The best survival horror games ever

The Alien franchise deserved a high-quality video game adaptation, and Alien: Isolation is the perfect game for the series. Instead of being a high-octane shooter that sees you fend off waves of xenomorphs, there’s only a singular titular alien, and it stalks you around a huge space station while you’re practically defenseless. The creature will destroy allies, and worse, the ship’s AI workers have gone berserk, attacking anything that moves, including you. A tense and memorable adventure with a beautifully realized retro aesthetic.

The Evil Within is a fun, if uninspired, evolution of the guns and horror formula Shinji Mikami laid out with Resident Evil 4, and that’s definitely not a bad thing. But the sequel really took things in a unique direction, and The Evil Within 2 felt like a truly fresh horror experience. And yet, it still managed to poke fun at itself in some key areas, making it a fun horror romp that’ll stay with you.

Admittedly PT is only a demo, but it’s also one of the most impactful demos ever made, spawning several indie horror franchises that were directly inspired by it. PT’s single hallway, bathroom, and endless loop ramps up the tension with each revolution, before finally being confronted with Lisa, the “boss” of the game. The exact method required to “finish” the demo and unlock the trailer for the canceled Silent Hills is still a bit of a mystery, and that just adds to how unforgettable this playable teaser is.

There was plenty of hesitation when it came to the prospect of Resident Evil 2, one of the best games of all time, being transformed into a third-person shooter, but the results speak for themselves. One of the best games of all time got a second lease on life, and once again managed to set the bar for modern survival horror games.

Silent Hill 3 is considered to be the last hurrah for the series by many fans. Like the other games in the series, Silent Hill 3 digs into the psyche of the protagonist, their fears, their traumas, and their sins. It’s a haunting experience in many aspects, and not just because of supernatural happenings. Still one of the best survival horror games ever.

Amnesia: Rebirth is the third game in the series, and if you forgot to play Amnesia when it first launched, you really should go through the whole series. It’s a dark and foreboding game set in the early 20th century, and sees you delving into cursed environments. Rebirth takes place in 1937’s Algeria, as the protagonist Anastasie gets wrapped up in a mysterious and horrifying event. Escaping this adventure alive will be a real test of your courage and endurance.

It’s a bit of an overplayed trope to set your survival horror game in a mental hospital, but Outlast is one of the best to ever do it. You’re an investigative journalist that apparently hasn’t heard that curiosity can kill, and they quickly get wrapped up in an “abandoned” asylum that they are struggling to escape. Of course, it quickly turns out that the place is not abandoned, and our journalist is in grave danger after patients subjected to unusual experiments look for revenge.

This is the game that has given us a new Resident Evil renaissance. Resident Evil 7 reimagined what made the series iconic. We’re taken back to a mansion deep in an American swamp, and while the atmosphere isn’t like the ornate Spencer Mansion of the original, the alternate routes, myriad of keys, and the gradual unlocking of the estate manage to evoke what made the original iconic. Ethan Winters is a blank and uninspired protagonist, but his involvement in this new generation of Resident Evil lore is fascinating, which is why it continues with Resident Evil Village.

Unlike most survival horror games, this is co-op. With friends, you act as ghost hunters, and you must seek out paranormal activity. Your van will be parked up outside a haunted house, and you must use your tools to seek out ghosts that just might be hostile. Most of the game is actually very slow, with little activity to speak of. But just when your guard is down, spooks strike, and you’ll never want to play again.

One of the games inspired by PT, Layers of Fear doubles down on atmosphere to carry the rest of the game. Set in a Victorian mansion, is played through the eyes of an artist that is losing themself to delusions. It’s a haunting game in many ways, but worth pushing through to see everything.

The Quarry is the sequel to Until Dawn, and this is a more passive gaming experience where you guide a team of potential survivors - or victims - through a story much like a classic horror movie. It's a great adventure, and well worth experiencing at least once.

Dead Space is one of the first games directly inspired Resident Evil 4. It has the same third-person perspective and tactical equipment management, but takes the horror adventure into space with reanimated mutants to fight against. Sometimes the best option in Dead Space is to run, but it's a fantastic and creepy experience from start to finish. The 2023 remake is the best version to play, too.

It really is that good. Yes, the original is a classic, but the remake? It somehow does an incredible job of putting one foot firmly in the more "grounded" world of the Resident Evil remakes, while also having the other in, well, Resident Evil 4. That means cheesy dialogue, suplex finishers, and one of the best Mercenaries modes in the whole series. Not very horror, but oh so good.