Summary
- Choice-based horror games like Until Dawn are great for beginners due to interactive but not overly complex gameplay.
- Alien: Isolation stands out as the best game in the Alien franchise, but its smart Xenomorphs can make it challenging for beginners.
- Days Gone is an intense open-world horror game with hordes of zombies, which may overwhelm beginners due to fast-paced combat and resource management.
Fans of horror movies probably get curious about horror games every so often. It’s a big investment to get a console or even a gaming-ready PC, and then they have to decide on a game to start with. There is certainly a wide variety of pure horror and horror-related games that beginners should play.
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For example, choice-based adventure games like Until Dawn or any of The Dark Pictures Anthology games are great because they are interactive but not mind-numbingly complicated, nor do they require existing knowledge about how to play video games. Then there are games with action, resource management, or no way to fight back, which can put players in a bind. While the following horror games are beloved by fans, they’re not ideal for beginners to jump into.
Alien: Isolation
Xenomorphs Are Too Smart
Alien: Isolation
- Released
- October 7, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Alien: Isolation is, without a doubt, the best game based on the Alien film franchise, as it helps capture the pure dread of the Xenomorphs. The game features Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, as she tries to find her mom, which leads to her docking at a ship, the Sevastopol.
What makes this game hard to recommend for beginners is that the Xenomorphs are almost too smart. Alien: Isolation is widely regarded as having some of the best enemy AI in the genre, and while that makes it scary, it also makes it challenging. Even if players use radar and stay quiet, the alien horror show will track Amanda down, and it takes a very long time to acquire the necessary equipment to fight back.
Among Ashes
Managing Too Many Mechanics
Among Ashes
Among Ashes is a recent indie horror game that blends reality with old-school PC horror games. While playing games at home, a friend will message players about a secret online game. Players will then cut back and forth between their apartment and the new game, as strange things continue to happen.
It’s a cool concept, but perhaps too hard for newcomers to wrap their minds around, particularly the game's meta puzzle-solving structure. Even pros had trouble with Among Ashes, which is not a bad thing at all, but suggests that it may not be beginner-friendly.
Days Gone
Hordes Of Problems
Days Gone
- Released
- April 26, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action, Adventure
Days Gone is one of the few open-world horror games set in a post-apocalypse involving a zombie outbreak. It’s one of the scariest zombie games of all time, as zombies will rush players in massive hordes, like ants escaping their home after a rainfall.
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This might be too intense for players who aren't prepared to handle fast-moving enemies, especially in large droves, as they are not easy to take down. Additionally, managing ammo and gasoline, as well as maintaining the protagonist's motorcycle, are not particularly welcoming gameplay mechanics.
Deadly Premonition
This One Is For The Weirdos
Deadly Premonition
- Released
- February 23, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Deadly Premonition is difficult to recommend, even to hardcore horror fans. The gameplay is a bit janky, with driving feeling like players are controlling a tank, and shooting being effortless. It creates a feeling of whiplash as the game's difficulty swings wildly between tough car sections and casual action sequences.
The story and characters are exactly what this game excels at, perhaps even boasting the best roster of NPCs in a horror game. Before jumping into something as ridiculous as this, players should get more accustomed to the genre, as things will make more sense.
The Last Of Us
Adding Stealth To The Mix
The Last of Us
- Released
- June 14, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
The Last of Us might be the most recognizable horror game currently on the market, since it was adapted into a critically acclaimed and widely viewed HBO series. The writing is solid, with the relationship between Joel and Ellie being particularly hard to forget, and the combat is challenging and brutal, but rewarding.
That said, ammo is more scarce than in most horror games, as for some reason, Joel will not pick up extra ammo beyond what his gun can carry, which doesn’t make sense in the post-apocalyptic setting. Also, there’s a lot of mandatory stealth, which may be hard to deal with for newcomers.
Outlast
No Way To Fight Back
Outlast
- Released
- November 4, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature // Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Nudity, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
If the idea of stealth in The Last of Us sounds challenging, then Outlast is way beyond that game’s challenge. Players will assume the role of a journalist, Miles, as he goes to record evidence of misdoings at the abandoned Mount Massive asylum.
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The asylum is, of course, not abandoned, and all kinds of mutated messes want to kill Miles. There’s no option to fight back; Miles' only way to evade threats is to run and hide, which is why a lot of horror fans dig this game and series overall. However, this makes it a tricky game to use as an entry point to horror gaming.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
A New Era For The Series
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Released
- January 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Psychological Horror, First-Person
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard marked a significant departure from the franchise's formula, as it sought to emulate the vibe of the indie horror scene, particularly Outlast. The perspective is in first-person, featuring protagonist Ethan as he searches for his missing wife in what appears to be an abandoned farmhouse.
Inside, he meets the Baker family, who are beyond twisted. Ammo is scarce in these games, but even weapons aren't readily available until players all but complete the game's first lengthy act. It was a challenge that fans stepped up to the plate to face, but it’s hard to imagine someone new to the genre having the same degree of patience.
Returnal
A Horror Roguelike
Returnal
- Released
- April 30, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter
Returnal is a unique blend of horror and roguelike gameplay, combining third-person shooting with a roguelike structure. Selene is a celestial pilot who crash-lands on a foreign planet plagued by aliens. Upon her death, she awakens back at her crash site and realizes that she is stuck in a time loop.
This blending of genres is what made Returnal such a hit on the PS5, but roguelikes are one of the hardest genres to recommend. Even for the genre, the upgrades Selene has available between runs are minimal, which means that a lot of progression is tied to the player's own ability. At some point, following numerous deaths, newcomers are likely to become frustrated.
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