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.
10 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.
9 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.
8 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.
7 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.
6 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.
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5 Obscure
True to its name, Obscure is a horror game that a lot of gamers haven't played. Obscure plays like a classic survival-horror game for the most part, but adds its own twists, such as a weapon crafting system and a well-implemented local co-op mode. Combine those unique elements with an amusing cast of characters that are walking slasher film cliches, and Obscure is one of the best horror games that slipped under the radar.
4 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Silent Hill is by no means an unknown horror game franchise, but one entry in the series, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, went ignored by most fans. Shattered Memories is a retelling of the original Silent Hill with a deeper focus on psychological horror, and was originally exclusive to the Wii. Shattered Memories made clever use of the Wii remote and featured strong graphics for the console, but unfortunately, that wasn't enough to convince most Wii owners to purchase it. Shattered Memories was later ported to PS2 and PSP, so players have a few different system choices should they choose to seek out this underplayed game.
3 SOMA
After Frictional Games made genuine horror games popular again with Amnesia: The Dark Descent, all eyes were on the company to see what it would produce next. The studio's next game, SOMA, was a little subtler than Amnesia, with a slower burn and a focus on atmosphere over jump scares. This approach ultimately made SOMA less popular, with the game finally becoming profitable almost a year after its release. While it may not have garnered the same fanfare as Amnesia, SOMA is one of the better horror games of recent years, and deserves to be played by more gamers.
2 Stasis
Taking cues from thematically similar sci-fi horror films like Event Horizon, Stasis is a point-and-click adventure game that tasks players with exploring an abandoned spaceship. Its retro-style isometric viewpoint appealed to nostalgic gamers, resulting in a successful Kickstarter campaign, but since then, it's been overshadowed by other games in the genre. It's safe to say that many horror gaming enthusiasts have yet to try it out, but should definitely consider giving Stasis a whirl if they're looking for a chilling sci-fi horror experience.
1 The House of the Dead: Overkill
Even though the Wii is often labeled as a console reserved for kids and grandparents looking to play virtual bowling, it also had its fair share of brutal horror games, with one of the most prominent examples of this being The House of the Dead: Overkill. Stylistically similar to grindhouse B-movies, The House of the Dead: Overkill is cheesy, but also has plenty of scares and endless buckets of gore. Like other M-rated Wii games, most owners of the console failed to pick up The House of the Dead: Overkill when they had the chance, making it another underplayed horror game that deserved to be more successful than it was when it released.
From recent releases like Alien: Isolation to older hidden gems like I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream, the 10 games on these list would all make for great choices to play this Halloween. Gamers that have already played all of the most popular games in the genre may want to go out of their way to find these great underplayed horror games.
Which horror game do you think is underplayed? Sound off in the comments below!