THE DEFINITIVE TOP 10 HORROR GAMES OF ALL TIME
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2023
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#top10 #horrorgaming #mattmcmuscles - Ігри
The suffering was criminally underrated one of the best horror games i ever played
Was going to say the same, both are great horror games
Excellent games indeed.
Yeah definitely man, I still find it infuriating that the two games haven't gotten a rerelease, reasons being published by Midway, which shutdown in the late 2000's, they got bought out by WB and still refuse to do screw all with Midway IP aside from Mortal Kombat which back then and today sells gangbusters on the name alone, man I would buy a Suffering Duel Pack Remaster in a heartbeat if WB actually did it.
That’s not scary. It’s just good. Love playing it. Those little Salem chicks. Ughhh.
Same. It was awesome
One of my favourites has always been F.E.A.R. Playing as a big soldier man who could gun down countless enemies but also making me feel helpless whenever Alma was around, was incredible. I remeber not playing it for months because i needed to fall down a ledge and i thought Alma would appear when i landed. When i finally found the courage to jump down, I was greeted with a loading screen.
as unpopular as it was, i'd also argue that fear 3 is phenomenal in co-op (where the second player plays as Fettel in ghost form) It SUCKS single player though.
Surprised Alien: Isolation is not on the list.
or you know...the actual best horror game ever,a little known title called AMNESIA!
A game called Song Of Horror is in my opinion the scariest game ever made but few people seems to know that it even exists.
The Siren games, the Silent Hill games and the Fatal Frame games are extremely scary too.
ua-cam.com/video/gPKvAEkuJ8I/v-deo.html
I was just gonna reply with Song of Horror. I agree, its probably the scariest game I have played since Silent Hill 2. I absolutely love it. And the scares and spooks are mostly randomized so On a second or even third playthrough you see different things!
@@MattMcMuscles McMuscles, is this your first Top 10 video or first Top 10 video in a long time?
This top 10 and your Mortal Kombat-ranking video is the most intriguing of your channel.
I watched a friend play Song of Horror last year, it was An Experience. Music boxes are my biggest irrational fear, so I couldn't play it alone. I will always remember seeing something spooky in the back ("Did that door just shut?" "No, nothing happened, we keep going!"), will always listen for the Safety Step (the sound that plays when there's nothing behind a door), and to this day still quote "What kind of chongo have I gotten myself into?"
I bought it on sale after hearing praise about it but I'm too chicken to play it alone
I think the AI in Alien Isolation makes it the scariest game to play. The monster feels smart. The game has problems, but in terms of how scary it is, it takes the cake for me.
Nothing in a video has ever scared me as much as hearing the heavy stomps as the alien runs towards you.
I would love/hate a VR mode. Ha ha!
Captain Casual Ryan Mcaffrey from IGN gave Alien Isolation a 5.5 because he thought the AI was, and I quote "too unpredictable". That review hindered sales and likely cost us a sequel. I will never forgive him.
@@Clockworkian138There's a mod for that it I will never be the same after playing it
ehh...it's a bit too smart, coupled with the game's length the xenomorph starts getting annoying rather than scary pretty early in the game, it becomes more of an environmental puzzle to be solved rather than something lurking in the darkness. It's something I REALLY appreciate about how Jack Baker and Mr. X are designed in re2 and 7 (and to an extent lady D and nemesis) they are built around the illusion of stalking you rather than being a persistent and lethal threat. They are scripted to appear at certain moments, and always stay NEAR but have a relatively small patrol zone and follow and harass ala Pyramid head, rather than simply killing you, that makes them MUCH more scary, because they catch you off guard, and allow you to panic and run, rather than simply sighing and waiting for the game to load again.
Isolation is a phenomenal game, but much less xenomorph would have made it's appearances more impactful.
Considering my fears are the fear of silence (no noise or sound at all) and the fear of the dark (unable to see except squiggly ultraviolet lines that you're seeing something even though it's not there), I'm not surprised why it's hard for me to watch it, not because it's scary, but because it's a game that I'm not sure I'm going to like whether in VR or not.
i mean, to each their own, but idk if i’d call Garten of Banban an “untouchable masterpiece” and “the finest horror game of our generation”
Especially when he started kissing the Banban body pillow. I think there’s some bias there…
@@renaokawa6199 idk man i just dont think garten of banban is that good…
@@silverman1601I didn't even see it in the video
@@renaokawa6199 watch it again
@@renaokawa6199you have to wait until after the end credits, that's when he reveals his actual favorite for his real fans that watch the whole way through.
