Dead Rising is the fact that you can use almost anything as a weapon. This includes things like baseball bats, katanas, guns, etc. Things get whacky when you’re using signs, croquet mallets, etc. There’s a pretty stressful time management system in place which will keep you on your toes from start to finish. It’s an incredible funny, and sometimes frightening adventure.

#10. – Enemy Zero

Enemy Zero is surprisingly scary for a 32-bit first person adventure game. You guide the character Laura (you know, that digital actress thing that Kenji Ito was obsessed with) through a space station infested with invisible aliens. You are armed with a gun, but can only destroy these foes when they are a particular distance away. As I mentioned already they’re invisible. So how do you do it? You can tell how close they are based on sound. The system takes a lot of practice to get used to, but when you do Enemy Zero proves to be one of the most tense, rewarding, and downright scary games around.

#9. – Clock Tower PS1

Most hardcore fans of the survival horror genre immediately picture Clock Tower when asked about scary games. Despite the naming convention this is actually the second game in the franchise. Clock Tower follows up on the story of Jennifer in the orphanage being chased by the dastardly Scissorman. Our deformed antagonist returns, but this time in a more urban setting. What makes this one so frightening is how unpredictable it is. Sometimes the scissor wielding maniac jumps out at random. Prepare for a lot of jump scares, because this one is sure to get you. The only downfall here is that this is a point and click adventure game. Most people won’t give it a chance based on that.

#8. – Rule of Rose

Rule of Rose is one of the most unique, but surely one of the best survival horror games around. The story here takes place in 1930s England. You play as 19 year old former orphan named Jennifer who relives her painful memories from her childhood. It’s a strange premise for a survival horror game but it works. The story focuses around a violent group of orphans and Jennifer dealing with an unusual aristrocracy within them. The atmosphere is incredibly unique here. Unfortunately the combat is very poor. Encounters with enemies become kind of a chore because it’s difficult to fight back with any degree of accuracy. Still, the game is haunting and fantastic. It’s more of an art piece but it’s incredible.

#7. – Silent Hill

At the time of release this was the only survival horror title that could go toe to toe with Capcom’s Resident Evil. Silent Hill took a different approach than the aforementioned zombie franchise. You explore a fog filled town as the character Harry Mason who is searching for his lost daughter. Along the way he’ll do battle with a host of evil baddies including things like demonic nurses, undead dogs, and more. It’s somewhat of an open world approach to the genre as you have an entire town to explore and are only nudged forward by hints to your next goals. Silent Hill is fully 3D and doesn’t rely on pre-rendered backgrounds. It hasn’t aged as well as Resident Evil because of this, but it’s still well worth playing.

#6. – Resident Evil CODE: Veronica

Code Veronica was once a headlining Sega Dreamcast game. For all intents and purposes it is the actual Resident Evil 3, but was rebranded when Capcom wanted to keep the mainline games on Sony platforms. Code Veronica pushed the franchise forward by ditching the pre-rendered backgrounds. You still have tank controls and fixed camera perspectives, but the new engine was wild back at the time of release. Code Veronica has one of the most over the top storylines in the series, and is by far the longest installment. I love it because of these reasons and not in spite of them. The game stands the test of time and is still one of the best survival horror games around.

#5. – Sweet Home

This Famicom exclusive release is one of the earliest examples of survival horror you’ll find. What’s interesting is that it’s also an RPG, and Shinji Mikami has long said it’s what inspired the first Resident Evil. Sweet Home takes place entirely inside of a sprawling manor. Enemy encounters occur at random and are very traditional by RPG standards. They’re entirely turn based, and with limited healing items and no way to revive fallen party members. Things get very tense each time you explore a new area and come face to face with more powerful foes. You can form separate parties and will need to do so as each character has a special skill that gets past obstacles. It’s unique, and no other game since has filled this void.

#4. – Haunting Ground

Helpless protagonists have become a major element in modern survival horror games. Haunting Ground is one of the pioneers behind this premise. In this game you play as a teenage girl named Fiona who awakens in a medieval style castle after a car wreck. She is soon met by a dog named Hewie, and he is her only means of self defense. He can’t kill enemies, but he can stun them allowing Fiona to escape. It becomes a game of cat and mouse as Fiona must hide to evade her attackers who relentlessly pursue her. What makes things extra scary is the fact that they often pop up randomly. You never get a moment of relaxation in Haunting Ground and this is what makes it one of the best survival horror games for any platform.

#3. – Resident Evil 2

This game marks one of the biggest improvements in a sequel that I’ve ever seen. It took the clunky systems of the original Resident Evil and enhanced just about everything. The quality of life improvements are massive. In Resident Evil 2 you play as either Leon S. Kennedy or Claire Redfield as they both wind up in Raccoon City amidst a zombie outbreak. The main hub for the game is the local police station which is much fancier than any one I’ve ever seen or heard of. Resident Evil 2 introduced us to some of the most beloved characters in franchise history, and has some truly memorable enemies and jump scares. Resident Evil 2 is easily the best survival horror game for the original PlayStation.

#2. – Silent Hill 2

I absolutely love the direction Team Silent took with this sequel. Rather than expanding on the story of Alessa or the origins of the evil forces in the town instead we get a storyline where Silent Hill almost feels like a character in and of itself. You play as James Sunderland who travels to the haunted city in search of his wife who wrote him a letter asking him to meet her there. The catch? She has been dead for three years. I’ve played few games where the end goal was as intriguing as in this one. Is Mary really alive and waiting for James? Is the town itself summoning him? It’s just a fantastic premise and one of the many reasons I love Silent Hill 2. The combat is clunky, but the scares and atmosphere are absolutely amazing.

#1. – Resident Evil Remake

There’s never been a remake as on point as the Resident Evil remake for the Nintendo Gamecube was. It had it all. Amazing graphics (which still look great today), brand new mechanics which fit the premise exceptionally well, and some of the best jump scares you’ll find anywhere. The fact that zombies can rise up after being defeated (and you never know on which return visit through the room they’re in it will happen) and be more powerful is an amazing feature. It enhances the feeling of dread, and survival horror aspects so well. You also have the randomized jump scares. It makes everything that much more frightening because you never know just when the dogs will finally jump through the window. This is how you do a remake, and Resident Evil is clearly the best survival horror game of all time.