Halloween season is full of spooky fun for you and your friends and family to get into, but your activities don't have to be limited to horror movies and haunted mazes.
The world of video games has given us a lot of different great entries in the world of survival horror, and as the technology gets better, the horror increases. These are technically all great games, but we aren't ranking these titles on their technical efficiency. A good game is a good game, but what games instill a deep sense of dread or fear in the player?
We at Complex have compiled a top 20 countdown of the scariest games in gaming history. So kick back, turn the lights on, power up your console, and get to deciding the fate of your own character in these amazing titles. Here are the 20 scariest horror games of all-time.
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20.Clock Tower
Perhaps dated by today’s standards, Clock Tower definitely sent chills up your spine in 1995 and is one of the more influential horror titles in the early days of the genre. Trapped in a mansion, the player must find a way out in a point-and-click horror adventure. Throughout the game you are stalked by the still creepy Scissorman who stalks you wherever you go. You don’t have any guns, no power ups, nothing that makes you equal with your ever present enemy, only your wits and decision making.
19.Left 4 Dead 2
One of the best zombie apocalypse games ever made, Left 4 Dead 2 took the original formula and upped the ante in every way. You and 3 other players, (ai or actual players) must survive a zombie horde by using various weapons, teamwork and quick thinking. Just when you think you have beaten all the game has to offer another, more deadly horde full of ever mutating zombies join the fray, always keeping the player on their toes. Not many horror games offer you the chance to fight the undead alongside a friend so this one keeps a special place in our hearts.
18.Dead By Daylight
In this four on one multiplayer, you take the role of either one of four survivors trying to outsmart and escape a ruthless killer, or one of you can take on the role of the killer itself. If you are a survivor you and three others must team up to defeat the killer, and if you choose to play as the killer you must kill all 4 survivors before they escape. What makes this game special is its constant DLC upgrades featuring killers and characters from famous horror IP’s throughout the history of the genre. While not a deeply horrifying game, the tension felt throughout trying to escape death earns it a place on the list.
17.Condemned: Criminal Origins
The player is caught in this descent into madness wrapped in forensic noir. This survival game pits you against Hell’s abominations with mostly pipes and planks. As your journey drives you deeper into clearing your name after being frame for murder, you start to notice your psyche starts to blend reality with delusion. Creepy atmosphere and jump scares a plenty, this game is not for the faint of heart and will truly test your will and bravery.
16.Little Nightmares
In this extremely unnerving title you play as a little boy in a raincoat named Six. In this game, you must escape The Maw, an underwater vessel teeming with horrifying monsters and surreal terrors that you must outsmart and outmaneuver since combat is off the table in this one. Just as you think you have bested the scariest enemy you have faced, you encounter a new even more terrifying creature that you must escape utilizing stealth, and quick thinking. This game isn’t big on the jump scares, but this game shines when it comes to atmosphere and giving that uncomfortable feeling due to the characters and their surroundings.
15.System Shock 2
A groundbreaking sci fi horror experience, System Shock 2 may have signs of aging but theres no denying its influence in gaming horror today. The player awakens from cyro-sleep on board the starship Von Braun, but much to your dismay, it’s overrun with an alien parasitic infection. Not only that but you have to deal with the Godlike AI named Shodan who let’s just say, doesn’t have your best interests in mind. Survival horror in space may not be a rare outing these days but System Shock 2 set the bar.
14.The Suffering
You are Torque, a death row inmate put on death row for allegedly murdering his family. As soon as you enter this extremely decrepit prison, an earthquake unleashes a horde of grotesque monsters, each symbolizing the vast amounts of sins of your fellow prisoners. Brutal combat and horrifying enemies, you must survive with your body and mental capacity in tact as your morals and decision making are testes throughout. Will you escape the prison, or suffer eternal damnation?
13.Slender: The Eight Pages
This indie game may not be the most complex entry on the list but it delivers the scares where it counts. Based on the creepypasta character Slender Man, you must navigate a dark, silent forest only armed with a flashlight. You must collect eight pages of clues before the Slenderman catches you and then it’s game over. You have no means of defending yourself, there’s no music and sound other than static. Jump-scares are plentiful in this game and the dread that the Slenderman is always just right behind you keeps the tension going throughout.
12.Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
There have been more than a few entries in the Fatal Frame series but the general fan consensus is that Crimson Butterfly is the most revered for gameplay as well as fear factor. This game follows twin sisters Mio and Mayu who must escape a ghost ridden settlement only armed with a mystical camera. With this camera, you must exorcise the ghosts that you encounter before you become part of the settlement yourself. If you are a fan of Japanese horror such as The Ring, this is the game for you. There’s an upcoming remake of the game coming soon which will assuredly only improve upon the horror of the original.
11.Alan Wake 2
This follow up sequel to the original Alan Wake took what made the first entry such a hit and expanded upon every aspect to make a very important entry in the survival horror genre. You once again take control of the author Alan Wake, as well as Saga Anderson, an FBI agent investigating ritual murders in the town of Bright Falls. As per the previous game, your saving grace among the horrors of Alan Wake 2 are your limited supplies and your trusty flashlight that illuminates your enemies so you can destroy them. In a world of dark, sparingly scarce light is your only chance of survival.