What I liked about "Condemned" is it was the first time I didn't have to worry about inventory management in a horror game. Once I respawned after death, I knew everything I needed to solve the level could be found in the level. Gone were the early RE questions like "Should I replay that boss to see if I can save ammo and health items?"
Both Condemned games deserve a remake.
it's worth noting re games created the illusion of scarcity, but you could very easily kill every enemy in every game with ammo to spare...so long as you didn't like...dump 100 handgun bullets into a boss instead of 6 or so shotgun shells. Likewise most re games have enough herbs/sprays for a couple dozen full heals. On top of that, almost all enemy encounters are optional including most bosses (the game just counts on you not noticing that) which is part of why they are so fun to speedrun.
Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines has been my consistent go to for Halloween playthroughs. The Ocean House Hotel is iconic.
When I rented Eternal Darkness, I never finished it because I got the “sequel” sanity effect… and moments after it popped up, the power went out in my house and I was WAY too scared to ever play it again. I didn’t realize until many years later that that screen was actually a sanity effect.
Deadly Premonition absolutely belongs on a list like this - the most memorable game of the generation to me.
Yes, Condemned! I couldn't play it alone in the dark, so I called my friend over to play it with me, and we kept each other safe while trying to get through it. An underrated masterpiece of FPS horror.
So glad someone remembered Eternal Darkness!
Somehow, some way, that game needs a sequel or remake!
I bet it could've been #1 if we added a few more "Pargon"s to the incantation
They did try to crowdfund a sequel 'Shadow of the Eternals' but it fell through 😢
What I love most about Eternal Darkness is that it captures how it feels to curl up by a crackling fireplace with a good book. You don't get nearly as much out of it if you just hold the Run button and go straight from objective to objective, skipping the cutscenes. From the way Edward's narrations quietly set the scene over a still shot of the open Tome, to how the background descriptions change depending on who you're playing as (Lindsey, being a scholar, interprets the frescoes and sculptures in Mantorok's temple that Ellia merely takes at face value), it's all very nice and brooding for me.
As someone who was one of the biggest proponents of Shadow of the Eternals when it was being kickstarted... after seeing what Dyack's company is doing now with Deadhaus Sonata (to this day, STILL no release date on Steam), I can't help but feel it would have gotten stuck in the same development hell. Also, Nintendo not accepting Nightdive's offer to remaster the original is such a bloody shame. :\
Nintendo turned down a Nightdive remaster to one of biggest cult hit Nintendo Exclusive titles ever?! They sound as out of touch and foolish as those MGM executives that was offered a similar deal with Nightdive for a remaster for Goldeneye 64 and they as the fools they are turned it down in favor of a sub par remaster of Goldeneye 64, man the world can be so weird sometimes.
@@bobafett4265Their CEO said as much on Twitter, at least.
I was gutted when Shadow of the Eternals didn’t happen 😢
@@bobafett4265 I don't think Nighdive is well connected enough to land something like that. AFAIK the only major dev theyve ever worked with is Bethesda, so they really need to work for other notable companies before Nintendo trusts them to do one imo. Though Id still love to see it someday.
I think most of their remasters so far are from defunct companies right? (they do a lot of Midway and Acclaim i recall)
@@gligarguy4010 yeah it was just some chatter I heard somewhere that it didn't surprise me for being possibly true, since MGM is a trash company, I just assumed it was the case, if it ain't true then fine by me. I'm okay to admit I'm wrong sometimes. Also with Nightdive and the amount of stuff they got access to and remastered as seen fit it didn't surprise me at the thought of Nightdive throwing in a Goldeneye 64 remaster pitch at MGM offices not being completely off the table.
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Me personally, the Splatterhouse series, #3 especially. Multiple endings, all with the sense of urgency and dread. You never know what you’re going to get unless you play it right.
And of course, splattering monsters with a board with a nail in it. Great stuff.
And those monochrome digitized cutscenes of real people portraying the characters were freaky as hell.
I was surprised not to see Dead Space on here, but all in all, it's a pretty great list!
