In modernity, horror games are well regarded as being some of the best video games of the entire medium. However, not long ago, horror video games were a sideshow, and it can be hard to know where to begin if you’re just getting started.
Luckily, lots of horror games can be grouped within their console generations, which each have their own particular styles, intensities, and legacies. While it’shard to objectively rank them, some consoles have become synonymous with the horror genre due to their extensive and iconic libraries, and those are the best places to look for beginners and veterans alike.
5Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
8-Bit Horrors That Set The Tone For Generations
While its games may not be the prettiest or the scariest, the NES is the first generation of console that can be reasonably personified as having a cogent impact on horror gaming, as it features somecruelly forgotten horror games lost to time. Despite the pixel graphics, these games have mountains of charm and charisma that far outweigh their inevitably dated design.
Whether it be the RPG dungeon crawler ofSweet Home,the lively monsters ofUninvited, the 80s-style send-up ofManiac Mansion, or the legendary horror action of severalCastlevaniagames, the NES has a fearsome library tailor-made for horror enthusiasts — or those looking for scares that are a little on the milder side.
4PlayStation 3
HD Horrors Emerge To Deliver Immersive Frights
By the PlayStation 3 era, many games had cross-platform capabilities, so it’s hard to pick one console over the other in this generation. However, due to the PS3’s inherent preference toward Japanese horror games — which have proven to be a major bastion of the genre — along with the genre-defining exclusive ofThe Last of Us, the PS3 edges out its competition on the horror front.
Gamers entering the new HD generation had a host of wildly varying tones in their horror games.Dead SpaceandDead Space 2delivered sci-fi action and John Carpenter-style thrills.Dead Risingleaned hard into horror comedy and absurd kills. The legendary Shinji Mikami returned to the genre that made him famous with the divisive but effortlessly charmingThe Evil Within. Meanwhile,indie games were taking off that would radically change the horror genre forever.
3PlayStation 1
The New Japanese Juggernaut
The late 90s and early 2000s saw a massive influx of Japanese horror films made cheaply, often on digital cameras, that scared the pants off Japanese and international audiences alike. This fascination with horror media spread directly into the video game world, with the original PlayStation receiving a healthy dose of J-horror-infused games that remain influential to this day, even ifsome were a little too short.
It would be impossible to talk about the PS1 without the inaugural entries of theSilent HillandResident Evilfranchises, which are still going strong to this day. Other notable offerings include the enigmaticD, the somewhat infamousClock Tower,and the troubled but cult classic favorite ofAlone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.
2PlayStation 4
Next-Gen Nightmares Usher In The Modern Era Of Horror
In retrospect, the PS4 generation of consoles was a bigger leap forward than many expected, and it’s home to an incredible roster of games that are still regularly played to this day. That goes doubly for this generation’s horror output. While the Xbox One and Switch did have some strong horror catalogs, the PS4 remained unmatched for sheer quantity, with some of the most stand out-games appearing on Sony’s console asgraphical styles grew ever more experimental.
Maybe the most important horror game released on the PlayStation 4 is theP.T.demo, the ill-fated project of Hideo Kojima to reboot theSilent Hillfranchise.P.T.,despite not being a full game, is regularly cited as one of the most frightening games ever made, and its graphical fidelity is still stunning over ten years later. Not to be outdone, this generation also saw the revival of theResident Evilfranchise withResident Evil 7andResident Evil2,the remake of the original, becoming all-time greats in the genre.
1PlayStation 2
Early 2000s Horror Fans Are Treated Like Royals
Where the PS1 set the foundations of the J-horror revolution, the PS2 set it in stone. One of the most popular consoles ever made was sternly supported by its Japanese founders as a piece of solid counter-programming to the more kid-friendly Gamecube and the still burgeoning Xbox. That means that the PS2, among other aspects, became known as the home of truly adult games in the console space, so horror understandably thrived to such an extent thatit’s hard to squeeze them all into a single list.
While its litany of horror games is too lengthy to list, special attention must be paid toSilent Hill 2, andResident Evil 4, two entries into the legendary franchises that regularly top best-of lists to this day. Both are immaculate games that master psychological horror and action horror respectively, with rabid fanbases well into the 2020s. Then, new and increasingly popular studios like Rockstar released games likeManhuntto cater more and more to the adult audience. There’s no doubt that the PS2 is the best home for horror games that consoles have ever had.
