10 Horror Games That Should Come Back from the Dead
By Dalton Cooper 08 January 2017
From Alone in the Dark to Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, these are the 10 dormant horror game franchises that we would most like to see come back from the dead.
Over the years, horror fans have seen many franchises come and go. In fact, some of the most prominent horror game franchises have faded into obscurity thanks to troubled development cycles, poorly-received sequels, and other issues. Some horror franchises are better off forgotten, but others we wouldn’t mind seeing come back to life.
From Remedy’s engrossing Alan Wake to the chilling Silent Hill, these are the 10 horror game franchises that should come back from the dead.
Alan Wake
Inspired by Stephen King novels and creepy TV shows like Twin Peaks, Remedy’s 2010 horror-thriller Alan Wake sees the title character thrust into the strange town of Bright Falls, with supernatural happenings around every corner. The mystery of Bright Falls was compelling, but outside of a spinoff that came a couple of years later, Remedy has yet to continue Alan Wake‘s story. And with Remedy focusing on multiplayer games, a true Alan Wake 2 seems unlikely at this point, but something tells us Alan Wake still has many stories left to tell.
Alone in the Dark
The first 3D survival-horror franchise ever, Alone in the Dark was once one of the most innovative games on the market. The last decade has seen the franchise fall far from glory, with a critically panned co-op installment, an ill-conceived Uwe Boll film adaptation, and a 2008 game that flopped with audiences and critics alike. However, if Alone in the Dark is able to rediscover its roots, it may be able to return to its former status as one of the industry’s top survival-horror franchises.
Clock Tower
The Clock Tower games were once praised for their chilling atmosphere and raw ability to scare players, with the first two games in the series considered a couple of the scariest games ever made. Unfortunately, Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within and Clock Tower 3 were eviscerated by critics, and the latter sold so poorly that a new game in the series hasn’t been seen since 2002. With the popularity of atmospheric horror games seemingly on the rise, it seems like now would be the perfect time to bring the Clock Tower franchise back from the dead.
Condemned
An Xbox 360 launch title, the first Condemned tasked players with hunting down a serial killer and fighting off a number of crazed, drugged-up lunatics using an assortment of brutal weapons. The sequel traded the gritty realism of the original for polarizing supernatural elements, but a third game more in line with the first could make waves in the horror gaming community. In 2015, Monolith co-founder Jace Hall announced that he was looking for an indie studio to develop a third game in the series, so there’s still hope for the Condemned franchise yet.
Dead Space
With an anime film, a number of spinoffs, books, and graphic novels, not to mention three main series games, the Dead Space franchise was once at the top of the horror genre. Sadly, the lukewarm reception to Dead Space 3 seems to have derailed the series, and with Visceral working on Star Wars, it’s hard to say when fans can expect Dead Space 4. It would be a shame if we never saw a new-gen Necromorph, so hopefully EA unveils Dead Space 4 sooner rather than later.
Dino Crisis
Often overshadowed by its Resident Evil cousin, Dino Crisis is nevertheless one of the better survival-horror games of its era. Its sequels veered far off course, with the second game focusing more on action, and the third a sci-fi shooter set in the far future. A new Dino Crisis game would preferably be more in line with the tone of the original, a survival-horror game where players have to play smart if they hope to survive against an onslaught of deadly dinosaurs. The Dino Crisis franchise has been dead for well over a decade, but with Capcom’s interest in reviving dormant franchises, a new Dino Crisis is not an impossibility.
Eternal Darkness
Nintendo’s content is typically family-oriented, but one glaring exception to that rule is Eternal Darkness. Unfortunately for horror fans, only one Eternal Darkness game has been made so far, all the way back in 2002, and so a sequel is long overdue. Nintendo renewed its trademark just recently, meaning an Eternal Darkness 2 announcement could be right around the corner, or at least the confirmation of a Nintendo Switch port of the GameCube original.
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead and its sequel task players with working cooperatively against unrelenting hordes of the undead. Despite the franchise’s strong sales and active community, it’s been eight years since Left 4 Dead 2‘s launch, with Valve keeping quiet about a potential third game in the series. Despite Valve’s silence on the matter, however, an employee accidentally outed Left 4 Dead 3 in mid-2016, so hopefully Left 4 Dead is a horror franchise that fans will actually get to see come back from the dead.
Parasite Eve
A blend of the RPG and survival-horror genres, Parasite Eve is one of the more unique games in Square Enix’s library, but a new game in the series hasn’t been seen since 2010’s PSP entry. While Square Enix seems to have abandoned the Parasite Eve franchise, an easter egg in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trailer suggests otherwise, and it’s possible that a fourth game could already be in development.
Silent Hill
At one point in time, the two most dominant horror game franchises were undoubtedly Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Whereas the former continued to release a string of critically-acclaimed games and has constantly reinvented itself with bold new directions, the latter has languished since the transition to the seventh generation of gaming. Following a number of failed sequel attempts and poorly-received spinoffs, Konami seems to have given up on Silent Hill entirely.
Metal Gear Solid series creator Hideo Kojima attempted to give Silent Hill the shot in the arm it needed, which horror fans got a taste of with the excellent P.T. playable teaser, but Konami ended up cancelling the project. With horror legends Junji Ito, Guillermo del Toro, and Norman Reedus all involved with the project, the cancelled Silent Hills seems like it would have been the game to return Silent Hill to its former glory. Now fans will just have to keep their fingers crossed that Konami will take a break from pachinko machines long enough to create a new Silent Hill game scary enough to bring the franchise back from the dead.
At the time of this writing, none of these horror franchises have new games announced, but that could change. Chances are fans will see at least some of the horror games mentioned here come back to life eventually, but until then, they’ll just have to play other high quality horror games to tide them over.
Which horror game franchise do you want to see come back from the dead first?
