The 10 Scariest Horror Games on PC with the Best Plot

The games allow you to experience a wide range of emotions, from adrenaline during dynamic chases to melancholic longing from unexpected plot moves. One of the most popular genres in the industry remains horror, which can scare the player to goosebumps and, in some cases, show truly terrifying things. In this top, we will take a look at the 10 scariest games with the best plot, among which there will be cult classics, recent novelties, and even artifacts lost in time.

P.T. 

Game designer Hideo Kojima is recognized by many players as a truly brilliant creator, but one of his works has never been fully realized. We are talking about the horror P.T. Emulation (itch), which was supposed to be the prologue to the new part of Silent Hill but was eventually removed from all digital platforms and became one of the rarest games of our time. Traveling through a looped corridor, players must find creepy details and compare facts. One of the most shocking finds will be a fetus in a bathtub, as well as the ghost of a woman. A notable detail was that the evil spirit is always behind the player's back — this was only discovered with cheats. There is no combat system in P.T., so players are helpless against a paranormal opponent.

Darkwood

The developers approached the Darkwood gameplay creatively. The horror movie is made in isometry, and the key goal is survival in a randomly generated forest, from collecting resources to setting traps. Tricky devices will really be needed because players will meet both creepy characters and dangerous monsters attacking the shelter at night. A special flavor is brought by the visual style, which is depressing and makes you feel extremely uncomfortable. The storyline also provides freedom of action, so players have the right to make their own decisions and even get two different endings.

Siren: Blood Curse

Sony consoles were pleased with exclusive games long before the release of The Last of Us, and one of the brightest representatives of horror among them was Siren: Blood Curse for PlayStation 3. The game rethinks the original Forbidden Siren, significantly improving the story. It is told through 12 episodes, in which you will control several characters with intertwined destinies. They will find themselves in a Japanese village, where they will meet inexplicable horrors in the face of animated corpses. A modest arsenal is available to fight them, but soon, the dead will rise again due to the curse of a local evil deity. I am glad that PlayStation 3 emulation is currently developing, so owners of powerful computers will also be able to play Siren: Blood Curse.

Resident Evil 4 Remake

Among the scariest games, Resident Evil 4 (2023) takes its place of honor, which received a high-quality remake in 2023. The original departed from the concept of previous games, allowing not only active participation in shootouts with opponents but also the opportunity to look at the world from the back of the main character. This time, Leon Kennedy again survived the incident in Raccoon City in the second part. The character has matured and must save the president's daughter, and bloodthirsty cultists, crazed hillbillies, and creepy monsters will interfere with him. The elements of survival remain in place: players need to properly manage the resources and weapons they find.

The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2

Game designer Shinji Mikami is primarily known for Resident Evil. He tried to repeat the success of his main creation in the dilogy The Evil Within, whose fans do not lose hope for the release of the third part. The game tells about a detective whose squad was killed by mysterious forces, and he found himself alone with creepy creatures in grotesque locations. The developers decided to return to the origins of the horror genre, giving the opportunity to survive by searching for limited resources and fighting enemies, which are made in the best traditions of Japanese horror. One of the notable details was the presence of intricate traps in the world of the game: both the player and the crowds of his opponents can get caught in them.

System Shock (remake)

At first glance, System Shock looks like a simple, brutal shooter, but the devil is in the details. Players will find themselves on the Citadel space station, captured by the insane artificial intelligence Shodan and bloodthirsty mutants. The main character is an unnamed hacker who must stop an AI that wants to destroy the Earth. To do this, you will have to go through several floors of the Citadel, simultaneously solving puzzles and collecting rare equipment. The dark corners of the station, coupled with limited resources, make every encounter with monsters really creepy, and any sound causes a feeling of anxiety. The remake brought modern graphics and user-friendly controls, but the key game design ideas remained intact.

Alan Wake 2

One of the best novelties of 2023 was the thriller Alan Wake 2 — the continuation of the first part, the creation of which took more than 10 years. The author of the concept, Sam Lake, combined the game and cinema and decided to show detective investigations, personality duality, paranormal phenomena in everyday life, and other existential topics in the plot. The gameplay is noticeably different from the first part and resembles modern horror films, such as the above-mentioned Resident Evil or The Evil Within. It is also attractive that the story will be viewed from the side of the second playable character, Saga Anderson, who is investigating the murder of an FBI agent by a violent cult.

Layers of Fear

In 2023, the Bloober Team released the anthology Layers of Fear, which contains reinterpretations of both games in the series of the same name. In them, players will take on the role of several main characters: a crazy artist, a trapped actor, and a writer who solves a tangle of riddles of all three characters. In each of the chapters, you will explore unique places, including an ancient Victorian mansion and an ocean liner. Among the sources of inspiration was the game P.T. Hideo Kojima, therefore, most of the gameplay needs to solve puzzles and look for items for further advancement. Sometimes, this will be hindered by monsters that scare the player and chase after him.

SOMA

In SOMA, the authors of Amnesia say that players will once again find themselves in a closed space, but already in the gloomy corridors of an underwater station at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The plot will raise a number of important questions about what it means to be human and to have your own consciousness and personality. Real classics are expected among the opponents: mutated people, mysterious artificial intelligence with an army of robots, and even ugly monsters. The catch is that the main tools in the player's arsenal will be cunning and fast feet, so a unique approach will have to be found to deceive each of the types of enemies. The plot will take the main character, who has woken up after a long coma, throughout the research complex in search of survivors and an attempt to figure out exactly what led the station to a terrible disaster.

Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 is considered one of the best horror films in the history of the industry: the game was able not only to preserve the key aspects that fans of the first part loved but also to bring something unique to the series. James Sunderland received a letter from his late wife, who invited him to the creepy town of Silent Hill. The hero is obliged to deal with the devil, so he sets off on his way. He will have to face not only terrible creatures but also the nightmares of his past. The gameplay skillfully combined the exploration of locations and the search for key items with battles against an insane kind of enemy. A remake by the creators of Layers of Fear is expected to be released soon.

Conclusion

These scariest games can scare even avid horror fans. The genre itself originated at the dawn of the gaming industry and, over the decades, has acquired a variety of forms, from a fixed camera to action with elements of survival and interactive cinema. Each developer has tried to bring something unique to their horror movie, so you can be sure that in the future, the libraries of consoles and PCs will be replenished with horror with new, previously unseen mechanics and elements.