A lot of old and retro horror games are worth revisiting or even playing for the first time despite their age. Some are not even that old, but they are forgotten and overshadowed by franchises like Silent Hill and Resident Evil. While the genre is popular as a whole, most horror games are relatively niche and tend to fly under the radar.
Consequently, many highly-rated games are hardly discussed in this day and age. They have succumbed to the merciless flow of time, along with a lack of accessible copies in some cases. Hundreds of titles fit the description, but a few forgotten horror games stick out from the crowd.
In order to quantify "forgotten," the number of Metacritic user ratings will be considered. If a game does not have any ratings on Metacritic, Steam will be used in its place. To provide some context, 1996's Resident Evil has 1,295 user ratings on Metacritic; meanwhile, 2013's Outlast has more than 77,000 reviews on Steam.
Updated on November 13, 2023, by Mark Sammut: The specifications of each horror game have been added, including information on their platforms and developers.
11 Sanitarium
No. of Seam User Reviews: 925 (94% Score)
Sanitarium, a classic point-and-click adventure horror game, came out in 1998 and was innovative for its time period. Gamers play a man who wakes up from a coma from a car accident in a scary asylum. It's up to the player to uncover the mystery as to what is going on.
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10 Nightmare Creatures
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 16 (8.4 Score)
Nightmare Creatures
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo 64 , PC , PS1
- Released
- September 30, 1997
- Developer(s)
- Kalisto Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror , Action
- How Long To Beat
- 6 Hours
Released in 1997, Nightmare Creatures is perfect for those who like 19th-century Gothic horror. The game takes place in 1834 in London, and people are mutating into ungodly monsters. Most of the reviews for this game were favorable; however, very few remember it.
The game can actually be pretty difficult, as it has an optional mechanic for an adrenaline bar which causes health to be lost if it runs out. Players are forced to continuously seek out and win battles to keep the adrenaline bar full. In 2000, Kalisto released Nightmare Creatures 2, which is not quite as good as its predecessor. That said, it has its fans.
9 Rule Of Rose
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 98 (8.9 Score)
Rule Of Rose
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 2
- Released
- January 19, 2006
- Developer
- Punchline, Shirogumi
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror , Adventure
- How Long To Beat
- 10 hours
This obscure survival horror game came out for the PS2 in 2006. While garnering praise for its story, art, and music, Rule of Rose overall received a middling reception due to its gameplay. It was also subject to controversy in the UK.
Rule of Rose focuses more on psychological horror than violence. In terms of narrative, it can be somewhat compared to Lord of the Flies, but with young girls instead of boys. Rule of Rose could be one of the most misunderstood horror games of all time, especially when looking at the initial negative reviews. Getting a copy now is a challenge, as it sells for about 400 dollars and can only be bought second-hand. It is likely due to those prices that this game will only become more and more forgotten with time.
8 Cryostasis: Sleep Of Reason
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 183 (7.7 Score)
Released originally in Russia in 2008, Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason is a psychological horror game designed solely for Windows. The game was removed from online stores due to licensing issues, so it is nearly impossible to legally obtain it nowadays unless someone manages to hit a gold mine and find a physical copy.
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7 Nocturne
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 17 (8.4 Score)
Nocturne's release dates back to 1999, and its premise has some similarities to Men in Black. Players take the role of a character simply called The Stranger, who works for a secret government organization called the "Spookhouse." His and his fellow operators' job is to investigate and deal with paranormal issues such as vampires, zombies, and werewolves.
Although certainly rough in places, Nocturne has withstood the test of time thanks to its fantastic atmosphere and fun story. It is quite difficult though.
6 Ghosthunter
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 31 (8.4 Score)
Ghosthunter
- Platform(s)
- PS2
- Released
- April 17, 2004
- Developer(s)
- SCE Studio Cambridge
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror , Third-Person Shooter
- How Long To Beat
- 10 Hours
Exclusive to the PS2 and released in 2003, Ghosthunter is an action survival horror game. The development team took inspiration from James Bond, Ghostbusters, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Players take the role of Lazarus Jones as he seeks to save his partner from ghosts that he accidentally released from confinement. As a rookie detective, he has to put his skills to the test as a rookie ghost hunter.
In 2003, Ghosthunter looked pretty great, especially in terms of the spirits' designs and the special effects. The campaign frequently shakes up its settings to ensure players do not spend too much time in the same environments. As far as its gunplay is concerned, Ghosthunter is a product of its time and a serviceable third-person shooter.
5 The Suffering
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 43 (8.4 Score)
The Suffering
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS2 , Xbox (Original)
- Released
- March 9, 2004
- Developer
- Surreal Software
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror , Shooter
- How Long To Beat
- 9 Hours
For a forgotten horror game, The Suffering had pretty positive review scores across the board when it was released in 2004. The project deserves praise for trying something different as it sought to distance itself from horror classics like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame. Blending horror and action, the game focuses quite a lot on combat, at least when compared to most horror releases.
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4 Nosferatu: The Wrath Of Malachi
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 52 (7.4 Score)
Released in 2003, Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi takes place in 1912 and takes obvious inspiration from Dracula. Players head to a castle in Romania where a wedding is set to happen between the protagonist's sister and a count's son. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the count and his offspring are not quite human, and they have bad intentions for their new family members.
Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is a first-person shooter and a survival horror game. As old as the title has gotten, it has stood up to the test of time in the sense that it is still entertaining to play, even if it does not quite measure up to the best horror games of all time. Players must search the castle to find their family members, a goal that is given an extra twist by having the latter's locations randomized.
3 Cold Fear
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 14 (9.4 Score)
Cold Fear
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS2 , Xbox (Original)
- Released
- May 17, 2005
- Developer
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror , Third-Person Shooter
- How Long To Beat
- 7 Hours
Ubisoft's Cold Fear shares quite a bit in common with Capcom's Resident Evil 4, which launched just two months prior. Unsurprisingly, the latter completely overshadowed the former, and it is certainly the better overall game. Still, Cold Fear is a decent survival horror title by most metrics.
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2 Clive Barker's Undying
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 170 (8.6 Score)
Clive Barker's Undying is a first-person horror shooter that primarily got attention due to the involvement of its eponymous writer. A big name in the horror sphere, Clive Barker is a beloved novelist who has also directed and written a bunch of movies, including Hellraiser. The author has tried his hand at a few games, with 2007's Jericho probably being the most well-known. However, Undying is the better overall game.
The story takes place in the 1920s and players take the role of a WWI veteran, Patrick Galloway, who is investigating occult happenings. Despite fading into obscurity, Clive Barker's Undying received very positive reviews upon release. Unfortunately, the game also sold poorly, so not many horror fans even gave the title a chance.
1 Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
No. of Metacritic User Ratings: 230 (8.9 Score)
Eternal Darkness
- Platform(s)
- GameCube
- Released
- June 24, 2002
- Developer(s)
- Silicon Knights
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
- How Long To Beat
- 14 Hours
Released in 2002 for the GameCube, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem had many similar mechanics to the Resident Evil series. Despite garnering a lot of praise, the game was not a commercial success, and it has been relegated to a minor cult classic. It was even going to get a sequel, but that got canceled due to the first game's poor sales.
It is a pity, as Eternal Darkness got nearly perfect reviews from game publications across the board. While not necessarily one of the scariest horror-leaning projects on the market, the title is arguably among the genre's most ambitious efforts, all the while being fairly accessible to younger players. The time-jumping story is epic and engaging, while the gameplay has aged pretty well. Eternal Darkness' Sanity meter was also ahead of the curve, and its influence can be seen in games like Amnesia.