Summary
Religion and faith are at the center of many horror games, whether it’s a battle between good and evil or getting embroiled withtruly messed-up cults. Most gamers will be familiar with the premise of angels and demons, gods and devils; there are plenty of games that explore wars of heaven and hell - takeDiabloorDoom 3, for example.
But what happens when the very being that is worshiped as a god turns out to be a malicious entity? Here’s a look at some of thebest games that feature evil gods, where blind faith and unfaltering loyalty might prove to be the downfall of the very followers that worship them.
The following games feature beings that are explicitly considered and referred to in-game as gods rather than demons.
Some of the following entries contain lore and plot spoilers!
Agonyis notorious for having some of the most graphic and gruesomedepictions of Hell in video games, with its shock factor proving divisive. Unfortunately, the macabre (yet stunning) visuals were overshadowed by its gameplay issues and bugs, leaving many players disappointed.
That said, there is plenty of worthwhile content for fans of the grotesque.Agonyfollows Nimrod, an amnesiac who has been thrown into hell and whose key to escape lies with theRed Goddess. Despite being the ruler of the underworld and delighting in torture and cruelty, she is worshiped worldwide as a goddess.
Siren: Blood Curseis the third game in theSirenseries and a western reimagining of the originalSiren.The game follows multiple protagonistswhose paths cross throughout, taking place in Hanuda Village, where the inhabitants disappeared decades before and rumors of human sacrifice prevail.
The crew investigating the village discover more than they bargained for when the zombified corpses born of strange rituals emerge to threaten them all. Causing all of this death and horror isKaiko, an insectoid alien god that will do anything to ensure its resurrection.
TheSilent Hillfranchise is renowned for tackling disturbing themes, andSilent Hill 3is no exception. Following Heather Mason on her journey through Silent Hill to enact her revenge, players are soon thrown into the true psychological horror experience, complete with all the traumas of adolescence.
Heather becomes involved with the Order, a cult dedicated to finding a host to birth their deity, known simply as"the god,“who is believed to bring about Paradise - a world free from sin. Unfortunately, in this case, getting rid of sin comes with the caveat of getting rid of the sinners and wiping out the entirety of humanity.
Blasphemousisa Metroidvania horror gameinspired by Catholic iconography and, as such, is rife with Gothic imagery amid the body horror of its hack-and-slash action. The player controls the Penitent One, a survivor of the “Brotherhood of Silent Sorrow” who seeks to end the suffering in Cvstodia caused by the “Miracle.”
The High Willsare the main antagonist ofBlasphemous, a giant three-headed deity and ruler of Cvstodia. Believing everyone to be born a sinner, they condemn everyone to suffer physically for their guilt in order for them to find peace in the afterlife - not the most benevolent by any means.
H. P. Lovecraft has been an incredibly influential figure in the realm of horror, with his work often being regarded as the cornerstone of cosmic horror.Dredgeisone of many games inspired by the author. In it, players arrive in a slightly odd town, Greater Marrow, as an angler. The task is to catch fish, and the caveat is that they must return to shore by sundown.
Needless to say, what begins as a relatively relaxing fishing experience soon becomes a dangerous exploration of seas that hide much more sinister entities, one of which isThe Deity. While it can be a cozy experience, there is plenty of horror inDredge, especially for those with a fear of the sea, large objects, or incomprehensible gods of old.
There are a lot of Lovecraftian horror games that feature cosmic deities, so, for the sake of variety, only one has been included on this list.Call of CthulhuandWorld of Horrordeserve honorable mentions.
In an era of survival horror games,Darkwoodstands out both visually, as a top-down title, and gameplay-wise, with its brutal and often challenging mechanics.Players must try to escape a forest, with the wood itself seemingly ever-expanding with a life of its own. With cagey characters and interweaving plotlines,Darkwoodproves to have plenty of replay value.
While a lot of the story is, for the most part, shrouded in mystery and up for interpretation, at the center of the events isthe Being. Appearing only in the Epilogue, the Being is presented as a mass of pulsating roots and is responsible for the forest inhabitants' mutations and plague.
If facing the Baker family wasn’t enough trauma for Ethan Winters, he is once again confronted with evil when his wife, Mia, and baby daughter, Rose, are abducted. Players must embark on a mission to find and save them -a journey that takes them to an ominous mountain village, ruled by four lords with their own sinister intentions.
The Black God is a “Fungal Root” worshiped by the Cult of the Black God, headed by the intimidating Mother Miranda, with the ability to replicate its victims and retain their consciousness. Whether or not the Black God is pure evil or just an organism doing what it needs to survive, to the villagers, it is a protector and granter of immortality.
Miyazaki draws a lot of inspiration from Gothic and cosmic horror, such as Sroker’sDraculaand theCthulhu Mythosof Lovecraft’s universe - influences that clearly manifest in both the settings and the enemies inBloodborne. Excelling in soundtrack, story, atmosphere, and gameplay,Bloodborneeasily gained top marks across the board. The player takes on the role of a Hunter on a mission to stop the Ashen Blood plague that has ravaged the city of Yharnam.
Amidthe horrific beasts and deformed creaturesarethe Great Ones, powerful, otherworldly beings that are able to sway the world’s tide. The Great Ones have some immense and grotesque designs, making for some terrifying boss battles. Whether they are objectively evil is up to players' interpretation of their motives, though one thing is certain: these eldritch horrors do not take kindly to humans.
