The survival horror genre is filled with all-time great games. Most players would point to the Resident Evil series as the peak of the genre, but other series like Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and others also have beloved entries. As the genre gained popularity, developers started pumping out survival horror games. Some of the games burst through the crowd, but plenty have gone forgotten by most players. The list below isn’t meant to be a be-all, end-all ranking of underrated survival horrors. Instead, this list highlights some of the more terrifying hidden gems out there.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Here are five survival horror games that most players have forgotten.
5) Obscure
Obscure follows the story of five high school students investigating their high school after things turn spooky. You control one of them at a time, but you can play in two-player coop if you want to bring a friend with you to explore this terrifying high school. Each character has its own special abilities that you’ll need to use to make it through this harrowing journey.
It’s kind of like the plot of Until Dawn mixed with the gameplay of Resident Evil: Outbreak. Obscure was popular enough to get a second entry that takes the surviving characters to college for another horrific tale. Technically, the team worked on a third game, but it ultimately went in such a different direction that they changed its name to Final Exam. If you want to play through both Obscure games, they were both remastered in 2014.
4) Cold Fear
Cold Fear‘s biggest problem was that it launched just a few months after Resident Evil 4. That game reinvented what players expected from the survival horror genre, so when Cold Fear came along, it already felt old. In retrospect, it’s a bit easier to stomach, even if Darkworks’ game is still on the short side.
You play as a Coast Guard worker who comes across a zombie-like invasion on a Russian ship in the Bering Strait. What follows is an action-packed adventure that uncovers a plot involving the CIA and Russian Mafia. Even if you don’t make the time to play through the entire game, it’s worth checking out the opening.
3) Haunting Ground
Haunting Ground comes from Capcom, which is well-known in the genre for Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. With that in mind, it might not be too surprising to hear that Haunting Ground is a great survival horror game. That said, the developer took a big turn away from the action-heavy combat in RE to give us something that feels much more like a Clock Tower spiritual successor.
You control a young woman named Fiona and her dog Hewie as they try to escape a series of dastardly villains. While Fiona can temporarily hold her own in a fight, you’ll quickly run out of stamina, so it’s often smarter to stay out of a fight. That said, the appearance of enemies can trigger “Panic Mode,” which causes Fiona to behave erratically.
Hanting Ground also explored what it’s like to have players control a damsel in distress, something we don’t see often, and that has been praised by critics in retrospect. Unfortunately, Hewie’s annoying and repetitive sections held Haunting Ground back.
2) The Evil Within 2
The first Evil Within game from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and his new studio Tango Gameworks was fine, but didn’t seem like a game that would get a sequel. Thankfully, we were all wrong, and John Johanas took the director’s chair to give us one of the best survival horror games in recent memory.
Sure, it has more of a combat focus than the first game, and the open world is relatively dull, but Tango Gameworks knows how to ramp up the horror. There are several legitimately terrifying moments in The Evil Within 2‘s 15-hour runtime. It’s not exactly breaking new ground, but it’s worth playing for any fan of the genre.
Hopefully, we get a third game someday to follow up on that ending stinger. It would likely have to be a new protagonist, but it could be a great one. That said, Tango likely has bigger fish to fry these days.
1) Tormented Souls
Tormented Souls is a throwback to classic survival horror games. It features fixed camera angles and the option to use tank controls, if you really want to relive those first few Resident Evil games. Instead of a mansion or police station, you’re exploring a hospital, filled with horrific enemies and mind-teasing puzzles.
It’s worth noting that many players find Tormented Souls relatively easy, so don’t expect as much “survival” in this survival horror game as you’d get in something like Resident Evil. Tormented Souls‘ journey is also pretty short, but it is packed with scares and an engaging story.
Best of all, a sequel launched in 2025, so if you fall in love with the first game, there’s another game in the series waiting for you. It’s a step up in most ways from the first game, so while I’d recommend starting with the first game, you can jump straight into the sequel if you want.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Virgin Films -
Image Courtesy of Netflix -
Image courtesy of Netflix.
