With Halloween just around the corner, OGN is paying tribute to the absolute greatest scares in gaming history. Read on, if you dare, for the most terrifying horror games of all time.
Luigi’s Mansion:
A sharp departure from the main Mario Bros. series, this cosmic body-horror survival game marks the beginning of Nintendo’s obsession with Luigi’s decaying psyche.
DOOM:
The 1993 original will forever be remembered in video game history as the game that introduced humankind to the spooky concept of hell.
The House Of The Dead:
This light-gun title’s horror is purely psychological. It reveals the depraved monsters all humans are capable of becoming, how quickly we as a species resort to violence if we are merely charged by a ravenous, hemorrhaging zombie.
F.E.A.R.:
A classic FPS that allowed players to step into the shoes of a real F.E.A.R. agent, working with members of B.O.O., S.C.A.R.Y., and A.H.H.
Inside:
This universally acclaimed indie darling dared to ask the question: “What would a horror game look like if it won several awards?”
Pokémon Snap:
The inspiration for many later horror games like Outlast and Fatal Frame, this N64 classic left children screaming as they were trapped on a slow-moving railcar, a captive audience to dozens of horrifying wild pocket monsters. The player has no means of protection and only possesses a camera to photograph the objects of their horror.
Fester’s Quest:
Incredible that such a simple NES game could cause such a horrifying, irreparable rift between our brothers. But here we are, 30 years later, and we still do not trust each other.
Alan Wake:
Remedy’s quirky, richly detailed psychological thriller enchanted gamers all over the world upon release in 2010, only for the seemingly inevitable sequel to vanish off the face of the Earth for over a decade. And when you think about it, that—that waiting, that dwindling of hope, that slow extinction of anticipation, fading out of your life like the last embers of a dying star—that’s the greatest horror of all, isn’t it?