Video games have come a long way since the days of the 1958 game Tennis for Two, the first video game, according to the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Thanks to the technological advancements we enjoy today, We have hyper-realistic graphics that blur the line between computer graphics and real-life and sound effects that match real-life sounds.
Most importantly, we can now bring something as fictitious as zombies, monsters, and supernatural entities to life on our TV screens and monitors.
Thanks to these capabilities, the scare factor horror games inherently have are enhanced, giving the monsters and the fear we face while playing them the ability to haunt us even when we're not playing them.
Halloween may be almost here, but that doesn't mean that the spooks, shrieks, and shrills will soon be over.
Here are our picks for the top five survival horror games that are guaranteed to make you want to sleep with the lights on.
Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation brought more than just scares and tense situations that make you sweat bullets out of fear. The game takes place between the events of "Alien" and "Aliens," with players taking control of Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda, as she sets out to uncover what happened to her mother, per Inverse. As she and her crewmates arrive at the Sevastopol space station, they realize that everything is going out of control and that the monsters that haunted Ellen are also in the space station.
The game plays like an old-school survival horror game, wherein checkpoints are nonexistent in favor of the player running to save points to record their progress through it.
It also has noise detection that allows the game to connect to your mic, allowing the Xenomorph (the title is a dead giveaway) to hunt you down to hear and quickly zone in on you if you make any noise.
Good luck holding your breath while hiding.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: The Dark Descent isn't like your typical survival horror game wherein you can fight back against the monsters you encounter. In Amnesia, all you can do is run, jump, and hide to safety while praying whoever was chasing you isn't close enough to see you hide.
The game is a first-person survival horror game centering around the story of Daniel, an amnesiac who wakes up in an abandoned castle with no memory of who he is or what he is doing there, per IGN.
Players will need to help Daniel solve puzzles, and collect items, notes, and diary entries while being hunted down and chased by the monstrosities the castle has to offer to figure out who Daniel is and what he is doing inside the castle.
Interestingly, the game's many jumpscares laid the foundation for the careers of many YouTubers who are popular today, such as Pewdiepie, Markiplier, and jacksepticeye.
Corpse Party (2021)
Corpse Party doesn't have an impressive display of graphics. In fact, it plays much like an old-school JRPG since it's made under the RPG Maker platform. However, what it lacks in visual graphics, it more than makes up through its terrifying atmosphere created by its music, visuals, and story.
The game focuses on the story of a group of Japanese high school students and their homeroom teacher, who must find a way to escape the haunted elementary school they are trapped at. To do so, they must collect items and solve puzzles while being chased by the restless malevolent spirits that haunt the school's halls that wish to kill and have them suffer the same pain and terror they feel as they die forever.
Corpse Party is a mix between a visual novel and a video game that blends well. The visual novel part drives the narrative, while the video game part gives players the freedom of choice - letting the player decide how to accomplish the main objective without holding their hand.
This tandem makes you, the player, feel engaged and immersed, as if you are in the haunted school yourself and that every decision you make at a point in time matters, and they will.
The game's ending will change based on how you accomplish objectives and the choices you make along the way. There are five endings to watch and see, along with a handful of bad endings.
Do you have the guts to see them all?
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 is one of survival horror's crown jewels, and for good reasons, according to Game Rant. Its approach to depression and psychological horror, as well as its relatable characters, and various endings had endeared it to many players at the time, per CBR.
The game tells the story of James Sunderland, a man who had recently lost his wife to an unspecified incurable, terminal disease. However, a letter from his wife says that she is waiting for him in their "special place," - the town of Silent Hill, the place where they last experienced happiness.
However, things were not as James remembers, and as he enters Silent Hill, he enters what could only be described as a "living nightmare."
Aside from a great story, the game also offers great replayability value due to its many endings, giving you the chance to explore Silent Hill and learn more things about James and the game's characters.
Resident Evil 1 Remake
Last but definitely not least is THE game that took the survival horror genre to the heights it enjoys now - Resident Evil.
Although it is not the first survival horror game to exist, Capcom, through this game, coined the term "survival horror" and popularized it so much that it became the basis of every survival horror game that followed it.
The game follows a group of elite police special forces in their efforts to escape a mansion filled with all sorts of horrors, such as zombies, giant spiders, and horrifying monstrosities that wouldn't have existed without human experimentation.
The player must control one of two possible playable characters and explore the mansion, kill monsters, collect items, and solve puzzles to escape the mansion and learn the truth behind what's going on inside the mansion.
Although the game feels dated with its use of limited saves, save points, and the game's infamous tank controls and fixed camera angles, these features work well in creating a fear of the unknown.
Thanks to the fixed camera angles, you don't know if there is a monster around the corner despite hearing them, and even if you know where it is, you aren't confident about dodging their attacks.
Limited ammunition, inventory space, and healing items mean you can't kill every monster in the game, and you only have so many health items available to heal you before you die from damage.
