When it comes to the horror genre, video games can’t just get away with throwing jump scares at the player from start to finish. This does work quite well in horror films because the demand for the watcher’s attention is far lower, especially as horror films tend to be a little shorter than in other genres.
The horror genre in video games, however, needs to hold the attention of the player from start to finish. Whether it’s a 6-hour journey or a 20-hour epic, the need to keep the player on the edge of their seats and interested is much more demanding for the developer. One great way to do this is by making their world as immersive and as believable as possible. Drawing a player in with what feels like a genuine history and lore can make the player feel more emotionally connected and set them up for bigger scares in the long run. Let’s take a look at some of the best horror games with great lore and world-building.
10 Fatal Frame: Crimson Butterfly
Also known as Project Zero in Europe, the Fatal Frame series made its debut on the PlayStation 2 in 2001. Taking influence from Japanese horror classics like The Ring and The Grudge and successfully conveying a sense of helplessness, it remains one of the most terrifying horror games of all time.
The series really gets into its own with the release of the second game, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, and stands out as one of the best games in the series. It fully delved into the series’ history and the lore of Minikami Village, which can really draw the players into its eerie world.
9 The Evil Within Series
The Evil Within series made its debut in 2014 on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC. It was developed by Shinji Mikami, who was responsible for creating Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. The Evil Within, however, is a darker horror series with elements of jump scares and psychological horror.
There’s an excellent sense of world-building with information and history littered throughout the game’s worlds. This is especially true in the more open world found in The Evil Within 2, and it does a great job of allowing the player to piece together surreal events of the game’s story. It’s only let down slightly by the schlocky B-Movie style voice acting, but some horror fans will likely find that element endearing rather than jarring.
8 Siren: Blood Curse
Released on the PlayStation 3 in 2008, Siren: Blood Curse is an episodic reimagining of the original Siren that released on the PlayStation 2 in 2003. After 12 years it is very surprising how well the visuals have held up compared to modern horrors, but the game shines with its pure atmospheric tension and art design.
More importantly for fans of world-building and story, Siren features some of the best lore in the genre. The set-up featuring investigative journalists that set out to uncover the secrets of Hanuda Village in Japan is perfect, and there’s a real sense of history to draw players in.
7 The Dead Space Series
The Dead Space games are a sci-fi horror series that took inspiration from the likes of Event Horizon, Hellraiser, and the Alien franchise. It made its debut on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and the PC. It was succeeded by two further games in the mainline series, but the series is at its best with the first two entries.
It may not be the most terrifying game on the list, but the sense of dread and the pure atmosphere is incredible. The world-building is up there with some of the best in the genre. Every element, including crew logs, hallucinations, and its terrific sound design works hard at pulling the player into its almost literal hell on a spaceship scenario. The Dead Space lore is further built upon with novels, comic books, spin-offs, and movies to accompany it.
6 The Corpse Party Series
Taken at face value, the Corpse Party series doesn’t look like it could be one of the most terrifying games in the genre. However, even with its basic visuals, the story, lore, and sense of dread are capable of immersing its players in ways that many AAA horror games can only dream of doing.
The story in the Corpse Party games is genuinely disturbing, engaging, and terrifying. It’s a cult favorite among fans of horror games for these reasons. The lore was expanded even further with four Manga adaptations, animated movies, and a live-action film released in 2016.
5 Alien: Isolation
The Alien franchise is already regarded as one of the most famous science fiction horror properties of all time. So when Alien: Isolation released in 2014, it already had a well-established sense of lore and history.
The game is set between the events of the first and second movie and features Amanda Ripley – the daughter of Ellen Ripley – as she sets out to try and uncover what happened to her mother. Even without knowing anything about the Alien films, Alien: Isolation does an amazing job of building a history of its own and provides the player with tons of collectibles and history to read up on as they explore the ship.
4 The Last Of Us Series
After the first game launched in 2013 on the PlayStation 3, The Last of Us immediately established itself as one of the best horror games of all time. Many could argue that its gameplay mechanics have more in common with action games, but the atmosphere, character stories, and world-building are among some of the best.
The skillful approach in creating a believable world and history continued with the award-winning sequel, The Last of Us Part 2, which released on the PlayStation 4 in 2020. In almost every building there is evidence of the people that used to live and work, blissfully unaware of the horrific events that awaited them. With games like The Last of Us, it is tempting to just work through the main elements of the story — but that would be missing the bigger picture.
3 The Metro 2033 Series
The original Metro 2033 video game made its debut in 2010. It was followed by a remaster for modern consoles and two sequels (Metro: Last Light and Metro: Exodus), establishing a fantastic survival horror series at the same time.
The games are based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s book of the same name, Metro 2033. Being based on novels, there is obviously a lot of lore and history that can be injected into the game’s world. Metro: Exodus is particularly huge, with lots to discover and explore. It truly allows players to get themselves fully immersed in its terrifying post-apocalyptic universe.
2 Silent Hill 2
When it comes to building worlds believable enough to be both psychologically disturbing and engrossing, it doesn’t get much better than the Silent Hill series. While the first game used the limitations of PS1’s hardware to its advantage by slowly revealing a horrific hell-like world, the second game remains the benchmark for horror games to this day.
Silent Hill 2 made use of symbolism, metaphors, and hallucinations, along with believable pieces of lore scattered throughout the game’s world to create something truly memorable and immersive. Furthermore, it does an amazing job of tying its predecessor’s backstory and history into that of the new game.
1 The Resident Evil Series
The Resident Evil series debuted in 1996 and helped popularize the survival horror genre as a whole. It combined elements of exploration, adventure, and mystery to create an amazing and believable world (or mansion, as it was at the time) to explore. It was littered with writings and notes that helped flesh out the history and backstory, making it one of the most immersive titles of its day.
That level of immersion and world-building has continued to this day, as seen in the latest title (Resident Evil VII) as well as the recent remakes. It’s true that the series has developed something of a convoluted story over time, but dedicated fans are able to decipher and read into a horror universe that’s like no other in videogames.
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