The horror genre in video games has always been popular and attractive. Whether with scares, mysteries or action, emotion and fear bring an addictive adrenaline during these gameplays. Within this genre, there is the sub-category Survival Horror, which comes down to games with more horror elements that mix with survival and generally have less action. That is, they are games in which you are generally almost defenseless and must solve puzzles, mysteries and escape threats.
Thus, we have separated a small list of suggestions for survival-horror games, recent and not so recent, to make this quarantine a little less monotonous. There are 5 games that are very different from each other, both in gameplay and in style and theme, but that are united by one factor: surviving in scary and macabre universes. Check out:
Resident Evil 7
Let's start with one of the most famous franchises in the survival horror genre. Resident Evil is a series about zombies, monsters, biological weapons and with a story and characters connected between all its games. In early games, the survivability factor was much higher than its successors. The first Resident Evil, or Biohazard in the east, had extremely limited weapons, ammo and even light sources. As of Resident Evil 4, many elements of shooters were implemented, consequently increasing the action factors at the expense of survival characteristics. Until we get to Resident Evil 7, a game completely different from the entire franchise and which for the first time brings main characters totally unrelated to the rest of the history of the series universe. It's a great revival of survival horror gameplay, a first-person camera, extremely limited weapons and a completely redirected focus on surviving rather than fighting. In other words, the player must run away, hide and gradually unravel what is happening in the world while trying to stay alive without being able to fight effectively.
The story features Ethan as the character incorporated by the player, a young man who receives a mysterious email from his wife who has been missing for 3 years with the simple message "come get me", followed by an address in Louisiana in the USA. The scenario is then of swamps, heat, insects and an apparently abandoned, disgusting and extremely bizarre house in which the game begins. Eventually you find your wife, who no longer looks like herself, and is imprisoned by a family that appears to be zombies of a type not yet seen in the franchise, appearing to be dead, but who talk, eat and are, above all, extremely violent. .
It is a game full of scares, extremely tense and agonizing. All this with support for Playstation VR.
- Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/418370/RESIDENT_EVIL_7_biohazard__BIOHAZARD_7_resident_evil/
- Price: From BRL 69,99
- Release: 24/Jan/2017
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, IBM PC compatible, Microsoft Windows
- Developer: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
- Available with Spanish subtitles
Home Sweet Home
A game outside the mainstream and very unknown in the west. Home Sweet Home is a very mysterious first-person game with an almost absent initial story. All you know is that you wake up in a strange, dark, unfamiliar and very scary place and you must figure out how to get out of there. His name is Tim and his wife Jane is missing. Finding Jane and solving the paranormal mysteries taking place in the place are the objectives of the game which is based on Thai folklore of demons, spirits and ghosts.
It's a straightforward, simple game, with lots of scares, very limited controls and a background that builds up during your investigation. Attention to detail, fully reading all clues and messages, and solving puzzles are important in the game. In addition, the gameplay is tense, there is no action, just escapes, hiding places, mysteries to be solved and many scares.
The game also has a sequel released in 2019, Home Sweet Home: Episode 2.
- Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/617160/Home_Sweet_Home/
- Price: From BRL 31,99 (currently with a promotional price on Steam from BRL 7,99 until April 10)
- Release: 27/Sep/2017
- Plataformas: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Developer:: YGGDRAZIL GROUP CO.,LTD
- Available with Spanish subtitles
Little Nightmares
Perhaps the most unconventional game on the list for this category. Little Nightmares passes by scraping in the survival horror category, it's certainly a horror game, but it doesn't bring many survival elements until a certain moment in the game. The game starts out as more of a macabre puzzle game, then scales to live up to its inspiration: children's nightmares and fears.
This game is extremely metaphorical and has no story for sure. The main character has no defined gender, he is just a child in a raincoat who seems to wake up in a nightmare. This nightmare would be the game, where many typical childhood fears come true mixed with terrible elements of real life. The monsters and large menacing creatures within this nightmare are deformed, hideous, cartoonish adults. The whole world is gigantic, everything is very tall and heavy and you are tiny and helpless, representing our vision as a little scared child. The graphics, art, sounds and scenery are impeccable. The gameplay is very simple, you can walk, jump, light a lighter to light and grab things. The complexity comes with the puzzles to pass areas, deal with each monster understanding its mechanics and effectively have agile and precise fingers to escape and jump platforms.
It's an excellent recommendation for anyone looking for a game that, even though it doesn't have a concrete story or objective, is deeper than most of the genre. Nor is it a game of pure horror, which afflicts us with fear and fright, but it is made scary and macabre by the work as a whole.
- Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/424840/Little_Nightmares/
- Price: From BRL 79,99
- Release: Apr 27, 2017
- Developer: Tarsier Studios, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
- Plataformas: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Available with Spanish subtitles
Pathologic 2
Another game different from the conventional Survival Horror. It is undoubtedly an extremely grotesque game, but not just in the sense of showing blood and corpses, but in its essence. Pathologic 2 follows the story of a doctor who returns to his father's city only to discover that a terrible plague ravages the place. This plague that leaves the city in chaos. There are multiple story lines, mysteries and the main factor within the game is the heavy decisions that the player must make. You only have 12 days to try to save this city. You must choose who to save and who to leave for death as a doctor. Every second in the game is precious and multiple events are happening during this period. Absolutely any character can die and that affects the story. Every event that happens is irreversible and you cannot track all of them. So your choices are heavy, you must choose which storyline to follow, what exactly you want to discover, save who you like or who is logically more important in the juncture of the moment. It's a survival game that's not just for you. The environment is heavy, dirty and grotesque. The gameplay is free and also tense. Everywhere you look there is someone suffering and many of those who die could have been saved, leaving the weight of death on their shoulders.
- Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/505230/Pathologic_2/
- Price: From BRL 65,99
- Launch: May 23, 2019
- Developer: I Lodge, tinyBuild
- Plataformas: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS Classic, Linux
- Not available in Spanish, only with English subtitles and dubbing.
Oxeenfree
The indie part of this list, Oxeenfree has a style mixed between 2D and 3D with cardboard art. It's a beautiful game in a setting and with an interesting gameplay, mysterious about an engaging story.
You are Alex, a teenager who takes his brother Jonas to an island with friends. However, everything goes wrong and they find themselves trapped in a supernatural environment, extremely mysterious where neither space nor time makes sense. The biggest positive point of this game is its story and the mysteries to unravel.
It is an unconventional survival horror, without many scares, the horror doesn't even come from grotesque things, blood or anything like that. It is an aesthetically beautiful game that manages to bring tension and fear without resorting to scares, horrible monsters and typical things of the genre. It is the most differentiated option on this list for those who enjoy Indie games or simply those looking for an innovative horror game.
- Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/388880/Oxenfree/
- Price: From BRL 20,69
- Release: 15/Jan/2016
- Developer: Night School Studio
- Plataformas: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, Xbox One, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Mac OS Classic
- Not available in Spanish, only with English subtitles and dubbing.
