There are a lot of games in the horror genre. There are fewer good horror games. And there are very few games after which you do not want to turn off the lights for a few more nights. Having studied reviews in Russian and foreign publications, we have selected the scariest PC games... The list includes both quite old and very recent "horror stories".
Top 10 scariest games sorted by year of release on PC.
10. Silent Hill 2, 2001
When it comes to the game's embodiment of real horror, one cannot but recall the cult game Silent Hill 2. It is a disturbing and psychological journey through the thoughts of the protagonist and the tortured souls he meets along the way. Emotional tragedy, guilt, anger, love and sexual abuse, the creators of "Silent Hill 2" embodied in their creation with tremendous grace and skill.
The musical accompaniment played a significant role in creating the paradoxical and psychedelic atmosphere of the game, as well as strange elements, such as vertical corridors, traffic lights operating in an empty city, red squares, doors in the floor, etc.
9. Doom 3, 2004
Ranked # 9 in the top scariest PC games is an old but far from useless game that can still scare your knees.
It focuses on a rapidly growing arsenal of weapons that can be used to kill an army of a wide variety of evil spirits that attack the player from ambush or sneak in the shadows.
The atmosphere of most of the levels is intentionally made as dark as possible, and the creators of the game paid considerable attention to the lighting effects to create the right mood for the players.
Better not to play Doom 3 at night, your screams of terror may wake up those around you.
8. Dead Space, 2008
Like all the scariest PC games, Deep Space often tests the psyche of the player, subtly mixing violence and paranoia, creating atmospheric and relentlessly dark scenes.
The character will act on board the Ishimura spaceship with dark corridors and a large number of corners where you can hide from the creepy necromorph monsters. But there are still more monsters in Dead Space than shelters from them. And, unlike opponents in other games, these guys are not so easy to put a bullet in the brain - sometimes their heads are not even where they should be.
7. Amnesia: The Dark Descent, 2010
On the seventh line of the list of the most terrifying games on the computer is a project full of tension, panic and anxiety. He manages to refrain from the "monster jumping out of the corner" cliché. Instead, the game scares jaded gamers with its intelligent use of sound and its unique atmosphere. The inability to fend off pursuers, combined with a sanity system that prevents the player from looking directly at the disfigured monsters, makes every encounter with an enemy highly undesirable.
As the game progresses, safe areas become less frequent, and the narrative changes from simply grim to downright nightmarish. After all, something (or someone) tirelessly follows the main character.
6. Outlast, 2013
The action of this game takes place in an abandoned mental hospital filled with deranged and disfigured patients, as well as bloodthirsty personnel, which the player must avoid in every possible way. Unless, of course, he wants all the internal organs of his character to become an addition to the local surroundings.
To find your way in the dark corridors of Outlast, you need to use a video camera with a night vision device. This gives the game a distinctly eerie visual feel, making the player feel vulnerable to villains crawling behind.
Igromania magazine named Outlast the best horror movie of 2013.
5. Alien: Isolation, 2014
One of the scariest computer games of the 21st century will force the player to find himself alone with a monster in the gloomy and dark corridors of the huge space trading station "Sevastopol".
A deadly, cunning and completely devoid of pity creature that can appear at any moment, without warning: what more can you expect from an antagonist in a horror game? It is impossible to run away from him in the open, and all that remains is to move slowly, carefully thinking over each next step. However, sooner or later, the Alien will find his prey.
In numerous reviews, users note the superbly selected audio system of the game, nice graphics, as well as a vintage setting reminiscent of the very first Alien movie.
4. SOMA, 2015
This game can be called an intellectual horror. Unable to attack enemies, the player is forced to covertly move around the PATHOS-2 underwater research station, shrouded in an atmosphere of loneliness and fear. Beautiful and gloomy underwater landscapes, robots that claim to be human, the last words of the now dead station employees, sounding from the "black boxes" - all this allows SOMA to achieve a full immersion effect and play with the fantasy of a gamer, trying to push fear more painfully of death.
This is not a horror that will take the player by the handle and show you where to go and what to do in order to survive. Everything has to be figured out by trial and error.
Separately, it is worth noting the unusual theme of the game and its excellent soundtrack.
3. The Evil Within 2, 2017
This addictive, challenging and action-packed game continues the legacy of The Evil Within first. Now detective Sebastian Castellanos has to save his daughter, in the city of Union, created inside the STEM system.
The developers took into account the mistakes made in the first part, and significantly improved the gameplay, making the control of the character more convenient and adding a simple and well-working stealth.
A world full of monsters with unpredictable patterns of behavior, repulsive scenes (although there are fewer of them than in the first The Evil Within), and the need to save every bullet will deliver the player many unforgettable moments.
2. Darkwood, 2017
The plot revolves around a mysterious man cooking mushrooms in a house right in the middle of a plague-infected forest. In the light of day, the player can freely roam the surroundings full of poisonous mushrooms, fend off rabid dogs, deer and other infected animals, collect resources and try to figure out how his character got here. But with the onset of dusk, the only reasonable option is to return to your house, barricade all the windows and doors. And hope that on this night the creatures of darkness will pass by.
Darkwood has a remarkable ability to scare, without even showing monsters up close. Rustling sounds, inhuman screams and creaking doors constantly keep you in suspense, and with the development of the plot, the darkness deepens, and it is already difficult to distinguish where is reality and where is illusion.
1. Resident Evil 7, 2017
Inspired by the popularity of claustrophobic horror games like Amnesia and Outlast, Resident Evil 7 locks the player up in the home of the crazy Baker family. The house is not just dozens of corridors with lurking enemies, but a huge puzzle that requires the player to search for keys to unlock new zones. The atmosphere of horror and claustrophobia is complemented by a flashlight that illuminates only a small area in front of the character and wooden floors of the house, which give away both the steps of the player and the steps of his pursuers.
Replacing legions of zombies with ruthless human antagonists is perhaps Capcom's smartest decision in over a decade of their flagship Resident Evil series.