After playing Control, I've always wanted to Alan Wake. I'm very excited to see the sequel come out! Looks super dope!
it's definitely up there, if anything I might replace bloodborne or friday the 13th with it. But I get that there were already too many survival horror games. (don't get me wrong bloodborne is amazing, just more an action game than horror in my eyes, though it's lore really is pretty horror heavy, it's just very opaque)
Would you label Luigi’s Mansion a “horror game?” It’s not really scary per se, even as a kid I didn’t find it so, but it nails the spooky, haunted house atmosphere so well and it’s pretty fun to replay every Halloween.
Horror-themed, you could say. Horror doesn't have to legitimately scare you to be good.
I would say so, at least for the first one. It took a lot of inspiration from the original resident evil games like the door animations. Those freaked me out as a kid lol
There is definitely value in the concept of "horror" aimed at kids (or people who just don't really like to be legitimately scared). Scooby-Doo, A Nightmare Before Christmas, relatively non-violent (but still a little creepy) movies like Gremlins. Kid's who get exposed to this sort of stuff early on tend to grow up to be adults who like horror-themed media. I'd definitely count Luigi's Mansion in that group, it's a fun gateway to the concept of survival horror games without any of the edge or heavy themes.
Horror to Luigi, that's for sure.
love those games but no not at all
REmake is a masterpiece. So glad to see it #1. Great list Matt!
If Eternal Darkness is not on the list: we Riot 😂
~ 01:05 . X
~ 03:00 . IX
~ 05:20 VIII
~ 07:00 VII
~ 08:30 VI
~ 10:40 V
~ 12:20 IV
~ 14:25 III
~ 16:08 II
~ 18:20 I
People rag on it all the time but the Friday the 13th NES game could be a tense and unsettling experience, it was for me somewhat. Just because it belies the whole premise of everyone trying to get away from Jason in the movies, you had to go toward him and fight him. The creepy music in the cabins just added to it when you were searching for him inside, as a kid it was unnerving that he could be around any turn.
Purple tracksuit Jason always has a certain charm
For me Fatal Frame 2 is still the most terrifying and on point horror game of all time.
You have such a helpless protagonist and that is what really stayed with me. Are you a Special Ops police team member? Someone who's even mildly versed in the occult? A legal adult? Nope. You're a middle school girl. Your character isn't old enough to get into horror movies without a parent but she's gotta save herself and her disabled sister from village of dead people who done f0k3d up and unleashed a cosmic horror. And all you have is an antique camera. Good luck with that....
Those games definitely need to be remade. I have the first three game for the PS2 and they are still scary today.
Dreaded playing it. That’s why it was scary.
I'm playing Siren at the moment, game directed by the original Silent Hill guy, it is giving me many spooky moments. Been wanting to play it for awhile and found out it is part of the PS4/5 classics catalog.
Soma is a game that has stuck with me for a long time.
oooo I forgot about Soma. Good pick.
My well of horror games in general is pretty limited, but FAITH: The Unholy Trinity is one of my all-time favorites, and a huge recommendation for anyone this Halloween
The Suffering is my favorite horror game of all time, with the first Condemned being a close second.
Deadly Premonition may not be number 1, but Deadly Premonition is Deadly Premonition and that puts it in a league of its own.
very solid choices all around
for me personally, i think Silent Hill 1 is THE definitive horror experience. The locations, sound design, the aesthetic, the enemy design, the constant feeling of something not being quite right. It's fantastic.
what kinda helps its case nowadays is that it's a very easy game compared to something like RE. So the combat shortcomings are much more bearable.
The old PS1 graphics makes it more creepier too.
I never really liked the story in SH1 too much, I don’t like that the supernatural is confirmed to be real, the way Silent Hill 2 left it all so vague & kept you guessing whether it was actually real or just all in James’ head was a much better approach.
That being said I agree that SH1 is the superior game in every other aspect. Definitely has the best representation of the Otherworld. Really wish they’d remake 1 instead of 2.
Some of my picks include Signalis, Song of Saya, Drakengard 1, Pathologic 2 and Parasite Eve. All the kinds of games that get under your skin in different ways.
Saya no Uta is a fantastic example of horror media
I'm playing pathologic 2 right now, do you put it under the horror genre? It's pretty dark and depressing but not downright horrific i would say (at least for now, i'm on day 4).
Amnesia: The Dark Descent for the way it made you powerless. Just cowering in a corner, hearing steps and looking down at the wall so that you wouldn't see the monster and go insane was such a great experience. No pistols, no power fantasy.
