10 Horror Video Games That Brutally Punish You

1. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

House Of Velez
Silicon Knights

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem completely and utterly messes with your head if you make the unfortunate error of allowing your sanity level to drop too low.

If you happen to do this - which, to be fair, can be near-impossible to avoid - the game starts to warp what you're seeing.

At times, this distorted reality can be something relatively mild, such as statues' heads turning to follow your movements or blood may begin to drop down walls. Other times, though, things can take a more messed-up turn, with your character 'dying' or having limbs blown off.

Likely the most headache-inducing parts of Eternal Darkness' patented 'Sanity Effects' relate to your actual TV screen and GameCube. So intent o f**king with you is this game, it will have you convinced that your TV has turned off, that your controller has been disconnected, that your save file has been deleted, that the game has reset, or even that your GameCube has experienced the infamous, fist-gnawing 'Blue Screen of Death' that we all dread.

So yeah, if you're ever going to give Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem a go, please - for your own sanity! - do what you can to keep your characters' sanity levels at a decent level.

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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 day job, 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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.