Summary
Possibly more than any other genre,horrorthrives on innovation. Scaring audiences means evolving with them and constantly trying to surprise and delight. Fortunately, the horror genre is one of the most vibrant aspects of the video game ecosystem, with constant innovations and experimental gameplay styles continually pushing the form forward.
Whether it’s bending the very reality of video games or taking the genre in a more mature direction than it’s ever been before, there are plenty ofgreat horror games that have changed the genre forever. This list is ranked by how redefining each game is, and how influential they were after release in changing the direction of the horror genre.
As a game dev, Remedy has rarely taken the easy path to success. Their games are fearlessly experimental, unafraid of vagueness, surrealism, and breaking player expectations. WithAlan Wake 2, Remedy has become unsurpassed in modern horror storytelling.
Completely impenetrable for players who never played the original,Alan Wake 2is a twisty surreal horror game that mixes live-action with game action in a metatextual story that spirals in on itself into a compelling and utterly bewildering puzzle. By delivering solid scares and unparalleled atmosphere,Alan Wake 2proves just how powerful AAA horror gaming can be when given the space to experiment and push gamers out of their comfort zone.
Perhaps more than any other genre, horror can become absolutely fixated upon its antagonist as the central axis upon which everything swings. While there are plenty of great horror game villains, few are as influential as SHODAN fromSystem Shock 2,considered one of the best FPS gamesand one of the best horror games of the 1990s.
In this horror immersive sim, players are stuck on a spaceship controlled by a hostile AI that frequently talks to them throughout the game. The writing is absolutely brilliant, and SHODAN’s chilling philosophy and delivery made her an iconic villain, demonstrating how having a great villain in a horror video game can be enough to connect with players and propel the game into the stratosphere.
There are a lot of games in the history of horror that have memorable moments that changed the genre forever, but few are as overlooked asClock Towerin the modern day. In the 90s, theClock Towergames were some of the best horror games around, and they deserve to be remembered today.
Mainly,Clock Towerpushed adventure game gameplay firmly into the realm of horror, where a maniac wielding a giant pair of scissors could appear at any moment to shear the player’s head straight off their shoulders. This omnipresent antagonist demonstrated its effectiveness in making a player feel like they’re in a slasher film, and it would directly influence future games likeOutlast,Resident Evil 2, andAlien: Isolationdecades later.
Some video game franchises are consistently underdogs, regardless of their influence. In fact, it’s very easy to believe that horror gaming as players know it today would not exist without the originalAlone in the Dark,which clearly showed how horror was not just a medium for film and literature.
The game is widely considered to be the first true 3D survival horror game, also being the first to place player characters against pre-rendered backgrounds (a techniquelater used extensivelybyResident Evil) and employ cinematic camera angles. Its influence is everywhere in modern horror, and it single-handedly showed the potential of what horror gaming could be.
In the late 2010s, horror gaming was in a bad spot. Many AAA game developers were making their horror franchises increasingly action-oriented, aggravating long-time fans, and there seemed to be no innovation in the genre at all. That was, until the indie boom of the early 2010s.
Suddenly, talented indie game devs from all around the world could be the innovation the genre needed, and no indie game influenced the horror genre as a whole more thanAmnesia: The Dark Descent.Frictional Games created a terrifying adventure through a Gothic castle that exploded in online popularity, becameone of the dev’s most acclaimed projects, and redefined the entire horror genre.
Because horror is so emotionally punchy and immediately affecting, sometimes it can punch straight through the gaming discourse and become a phenomenon all on its own, which is exactly whatP.T.did.
In the game, players have a simple task: Walk down a corridor, around a corner, and through a door. Yet, through repeating loops and a truly terrifying set of scares,P.T.demonstrated how simple yet powerful scares in video games aren’t just as good as films, but even better. Despite being unavailable in all online stores,P.T.remains extremely influential in contemporary horror games, and it has become an all-time great.
It is nearly impossible to imagine what modern horror games would look like withoutResident Evil. This plucky franchise, which began as an homage to American horror films, is nowalmost three decades old and has charted every boom and bust of the horror genre. By playing through all theResident Evilgames, players can get a strong sense of the horror genre’s history as a whole.
WhileAlone in the Darkmay have invented many of the survival horror mechanics thatResident Eviluses,Resident Evilperfected them, delivering a near-perfect survival horror game that set the template for decades. In terms of survival horror, horror gaming’s most popular subgenre,Resident Evilis the ur-text.
These days, the status of video games as powerful art that can stand alongside films and novels is unquestioned; however, this was not the case for a very long time. Particularly in the horror genre, horror games were often considered disposable entertainment with limited intellectual depth. That all changed withSilent Hill 2.
Not only did the originalSilent Hill 2deliver one of the scariest games of all time, but it also took the horror genre very seriously, integrating every mechanic into its thematic concerns of depression, death, and suicide. It is an incredible gamefull of terrifying monstersthat, in 2001, showed how far the genre could climb, and in 2024, was remade into one of the most frightening modern horror games available. Every horror game post-Silent Hill 2is influenced by it in some capacity, and many more pay direct homage to it.