I know this game inside and out and it still gives me the creeps all these years later. The atmosphere is so inimitable, even the sequels (which I love for their own reasons) can't replicate it. Plus, some of the mods were great enough to stand on their own as gaming experiences.
Solid list and I'm glad that you gave some love to Deadly Premonition.
That game was amazing.
If there is anything I will always love Steph Sterling for, it's writing that 10/10 destructoid review for Deadly Premonition that got the gaming world to notice it. Such a janky looking game getting a perfect score piqued my interest in a game I never would have otherwise played. It's such a delightfully bizarre game, and the ending made me an emotional wreck for days in a way only one or two games ever have since.
Subnautica scares the hell out of me. I have both games and have to go down over 900m in both and it freaks me out. The blackness in every direction, can't see the floor, knowing the giant killer fish are coming for me, that they can see me but I can't see them.
That's a really good pick. That game is so scary. I didn't know I had fear of underwater monsters until that game + the original art for an mtg card called "Dark Depths" by Stephan Martiniere showed me I did. I also think the art by Rob Alexander is pretty scary too. Less so for the art by Mathias Kollros (although the hand is scary once you see it). EDIT: I changed my mind after looking at them all again. They are all scary. ;_;
@stevenluoma1268 The fact that there aren't really any effective weapons adds to the tension too.
The things that gave me fear of the depths were an old episode of "Are you afraid of the Dark?" about a pool and an old SNES game called " Out of this World"/"Another World" where the first thing that happens is you appear in a pool and tentacles drown you if you don't swim. My controller was wonky so I struggled to swim out and drowned a bunch.
I will have to check out those artists but I am vaguely familiar with that Magic card. My friend played Blue and used it in his deck. I was red/green. Good times!
10: 1:10 Bloodborne
9: 3:03 Friday the 13th: The Game
8: 5:20 Until Dawn
7: 7:00 Alan Wake
6: 8:30 Deadly Premonition
5: 10:40 Condemned Criminal Origins
4: 12:20 Resident Evil 4
3: 14:25 Silent Hill 3
2: 16:10 Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem
1: 18:20 Resident Evil Remake
Great video, love a good horror game talk. Still go back and watch that discussion you and Derek had on horror games from time to time.
i will forever be sad we never got more out of Eternal Darkness. Was probably the first horror game I played on my own back in the day as a random rental from Blockbuster i think.
Somehow I knew that both Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4 are going be on this list because they are my most favorite video game in the whole entire series, but I am so very surprised that Silent Hill 3 is also on this list as well and not Silent Hill 2 because Silent Hill 3 is also my most favorite video game in the whole entire series too.
I also love the Simpsons reference at 15:59 too.
Not strictly survival horror but a masterpiece in the gaming horror genre, the Legacy of Kain series is one of my my defining horror series. Amazing writing, fantastic voice acting and design that is so brokenly beautiful even when you're knee deep in corpses. While its combat sadly could be a slog to get you to more cutscenes, there was a visceral horror that the character was consuming blood/souls every two steps just to stay mobile that weighed on you. Yes, I did just eat a room full of people because my health meter was low and I needed to level up. You covered Nosgoth's disastrous existence and how it may have put the franchise in its grave permanently (well that and some poor releases from the IPs current owners) but I'm content with the end of Defiance that leaves us with an open ended and pathos filled possibility that maybe, just maybe, we have a coin's edge thin possibility that there will be a better future for the realm.
I will always be mad Square didn't hire Amy Hennig for a Legacy of Kain sequel in the brief time she was unemployed after her star wars game got cancelled...Defiance ended on a cliffhanger SO LONG AGO.
I agree with your number 1. RE remake is the best RE game in my opinion and probably the best horror game I’ve ever played. It’s not my favorite RE, but I can admit it’s the best.
I have to say thank you, Mr. McMuscles, for giving Silent Hill 3 the respect it deserves. Over the years the second installment has garnered more attention for its storytelling and universal themes of personal demons and psychological defense mechanisms, but the third entry I thought had more interesting characters, scarier situations, and better combat. In short, 2 was a better horror story, but 3 was a better game. Also getting Hometown over the end credits made the trip all the more worth it.