10.Five Nights At Freddy’s
Ever wondered what it would be like to work security at a Chuck E. Cheese? Well Five Night At Freddy’s is the game for you. This indie title has exploded onto the scene with multiple sequels, a movie series, and now a maze at Universal Studios, but it all comes down to the original that has been scaring kids and adults for years now. As the night watchman, you must monistor the security cameras, the whole time being haunted by depraved animatronics waiting for you at every turn. There’s not a lot of guts and gore in this but the jump-scares are plentiful and will assuredly make you jump out of your seat at least a few times.
9.The Evil Within
From the creator of the original Resident Evil comes a descent into a graphic, horrifying nightmare. You play as a detective investigating a massacre at Beacon Mental Hospital (and as you all know Mental Hospitals make the best spooky environments). As with most survival horror games your weapons count is scarce so you must rely on stealth, puzzle solving and quick thinking if you are going to make it out alive. Much like its spiritual predecessor, The Evil Within is overflowing with grotesquely hideous monsters all out for blood, specifically, your blood. The game can get difficult at times but a lot of that has to do with you are navigating ths game with a heart rate of nothing lower than 130 bpm.
8.Soma
Coming from the same people behind Amnesia: The Dark Descent we have Soma, a game that switches out constant jump scares for everlasting existential dread. You wake up in an abandoned underwater research facility as you discover that the world above is destroyed. You must navigate this mind altering facility trying to retain your sanity only being aided by stealth, discovery and the unbearable realization that you are losing every touch of your mental well being.
7.Alien: Isolation
Based on Ridley Scott’s monumental Alien franchise, Isolation puts you in the shoes of Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, stuck on board of a derelict space station, the Sevastopol. What makes this game utterly terrifying is how close it sticks to the source IP and the new A.I. implemented in the deadly Alien that hunts you throughout the game. You can’t kill the Alien so the only hope you have is to outmaneuver and hide from it until you make your way off the station. As if a super smart Alien wasn’t enough you have rogue synthetics and not so friendly other humans after you. There’s no sense of safety or security in this game as any choice, any corner you turn could mean your death.
6.Dead Space
Who would have thought engineering and space horror would make such a good combo? In this game you play Isaac Clarke, a systems engineer assigned to repair a mining ship called the USG Ishimura. Much to your horror you discover that the crew has transformed into grotesque body horror nightmares. Alone on this mining ship, you must use your engineering to craft weapons to defeat these monsters that cant be defeated by traditional means. The scariest parts of the game are when you are in the vaccum of space, no noise, just flashing lights and no way of knowing if a gross monster is right behind you.
5.Until Dawn
It’s every horror fan’s dream, a slasher flick where you control the destinies of the characters. This cinematic horror thriller puts you in control of the choices of 8 friends vacationing on a remote mountain lodge. As the day turns to night, all matters of horrors start to make their way to the lodge and its up to you to make the right decisions if the 8 friends are to survive Until Dawn. Each decision you make and each quicktime event you interact with has a ripple effect that decides the fate of each character. It is more than likely in this game that you cant save them all but that’s the fun part. Every choice made in the game may seem like a good idea, and some of them are, but others lead your favorite character to a grizzly end. With multiple story choices and even more endings, this game is scary good time and can be replayed a good amount of times to get new endings.
4.Silent Hill 2
A remake of possibly one of the best horror games to ever be released, Silent Hill 2 vastly improves everything about the original that made it such a gaming classic. After getting a letter from his wife who has been dead for quite some time now, James Sunderland is drawn to the seemingly always foggy town of Silent Hill. As you navigate this seemingly empty void of a town, you start to encounter psychologically draining monsters that reflect your personal sins, regrets and guilt. Each monster is concocted by a deeply rooted memory or emotion making it that much more deadly. What makes this title so important in the genre is it’s set in a town that doesn’t just haunt you, it judges you.
3.Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
The few releases before Biohazard, Resident Evil seemed to have lost its way, more focusing on action adventure games, than trying to scare its players. Biohazard was an extremely successful return to form in one of if not the scariest entries in the series. You play as newcomer Ethan Winters as he searches for his wife in the backwoods of Louisiana. You come upon the Baker estate and are trapped inside this twisted family’s compound and must escape and find your wife before its too late for either of you. The game is what would happen if Resident Evil and Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a baby and the output is a terrifying classic.
2.Amnesia: The Dark Descent
You awake alone in a decaying Prussian castle with no memory and no idea whats happening around you. You don’t have any weapons, and you must evade whatever horror is chasing you. Light becomes your ally in that the more torches you light the more sane you remain, but as you light more lights this attracts more monsters and its up to your quick thinking and puzzle solving abilities to make sure you escape with your life and sanity. As you go deeper into the castle the real horror becomes apparent that it has something to do with what your character did before the game began.
1.Outlast
Easily one of the more horrifying games in recent history, Outlast hooks onto your fears right away and doesn’t let up until it’s finished. You are dropped into a run down psychiatric hospital filled to the brim with deranged patients, and doctors. Armed only with a camcorder, you must document what you find in this hospital and escape the monstrosities chasing you throughout the game. It’s the apparent helplessness that really drives home the horror of the game, as there is nothing in it that gives the player any sense of power or control. You sprint, you hide in lockers, you preserve your battery, and you pray there isn’t a psychopath around the next corner.