The devil is in the specifics.
Styled and realistic graphics aren’t the most important part of a good game, but they can both be used to scare you in horror games by showing you in great detail the scary places you explore and the scary animals that are after you.
Graphics have come a long way, and horror game designers have used this new technology to make their scary characters come to life, which is both creepy and interesting to watch. When it comes to scary games, good art direction and graphics work together to make an exciting and fun experience that you’ll remember long after you’ve finished the game.
Mundaun
Curdin goes to Mundaun for his grandfather’s funeral after getting a letter telling him about his sad death. When Curdin gets there, he realizes that something is wrong with the death of his grandfather and decides to look into it.
The penciled style of Mundaun goes well with its folk horror mood, making for a very different experience. In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Michel Ziegler, the director of the game, said that the hand-drawn style helped to turn everyday objects into “dark, oppressive things,” which made the whole town feel more unsettling.
Visage
Visage‘s main character, Dwayne Anderson, walks through a house and learns more about the people who used to live there. This was inspired by the hallway fear in P.T. Ghostly things will happen to Dwayne that will make him lose his mind, which will lead to even more problems.
The house in Visage is very dark and has dark hallways around every turn. The realistic graphics make it even scarier. It makes you feel like you’re exploring your own house at night, afraid of what might be hiding in the dark.
The Last Of Us Part 2
In The Last of Us Part 2, Ellie Williams continues her quest to survive in the world after the end of the world and deal with the effects of Joel Miller’s choice at the end of Part 1. The images in the first PlayStation 3 game were already very good, and the sequel kept this up.
The environments and character models in the game are incredibly detailed, which really shines during emotional scenes and makes the actors’ acts even better. There was something extra special about the PS5 version that made it even better. The pictures got even better than we thought they could be.
Little Nightmares
Little Nightmares doesn’t have very accurate graphics, but Tarsier’s stylized approach made the game better than others like it. It’s the graphics that help create the creepy atmosphere that the game is known for. They combine scary pictures with an art style that reminds me of other horror-related media, like the stop-motion movie Coraline.
There’s a creepy ocean ship called “The Maw” in the game, and the horrifying people that live on it really feel like they’re alive as you sneak around its scary environments, each with its own tone. In one scene that really stands out, Six briefly sees the outside of the Maw, and as the guests enter, the sun shines on the side of the huge ship.
Dead Space 2
As you fight hordes of terrifying mutated monsters called Necromorphs in Dead Space 2, the game strikes the perfect mix between horror and action. The graphics have held up amazingly well for a game that came out in 2011. This is because the art direction and monster design are so unique.
The game shows how the Sprawl space station looks after it has been abandoned and is now full of Necromorph victims. The game also has some of the scariest monsters ever made in a horror game, like the Lurker and the Leapers. The beautiful graphics make the monsters even scarier.
Alan Wake Remastered
Alan Wake isn’t your standard horror game, but it does have some scary parts, and the 2021 remaster helped introduce its unique brand of flashlight-lit scares to a new generation of players.
The game’s beautiful settings really show off its graphics, and the remaster makes them even better, letting you see the town of Bright Falls in all its glory. It’s strange what happened to Alan’s wife and what’s going on with the manuscript that has Alan’s name on it but he doesn’t remember writing it. The music and the atmosphere of this cute town take you on a journey.
Layers Of Fear 2
The story in Layers of Fear 2 is interesting, and the game’s visual style is unique. The scene, an ocean liner that is always changing, is also very scary. The game looks and sounds better than the last one, but it still has the same great art direction and sound design that made the first one stand out.
Bloober Team put a lot of thought into each of the game’s scary settings, and it shows in the set pieces that add to the theater theme and bring the story to life. Tony Todd, who plays Candyman, will also be performing, which will really make this game stand out.
SOMA
This science fiction horror game explores the lines between what is human and what is not human, leading you on a trip that makes you think about what it means to be human. Existential horror like the kind in SOMA is some of the best in the business, and the images make it even better.
The ideas in SOMA make you think about what it would be like to have your mind transferred to another body without your knowledge. When you add in the monsters that are part human and part metal that roam the world, you get one of the scariest science fiction games ever made.
The Evil Within 2
In this survival horror follow-up, you have to go through a lot to save Sebastian Castellanos’ daughter, who was thought to be dead.
There are monsters all around you, and you can explore this harsh world while enjoying all the finer details that The Evil Within 2‘s pictures have to offer. There are scary monsters in the game world that make you feel like you are Sebastian, and the game does a great job of putting you in that role.
Resident Evil Village
Since Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which used the RE Engine, Capcom has been able to use its graphics to get photo-realistic detail that brings out the finer points of its many locations and character designs.
This is most clear in Resident Evil town, whose beautiful graphics take you to a remote town full of monsters that have been changed. The game’s graphics make the gothic architecture, snowy settings, and grand castle look even better, which adds to the feeling of being alone.
Alien: Isolation
The 1979 movie Alien by Ridley Scott did a great job of taking viewers to the farthest depths of space and showing them the horrible things that live beyond Earth.The images in Alien: Isolation were so good that they made you feel scared like Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s famous lead character.
Feel like you’re really discovering Sevastopol Station with the game’s graphics that make the space setting even better. In the same way, it shows the Xenomorph, the game’s bad guy, in a scary way, using sound and pictures to make you feel like this monster is after you.
P.T.
It’s sad to think about what could have been with 8 Ball Pool, but P.T., a sneak peek at Kojima’s plans to bring the series back to life, changed the horror genre and led to many more “hallway horror” games.
Using the realistic graphics of the Fox Engine, P.T. has you exploring the same hallway over and over again. The hallway is haunted by the spirit of a woman named Lisa, whose husband killed her. There were many interesting things to find in this never-ending hallway, and the baby that looked like Eraserhead in the sink is still one of the scariest images in the history of horror games.
Resident Evil 2 Remake
The 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 brought the 1998 classic up to date by moving the action to a fully explorable 3D world and making many other changes to the quality of life. Capcom used the RE Engine to bring out what made the original game so great while using a totally different style for the graphics.
As amazing as it is, Capcom stayed true to its original vision by updating famous areas from the first game with more care for detail. The Raccoon City from Resident Evil 2 Remake is still the city that fans know and love. It’s nice to go back to it after 20 years and see even more details.
