With Halloween soon upon us most people are looking to horror films to get into the season. I think video games are a better alternative personally. There’s just something about being drawn into an experience where you control what happens that adds so many extra layers to the experience. It’s all about the user input which is something you can’t get from a horror film. This is why I’ve seen it fit today to share a list. This isn’t a list of my favorite horror games. Far from it. Instead we’re going to take a look at the games that scared me the most. So without further exposition let’s take a look a the scariest video games of all time.
#10. – Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
I’m a sucker for those video games where you’re basically helpless and have to run from your foes. I found that the main thing holding the first Silent Hill back was it’s clunky combat. So what happens when they ditch that and make Harry Mason helpless? Silent Hill: Shattered Memories of course. This dramatic re-telling of the original’s story isn’t better than the source material. It is, however, significantly more frightening. When ice starts spreading and coating the environments I felt dread like I have in few other video games. Your goal here is to escape, and just thinking about the times I had with this one stresses me out a great deal. This is definitely one of the scariest games for the Wii.
#9. – Clock Tower
I love great atmosphere. I also appreciate a story I can slowly unravel and draws me in. Particularly one that keeps me up late at night sometimes wishing I hadn’t explored. This is Clock Tower for the Super Famicom. It’s a game where I immediately fell in love with the atmosphere and mysteries surrounding the story, but with revelations that stuck with me. Clock Tower is a point and click adventure title where you wander the halls of a mansion and are just trying to figure things out. Unfortunately a deformed menace is after you and pops up in the most inopportune of times. This is another game where you can’t fight back and must rely on escaping. The tension while waiting for the scissorman to pass you by is intense and will keep you up at night.
#8. – Dead Space
I never thought outer space was scary. It seems more peaceful than anything, but Dead Space proved me wrong. When you have limited ammunition and have to aim well or face sure death is beyond stressful. I love horror games, but I hated entering every room here, and turning every corner because I didn’t want to be dead from the deformed monsters that awaited me. Furthermore, one of the most haunting moments in any video game for me was when Isaac Clark enters space in his suit and everything is dead silent. When I’m having trouble sleeping I often think of the absolute silence in these moments.
#7. – Gregory Horror Show
As I’ve already mentioned my real bug-a-boo is being chased. Gregory Horror Show made me not want to play it because of how often this happens. It’s based off of a CGI anime series which I haven’t watched yet, but I don’t even know if I want to now. You have to explore a blocky hotel, as a Minecraft looking guy, and avoid the enemies which are trying to put you down in some truly horrendous ways. This is the most cutesy game on the list, and the art style is deceiving, because Gregory Horror Show will leave you with the worst nightmares you can imagine.
#6. – Silent Hill 3
My ex girlfriend watched me play a little of this game before saying ‘eff this.’ For good reason. She thought it was the scariest game she had ever laid eyes on. Silent Hill 3 took the franchise out of the titular town and into more modern environments. You knew things were going down when, as Heather Mason, you explored a shopping mall which suddenly turned to rust and blood. Also, it was littered with crazy flesh eating monsters that really push the imagination. That one scene with the mannequin, and the scream, and finding out it was beheaded and bleeding is absolutely spine chilling. The rest of the game just nudges at your sanity as you battle unthinkably vulgar foes. Silent Hill 3 is unquestionably scary as all heck.
#5. – Resident Evil 2
This was one of the very first survival horror games I played. I actually had nightmares based off of trying to escape the zombies in the opening crash sequence while tangling with the tank controls. When I finally dove into it I found one of the most haunting video games of all time. I played it late at night, and knew the zombies would reach through the broken windows at me as I ran by. That was absolutely frightening, and still is to this day. It’s tough to believe any video game developer could make a police station so darn scary, but they managed it, and it’s still spooky as all heck even today.
#4. – Clock Tower PS1
Did I mention I hate being chased in video games? Well this is basically the culmination of that. Clock Tower on the Sony PlayStation is a sequel to the Super Famicom game but it’s significantly more spooky in my opinion. I can’t really disagree, obviously. Here it feels like Scissorman’s appearances are more random. There’s no way to predict here when you’ll have to hide, and I had to memorize possible places and hold my breath when he was in chase. I can’t drink or eat while playing this one because I’m likely to knock everything over when he does show his face.
#3. – Fatal Frame 2
I was looking through a camera, playing the game like it wanted me to, and suddenly a ghost boy popped up and I threw my controller at the window. That’s a very unfortunate story, especially because I’ve been a bit apprehensive about the Fatal Frame series. Few things can compare to that jump scare, or the ones that followed it where my controller took so much abuse I had to replace it. I’m not the biggest fan of Japanese style horror but Fatal Frame 2 made me a believer. If you want to soil yourself then by all means check this one out.
#2. – Haunting Ground
And now we return to the being chased mechanic that bothers me so much. Haunting Ground takes this fear I have, and it stomps me to the ground with it. In this game you play as the most helpless protagonist I’ve yet experienced. A scared and defenseless girl who befriends a dog, and she has to use that beast to distract foes while she hides. The thing is these enemies show up at random. You are only clued in to them entering any environment form audio cues. It’s downright frightening when you have to run as Fiona constantly to escape them. Haunting Ground will cause you to lose sleep. I can promise you that. It’s easily one of the scariest games you’ll ever play.
#1. – Resident Evil Remake
I’m apprehensive to remakes. Normally I find they add little to the source material. The Resident Evil Remake however goes above and beyond. Not only does it enhance the original story in a way that fits remarkably well, but it’s what I’d call the definitive version of the Spencer Mansion story. The Resident Evil Remake is so great because it plays on memories fans have of the franchise by randomizing elements. Remember the dogs breaking through the window? That now happens at random. Or maybe zombies bursting through the windows? That might happen the first time, or maybe the fourth. You can never tell. This change up adds so much tension. Additionally the crimson head zombies create stress unheard of in the survival horror genre because you have to better plan your routes.
Agree or disagree with what I found to be the scariest games around? Please leave a comment!
