Summary
Horror is and, as long as video games are a thing, will continue to be one of the most important genres in the medium. Whether it’s forthe adrenaline-fueled thrillsor the stories wrapped up in dark concepts spawned by the most wonderfully depraved minds, fans will flock to these games for as long as they are made.
Gamers are lucky then that they have been spoiled by a number of classic franchises. Standing tall for years thanks to their innovation and quality or rapidly blooming new beds of repugnant titles,the franchises below stand out as some of horror’s strongest.
Some gamers, jaded by its mass spread and the ever-swelling market of mascot horror games, are going to roll their eyes at the idea ofFive Nights at Freddy’sfeaturing among the best horror franchises in gaming. But the fact is: No matter how many times a similar title hits the steam store page, the franchise is memed, or an unfortunate piece of fan art sneaks its way into one’s social feed,Five Nights at Freddy’sis an indie horror game behemoth.
Many forget, in the subsequent over-exposing storm upon its release, how effective the original game was. It took a simple concept, monitoring security cameras at a haunted knock-off Chuck E. Cheese, and flew with it - inciting widespread interest and a wave of fan theories. They have their abundance of flaws, with ‘white woman jump scare’ encapsulating quite a few, but to dismiss theFiveNights at Freddy’sgames as nothing more than the butt of a joke is a disservice to their cultural significance and fan love.
The original duology ofOutlastgames, plus the first game’s DLC, innovated the ‘hide or flight’ sub-genre of horror games with a simple but effective inclusion: the camcorder. With it, players are able to record the events of the game ina found-footage fashionas well as use its night vision to illuminate the games' many dark areas. The grainy green images of glowing-eyed enemies lurking in the dark immediately became an iconic motif of the franchise, allowing it to stand out on visuals alone.
The Outlast Trialshas since put a spin on the franchise’s own conventions, introducing co-op features to its turn-tail gameplay all the while expanding on the series' story with its Cold War-era institutional setting. WithOutlastbeing a recently conceived and updated franchise, fans should - hopefully - get to see a lot more of it in the coming years.
Frictional Games’Amnesiais a horror series that needs no introduction. Starting fifteen years ago, with its most recent installment dropping back in 2023,Amnesiaintroduced a generation of gamers to horror for the first time thanks to the plethora of YouTube playthroughs that popped up after its release.
As their titles suggest, each installment follows an unfortunate protagonist afflicted with amnesia as they attempt to navigate horrific and dangerous scenarios. The series has ranged from the gothic glominess ofDark Descentto the claustrophobic tunnels of World War 1 trenches and bunkers.Frictional Games' other titles,such asSomaandPenumbra, are equally excellent, but it is theirAmnesiafranchise that has become the most iconic and persistent.
System Shockwas a key player in the birth of theever nebulous immersive sim genre, inspiring the creation of beloved games likeDeus ExandBioShock. While the latter could have easily taken this spot among thebest horror game franchises, as it is fantastic in its own right, it felt more apt to reserve the space for its elder sibling.
Each title in the franchise sees players fighting their way through space stations overrun with monsters and at the whim of the series' iconic AI, SHODAN. However, while there are currently five games under the series' belt, three of those titles are remakes and remasters. As appreciated as these updates are, many fans are desperate to see something original come out of the franchise, with the last original title coming out almost twenty-six years ago now.
TheRemedy Connected Universeis a fairly young and underdeveloped franchise compared to other horror game series, with 2019’sControldrawing a line between it andAlan Wake. That being said, however, what is there is absolutely fantastic.Controldelivered an excellent supernatural government thriller that has left countless fans eagerly awaiting its sequel, andAlan Wake 2expanded ontheTwin Peaks-inspired storyof its predecessor in glorious fashion.
While not a story-focused outing, the franchise’s latest installment,FBC: Firebreak,marks the long-awaited return to the Oldest House,Control’s reality-warping setting.
While the franchise, overall, has quite a rocky reputation, the significance ofAlone in the Darkand its influence on subsequent survival horror games can’t be ignored. The series popularized fixed camera angles and tank controls while introducing players to gameplay focused on limited inventory systems and solving puzzles. All of this, of course, laid the groundwork for future survival horror titles likeSilent HillandResident Evil.
The franchise made its comeback with 2024’sAlone in the Dark,which, while not perfect, marked a step in the right direction for the classic series.
Fatal Frameis a Japanese series of horror games that each are, mostly, self-contained storiesinspired by the country’s folklore. Players explore a number of dilapidated mansions and towns, encountering and defeating ghosts along the way.
The manner in which players achieve the latter is what makesFatal Framestand out, besides its eerie atmosphere and enemies, of course. Using the Camera Obscura, players exorcise ghosts by taking photos of them, letting them defend themselves with photography rather than the traditional armory of guns.Fatal Frame’s unique gameplay and creepy folklore-inspired visuals make it a series worth every horror fan’s time.
Dead Spaceblasted survival horror games into space, trapping players on space stations and planets with twisted abominations as well as sentient obelisks set on creating fleshy planetary monsters.Dead Spaceis most well known for its stomach-churning body horror in the form of the Necromorphs, the series' main enemies, as well as its fine-tuned survival horror gameplay. Well, for its first two installments, that is.
LikeResident Evil,Dead Spacefell into the co-op action pipeline prevalent in the 2010s, effectively stopping the series dead in its tracks. The recent remake ofDead Space, however, is hopefully a sign that the series is due for a full return to its former glory days - one day.
Silent Hill, especially after its second installment, is a survival horror series less concerned with plot and more interested in delving into the fractured psyche of its characters. The games are cerebral, taking players through twisted reflections of their protagonist’s trauma, which is conjured by the series' recurring setting of Silent Hill. The decision to focus on the psychological torment of these characters has worked in the franchise’s favor, elevating it as an introspective, thoughtful, and terrifying experience.
Unfortunately, like a number of the best horror game series, the franchise’s quality has faltered with its later installments, but theSilent Hill 2remake and the upcomingSilent Hill fare looking to turn things around.
Resident Evilis, arguably,the king of the survival horror world. Defining the survival horror genre all the way back in 1996, the franchise continues to pump out excellent zombie horror titles to this day.
Of course, the franchise faltered for a few years between the release ofResident 5andResident Evil 6,but Capcom corrected course withResident Evil 7in 2017. Since then, fans have been able to gorge themselves on a consistent output of AAA survival horror games, whether they be original titles or remakes, that don’t seem to show any sign of letting up any time soon.