3's soundtrack in general is fantastic, including it in the ps2 release was such a good idea
While 2 is my favorite Silent Hill, I find it, 1, and 3 to be of comparable quality for very different reasons. To your point, SH3's facial animations and environmental distortions outdo many games being produced today. The host of New Game+ weapons also arguably make it the most fun to do multiple replays of.
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One of my favorite things about Friday the 13th was the community. Obviously it wasn't uncommon to come across crappy people, but if you got a room where everyone was on mics and had a sense of humor to match the vibes, it made for an unforgettable experience. Being able to bargain with Jason to spare you in exchange for giving up vital info about the other players was so fun. It makes it harder to play a lot of these other asymmetrical multiplayer horror games cause a lot don't have voice chat and don't have the variety in escape paths.
Excellent list that I found myself agreeing with a lot, ESPECIALLY Resident Evil Remake taking the number one spot. To this day it's what should be seen as the golden standard for a remake. Nothing cut, content added, it's just perfect. Silent Hill 3 is also my favorite of the franchise. Some other notable horror titles I'd say are the original Clock Tower, Dead Space, and Doom 64.
That I agree with the Resident Evil 1 remake is incredible and yes is the gold standard of how to do a remake right, it made me love the Original game to bits and I will admit I love RE1 second to that of RE4 which is still the all time champ for my thoughts for the series as far as ranking goes.
Matt's *ED* Folder...LMAO 🤔🤫😂
Even though the full game never happened, I do think PT would make a great honorable mention. I grew up really easily scared by things then as I got older, became almost completely immune to any form of scare in films or games (short of the occasional well placed jumpscare) but when PT came out, it really got me. I had completely forgotten what it was like to genuinely feel uneasy when playing a game until I tried playing PT in the dark, and I haven't had a single game make me feel that way since.
Same, PT made me feel an unease i haven’t felt ever in a game
Friendly reminder that Deadly Premonition was also heavily inspired by the PS1 game Mizzurna Falls, which only recently got an English fan translation. They both share a ton of the same gameplay structures and Twin Peaks influences, and just like Deadly Premonition, Mizzurna Falls was buggy as hell. Turns out that being one of the first ever open world, character driven mystery games with an involved time-sensitive schedule running on PS1 limitations created problems that hadn't been anticipated. For example, getting a phone call in the middle of an in-person conversation would either cause both conversations to play at the same time, or would cause them to just cancel each other out. That's not very good when two important leads become incomprehensible, requiring you to either check a guide or reload a save.
Deadly premonition is an absolute masterpiece, sure, but i would argue that sequel is like 80% as good, the separation between modern time and old time was greatly done and worked great for the ending, isn't that right, Zach
Dino Crisis and Haunting Ground are My choices of horror games that literally made panic just at the tought of replaying them. They are quite stressful to me but quite enjoyable too.
I dont like horror games that much. Its not that its scary because i love horror movies its usually the slow grinding gameplay. However Alien Isolation is my rare exception. Fantastic survival horror game.
I agree. While I hate being chased by invincible enemies in most horror games, the xenomorph isn't so much chasing you as it's wandering around and will kill you if it sees you. It'll also kill anything else it sees. And that slow-burn apprehensive terror of its looming presence is what separates the cheap, shitty jumpscares from real, sanity-reducing horror.
yes! I think the Alien's AI is some of the scariest enemy behaviour out there. You hear it running and you're like "SHIT!".
your list is solid but i'm sad at the lack of fatal frame :(
Unfortunately I always get let down with FF's for their lack of compelling stories, characters, and how samey the gameplay stays. Still absolutely terrifying, and hauntingly beautiful though.
honestly, this might be the best top horror game list I have come across. while it would differ quite a bit from my own selection, I very much respect some of your more inspired and oft overlooked choices. also the fact that I didn't have to pause the video from laughing too hard at something like Layers of Fear or Outlast showing up puts it above the rest
I have to give a shout out to the rabid bear from Condemned 2. That absolutely scared the crap out of me and has stayed with me all these years later. I don't remember much else about the game, but that level I remember vividly.
Its funny you say that, I literally don't remember a singular thing about that game until you mentioned that bear, which instantly brought back vivid memories of that entire section.
@@bradams1854 Yeah, exactly. I don't really remember anything else about that game other than being scared out of my mind by the giant rabid grizzly bear barreling down into the basement, or crashing through walls when I was trying to escape between the walls in places. A really incredible part in an otherwise completely forgettable game.
