10 Horror Video Games That Brutally Punish You

by Andrew Pollard
House Of Velez
Dark Room Games

You could argue there's never been a better time to be a fan of horror video games, with that section of the medium currently experience a level of quality never seen before.

Horror is big business, period, and horror hounds are getting terrifying, twisted game after terrifying, twisted game. The best thing is, so many of these releases feature great premises that deliver the chaos and carnage we all love.

Of course, death in these horror games is commonplace, and a key component of such offerings is quite simply doing your utmost to make sure your character stays alive; something which is clearly easier said that done.

For some horror titles though, they don't necessarily just get their kicks from having you die, regenerate, lather, rinse, repeat. No, for some of these releases it's more about punishing you for bad decisions, slack play or outright merely for the sh*ts 'n' giggles of the game itself and the team behind it.

With that in mind, then, here are horror games that love to punish players in some truly brutal ways.

10. Resident Evil

House Of Velez
Capcom

Rebecca Chambers has a unique place in the hearts of Resident Evil fans. While her role in the first Resi game back in 1996 was extremely small, many were instantly won over by this S.T.A.R.S. rookie.

Of course, Rebecca would get to fully take centre-stage in the Resident Evil Zero prequel GameCube offering in 2002, but her role in the original RE was a wake-up for players in regards to what the stakes of Resident Evil were.

When playing as Chris Redfield, you got to cross paths with Rebecca and would later be given a task that was unknowingly time sensitive. After hearing the distant screams of this youngster, as Chris you're meant to try and find Rebecca and rescue her from whatever sinister threat is traumatising her.

That threat would be an Alpha Hunter, and players (and Rebecca!) would be punished should Chris decide to take his sweet time in responding to these screams.

Take too long to come to Rebecca's aid and you'll see her bite the bullet; in the original having her head swiped off, or in the RE Remake having her throat slit.

Either way, if you pull your finger out of your ass and get to Rebecca in timely fashion then you'll save her from being killed off - even if just temporarily.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.