The spooky season is over but that doesn’t mean the scares have to stop. There are plenty of horror games to look forward to this year and the next or at least some with horror vibes attached. Evil West, for example, is a horror shooter that may not frighten players but it can get them in the right mindset.
The remakes for Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 are probably at the top of horror fans’ lists for anticipated 2023 games. Those are both a long way off, so for now let’s take a look through the genre’s history. Are there any series that peaked right out of the gate?
8 BioShock
BioShock is still one of the best-reviewed games on Metacritic with a 96. The second has an 88 and the third entry got things back up to a 94. The sequels introduced new gameplay mechanics that made these games more fun to play.
For example, in the second game players could dual-wield with a gun in one hand and a spell in the other. Still, there’s no beating the ambiance of the original similar to the vibe Resident Evil created with the Spencer Mansion. The world the developers created in the first game was both enriching and horrifying at the same time.
7 Dead Island
Dead Island is a series that is not widely celebrated as a classic. As far as the series goes, it’s on the average scale with this game getting an 80. The second-best score is 65 and that was from the odd 2D spinoff, Dead Island: Retro Revenge. The first one was buggy, but players looked past its shortcomings and had a blast experimenting with the weapons.
For example, players could electricity on an oar and then pummel dozens of zombies to death. It was a true highlight of the experience even though this crafting system didn’t make the game scary. After years of waiting, it’ll be interesting to see if Dead Island 2 will elevate this series from okay to great.
6 Deadly Premonition
Deadly Premonition is another series that has a division among gamers. Technically, both games are flawed in many ways from poor graphics to bad gameplay to glitches that could be listed a mile long. However, the redeeming quality of the original was the story, and don't let that 68 review score fool you.
Agent Francis York Morgan is one of the quirkiest protagonists to ever hit a video game. He makes the first game worth the struggle even though it can be hard to go on sometimes. The second is good too in this same bad but good vein, with a 56, but it isn’t as wild of a narrative.
5 Dead Rising
Capcom made a name for themselves in the horror genre with Resident Evil. Dead Rising was an attempt to revitalize the zombie genre but to create a more action-oriented series instead. Dead Island seemingly took a lot from Dead Rising since this game also has a weird crafting system.
Putting knives on a boxing glove is one wacky example from this series. As the sequels went on, things became less archaic and more enjoyable to play. The original was a proof of concept that worked but is technically a bit hard to go back to today. It got an 85 while the next-best game, Dead Rising 2, got an 80.
4 The Last Of Us
The Last of Us’ two games are almost neck and neck but the original wins by a couple of points. The first game got a 95 while the sequel got a 93. When the original came out, the zombie genre had been done to death and yet somehow Naughty Dog managed to create a unique world that players loved.
The infected monsters were different enough to make things feel fresh and intense. The real enemies turned out to be humans which is the revelation of most post-apocalypse stories. Hopefully, the HBO series can fully capture what players loved about this narrative i.e. the relationship between Joel and Ellie
3 Onimusha: Warlords
Onimusha: Warlords is another horror-infused Capcom game with a respectable score of 86. It can best be described as Resident Evil but with samurai. It’s also more action-oriented but not on the same level as its Capcom cousin, Devil May Cry. Most mainline sequels are around the same scores on Metacritic with the third game getting the next-best score of 85.
The first game got an HD remaster in 2019, but not much was touched up for it. With samurai games on the rise, it would be foolish for Capcom not to try again to perhaps elevate this series above the original once and for all.
2 Parasite Eve
Square Enix, before the merger, had a strong presence on the PS1. They had juggernauts like Final Fantasy 7 but they also got experimental with games like Parasite Eve. It was a horror RPG and not the first of its kind but certainly one of the best still to this day decades later. Adding magical powers to gunplay was a great concept.
The sequels went in some wild directions and not for the better. Of the many games on this list, Parasite Eve has perhaps the greatest shame when it comes to its sequel. The original got an 81, the sequel got a 79, and the final game, The 3rd Birthday, got a 71.
1 The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series was part of the revival of adventure games during the early HD era. Telltale was doing some good work prior to this to help the genre out, but The Walking Dead is what truly rocketed narrative-based adventure games forward.
There weren’t many puzzles in the original contrary to genre standards but this made it more accessible to people, getting a grand score of 94. The sequel seasons had their moments and Telltale did great things after this, but there has been nothing as mind-blowing as season one. For example, things took a dip with season 2 as it got an 81.