What great survival horror games have I missed in the last decade or so?
I used to play quite a few of them in the ps1/ps2 era, but sort of dropped out after Resident Evil 4.
Now I've picked up Resident Evil 7 and it's clear I'm about at endgame, and I've been enjoying it pretty well.
So aside from other RE games (I have Village ready to install when I finish 7), what are some more good ones from say the last 10 years-ish?
I find the superscience bullshit of RE is usually easier to follow than supernatural survival horror games, I prefer to have some combat and not be purely hiding like I think it's Amnesia? And I enjoy RE7's shift to first person. Tank controls are hard for me to go back to.
31 replies
Signalis is fantastic, it blends the careful resource/inventory management of classic RE with the somber psychological storytelling of Silent Hill (specifically inspired by SH 1-3).
The basic premise is that you're an android named Elster searching for your lost human co-pilot after crashing your ship. The environments range from industrial machinery, to hellish twisting labyrinths, to dense urban corridors. The game is surreal, has an incredible soundtrack, and tells an emotional non-linear story. Highly recommend it.
I came here to recommend SIGNALIS. One of my favourite games of all time. It's a love letter to the genre, but also has so much of its own thing to say. I could talk for hours on this game
Huh, nobody else recommended Darkwood..
I'd say, give Darkwood a try
Don't Look Outside.
It learns more in an RPG direction, but the story is fun and the pixel art is phenominal.
I really enjoyed SOMA during the past winter.
SOMA is one of the greatest games of all time in my very humble opinion. Go in blind, don't look up anything about it.
Soma
I'm guessing you wouldn't like Alien: Isolation because it's basically all hiding and strategically trying to outwit the alien... while hiding. But it's fucking terrifying and very well-written.
The game does give you weapons though, mostly for the robot dudes if I remember correctly
So to answer your question, I'm afraid resident evil has cornered the market. I think the evil within might be a close second.
However
Amnesia: The dark descent is the granddaddy of basically every indie horror game you see. Also, I believe, the best one.
I see you said you prefer combat, but if you ever get curious, take heed of the message before the game starts "don't try to win, do your best to immerse yourself in the world" because if you do, you'll be taken for a psychological terror-ride.
The recent Silent Hill 2 remake was pretty good, and a good mix of combat/horror. I'd recommend that to anyone that likes modern RE.
I've had Amnesia in my Steam library for ages, so I could definitely give it another go sometime. I think I got the Evil Within games free on Epic at some point too, so if those are roughly in the RE-style sphere, that might be good to check out next.
Sorry We‘re Closed, Crow Country, and Signalis (was already mentioned but is really really good). The last two have tank controls but are not nearly as clunky or difficult as RE1/2 because of that.
Signalis tank controls are optional btw!
Now that you mention it, Crow Country too has the option for modern controls.
I can't believe I didn't mention Crow Country! It translates the original REs to modern audience in an elegant manner. It is a bit too easy on the default difficulty level though - classic RE players should start with Murder of Crows instead!
RE7 and 8 were both awesome! Personally I enjoyed 8 a bit more than 7 but 7 was the scarier game by far.
The RE remakes from the past few years are pretty amazing especially if you enjoyed the originals. I just finished RE4 Remake and it's probably the best action horror I have ever played.
The Dead Space remake is also incredible and I highly recommend it.
Some indie titles like Mouthwashing, and Security Booth are creepy, quick, and fun.
Most of these all go on sale every few weeks as well.
Outlast 2013 has no combat but it's horrific all right. I enjoyed discovering the scenario progressively although it probably has some frustratingly dated mechanics (why closing doors sound so fucking loud damnit?!).
There are two more recent Outlast games I have not yet played.
I first played Outlast in the dark. Curtains closed and lights off. What a fucking mistake that was.
Seconding other's comments for: Signalis and Soma
Some unorthodox / overlooked suggestions:
Dead space and dead space 2
Signalis. I can't recommend it enough.
Signalis.
Cronos: The New Dawn, came out last year kinda flew under the radar, it's pretty scary, has interesting lore, the ending didn't quite please me but overall I would recommend it.
Has a RE vibe to it, limited inventory, lore through notes, and all that good stuff
I would say Project Zomboid, but I think they've been working on that for more than a decade.
Vintage Story definitely has good survival elements, and shivers are straight horror, so Vintage Story?
Does Rain World qualify?
Lost in Vivo is great. It's all about claustrophobia and psychological horror. Plenty of secrets too!
Of games that aren't pure survival horrors (as in, they aren't shooters): NO-SKIN, Infra Arcana and House of Necrosis.
NO-SKIN is a very weird, moody turn-based roguelite focused on resource management and figuring out secret interactions. It leans heavily into psychological horror side of genre.
Infra Arcana is a mix of survival horror and traditional roguelike. It's lovecraftian horror with weird cults and things from distant stars and all that vibe. Unlike everything else I recommended this game is BRUTAL!
House of Necrosis is a roguelike that takes 'survival horror' more literally: aesthetically, it's pretty much just Resident Evil. Zombies, labs, evil plants, Jill... it's much easier than IA too.
@Apeman42 While it doesn't have the combat of RE, Alien: Isolation is a good survival horror game.
Flesh Made Fear, Subversive Memories, and Signalis were good send-ups of the early RE games you might want to check out, though they are third person games
My Friendly Neighborhood is really good
It's not exactly old (it came out this year) but you could give the new remake of Fatal Frame 2 a try. You could play the originals but they are very similar controls to the old Resident Evil games. It has combat where you go into first person and have to photograph "shoot" the ghost/wraiths.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920610/FATAL_FRAME_II_Crimson_Butterfly_REMAKE/