There are many diverse genres of video games that are able to cater to the different sensibilities of gamers, butsurvival horror gameshave slowly become one of the most popular genres in the industry. There are a lot of factors that make a successful survival game, but a primary concern of these titles is if they canactually frighten their audience.
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Survival horror games feature all sorts of deadly threats, butzombies have definitely becomethe most prevalent evil force of the genre thanks to the success of theResident Evilseries. Zombies are frightening, but there are plenty of games that turn to more creative places when it comes to their monsters.
10Alien: Isolation (Xenomorph)
TheAlienfilms have been a touchstone of horror cinema since the ‘70s, but video games have faced amore difficult timewith how to make the property work.Alien: Isolationbrilliantly tries to create the same claustrophobic and suspenseful experience of the original movie with its Xenomorph design.
The deadly Xenomorph is equipped with an excellent AI system that frequently keeps it ahead of the player. A horde of zombies is definitely an intimidating sight, but the Xenomorph is such a precise killing tool that one of it is more than enough.
9Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (Ghosts)
TheFatal Framegames have made a stronger impression in Japan and Europe than North America, but they’re still considered some of the scariest survival horror games ever.
TheFatal Frameseries tackles ghosts and the inventive idea of a spirit camera that’s used to keep these invading entities at bay. Ghosts aren’t explored nearly enough in video games, butFatal Frameunderstands how to make them effectively frightening.Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterflyis considered by many to be the apex of the franchise and it features someextremely vicious ghosts.
8Dino Crisis (Dinosaurs)
Capcom’s crown jewel of the survival horror genre is itsResident Evilseries, but around the time of the earlier entries in the franchise, the publisher also developed a sister series that swapped out zombies for dinosaurs.
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Dino Crisisis a great subversion of standard survival horror tropes of the time. Even though the series progressively moved towards the action genre, there’s no denying that dinosaurs are a dangerous and scary threat. With any luck,Dino Crisiswill get the same remake treatmentasResident Eviland get back on people’s radars.
7Silent Hill 2 (Monsters)
TheSilent Hillgames have focused more on psychological horror and deep character studies than theResident Evilgames. TheSilent Hilltitles always involve grotesque monsters and scenarios that are supposed to be representations of the characters’ own guilt.
This results in dozens of different creatures that are disturbing in different ways, butSilent Hill 2introduces someparticularly upsetting monsters, most notably the infamous Pyramid Head. These monsters may be stranger and have less recognition than zombies do, but they’ve gone on to become popular in their own ways.
6The Evil Within (The Haunted)
The Evil Withinand its sequel come from prolific video game developer Shinji Mikami ofResident Evilfame. Mikami is not opposed to a return to zombies, butThe Evil Withingames explore something more complex and frightening.
There is an assortment of creatures spread throughoutThe Evil Within, but the most prominent are the Haunted, disturbing and erratic creatures that walk the line between dead and alive. They’re full of many upsetting surprises and aren’t as easy to dispose of as the standard zombie.
For a moment it looked likeDead Spacecould become thenext big survival horror franchiseof the generation, but unfortunately, the property has fallen into obscurity after a consistent trilogy of games.Dead Spacedistances itself from the competition with how it’s set in space and features a disturbing breed of alien known as Necromorph.
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The disturbing Necromorph designs and the claustrophobic nature of theDead Spacegames make these aliens effective survival horror threats that stand out so much more than zombies.
4Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Gatherers)
TheAmnesiaserieshas quietly become one of the most disturbing gaming franchises of the past generation and the recentAmnesia Collectionis giving new audiences a chance to experience these deranged tales.
Amnesiaexpertly explores psychological horror and a creepy environment that creates suspense around each corner. The threats in the game are known as the Gatherers and they come in two varieties, the Grunt and the more powerful Brute, both of which are disturbing in their own ways. They feel more like creations of William S. Burroughs or Guillermo del Toro than they do video game monsters.
3Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (Monsters)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiemis still one of the GameCube’s greatest achievements and its concept of the sanity meter is something that’s yet to be effectively replicated. It’s a genuine shame that anEternal Darknesssequel never happened.
Eternal Darknessambitiously tells a narrative that spans across multiple time periods and through many characters. The game takes a lot of itsinspiration from H.P. Lovecraft, especially when it comes to the monsters that are on the loose like Ulyaoth, Mantorok, and Chattur’gha.Eternal Darknessalso features killer skeletons and more generic monsters, but it leaves zombies off the menu.
2Until Dawn (Wendigos)
Until Dawnis a terrifying video game, but it’s also a loving tribute to slasher films from the ’80s and ’90s.Until Dawnhas a lot of fun with how much freedom it gives players and how members of the teamcan easily get picked off.
The monsters are humans who have been mutated through the Wendigo spirit and viciously consume the flesh of others, While this admittedly sounds similar to zombies, Wendigos don’t infect their victims and come with far creepier mythology.
1Clock Tower (Scissorman Serial Killer)
The1990s were a golden period for video games, but this was especially true for the survival horror genre. It seemed like every company made an attempt at their own survival property and even though theClock Towerseries has died off, it still saw a healthy life back on the PlayStation.
TheClock Towergames curiously mix together point-and-click gameplay with the tension of a horror game. Players are consistently chased by a serial killer who wields a giant pair of blades and is appropriately known as Scissorman.
