The 23 Best Horror Games

• By Patrick Shaw and McKinley Noble
• October 23, 2008 19:42 PM PST
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Just in time for Halloween, GamePro names the 23 horror-themed games everyone should play!

Halloween is just around the corner and what better way to celebrate All Hallows Eve than by sitting down with some of the scariest video games ever created? Zombies, demons, and all sorts of other deadly creatures have been scaring the life out of gamers for years, and the gut-wrenching titles just keep getting better... Read on as GamePro reveals 23 horror-themed games that everyone with a taste for the macabre should play this season!

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Click here for more Evil Dead: Regeneration screens!

#23: Evil Dead: Regeneration

Let's be honest, the handful of video games based on Sam Raimi's pre-Spider-man, Evil Dead trilogy lacked most qualities that made the horror-comedy films so damn cool. But THQ's Evil Dead: Regeneration, the fourth game adapted from the Evil Dead movies, was as close to a game that matched the cheesy awesomeness of the films. Regeneration placed the player in an alternate scenario where Ash gets committed to a nuthouse instead of getting sucked into the time warp as he did in the end of Evil Dead II. The game featured a number of gruesome beasts to tear apart with Ash's trademark "boomstick" shotgun and chainsaw hand duo (as well as some other weapons), including Evil Ash and an disgusting half-rat, half-fish behemoth. The best thing the game had going for it though is the sidekick that helps you through the course of the game, an undead midget named Sam.
Also Try: Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick

#22: D

The puzzle-laden survival horror game D didn't make much of a splash in the US (likely partially due to the fact that the American version was neutered of its most gruesome moments). But the gamers who were fortunate enough to get a chance to play it were exposed to one of the most frightening games of the PlayStation/Sega Saturn era. In D you take on the role of Laura, a young student who must find out why here father, a respected doctor, has gone on a murder rampage. D had cool, but crude CGI cutscenes, multiple endings, and an all-around disturbing atmosphere that can scare the pants off even the most hardened survival horror fan.
Also Try: D2

Click here for Cold Fear screens!

#21: Cold Fear

Here's a great Resident Evil 4-styled horror game that, much like The Thing, was widely ignored upon its release. Big mistake: after Dead Space, Cold Fear is probably the best RE4 clone made yet. The key is to play the Xbox or PC versions, which use Doom 3-style per-pixel lighting that adds immensely to the claustrophobic atmosphere. You play as a Tom Hansen, an elite Coast Guard soldier, who is dispatched to a mysteriously abandoned Russian whaling ship. What he finds on the ship are vile parasites called "exocels" that have infested the ship's crew and animal life. Some clever gameplay touches -- you'll have to battle the rocking of the ship when trying to land those all-important headshots -- and super-creepy enemies make Cold Fear a legitimate cult classic. If you can find the Xbox or PC version, this is a horror game well worth experiencing.
Also Try: Resident Evil Zero

Click here for more The Thing screens!

#20: The Thing

A pseudo-sequel to the cult classic film by John Carpenter, The Thing is one of the most disturbing survival horror games made. The graphics are only okay, but the gameplay is packed with clever ideas and shocking scares that will get your heart pumping in a hurry. You play as Captain Blake, leader of a military rescue team responding to a distress call from the Antarctic research base from the film. What you find are hordes of alien shape-shifting creatures, who will quickly try to infiltrate your team and secretly take over your men. That sword cuts both ways: your men will frequently mistrust you, and you'll have to prove your humanity by lending them guns or killing nearby creatures. The game starts slowly, but gradually builds into a chilling, paranoid nightmare, especially when you battle the larger shape-shifting monsters that can only be killed with fire. A minor classic and a must-play for any horror fan.
Also Try: Nightmare Creatures

Click here for more Dino Crisis screens!

#19: Dino Crisis

Like mixing Jurassic Park with your worst nightmares, Dino Crisis used many scare tactics to make a lasting impression on PlayStation, PC, and Dreamcast owners alike. Even the game's scripting was awesome, as the game shifted camera angles and various sound effects would suddenly amplify when you were in danger of being mauled by a velociraptor. Dino Crisis was just more proof that Capcom really hit their stride with the horror genre, taking seemingly ridiculous plots and turning them into heart-pounding experiences.
Also Try: Dino Crisis 2

#18: Clock Tower

Even though three games in the eerie Clock Tower series were made, the later installments couldn't match the terror and quality of the first game. The story centers around a killer known as the Scissorman who is savagely butchering people in Norway. You play as a female character named Jennifer Simpson who must figure out ways to thwart the serial killer's attempts to kill off the townspeople. Clock Tower is one of the better point-and-click horror games ever made, and even though it came out way back in 1995 it's still creepy. The game is also heavily inspired by Dario Argento's Italian gore-fest Phenomena which stars a young Jennifer Connelly.
Also Try: Clock Tower 3

Click here for more Haunting Ground screens!

#17: Haunting Ground

In most horror games, the comfortable sight of ammo and health and be found scattered everywhere in sight. In Haunting Ground, no such comforts exist, as the only thing standing between you and a gruesome death is your brains and a faithful canine companion. Possibly the most horrifying part of this game are the parts that aren't explicit -- the main villains all have plans for defenseless damsel Fiona that get worse with your imagination. Some will hurt her, some will violate her, and others will kill her. Haunting Ground's patented "panic mode" also adds yet another layer of terror, making you an easier target as Fiona's fear grows...
Also Try: Obscure

Click here for more Jericho screens!

#16: Clive Barker's Jericho

By no means a perfect game, Clive Barker's Jericho features some of the most genuinely disgusting adversaries we've ever seen in a game. Just about everything in the game, from the skinless muscle-tissue main menu background to some of the environments that look like they were carved out of bleeding meat, is the kind of thing you'd only expect from the twisted mind of Barker whose best known for his quintessential horror film Hellraiser. Highlight of the game: a boss fight against a morbidly obese man suspended by chains on the ceiling who attacks you by ripping open his bulbous gut and spraying you with his acidic intestinal juices. Yuck!
Also Try: Clive Barker's Undying

Click here for more Manhunt screens!

#15: Manhunt

Rockstar's grotesquely violent Manhunt might not be the most wholesome video game on Earth, but it's the perfect interactive counterpart to unbelievably gory films like Saw and Hostel. Even though Manhunt's main draw is allowing you to create your own morbid snuff films by using everything from chainsaws to shards of glass to stylishly murder your enemies, it's right up the alley of fans of bloody entertainment. If you don't take the game too seriously, mutilating skinheads and blood-thirsty psychopaths can be a perfectly harmless way to get out some aggression.
Also Try: Manhunt 2

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