Nearly Perfect Horror Games

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Horror games come in many forms, and there are tons of truly frightening ones available. The best ones create a genuinely unsettling and terrifying experience, keeping players gripped with fear until the very end.

Occasionally, a game gets almost everything right, but still misses the mark due to key flaws. These could include a story that doesn’t flow well, a section that feels out of place, or horror elements that aren’t truly frightening – instead feeling more like action with a spooky theme.

Resident Evil 2

Two Stories That Never Quite Feel Equal

Details:

  • 2nd run often feels a bit underdeveloped
  • Lack of replay value

Resident Evil 2 is a highly regarded installment in the popular Resident Evil series, and it’s easy to see why. The game masterfully builds suspense, seamlessly transitioning between calm and intense moments. Plus, its memorable locations – whether you’re exploring the police station or underground areas – keep you on edge throughout the entire experience.

The main problem arises during a second playthrough, where you experience the story through the other character’s eyes. While it offers some new scenes and moments, it feels too similar to the first run. There isn’t enough change to keep it as engaging, and familiar encounters lose their impact.

Dead Space

From Horror To Action In A Flash

Details:

  • Becomes more like an action later on
  • Enemies feel a bit too obviously placed

Dead Space is a landmark sci-fi horror game, brilliantly conveying the terror of being completely alone and featuring some of the most disturbing creature designs in the genre. The game’s atmosphere is incredibly effective at building fear – even small sounds or movements can be as frightening as the monsters themselves.

Despite the scary environment and monsters, the game sometimes feels more like a typical action game than a truly terrifying horror experience. As you progress, you get powerful weapons that make enemies easy to defeat, and this loss of challenge takes away from the initial suspense that made the game so engaging.

Phasmophobia

Gamifying Ghosthunting

Details:

  • More about mechanics than scares
  • Knowledge and skill remove any fear

Phasmophobia offers a fresh take on ghost hunting in video games. Instead of battling ghosts, you investigate haunted locations to identify the specific type of spirit present, using various tools and equipment to gather clues and stay safe.

The game starts off genuinely frightening, because you’re completely defenseless and each haunted house feels dangerous. However, once you learn how things work, it becomes much easier to solve the mysteries quickly. You start recognizing the clues and can avoid any threats without much trouble.

Scorn

Great Visuals, But Not So Great Gameplay

Details:

  • Puzzles that can be more frustrating than fun
  • Exploration can feel meaningless

Scorn is a deeply unsettling game that pays homage to classic sci-fi horror like Alien. It builds a disturbingly organic world where flesh and technology are blended together. The game is filled with frightening creatures and strange machines, and intentionally leaves players feeling lost and confused, adding to the overall sense of dread.

The game starts to have issues fairly early on. Many of the puzzles are surprisingly simple considering how detailed and complex the game world is. Plus, some areas are confusing and maze-like, turning what should be exciting exploration into a frustrating search for an exit.

Karma: The Dark World

Focused Too Much On Grander Ideas

Details:

  • Unclear narrative at times
  • Chase sequences require little input

Karma: The Dark World is a standout indie horror game that delves into psychological themes in a truly unique way. It blends surreal, dreamlike sequences with intensely suspenseful moments, leaving players constantly questioning their own safety.

The game’s biggest weakness is its short length. While the world is beautifully crafted, the linear story means players don’t have much time to explore it. Also, some of the ideas are quite vague and don’t always connect well, leading to confusing moments, particularly because the story and its themes are open to individual interpretation.

Mortuary Assistant

Scares Can Quickly Become Silly

Details:

  • Janky cutscenes that remove the fear
  • Narrative often takes away from the horror

The game Mortuary Assistant plays with what’s real and what isn’t, turning the everyday task of embalming a body into a frightening experience. Because the scares aren’t pre-planned, players are constantly on edge, always anticipating something unexpected and checking their surroundings.

The game’s biggest problems appear in its more detailed areas and when it features other monster designs. Some of the cutscenes and dreamlike sequences feel unintentionally comical. While they start with interesting concepts, they don’t end up being as frightening as simply encountering a monster unexpectedly.

The Midnight Walk

Cute But Not So Frightening

Details:

  • Threats are mostly avoidable
  • Mainly puzzles rather than actual enemies

The Midnight Walk is a visually striking and spooky game with a unique, slightly imperfect charm. Its stop-motion animation creates a genuinely unsettling atmosphere, and the monster designs are particularly memorable. The game’s art style, reminiscent of Tim Burton’s work, relies on strange movements and distorted shapes to create a feeling of unease.

While the game has a unique and memorable visual style, it doesn’t quite deliver on the horror aspects. Many areas feature easy puzzles and lack real danger, leaving players to explore for extended periods without feeling any tension or fear.

No, I’m Not A Human

One Playthrough Is All It Takes

Details:

  • Repetitive playthroughs despite several endings
  • Dialogue is scripted, so single interactions feel less impactful

No, I’m Not A Human is a terrifying game that combines the dread of home invasions with the myth of skinwalkers. Set during a catastrophic event, players must decide who to trust, as appearances can be deceiving and anyone could be hiding something sinister.

The game offers multiple endings, but replayability is an issue. Once you’ve interacted with the characters enough, they lose their impact – you start to anticipate their dialogue and can even identify ‘Visitors’ before they reveal themselves, making subsequent playthroughs less frightening.

Silent Hill 2

Enemy After Enemy

Details:

  • Action can feel quite frustrating
  • Enemies feel more like obstacles later on

The remake of Silent Hill 2 is remarkably well done. It maintains the powerful emotional impact of the original game, while significantly improving the graphics to create an even more unsettling and claustrophobic experience, making players feel truly lost in the iconic fog.

While the game received positive feedback, many players found it moved away from true horror and became more of an action game. There are a lot of battles, but many aren’t very challenging, and the feeling of slow-building suspense was lost in favor of constant fighting, which ultimately made the game less scary.

ROUTINE

Impeccable Atmosphere, But Dated Level Design

Details:

  • Maze-like areas that can be annoying to navigate
  • Lack of intelligent enemy AI

After more than ten years in development, the game Routine is finally available, and it absolutely lives up to the hype. It uses innovative features, such as a seamlessly integrated interface, to fully draw players into its world. Plus, its unique visual style – reminiscent of an old VHS tape – transforms even mundane moments into genuinely frightening experiences.

The game’s design starts to falter in certain areas. Specifically, a later section features a confusing maze of rooms and hallways that takes a long time to navigate, and is frustrating even when you’re not being chased. Introducing an enemy to avoid just adds to the frustration, ruining what would otherwise be a perfect horror experience.

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2025-12-26 06:06