Horror is a special genre that often turns the concept of action games on its heads, forcing players to run and hide from enemies instead of the other way around. Good horror games can haunt you even outside the game. In this article, Gurugamer.com is going to showcase the top 5 best horror games on PC in 2022.
1. Phasmophobia
Phasmophobia is a 4 player online co-op psychological horror. Paranormal activity is on the rise and it’s up to you and your team to use all the ghost hunting equipment at your disposal in order to gather as much evidence as you can.
While the game still has jump scares, it doesn't rely on them very much at all, and instead relies on the natural tension of large, dark areas and the natural activity (or lack thereof) of the ghost in order to build suspense. This means, for me at least, the feeling of dread doesn't end up wearing off and I can still feel genuine fear when going on a new mission, even if I've been there 20 times before, while also letting those jumpscares still be somewhat scary. A win/win in my book.
The voice recognition is something I wasn't sure would work out to be very enjoyable, but boy was I wrong. It creates a great experience, actively speaking to the entity, trying to provoke it to show you what it can do, risking your life for the mission, but it's gotta be done. It's thrilling and fills you with dread. Having the mission react to the things you say is extremely immersive, one of this game's biggest strengths.
2. Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil Village (RE8) is a first-person survival horror set in Eastern Europe during the present times. Once again, players impersonate Ethan Winters (same protagonist of RE7), that along with his wife Mia and daughter Rose, moved to a remote village to start a new life. The terrifying past that they all hoped to leave behind, however, strikes back at them brutally. Ethan will be once again on a quest to save his family, against an even more dangerous enemy than ever before.
Ethan ends up in some eastern European country, ostensibly Romania, on the outskirts of a seemingly abandoned village. Naturally, the village is not abandoned but instead infested with lycanthrope-looking bioweapons that have killed or infected all the villagers. The gameplay takes a lot of inspiration from RE4 and puts a greater emphasis on action. You are handed guns generously in this game and there are several to discover. The action sequences are more numerous and involved. The gunplay itself is a lot of fun, shooting all those mooks can feel fairly satisfying. There is also a merchant, another throwback to 4, who can upgrade your guns to make them more powerful.
Exploration is really fun in this one, as Village looks gorgeous. You can see the areas that you're going to visit in the distance, similar to Souls. It's possible to explore at your own pace and the visuals are a consistent eye candy unless you start noticing recycled assets from previous RE
3. Alien Isolation
Alien isolation is visually very beautiful and detailed, it has an excellent atmosphere, and a fantastic sound design, intensifying the moments of dread and suspense. In the plot, you find yourself in the role of engineer Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, the protagonist in the classic 1979 film “Alien”, missing since the incident of the Nostromo spaceship.
The story starts out when Amanda seizes an opportunity that could result in important clues to discovering her mother's whereabouts. However, she instead finds herself trapped in the enormous space station Sevastopol, with a killer Alien roaming around the area. With survival as the main objective, You will have few resources at your disposal, relying on distraction, stealth, and strategy. And while you can find weapons that could help you deal with the enemies you may find, caution is advised, as combat noises will attract a much more dangerous foe, and your weapons will be useless against it.
4. Darkwood
Darkwood is a gritty, violent and challenging top-down survival horror developed by Acid Wizard, a small Indie developer team based in Poland. Impersonating one of the many survivors of an unknown incident, in which a thick forest engulfed everything these people once knew, players will have to figure out the best way to survive the dangers of this mysterious place.
This title proposes an uncompromising survival horror gameplay, where resource conservation, attention to detail, careful exploration, and knowledge about environments, enemies, resources are all fundamental to even have a chance of survival. Unlike many modern titles, the game gives little to no advice on how to progress or what to do, leaving players to figure that out on their own, using found pieces of lore, dialogues, and other clues.
Night outside is lethal for the main character, only daytime is viable to gather resources, explore, complete quests, and other activities. Safe houses, scattered throughout the four map areas, are the only reliable place to survive after sundown. Time management becomes essential in this reality, so being extremely efficient in planning routes, managing inventory space, and taking only what really is needed from loot, are paramount mechanics. After dark comes, progressively more difficult Invasions will attack the player's safe house, which they can defend with a variety of traps, barricades, and move-able furniture to impair enemies.
5. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a true classic and the benchmark by which all other horror games are judged. It is an old-school horror experience where it is what you can't quite see that terrifies you more than what you can see. It puts you on the edge of madness and terror and keeps you there without ever pushing you to the point where it because mundane.
The story is actually very engaging, with the protagonist being an Englishman suffering amnesia, stumbling around a dark castle searching for answers. But those answers are unlikely to bring you joy. However whilst the story is horrific enough, the true brilliance of this game is the way it injects you with a feeling of utter helplessness and despair. You never feel like you have any options other than to run and hide, and even those options feel temporary, simply putting off the inevitable for a little longer. And yet run and hide you do.
And no game I have ever played has used darkness so effectively. It is both your best friend and greatest enemy at the same time. It will hide you from the terrors, but it will expose you to the insanity brewing in your own mind. So you flit from light to dark, never able to truly feel comfortable in either. Everything about this game works well to produce a true feeling of fear. The sound and the visuals are great and the game mechanics are actually very cool. Pushing and pulling items around, moving chairs in front of doors, it all works to give that genuine horror movie experience.
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