Eight years after its initial reveal, the much anticipated first-person survival horror title Scorn released on Xbox Series X/S and PC. While the title has faced criticism for its poor combat, the world created by developer Ebb Software is horrifying. Without any explanation, you're immediately thrown into the gruesome creation that feels primitive and advanced all at once.
Like any good survival horror game, your time will mostly be spent solving puzzles with combat interspersed throughout. Despite the game’s weapons feeling tedious to use, combat is not at the center of the experience. The atmosphere and H.R. Giger-inspired visuals maintain their depravity throughout the campaign and will make you squirm. If you enjoy the grisly sights within Scorn, you may feel right at home with the following horror titles.
8 SOMA
SOMA fits Scorn’s atmospheric horror vibe to a tee. This survival horror game was released in 2015 by Frictional Games and terrified players with the many frights hidden beneath the surface of its underwater setting.
SOMA tackles some pretty big questions, and its lack of combat lends itself well to answering these moral dilemmas. What makes a human, “human”? What will you do when faced with your own mortality? SOMA wants you to ruminate on your answer while you traverse its dread-filled corridors.
7 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Trade in the disgusting temples of Scorn for the dark and dreary castle of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Another title from Frictional Games, Amnesia was released in 2010, and the first-person survival horror experience still lives up to the hype. You will solve puzzles and hide from enemies while trying to maintain your sanity.
Players must always be mindful of their sanity, as you’ll experience delusions, slower movement, and even death on higher difficulties if you allow it to drop low enough. Amnesia is immersive, terrifying, and one of the greatest horror games ever made.
6 Outlast
Do yourself a favor and do not play Outlast with the lights off. Developer Red Barrels’ first game was released in 2013 and terrified fans of first-person horror everywhere. You’ll play as Miles Upshur, a journalist investigating a psychiatric hospital in Colorado where things have gone a bit awry.
Armed with only a camcorder that must have its batteries periodically replaced, you’ll be tasked with uncovering the hospital’s secrets and making it out alive. While Outlast is known for its no-combat approach, unlike Scorn, fans of atmospheric horror will still feel right at home here.
5 Resident Evil 7
After years of action-oriented gameplay and a distinct lack of identity, the Resident Evil series returned to its roots with Resident Evil 7, shifting the focus back to survival horror, resource management, and slow-paced terror. It was the first game in the series to feature a first-person view, which lends itself to immersing you from the very first moments.
The game takes you to multiple dread-filled locations after its opening in a hillbilly house of horrors and paces itself well. Anyone with an itch for methodical, focused horror gameplay after playing Scorn should check this one out.
4 Alien: Isolation
There is a good reason that a sequel to Alien: Isolation is so coveted nearly a decade after its release. Not only is it the best game to come from the Alien series, but it stands as a gold standard for first-person, stealth-oriented horror. Isolation is not without issues: gameplay can feel awkward and the game overstays its welcome. What it nails is the atmosphere of the original film.
Your skin will crawl as you navigate the Sevastopol. The hair on the back of your neck will stand up as you await the next Xenomorph sighting, anxious that the spine-chilling alien will spell doom for your cold and lonely journey.
3 Alan Wake
If you’ve ever wondered what a horror novelist’s greatest fear is, look no further than Remedy Entertainment’s 2010 cult classic, Alan Wake. You control Alan as he investigates his wife’s disappearance in the Twin Peaks-esque town of Bright Falls. The game’s enemies, The Taken, are shrouded in darkness that can only be destroyed by a flashlight.
Standard combat comes into play afterward, making for a nice blend of violent and non-violent action. Throughout the psychological horror experience, you’ll discover pages from Wake’s latest novel that is coming to life around him. While it lacks the gross-out factor of Scorn, Alan Wake makes up for it in eerie atmospheres. In addition, now is the perfect time to play as we gear up for the release of Alan Wake 2 in 2023.
2 Silent Hill 2
Team Silent and Konami are the godfathers of survival horror, and Silent Hill 2 is their masterpiece. Released in 2001, the game’s protagonist James Sunderland is summoned to Silent Hill, a small town that turns out to be hell on earth, after receiving a letter from his deceased wife.
Spoiling this masterpiece would be a disservice, but the themes of self-reflection and trauma after losing a loved one are front and center here, and serve to enhance the horrors that James is facing.
1 The Evil Within
When legendary developer Shinji Mikami is announced as the director of a new title, ears perk up. The creator of Resident Evil jumped back into the survival horror space in 2014 with The Evil Within and showed off his genre expertise with delightfully gory, third-person horror action.
While the game’s writing and characters feel stiff, Krimson City is a worthy entry into the pantheon of horror game worlds. Its stealthy gameplay and action set pieces keep things fresh, and burning incapacitated enemies to prevent them from reviving never gets old.