Source: Konami / Bloober Team / Silent Hill 2 / Scary Video Games
We couldn’t think of a better time to boot up some scary video games as we approach Halloween.
There are plenty of horror films you can watch to celebrate the spookiest time of the year, but if you want to mess with your nerves in the name of entertainment, plenty of scary video games can accomplish that for you.
From zombies, vampires, and psychopaths to raging space mutants, these video games won’t stop providing you with horrifying yet thrilling entertainment.
There is an extensive list of games you can play. Here are the top three we think you should play if you want to scare the living daylights out of yourself while having some fun.
Silent Hill 2 Remake
Source: Konami / Bloober Team / Silent Hill 2 Remake
Bloober Team did what many thought would be impossible, trying to bring back one of the original survival horror masterpieces with Silent Hill 2 Remake.
When first released in 2001, it quickly became the best entry in the franchise out of the numerous sequels and spinoffs.
Bloober Team had their work cut out for them when reimagining Masashi Tsuboyama’s terrifying creations for a new generation, and they knocked it out of the park.
Like in the original game, the player takes on the role of widowed writer James Sunderland, who finds himself in the accursed town of Silent Hill looking for his deceased wife.
It is daunting and, believe us, very scary. We challenge you to play this one under the lights with your noise-canceling gaming headset to immerse yourself entirely in the Silent Hill 2 Remake world.
Silent Hill 2 Remake is available now on PlayStation 5 and Steam for PC.
Dead Space Remake
Source: Motive Studio / Dead Space Remake
When Dead Space first arrived in 2008, it was a game-changer in the survival horror genre. It brought tension and fear to the one already terrifying place: space.
Fast-forward to 2023, and EA Motive decided to bring back the franchise with a remake of the 2008 game. This is the definitive way to play the game, even though the original game still holds up.
Dead Space Remake is a love letter to the survival horror genre and technical achievement on all fronts. EA Motive understood the assignment by taking a game that was already deemed perfect and somehow taking it to another level.
The fear and tension are ratcheted up to another level as you take control of Isaac Clarke, a ship system engineer whose mission to investigate the USG Ishimura’s communication failure becomes a nightmare.
Once onboard, you quickly learn the ship’s crew has turned into a bunch of mutated creatures thanks to an alien relic and are now haunting the halls of the ship. Armed with tools like a plasma cutter and other weapons, Isaac must literally chop off limbs to ensure his survival and solve the mystery.
In our review of the game, we wrote, “It’s a rare occasion when a remake of an already highly praised game is in the discussion for Game of The Year, but if the Dead Space remake is not on your list, you’re most definitely playing yourself.”
That remains to be the case. Dead Space Remake is available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PlayStation Plus.
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Source: Capcom / Resident Evil 4
That’s right—another remake. Like Dead Space and Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4 is a beloved survival horror game.
When Resident Evil 4 arrived on the Nintendo Gamecube in 2005, it took the franchise that put the survival horror genre on the map and successfully turned it into an action game while keeping what makes it scary: the zombies and other grotesque abominations.
In Resident Evil 4, you again take control of Leon S. Kennedy, the hero from Resident Evil 2. He is no longer a rookie cop but a US Federal Agent on a mission to find the president’s kidnapped daughter.
The original game did present scares, but it never truly felt like the first three entries in the franchise in terms of giving you a sense of dread because you don’t have to ration bullets, health items, or ink ribbons.
With Resident Evil 4 Remake, the RE Engine makes the game look gorgeous and makes the Ganado, the crazed villagers controlled by the Las Plagas virus, even more terrifying, as they stalk you throughout the village and many other set pieces.
It also turned the game into Metal Gear Solid, with bioweapons trying to make your life a living hell.
Resident Evil 4 was another game we highly rated. In our review, we gave Capcom the crown for spinning the block because their remakes have been nothing short of exceptional.
Resident Evil 4 is available now on Xbox Series X, PS5, Steam and iPhone.
The list does not stop here. Hit the gallery below for more spooky game suggestions.
