Horror games have dabbled in a very wide range of diverse settings. From haunted towns to creepy hospitals, there’s been no shortage of nightmarish locales to keep players up at night. Thescope of some games is rather large, allowing fans to experience different locations. Others, however, like to stick with a single, more claustrophobic presentation.
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These types of horror games generally tend to impart a feeling of “no escape.” Generally, the main goal of the protagonists of these games is to flee their surroundings with their lives. When executed well, the fear this type of setting can invoke can be extremely effective, not to mention memorable.
At Dead of Nightoffers one of the more unique horror experiences in recent memory. Presented in the style of Full Motion Video, the player is tasked with escaping a ramshackle hotel while being hunted by its homicidal owner. Due to the nature of the FMV, the whole exercise can at times feel frighteningly real.
The knowledge that someone with malevolent intentions is stalking you’re able to be chilling. The horror the player feels in this game is both constant and subtle. Catching a glimpse of a head or shadow out of the corner of one’s eye is potent. The hotel, dark and claustrophobic, contributes to this sense of never-ending dread effectively.
9Layers Of Fear
Sprawling mansions can certainly possess a creep factor to them, as the originalResident Evilso admirably proved.Layers of Feartells the story of a master painter who begins to lose his grip on reality as he desperately seeks to finish his magnum opus.
The game doubles down on the psychological horror trope, where the mind of the protagonist is fragile and cannot be fully trusted. Horrific imagery in the form of some genuinely macabre paintings dots the ever-changing structure of the manor house.
8Babysitter Bloodbath
Games developed by Puppet Combo have become instantly recognizable due to theirretro, PS1-style aesthetics. This presentation, coupled with the type of scares associated with theHalloweenfranchise, results in an authentically nerve-racking ordeal inBabysitter Bloodbath.
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Horror games of the home invasion variety have the potential to be extremely hard-hitting. The incidence of someone breaking into your suburban home at night isn’t an unbelievable concept. Being stalked throughout one’s house by a hulking, mask-wearing maniac definitely gets the adrenaline flowing.
7Outlast
Whereas some games prefer their horror to be slow and subtle,Outlastessentially punches you in the face with it. The game is a series of non-stop, heart-pounding escapes from start to finish. Set within the environs of Mount Massive Asylum, players must navigate through the legions of crazed inmatesarmed only with a camcorder.
Outlastmakes it abundantly clear to the player that no place is safe in the asylum. The game strives to make every encounter feel like a close call. AlthoughOutlasthas shown its age by now, the core concepts behind its presentation were undoubtedly well-executed, particularly for its time.
6Five Nights At Freddy’s
The originalFive Nights at Freddy’sput players in the shoes of a grossly underpaid nightwatchman. The task is to survive five consecutive nights without being brutally murdered by the animatronics that wanders the halls of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. All of the action takes place at the protagonist’s security terminal, only being able to control the lights, doors, and cameras.
The game is an eerily quiet one throughout most of a playthrough. That quiet gets violently interrupted when the protagonist gets killed. The screen fills with the image of an animatronic delivering an earsplitting scream. The inability to ever move from one’s post is simplistically effective at maintaining a sense of grim foreboding.
5Alien: Isolation
What’s worse than being hunted by a crazed killer or malfunctioning mascots? An apex alien predator that’s stronger and faster than the protagonist could ever hope to be.Alien: Isolationtakes place within the Sevastopol space station, a massive complex whose inhabitants have been slaughtered by a xenomorph.
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The sense of helplessness the game invokes is one of its main strengths. Amanda Ripley, the protagonist, can only avoid and/or delay the xenomorph through the use of fire. It’s a pretty stressful scenario that forces fans to be constantly vigilant of their surroundings to avoid a gruesome and instant death.
Dead Spaceis yet another example of a spacefaring horror adventure. Players take on the role of Isaac Clarke as he navigates the nightmarish remains of the Ishimura spaceship. Along the way, fans must battle ghastly abominations called necromorphs. Regarding the scale of body horror on display,Dead Spacedoesn’t disappoint.
Unlike the previous entry,Dead Spaceisn’t lacking in hordes of enemies to defeat. Players get the opportunity to cut an immense swathe of destruction throughout the cramped confines of the Ishimura. It’s dark and disturbing, withplenty of surprises around every corner.
3P.T.
Even thoughP.T.was never a full game,its legacy still looms large.P.T.is very minimalist in its setting, taking place entirely within a single looping hallway. When players finally begin to familiarize themselves with their surroundings, things start to change in unnatural ways.
In terms of nailing a creepy atmosphere,P.T.is often regarded as being in a class of its own. Although countless titles have sought to emulate it, very few manage to execute the bubbling sense of anxiety that permeates this short adventure in the same excellent manner.
2Visage
Many games have aspired to be likeP.T., but one title that perhaps came the closest isVisage. Taking place in a similarly creepy house, players are meant to uncover the home’s dark secrets through exploration and by revisiting various areas of the unsettling abode.
Of course, unnatural occurrences continually assault the protagonist’s sanity. Players must avoid and/or manage these threats adequately if they hope to survive. For fans who can’t get enough psychological horror,Visageshould certainly sate their appetites.
1Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Like mansions, castles can also be quite foreboding under the right circumstances.Amnesia: The Dark Descent, one of the most beloved horror games of all time, takes place in a morbid and seemingly abandoned fortress named Castle Brennenburg. As it turns out, however, the isolated castle is anything but abandoned.
Similar toP.T.,Amnesia: The Dark Descenthas been emulated numerous times by other games. Few can execute the slow buildup of tension thatAmnesiamasterfully achieves in its opening hours. The atmosphere is so well crafted that it can leave players on the edges of their seats for significant amounts of time.
