Survival horror dates back to the ’90s, when breakout games like Resident Evil took the world by storm, introducing a new genre to prevent even the toughest gamers from getting a good night’s sleep.
Survival horror video games have low resources, mazes, puzzles, tough bosses and weak characters that keep players on their toes at all times. Use too much ammo or health before the right time, and it can make the rest of that game that much harder.
As a genre, survival horror games seem to have really stymied their progress over the past ten years. Hell, last five maybe. The high-tech ambient headset, polished 4K graphics, and awesome settings have delivered some truly awesome experiences that really stick with you.
1. The Evil Within
While most modern survival horror games embrace a first-person perspective, The Evil Within honors pioneers of the genre such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill, and the over-shoulder scene is terrifying as the story unfolds.
Horror mastermind Shinji Mikami created some truly bizarre creatures in The Evil Within, and the widespread concern of only having a shotgun shell never subsided until after the credits rolled.
2. SOMA
Blurring the lines between humanity and technology, SOMA is a spooky game with a deeply philosophical underpinning. Frictional games – the brains behind Amnesia – prove they are still masters of the horror of survival, offering you no weapons but walking with your legs.
The captivating atmosphere of an underwater maze known as Pathos-II is openly reminiscent of the excitement of BioShock in all the best ways. You take on the role of Simon, who has to survive the survival nightmare of strange human robots before the ocean completely crushes them.
3. Silent Hill
The Silent Hill series needs little introduction and is widely regarded as one of the greatest survival horror franchises of all time. While its visuals haven’t aged particularly well, it is one of the scariest series ever to be released in the Western market and is still a lot of fun to play.
Despite constant rumors of remakes and new games, there’s still no official word on whether they’ll ever see the light of day. Currently, the closest thing is available is the Silent Hill HD Collection, which includes the second and third Silent Hill games and can be played on PS3 or Xbox 360. Those hoping to play the first Silent Hill game will need to track down the physical copy.
4. Sweet Home
Several years before working on the first Resident Evil game, producer Tokuro Fujiwara created a little-known survival horror title called Sweet Home. Released exclusively in Japan for the NES in 1989, the game has many of the same elements that would define Fujiwara’s later work and was seen as revolutionary at the time of release.
However, despite the game’s critical and commercial success in Japan, it never received an official Western localization; Perhaps because of its disturbing imagery. Thankfully, however, the ROM hacking community has provided several translations for the game over the years; Although the legality of such a release is somewhat questionable.
5. Parasite Eve
After dominating and defining the RPG landscape for more than a decade, the team at Square decided to try their hand at a survival horror game instead. Unlike the recently released Resident Evil, however, Parasite Eve took a more action RPG style approach, which made a huge impact. The overall atmosphere and tone of the game is excellent, as are its sequels.
Although both the original game and its sequel were made available on the PlayStation Store in 2011, they have been removed due to Sony’s decision to stop supporting older hardware. As such, the only way to play them legally is to use the original discs on a PS1, PS2, or one of the earlier versions of the PS3.
also read: 10 Best Horror RPG Maker Games
