In the last decade, we've seen tons and tons of amazing horror titles come out on the market. From Until Dawn to demos like P.T. and terrifying pieces like Visage becoming icons for the horror genre, it's difficult to go wrong when looking for a new horror game to play. However, we've seen some pretty horrifyingly bad titles pop up as well.
While some of them lacked in execution, others were far from scary and ended up being but shadows of the promise they first showed. With that, let's take a look at 10 of the worst horror games of the last decade, as rated by Metacritic.
10 Hollow - 36
Hollow starts off with an incredible premise, a classic found in many horror games: you're alone in space in this desolate ship where something has gone horribly wrong and it's now your job to figure out what happened and how to get out. However, where it lets its players down is in execution.
The game is difficult to operate on Switch, where it received particularly poor ratings. There are tons of bugs and graphical issues that despite the terrifying atmosphere make the game more of a headache than a spine-chilling adventure.
9 7 Ways To Die - 35
The genre of zombie apocalypse games is a tough one due to the high saturation of games, which is most likely why 7 Ways To Die suffered so much when it first dropped on to the market. This Minecraft meets Left 4 Dead type of game sets you in a world ravaged by zombies.
Highly sandbox in style with a big focus on survival and scavenging, the game can feel a little devoid of a purpose. Not just that, the graphics aren't exactly the most compelling, and just leave you wanting something more out of it.
8 Agony - 34
If you're looking for the most disgusting, stomach-turning horror experience, you don't have to look much further than Agony. You begin your gore-filled journey in Hell, from which you need to escape by using stealth and special powers that allow you to possess demons. Sounds interesting, right?
Well, unfortunately, much of Agony's greatness lies in its creative gore that ranges from tons of nudity to pools of blood and other body parts dangling from the walls. Many complain that the game isn't easy to control and due to its environment and low lighting in a red color filter, the world is a pain to get through. At least the title foretells what playing this game feels like, too.
7 AMY - 33
AMY attempts to be in many ways what The Last Of Us became: a story about the survival of two in a world torn apart by zombie-like monsters. The main character Lana is tasked with helping Amy, a little girl, to safety, as she carries the hope for humankind's future.
The game has tons of issues, from its sloppy graphics to terrible performance to even more terrible voice acting. However, even if you can get past that, the gameplay is highly punishing, due to a checkpoint system that often has the player redo incredibly long chapters - again, and again.
6 Weeping Doll - 32
VR is one of the pieces of technology that still requires a bit more work to be able to deliver something compelling. Weeping Doll no doubt was a victim of it, although even on its own it makes for a pretty boring game that would most likely be better suited as ASMR to put you to sleep rather than as a frightening horror game.
The game was a bit of a letdown for people, as it turned out to be more of a puzzle game than an actual horror experience. While it still needed some refinement, it was probably released far too early to really deliver what it set out to achieve.
5 Escape Dead Island - 32
Not all horror games are made of the same stuff, and we mean that in both good and bad. Escape Dead Island brings us a cartoon-like Borderlands inspired post-apocalyptic world, where the main character Cliff must survive against hordes of zombies while avoiding the virus himself.
Many fans of Dead Island were gravely disappointed by the sloppy end product that was delivered. From frustrating controls that makes combat a headache, rather than an empowering experience, to the horrible "story", it feels like Escape Dead Island should have just remained an idea and never made it to the shelves.
4 The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct - 32
There's no question that The Walking Dead is an insanely popular show. This game, however, is a bit of an insult to the franchise. As Daryl we're forced into surviving against a horde of bloodthirsty zombies that will hunt the player down mercilessly, with an arsenal of weapons at our disposal.
The idea in itself works, but given all the issues in the game it's hard to justify spending money on this one. The graphics were definitely a big shock to many fans of the franchise, and when the performance isn't much better with tons of bugs still in the game, it's just a big miss for many fans of the zombie apocalypse genre.
3 Ghostbusters - 30
The Ghostbusters franchise is another favorite among a lot of gamers, but that doesn't mean every single title that's come out is necessarily worthwhile. This Ghostbusters party game lets you team up with your friends against hilarious looking poltergeists of the neighborhood.
The game, however, has a very amateur look. For what it promises, it never properly delivers anything. The graphics and gameplay are terrible, and look like something out of a party game collection from the early 2000s than a horror game of the last decade.
2 Basement Crawl - 27
Sometimes we see games that just make us go "why?", and Basement Crawl is definitely one of them. Advertised as a horror-themed party game inspired by the classic Bomberman top-down maze game, you basically do the exact same thing here with no new mechanics.
So, what makes this different from Bomberman? Well, it's horror-themed. It looks scary (allegedly). It's in a basement. Does that justify making it into a new game with a price tag? Absolutely not. We recommend not spending your money on this disaster.
1 Alone In The Dark: Illumination - 19
At first glance, this game looks very promising. Monsters, FPS arsenal and over-the-shoulder view with a classic survival horror experience, all the good things are there. Inspired by the lore of Cthulhu, any fan of H. P. Lovecraft's work would be compelled to buy this title. But please, don't.
Even on the highest graphics settings, Alone in the Dark: Illumination has a very amateur look to it. It tries to be a big title but fails miserably with wonky sound bugs, choppy gameplay that feels anything but smooth and graphics that have nothing to do with the last decade.