Man, when I first played Eternal Darkness, I got so scared, I didn't play that game again for a long time, wanting to move onto a more peaceful game like Endless Ocean. I was so scared, I got afraid to look around dark corners.
The even scarier thing about that game is how most of the ideas behind it, while put into effect by Silicon Knights, were actually coined by Shigeru Miyamoto.
“Dramatization May Not Have Happened”
You got one of my favorite Simpsons references in there! Nicely done! 😂
I know people may not agree, but for me Diablo was terrifying back in the 1990's. The atmosphere of the early levels with very little sound other than the sound of footsteps echoeing through the halls of the church were very eerie and creepy. Sure, the other levels are not on pair with the church on therms of atmosphere, but I still think it very scary (for the time).
I mean, the first time hearing "Mmmm... FRESH MEAT!" scared a lot of folks, myself included, I'm sure. Not to mention having that fucker chase you around all over the place while you're frantically like "Why isn't he dying?! Why aren't my weapons doing anything?!" and stuff like that.
A fellow HUGE mark for Eternal Darkness here! Bought it on a whim as it was discounted and was not disappointed. If you're even vaguely interested in Lovecraftian horror you will LOVE this game.
Thanks for showing it the love it deserves Matt brah!
Very glad you open by just flat-out saying the title is a lie.
Anyone who has the confidence to put out a top 10 horror games list hasn't played enough horror games. There is no narrowing down an ocean that deep.
Silent Hill 3 has always been my favourite of the 4 games.
same, I'd probably argue 2 is the best of the 8-ish mainline games, but 3 is my favorite, both for the insane visuals and level design, and the COMPLETELY ABSURDLY HARD puzzles, especially on the "extra" difficulty. That damn morgue puzzle with who killed cock robin is legendary in my family, as is the last cutscene before the final boss...it's so gross.
That said, I just replayed Shattered Memories, and as annoying as the chase sequences are, that game does some really impressive things with the way it alters the game around you in subtle ways, definitely not one of my favorites, but i'm always impressed by how creative it can be.
(also want to give a shout out to 4 for 2 of the best jump scares in gaming history)
Good list. I'm not too much of a horror game fan myself, in terms of playing, at least. But I loved watching my ex play them. My favourites are Eternal Darkness, the Fatal Frame series and Silent Hill Shattered Memories. The atmosphere in this one was something else. I loved how your choices affected the world. And the way you feel helpless, not able to defend yourself.
Seeing what everyone has for a favorite in the comments is awesome. Great list, I haven’t played a few of those. I skipped a bunch of RE and came back for RE7 in VR for my first time playing it, and it was fantastically scary. Idk how much of that was situational. I’ve heard great things about Layers of Fear. I’m not much of a horror fan, but the mood does strike every now and again. I’ve got both Until Dawn and The Quarry but haven’t played either yet. There are just too many games in my backlog lol
As a Silent Hill 2 fan I feel you immediately redeemed yourself with having Eternal Darkness and REmake at the top of your list. I personally have Eternal Darkness at the top of my personal list for games in general because it changed the way I saw video games as it helped me see them and their potential for artistry. Other games I’d include on my personal list would be Amnesia The Dark Descent and PT, though the latter was intended to be a demo for an unreleased game I feel it served better as a taste of what Hideo Kojima can bring to the horror genre. Both of those games influenced so many games over the last 13 or so years or however many since Amnesia released. I’d also at least honorable mention Visage as it’s the scariest game I’ve played IMO.
Fear and Hunger and its sequel are fantastic games made by mostly one person in RPG maker. He took the limitations of the engine and came up with a very unique survival horror/rpg/immersive sim. The games are rated AO and are not for the faint of heart but if you enjoy dark fantasy, give it a try!
What an amazing list. Top notch. I couldn’t agree with these any more.
personally ill always be partial towards Outlast being one of the best horror video games ever. it seemed like turning every corner showed you progressively more and more unsettling things. the second one was good too but the first is a classic in my book.
I have the same top three. Neat! REmake's Real Survival mode is one of the most nerve-wracking times I've ever had. SH3 is still the scariest game I've played to this day. And seriously, anyone who hasn't played Eternal Darkness needs to snag a Game Cube or Dolphin emulator stat.
If there ever was a rerelease for ED, I wonder if any changes would be made to the insanity effects. Specifically the meta ones involving the Game Cube itself, such as the memory card notifications. Not a big deal in the long run, but how a video game's legacy is handled is interesting to me.
