10 Best Horror Games You've Never Played
By Dalton Cooper 18 October 2016
Over the years, there have been many great horror games that have slipped under the radar. These 10 spooky games in particular are the best you’ve never played.
When gamers are looking for quality horror games to play this Halloween, they are always given the same suggestions: Resident Evil, Silent Hill 2, Amnesia: The Dark Descent – and the list goes on. While those games are some of the best the genre has to offer, there are many other horror titles that don’t get the attention they deserve. Gamers that have already played through the most popular games in the genre should consider the following 10 games, as they may just find a hidden horror gem that they’ve never played.
Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation is a stealth/horror game that features a canonical story set in the Aliens universe. In the game, players are tasked with surviving against an onslaught of deadly androids and humans, along with the near-indestructible Xenomorph beast that the game is named after. Despite being based on a popular film franchise, Alien: Isolation failed to meet sales expectations, which may mean fans won’t ever see a true sequel or the teased virtual reality version. One of the finer horror games of the current-generation, Alien: Isolation is a solid experience for anyone looking for a good scare on new-gen consoles.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Drawing on the timeless work of horror master H.P. Lovecraft, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a hardcore survival-horror game played from the first-person perspective. The game uses a sanity meter that, if depleted, will cause players to see disturbing hallucinations, among other oddities. Unfortunately, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth came out on the tail-end of the original Xbox’s lifespan, so it was overshadowed by the impending release of Xbox 360, but it’s still a game worth seeking out for horror fans.
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned: Criminal Origins, a launch game for the Xbox 360, suffered from somewhat weak sales, meaning many horror fans haven’t played it. That’s a shame, too, because Condemned is one of the creepiest games of the last generation, featuring a twisted tale of a cop attempting to hunt down a serial killer with a mannequin obsession. Condemned is now playable on Xbox One thanks to its backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games, making it easier for horror gaming enthusiasts to see what they’re missing out on.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Often seen on lists of best horror games, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is nevertheless one of the most criminally underplayed games in the genre. Still a GameCube exclusive to this day, the only way to play Eternal Darkness is by buying a copy for Nintendo’s cube-shaped console. The GameCube’s low sales prevented Eternal Darkness from reaching a larger audience, but for horror buffs, it’s worth digging the old GameCube out of the closet.
I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream
Based on Harlan Ellison’s sci-fi story of the same name, I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream is perhaps one of the most unnerving point-and-click adventure games on the market. It tells the dark tale of an AI that has been endlessly torturing the last living humans in terrible ways, all the while dealing with serious themes and social issues. While it may not be all that revolutionary in terms of gameplay, I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream may make players have to sleep with the light on for a few nights.
