The survival horror genre is a tricky one for many reasons. These titles need to find the right balance between engaging gameplay and a good amount of terrifying moments. Tipping the scales too much in either direction can quickly turn a scary game into a caricature of an action title or a terrifying, yet boring, walking simulator.

RELATED: Games That Defined The Survival Horror Genre And Where You Can Play Them

Thankfully, the PS4 and Xbox One console generation had no shortage of amazing horror experiences. It may have not reached the heights of the genre's heyday back in the late '90s/early '00s, but players were still treated to a decent roster of terrifying games that were also a blast to play through. Which are the best survival horror games from the last generation?

Note: Any game available on the PS4 or Xbox One will be considered. It doesn't matter if it was also released on the PS3 or Xbox Series X/S.

Updated April 17, 2022 by Mark Sammut: Survival horror is the gift that keeps on giving. A lot has changed since the era of Alone in the Dark, Clock Tower, and Silent Hill, however, one thing that has remained consistent is the public's love for a good fright. Consequently, there will always be room for this subgenre, and that was certainly the case in the last console generation. The PS4 and Xbox One are still chugging along, but their days in the spotlight are done and dusted; on the other hand, the Switch looks like it has a few more years left in it before a replacement comes along. Regardless, all of these consoles have plenty of terrifying experiences in their libraries. This article has been expanded to include a few more of the best survival horror games on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

16 Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water

Maiden of Black Water ps4 fatal frame
  • Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Wii U, PC

The first three Fatal Frame games are some of the scariest survival horror titles of all time, and while they show their ages in some ways, they are still worth seeking out nowadays. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is the most forgiving and hand-holding main entry in the series; consequently, it is arguably the worst game of the bunch.

While it doesn't come close to reaching the heights of its predecessors, Maiden of Black Water still delivers its share of memorable scares and terrifying ghost designs. It is not a must-play for horror fans like Fatal Frame and Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, but Maiden of Black Water is a reliable choice if someone is seeking a good scare.

Get it on Amazon here!

15 Prey

prey ps4 shotgun
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Arkane Studios' Prey has survival horror elements, although the game can be played as a more conventional shooter if the player prefers to go that route. That said, the game's premise is pure horror territory: Morgan Yu wakes up in a seemingly deserted space station that has an unwanted guest roaming the halls. Survive and learn what happened on Talos 1.

RELATED: First-Person Shooters That Never Got Sequels (But Really Need One)

Prey is a tense and atmospheric game that blends engaging first-person gunplay with engrossing storytelling. It is not an especially scary game, but it has all the ingredients of a survival horror experience.

Get it on Amazon here!

14 Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs

Amnesia A Machine For Pigs Old Radio
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Initially developed as a DLC to the first Amnesia game, The Dark Descent, A Machine For Pigs has exceeded the expectations of its publisher, Frictional Games, and so they decided to release it as a standalone sequel. As it turned out, it was definitely the right move.

The second Amnesia title improved upon most of its predecessor's shortcomings, while at the same time managing to capture everything that made the previous game a great survival horror title. With smoother gameplay and an engaging, mysterious story, A Machine For Pigs is a must-play for any fan of the genre.

13 Outlast 2

outlast 2 best ps4 and xbox one horror games
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

The core gameplay of Outlast 2 remained largely unchanged when comparing the game to its predecessor. Players still roamed around eerie locations with a night-vision camera illuminating the path ahead, but changes to the setting have given the second entry in this critically-acclaimed series a completely different feeling.

RELATED: Horror Games With The Most Heart Attack-Inducing Jump Scares, Ranked

Setting the game in an abandoned backwater town in rural Arizona forced the developers to establish a different atmosphere than in the first Outlast. Whereas the Mount Massive asylum from the original game was a ripe setting for plentiful jump scares and gory encounters, the second entry takes a different approach towards making itself scary, relying on an unsettling aura and environmental storytelling to terrify the players.

Get Outlast Trinity on Amazon here!

12 The Evil Within

The Evil within A Long Scary Hall
  • Platforms: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

When the news of a Bethesda-published, linear survival horror game first broke out, many players were skeptical of what the game will have to offer. Bethesda has a reputation for creating games with some particularly annoying bugs, and while these kinds of issues are excusable in massive, open-world franchises like The Elder Scrolls or Fallout, they could turn out to be immersion-breaking in a game like The Evil Within.

