Horror gaming seems to be enjoying a new renaissance; from enduring multiplayer-focused hits like Dead By Daylight and Phantasmophobia to genre-defining single-player offerings like Resident Evil: Village and Bloodborne, horror game development has come a long way from its almost complete stasis in the early 2010s.
While some have courted controversy due to cut content or rushed development schedules, many of these titles managed to reinvigorate stagnant franchises and push the genre as a whole forward. Gamers who missed out on some iconic experience in the genre owe it to themselves to give the remasters a try.
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Originally intended as a remake to the Japanese Famicom game Sweet Home, Resident Evil eventually took its own, uniquely-twisted form, and it left gamers sleeping with the lights on for years to come.
With that in mind, 2019's remake of Resident Evil's sequel was a similarly monumental step forward for horror gaming. A fully modernized and expertly realized recreation of the original PlayStation game, Resident Evil 2 managed to make zombies seem terrifying once again following years of banal releases focusing on the undead. Resident Evil releases are often fairly hit-or-miss, but this one was an unmitigated success.
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School (2017)
Originally released in 2001 and ported to mobile devices in 2015, White Day eventually made its way to the PlayStation 4 in 2017. Critics were divided on the release, but it's an important one for many hardcore horror gamers, as, without it, the game would have been lost to total obscurity.
Taking place within a Korean school, White Day is a primarily puzzle-centric experience. Players must solve riddles and uncover the solutions to various problems while being pursued by the school's janitor, among a few other baddies. In a sense, it was Outlast long before that game was a thing, and horror historians may well find it fascinating.
Blood: Fresh Supply (2019)
Few would qualify Blood: Fresh Supply as a truly terrifying horror game, but there's something to be said for the title's incredible atmosphere. Games of its ilk such as Duke Nukem 3D or even the seminal Doom struggled to evoke any sense of verisimilitude, but, despite its often cartoonish nature, there's something viscerally real about Blood.
A much-needed update to a game that originally used a mouse-based movement system—something often implemented before controls for three-dimensional games were standardized—Blood: Fresh Supply is a frighteningly good remake that improves the resolution, modernizes the presentation, and invokes a whole new level of fear.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly - Director's Cut (2004)
An enhanced port of Fatal Frame II which arrived on the Xbox one year after it debuted on the PlayStation 2, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly - Director's Cut offers a slew of new enhancements and gameplay modes to make the game more approachable while also courting the attention of fans of the series.
While it bears a clear resemblance to Konami's Silent Hill franchise, Fatal Frame II ups the ante by making every combat encounter a pulse-pounding first-person affair. Those who shy away from jumpscares will have a tough time plodding through this unrelentingly unnerving undertaking. As per EW.com, even The Last of Us series creator Neil Druckmann stated that he couldn't play the game for more than two hours at a time because of how scary he found it.
Metro 2033 & Last Light Redux (2014)
Atmosphere is vital to the horror genre; should a movie or game fail to establish a tense and brooding mood, it likely won't be able to deliver any solid scares further down the line. Though they can't be placed concretely in the horror realm as they feature everything from massive action setpieces to tense and drawn-out political disputes, the Metro Redux games set up an impenetrably dense atmosphere of sorrow and heartache.
Of course, running from mutants in abandoned and quite possibly haunted subway tunnels is scary enough, but, while the Redux versions don't deliver all that much in terms of notable graphical enhancements, they're even more immersive than the already unsettlingly realistic originals.
Alan Wake Remastered (2021)
Alan Wake was something of an overlooked survival horror gem. Originally released in 2009, it was an epic title with innovative combat mechanics which felt like an adaptation of an unpublished Stephen King novel. Fortunately, twelve years later, Remedy would see fit to reintroduce Alan Wake on modern consoles.
While it doesn't provide a massive graphical overhaul, the world of Alan wake is as dark and enigmatic as ever. There's a strange, almost surreal beauty to the title's blackened forest biomes, and the story will be all the more relevant to those who played the AWE expansion of Remedy's 2019 game Control.
Siren: Blood Curse (2008)
The Siren trilogy never took off in the west, and, since it didn't get a physical release in most regions, Siren: Blood Curse is arguably the most obscure entry. A loose reworking of the first title, while it's similar in terms of style and setting to the vastly more recognizable Silent Hill franchise, Siren: Blood Curse differentiates itself by focusing almost entirely on stealth. Rather than fighting, players are given a unique "sight jack" ability which allows them to see through the eyes of their enemies, thus gaining a better understanding of how they can be avoided. It's something of a difficult game to get through, but it shouldn't be skipped.
Resident Evil HD (2002)
1996's Resident Evil was a revolution not just for horror gaming, but for gaming as a whole. A tense and terribly rattling experience, it totally redefined what "scary" meant as it applied to digital media.
A mere six years later, Capcom recreated the title for Nintendo's GameCube, and it was a massive visual upgrade compared to its predecessor. The static camera angles meant that few polygonal objects had to be rendered at once, granting leeway for some intensely detailed backdrops. While the GameCube release still holds up today, Resident Evil HD was remastered for the eighth generation of consoles in 2015.
Silent Hill HD Collection (2012)
Featuring two of the most famous survival horror video games ever made, Silent Hill HD Collection on the PS3 and Xbox 360 should be the de facto way to play these games—given how expensive the PS2 originals are, they're easily the most accessible.
Unfortunately, the presentation is severely lacking, and the games on this collection are often seen as vastly inferior compared to the originals. That said, they're still worth playing. Two of the most cerebral, mind-bending, and haunting interactive experiences of all time, Silent Hil 2 and 3 must be played, butchered port or no, by gamers to experience some of the best horror games in the genre.
The Last of Us Remastered (2014)
Less of a full-on remaster and more of a marginally-upgraded port, The Last of Us Remastered was nonetheless a welcome addition to the PS4's at-the-time lackluster library. Telling the tale of a cross-country journey to potentially save the world from a plague of zombie-adjacent creatures, The Last of Us is often celebrated as a survival horror title to rival the best of the Resident Evil series.
Unlike Resident Evil, however, The Last of Us places a greater emphasis on the triumphs and tribulations of its characters; it's a heart-stopping thriller and a tear-jerking drama all wrapped up into one package.