Big agree on the number 1 spot. If I had to mention 2 games that are not mentioned here that are favorites of mine, they would be:
- World of Horror, which is a very unique mix of RPG, adventure game and survival horror with randomized events (the order they appear at, that is; the events themselves are hand crafted) which keeps it fresh for multiple playthroughs, all based on Junji Ito and Lovecraft stuff.
-Signalis, a "greatest hits" of classic survival horror elements which still manages to have its own personality due to its striking art direction and setting.
I would honestly love to see a remake of Cold Fear in the RE engine. At least I think that was the game, I haven’t thought of it until now to be honest but I remember back when I played it that I thought the mechanics were pretty neat and somewhat distinct. I’m claustrophobic irl and have a fear of large open spaces so being in the middle of nowhere in the ocean on a boat was tense enough without the weather lol
definitely, especially since the steam version of cold fear is ROUGH, it really needs a little mod help for it's camera and/or controls.
I love seeing Silent Hill 3 on this list. I love all the original trilogy, and Silent Hill 2 stands as the best standalone title in the franchise, but if you're going to play more than one Silent Hill game (and you should), Silent Hill 1 and 3 are the perfect companion pieces. And Silent Hill 3 hands down has the best scares in the series. The missable scene in the subwway, the storeroom and the mannequin room being the first three that I can't help but recall.
I still own my copy of Eternal Darkness, the psychological aspects really took hold with me and I'm not really that big into horror games. The one that kept me on edge is when your character is reloading his flint-rock pistol and it misfire taking your head off - then everything quickly flashing back as it didn't really happen, made something as simple as reloading a weapon in a game nerve racking.
Matt, if anyone could make a definite horror list it's you. Legend as always.
I was cheering when Deadly Premonition showed up! Absolutely LOVE that game!
I love how sincere and passionate this is. Clearly each game on this list is just something Matt actually loves and has great memories with. He isn't just praising the games, he's really letting us know how he felt and how he interacted with each game in his life.
“If you’re here due to that click-baity title I apologize!…But not really though!”
It’s fine dude! I definitely needed something interesting to watch during work! :)
Very pleasantly surprised to see Bloodborne on this list! I love that game so much. Fear the old blood.
Might be wild, but one of my favourites of all time has to be Obscure if only because of how perfectly it played the late 90s early 2000s horror movie aesthetic right down to opening up with a fucking Sum 41 song on a bunch of shithead teens playing basketball. Like, you can just imagine the poster being heavily filtered with all the actors staring ahead seriously in a row with some edgy skulls or blood in the background.
Also the multiplayer was some of the most fun I remember having with any game.
Great list!! So many of my favorites on this list along with a few I’ve been meaning to play for a while. Never dug into Silent Hill 3 despite starting it many years back.
Love your Halloween Spirit 🎃 Matt, thanks for sharing your favorites!
One of these days I'm gonna play Eternal Darkness!!!
16:34 Hey Matt, they make meds for that, buddy.
Haha was waiting to see if anyone would pick up on that
3:30 Props for using the NES Friday the 13th music here. Nice touch. 🙂
(Also NES Ft13 is totally underrated, and deserves to be seen as an ambitious-but-flawed early survival horror game.)
Oh. My. Blob. Every video needs more LSP!
I randomly picked up Condemned at a used game store.
For the time it looked amazing.
Sadly, I could not change the opening level's outcome by emptying my pistol of ammo.
Yomawari: A night alone is a game I hope more people look at. It does such an amazing job of creating tension through the gameplay as well as expert storytelling.
Can't disagree with much here, we've got some truly iconic horror games.
I for one am definitely excited for Alan Wake 2.
I like Condemned 2 more than the original (mayhaps due to playing it first) bc all the mechanics are much more fleshed out and I love the psychological horror aspects with like Ethan never being sober mixed with the Condemned weirdness meaning you never know what is "really" happening exactly. Something I'm always a sucker for.
If its not definitive I want another video! 😉
Happy to see some love for Alan Wake, though the sequel looks primed to take its place and then some on this list!
REALLY hope so!
I am so goddamn stoked for Alan Wake 2....like wonder and spiderman 2 look great, but they are dead to me if I can't finish them by next friday.
