5 Best Immersive Horror Games (Including The Midnight Walk)

More often than not, you have played or watched someone play a horror game that was so visceral, it gave you nightmares. Horror games have become more popular than ever, thanks to video game franchises such as Resident Evil, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and Silent Hill, which have set the standard even higher than before. With the advancements in the first-person genre, developers can immerse players even more, and can present situations where you’re stuck in the middle of a psychiatric hospital or taking the night shift at an abandoned restaurant. There’s a level of depth that studios go to craft a truly engaging experience that not only tells a harrowing story, but also hones in on different elements of the production process to bring the players into the game, whether it be on VR or console.

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Surprisingly, there are some video games from years ago that still cause goosebumps, which is only a testament to the power of storytelling and insane depictions of psychological torture. The horror games below showcase a breadth of knowledge in creating a truly visceral experience within the horror genre.

1) The Midnight Walk

A fairly recent release, MoonHood has crafted quite the presentation in the horror genre with its claymation and stop-motion. We’ve seen movies like Coraline bring this mixture of stunning yet terrifying visuals to audiences, but The Midnight Walk brings that experience to the gaming scene. Taking the role of The Burned One, you befriend a lost lantern named Potboy and take the Midnight Road to Moon Mountain to restore light to a world filled with darkness. On your journey, you’ll meet flame-eating monsters who want nothing more than to tear you apart in the most gruesome way possible.

While the experience is visually beautiful to immerse yourself in, audible and visual senses take The Midnight Walk to this coveted spot on the list. The gameplay features the ability to close your eyes, which can be done on the controller or through eye-tracking on VR. This distinct feature is done to move from place to place, but you will face your fears by closing your eyes in front of enemies. For audio, The Midnight Walk’s eerie tone is captured using string and brass instruments. Doesn’t help that the noises made by the multitude of monsters are disgusting, especially if you get caught.

2) Visage

SadSquare Studio’s Visage is heavily inspired by the Silent Hills demo, P.T., which is fully realized through the claustrophobic sea of supernatural darkness. This first-person title follows Dwayne, who becomes trapped within his own house after committing suicide following the events of the murder of his wife and children. As you discover the house, you must learn about the paranormal activity of the people who once lived there and find a way to escape without losing your sanity.

Complexity is at the heart of Visage, as you can only have a limited inventory and maintain a cautious intake of darkness throughout the playthrough. Visage dials into its immersive audiovisual design to craft an unsettling and anxiety-inducing experience. Horror games have a habit of planting jump scares, but for Visage, that psychological anticipation is teased every time you open a door or turn a corner. Haunting to witness, this title is atmospheric and delivers a truly terrifying journey within the immersive horror genre.

3) Still Wakes the Deep

For those afraid of tight spaces and the fear of the unknown, you might not want to board this oil rig. From the studio that brought Amnesia: A Machine of Pigs and Everybody’s Gone to Rapture, Still Wakes the Deep boasts some of the highest levels of graphical and audio design, but with an eerier touch. Taking place during Christmas 1975 on the coast of Scotland, you play as the mechanic Caz McCleary, whose time aboard the Beira D oil rig alongside the skeleton crew has taken a turn for the worse. As you uncover the truth behind the mystery of this unknown entity on the rig, it’s up to you to find a way off the Beira D and survive.

Still Wakes the Deep hones in on the Lovecraftian horror genre, creating fascinating yet outright terrifying otherworldly beings. As the game progresses, the level of anxiety heightens, with many fears like claustrophobia and thalassophobia at the forefront of several moments. The realism is only reinforced by the attention to its audio design, which is so detailed that each ladder in the game has a different sound as you climb up or down. While the horror aspect is witnessed through its fear of the unknown, the immersive quality truly captures the dread of being aboard a sinking oil rig in the middle of nowhere.

4) Dead Space (2021)

Continuing with the dreadful misfortune, Dead Space has been a staple for years for many horror fans as it’s one of the finest demonstrations of immersing yourself in a unique world. The Dead Space remake not only brought the 2008 title to the next generation of consoles, but also continued to give nightmares to the current generation of gamers. Dead Space follows Isaac Clarke, an engineer whose spaceship is overrun by undead creatures called Necromorphs. In the attempt to escape the ship, Isaac must protect himself against the aliens while battling through his psychosis.

The story sets up the psychological battle within Isaac, which only encourages the heightened sense of horror as the player lives through his experience of this illness. While the other entries focus mostly on the psychological side of horror, Dead Space tackles the gory side of the genre, which can be seen when fending off against Necromorphs. Whether you take them down limb from limb or they tear you apart in the most gruesome ways possible, there’s no escaping the dreaded feeling of being stranded in space with deadly monsters.

5) Alien: Isolation

Speaking of being stranded in space, there’s no better example of mastering the horror genre than the Alien franchise. Bringing the Alien franchise to other forms of entertainment has been done before, but much of that success can be seen in 2014’s Alien: Isolation. Bringing players 14 years after the events of Ridley Scott’s Alien, Isolation follows Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, as she investigates her mother’s disappearance aboard the Sevastopol. Of course, it wouldn’t be an Alien installment if it didn’t feature the Xenomorph creature. Players must stealthily avoid their gruesome demise to survive and outsmart the alien with their motion radar, weapons, and stun baton.

Survival horror titles are some of the most immersive games you could play, and Alien: Isolation demonstrates that admired quality. The visuals and audio design are eerily similar to the iconic film series, but in this case, the first-person perspective of Isolation lets players move around Sevastopol. With its difficult gameplay, Alien: Isolation values the survival aspect of the game, making every move more vital. The psychological torture felt as the Alien rounds the corner is panic-inducing, especially when you find yourself without ammo.

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Whether you like to play horror games during the day or at night with your headphones, there’s no escaping your senses during these playthroughs. These are only a few examples of horror games that dial into the immersive quality of gameplay, so if there’s one you think should’ve been on this list, let us know in the comment section below.