9. Splicers & Big Daddies (Bioshock)
Onto one of the most atmospheric and critically-acclaimed series gaming has produced. Whilst many still rigidly stick to forebear-franchise System Shock for its space-themed charm, Bioshock inverted such a setting, placing the player in the dystopian underwater city of Rapture. Splicers are the names given to the population of Bioshock that remained after their science-fuelled vision of an ideal society went awry. Hell-bent on obtaining ADAM, the substance that powers the darkest recesses of Raptures labyrinthine hallways, they adorn every surface from dank and dripping once-lived-in homesteads to the very ceiling of the corridor you happen to be venturing down. Although Bioshock is rarely regarded as a scary game, depending on your own dispositions the very nature of exploring Rapture in its dilapidated state was cause for the hairs on your arm to pay attention, as alongside the Splicers were the terrifically-imposing Big Daddies, taking care of any level of comfort you may have been building up in between encounters. Gigantic ATOM-infused beings that were severely protective of Little Sisters; small harvesters of said substance, they wielded gigantic drilling-arms all the while encased inside monstrous old-fashioned diving equipment. Whilst the arrival of a Daddy heralded something more of a mini boss-battle than a scare, their very presence within the gameworld was still terrifying, and with many Halloween parties proving theyve crossed over into pop-culture as a recognisable costume option, Big Daddies remain a staple of the genre.