Thanks for including Condemned; that one still scares me to this day. The Decay series was some excellent point-and-click horror. I also need to relive Clock Tower (PS1) one of these days.
The Uncle Derek shots fired in this video! 😂
SH2 will always hold the top spot for the franchise for me but i totally understand 3 taking it. On the whole, it's a better story and Heather is more... Believable? Realistic? I don't know how to describe it but James just going with the flow always felt weird in 2.
One game not on the list, but I personally love is Dead Space 2. One of the most memorable moments that stuck with me was when Isaac got killed by a necromorph only to be reanimated into one which was absolutely terrifying to see. Also had the gameplay style introduced in RE4 which was also a plus.
The original Resident Evil 2 scared the crap out of me as a kid. My friend rented a PS1 and the game from Blockbuster the weekend it came out and invited me and our other friend to his house for a sleepover. We ate pizza and played RE2 together all night. To make it scarier, he had a huge house and we had the entire second floor all to ourselves and we turned out all the lights and wouldn’t let each other turn them on at all so it was pitch black upstairs save for the glow of the TV.
20 years later and playing RE2 Remake all alone in the dark scared the crap out of me. My threshold for horror games had dropped tremendously for some reason and it was terrifying walking through that police station the first time. I personally think the isometric tank style gameplay of the originals are way less scary than the over-the-shoulder view RE2 Remake. It feels like I’m closer to the horror. And being chased by Mr X was terrifying. The only thing that makes me feel slightly relaxed in that game is that I unlocked the rocket launcher and can blast Mr X to catch a breather.
Excellent list
Condemned always gets overlooked
I love the first three Silent Hill games, and I cannot deny how influential SH2 was, but as far as sheer scariness, nothing beats the first game for me. I first played it in 1999, and the graphical limitations and use of darkness were unparalleled. The music freaked me out too - Akira Yamaoka is a frickin' genius in what he does.
A little surprised Soma isn't on this list. While there are few jump-style scares in the game, the general themes and atmosphere are genuinely unnerving, and still haunt me when I think about them today.
People unable to appreciate Deadly Premonition, are unable to appreciate life.
Condemned was the first horror game I ever played, and still one of the best. Top 3 for me for sure.
Totally agree about place of Eternal Darkness . Underrated as hell.
My faves are Condemned, Fatal Frame, and Corpse Party: Blood covered. I love how Corpse party was like a more horror themed King's Quest. In the other games, I lose a lot of the horror when I simply am able to attack whatever is coming for me.
1: Signalis
2: Alien: Isolation
3: SOMA
4: Amnesia: Dark Descent
5: GTFO
I love all of these so much, wonderfully made and solid horror games all around. I have not played many outside of these, but these are definitely my favorites.
SOMA made me depressed for weeks after. I wish it was longer
A solid line up of games. I still need to play Eternal Darkness.
I never played RE. I did play Dead Space and that one got me good. Always nostalgic for it.
I'd also put Hellblade on a list of best horror games. The psychological horror in it is just... damn I will never forget playing it. That game stuck with me.
Eternal darkness was a work of art
I remember the first time I sat down and tried playing Fatal Frame 2 and Siren because it was amongst the game discs my friend's brother let me borrow with his ps2 during a summer. I suck with horror so I usually play with friends to ease the nerves and have some laughs, but I couldn't wait and oh boy, it was some scary shit.
If we are talking pure horror, nothing even comes close to what I experienced with PT. I downloaded it day one out of curiosity, even when people didn't know Kojima was behind it. Downloaded it, turned the lights off as I always do with these games and paired some good headphones to the controller.
Man, I've been playing horror games since early 00's, where I was under 10yo. And yet, even though I was in my 20s when PT came out, nothing could match the pure horror, anxiety and tension that hour and something of gameplay gave me. I honestly didn't want to press the stick up at times. Just stood there in place without even moving the camera. I was scared stiff like never before with a virtual product.
I loved this video generally agree with a lot of the thoughts. I’d be very interested in a top 10 horror games you’ve never played or something along those lines that has weird games like Obscure and Cold Fear (not sure if those are great examples of top ten 😂).
I’m also curious if/where these games are still available. I think most are playable on modern consoles outside of Eternal Darkness?
I will say, one “horror” game I loved more than many people was Shadow Man. That game had some major vibes for a 9 year old.
I appreciate the opening! Good to be humble and state that your list isn't "definitive".