Thankfully, the bugs were a non-issue in the game that ended up being an excellent homage to the bygone era of third-person action/horror titles like Resident Evil 4 or Alan Wake. The burden of creating the game was placed upon Tango Gameworks, a Japanese studio, who stood up to the task of creating an immersive, scary, and (perhaps most importantly) smooth experience. The Evil Within did not reinvent the genre by any means. Instead, it took everything that makes it great and gave gamers a solid game with an engaging storyline.

Get it on Amazon here!

11 Blair Witch

Blair Witch In a Sunny Forest
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Oculus Quest, Amazon Luna

Games based on well-known movie franchises are very tricky to get right. Constantly compared to the source material and relentlessly criticized for being either not faithful enough, or lacking innovation, these types of titles oftentimes end up being lazy attempts at capitalizing on any given movie's box office success.

Thankfully, this was not the case with Blair Witch. Released well over a decade after the peak popularity of the Blair Witch Project series (and three years after the lousy remake), it was free from any sort of hype, allowing the Polish developers from Bloober Team to focus on realizing their vision. The result? A terrifying 6-8 hour single-player game with difficult but engaging puzzles and one of the best dog companions in recent years.

Get it on Amazon here!

10 Tormented Souls

Tormented Souls - Investigating something odd
  • Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

One of the last survival horror games to grace the PS4 and Xbox One, Tormented Souls opts to return to the good old days of the late '90s. This is a survival horror experience heavily inspired by the fixed-camera classics of yesteryear, especially the early Resident Evil games. Consequently, someone's mileage with this release could depend on whether they feel any nostalgia whatsoever for those PS1 masterpieces.

Tormented Souls follows Caroline Walker as she heads to a spooky hospital in search of two missing girls. The premise is simple and does not provide too much in the way of surprises, however, it serves its purpose as a catalyst to drive players into a location filled with horrifying entities. The gameplay is restrictive and periodically frustrating, although this does help heighten the tension during encounters.

Get it on Amazon here!

9 Visage

visage game horror corridor
  • Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC

A psychological horror game inspired by P.T., Visage teleports players to a haunted house that yearns to creep under people's skin as it makes them fear what (may) await in the dark. The concrete and the absurd blend together, demolishing any hope someone might have of clinging to reality as they explore a realm that is anything but ordinary.

RELATED: Psychological Horror Games To Play If You Loved Ikai

Narratively, Visage leaves players to learn the house's secrets on their own, and most discoveries are drenched in pain and anguish. Across the approximately 8-hour campaign, the survival horror game explores a myriad of characters while frequently shaking things up to ensure nobody has an opportunity to get comfortable with their surroundings.

8 Darkwood

Darkwood game
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Ubuntu

Survival horror is all about managing limited resources to withstand the threat imposed by the environment and its other inhabitants. Darkwood's top-down perspective might limit its potential for evoking genuine fear in players, but the game is perhaps the purest survival horror project to grace eighth-generation consoles.

The goal is to simply survive, although that is far from a simple task. During the day, players can scavenge, craft, and speak to NPCs. At night, it is all about persevering against deadly threats to hopefully see the next morning. Darkwood crafts a sense of dread that death could arrive at any minute. It is excellent.

7 The Evil Within 2

The Evil Within 2 Fighting A Discusting Boss
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

The trajectory of The Evil Within franchise is reminiscent of the Outlast series. Both sequels are more open-ended than their predecessors and add more gameplay features to the mix. The Evil Within 2 focused on polishing the gameplay, and with the inclusion of three difficulty settings, Tango Gameworks answered the plight of gamers who complained about the difficulty of the first game.

RELATED: The Evil Within 2: All Of The Weapons In The Game, Ranked

The atmosphere, setting, and an expanded stealth system came together to create a scarier experience than 2014's The Evil Within, despite many players complaining about the plot being slightly generic in comparison to its predecessor. However, given the franchise's relative success, fans can expect a sequel that builds upon the improvements of The Evil Within 2 with a better-written story.

Get it on Amazon here!

