10 Unique Horror Video Games You Need To Play
Making night-vision a gameplay mechanic? What can go wrong?
Horror is an interesting genre in video games, due to the sheer scope of the category. Now, you could say the same for any genre, I suppose, but I feel with horror you can really stretch the boundaries.
It’s a theme, an element, an underlying aspect that can be put into any type of game, be it first or third-person, a shooter, a point-and-click or simply run-and-hide. In this list we look at ten unique horror games you need to play for yourself, games like Alan Wake, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, PT and yes, even Five Nights at Freddy’s.
So, regardless of if the game was a commercial success, critically acclaimed or a trailblazer of its time, we’ve dug deep and brought out what we thought were the most unique games. This article is here to celebrate horror games and the variety it can create; it doesn’t matter if the game involves the simple objective of collecting pages stuck to a tree or shining a light at possessed demons of the darkness, if such simplicity was engaging and immersive, then it worked.
10. Alan Wake
Released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 and later ported to Steam, Alan Wake is a rather interesting spin on the horror genre, and a great first example of where we're heading.
Third-person, well-written and with a heavy influence from classic literature, Remedy's fourth game is a perfect example of an interesting world, and well-developed atmosphere. There are some downsides, such as a weirdly paced story and lacking mechanics, particularly as the game almost hinges on you enjoying shining different types of flashlights at barely changing enemy types.
With that aside, though, you’ll find a really neat game that isn’t often mentioned, especially these days. Alan Wake was one of the first games to successfully implement psychological horror into a video game and it does so surprisingly well.
Through Alan’s exaggerated struggles to sleep, he’ll hallucinate and slip between different phases of reality, some where his friends hate him, some where the world hates him and some where he’s found his way into rehab.
If you can get past the simple combat mechanic, Alan Wake offers a unique, thrilling experience.