6 Slender: The Arrival

Slender the Arrival Grainy Camera View
  • Platforms: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, Wii U, PC, Mobile

Slender: The Arrival is definite proof that a great survival horror game does not need frequent jumpscares and over-the-top, gory sequences to scare the life out of players. Seeing the Slenderman in front of one's eyes for the first time is an unforgettable, terrifying experience that surely continues to haunt many gamers to this day.

Developed as a commercial extension for the free-to-play Slender: The Eight Pages, The Arrival is a very short title that can be beaten in under two hours. Quite frankly, this is a very good thing. If it went on for any longer, it might prove to be too much to handle, even for the toughest of horror fans.

Get it on Amazon here!

5 SOMA

Soma Going Down Mysterious Hall
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Frictional Games have proven time and time again that they have mastered the first-person survival horror niche with its cult-classic Penumbra series, as well as the more recent Amnesia games. SOMA is the Swedish studio's another foray into the genre, with a unique, futuristic twist.

Set in 2104, on an underwater research facility, it takes players on a lonesome journey as they follow the post-apocalyptic story in an attempt to save the last surviving humans from almost certain death. As far as gameplay goes, SOMA doesn't revolutionize Frictional Games' tried-and-true mix of puzzle-solving and exploration, nor does it need to. Fans of their previous games, especially the Penumbra franchise, will feel right at home playing through this frightening underwater adventure.

4 Alien: Isolation

Alien Monster From Alien: Isolation Trailer
  • Platforms: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, PC, Amazon Luna

For years on end, die-hard fans of the Aliens franchise were begging for a proper, licensed survival-horror game, but all they got were shallow shooters that, at their best, felt like cheap Call of Duty knockoffs, but with xenomorphs instead of soldiers.

RELATED: Horror Games With The Deepest Lore, Ranked

This is why the release of Alien: Isolation in 2014 was such a big deal to so many horror fans. Finally, a video game managed to capture the atmosphere of constant dread and hopelessness known from the first movie without turning it into another copycat of a blockbuster franchise. Isolation is a must-play for all Aliens fans, as well as gamers who love a good scare.

Get it on Amazon here!

3 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Resident Evil 7 Close Encounter With Enemy
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Amazon Luna, Google Stadia

The seventh entry into the beloved Resident Evil franchise flipped the series on its head. Not only did Resident Evil 7: Biohazard introduce a brand new protagonist, but it also made the switch to the first-person perspective, which became incredibly popular in horror games in recent years.

As a result, players received one of the scariest Resident Evil games to date that freshened up the series' stale gameplay mechanics, while at the same time managing to continue the overarching narrative plot of the franchise. As it turned out, it was a step in the right direction, with 2021's Resident Evil: Village following the example set by its predecessor and expanding upon the features introduced in Biohazard.

Get it on Amazon here!

2 Outlast

Outlast Scary Humanoid With Baseball Bat
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

When it came out in the early days of the PS4/XB1 generations, Outlast was nothing short of a revolution in the survival horror genre. As one of the few first-person horror titles with less focus on puzzle-solving and more on jumpscare-fueled action, it quickly made a reputation for itself as one of the best survival horror games of all time.

The innovative use of night-vision to crank up the dense, terrifying atmosphere increase the feeling of overwhelming terror even more. The story of a journalist investigating a remote psychiatric hospital may have been a bit of a cliche, but it was well-written and masterfully executed to the point of sucking players in, anyway.

Get Outlast Trinity on Amazon here!

1 Resident Evil 2

resident evil 2 remake 2019 leon
  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Resident Evil 2's remake is a contender for the best horror game of all time, not just of a single generation. Expertly walking the line between survival horror and action, RE2 is a triumph from top to bottom. Unlike many survival horror games, RE2 is not purposefully frustrating to play; in fact, the third-person shooter is a delight to control.

However, this accessibility doesn't come at the cost of suspense, as the game's claustrophobic locations, aggressive enemies, and limited ammo combine to create a constantly intense struggle for survival.

Get it on Amazon here!

We hope you like the items we recommend! Game Rant has affiliate partnerships, so we receive a share of the revenue from your purchase. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us offer the best product recommendations.

MORE: Best Horror Games To Play On PS5