With a remake of Resident Evil 4 on the way, fans are waiting on tenterhooks, praying that the re-imagining of the Capcom classic will live up to the original. That tension may somewhat be warranted, as out of all the communities built around certain gaming genres, horror game fans have been burnt most often.

What makes a disappointing horror game worse is when it has a good story, but the rest of the game's execution lets it down. Sadly, for every Silent Hill 2, there's a strong horror story wasted on a kinda mediocre or even downright bad video game.

Night Trap (1992)

Night Trap

Now, to be completely transparent, Night Trap's narrative isn't exactly Shakespeare, as its B-movie quality adds to its charm. The story of a government agent using surveillance cameras and traps to defend a group of teenage girls at a sleepover from a horde of vampires was hugely controversial for its time but is way too cheesy to take seriously.

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Apparently, The US Congress didn't see it that way, as Night Trap was a key factor in the creation of The ESRB. To be honest, the game's but for its eye-roll-worthy FMVs and unappealing gameplay mechanics prove that those congressmen and congresswomen shouldn't have even bothered.

Thrill Kill (1998)

Thrill Kill

Technically Thrill Kill shouldn't count, as all gamers have to work with when it comes to the game is a Beta build that was leaked after EA canceled it, but it would have clearly been a game that parents wouldn't have bought their kids. The game had a killer premise. Essentially, an ancient goddess resurrects a group of the world's most savage killers to pit them in a fighting tournament, with the winner getting a chance to return to life and wreak havoc again.

Gory and perverted beyond belief, Thrill Kill was aiming for the rare Adults Only rating before the plug was pulled, but that taboo clout wouldn't have been able to make up for the game itself. The game's controls feel clunky and stiff, not to mention that its funky techno soundtrack clashes with the "you-shouldn't-be-playing-this" horror atmosphere Thrill Kill is going for.

Clock Tower: Ghost Head (1998/1999)

Clock Tower- Ghost Head

Though it's missing the iconic villain Scissorman, Clock Tower: Ghost Head should be commended for going in a radically different direction with its run-and-hide gameplay. The game follows Alyssa Hale, a girl who is chased by multiple threats who have ties to her past, all the while, wrestling with a dual personality named Bates, who is far more violent.

Also, compared to the franchise's prior adventure on the Playstation, Ghost Head actually has pretty good voice acting and its gameplay design is more or less the same but feels a bit more refined. What hurts Ghost Head is that if very certain actions aren't performed, Alyssa is killed off and the player's save file ends up getting bricked (via Nitro Rad).

Resident Evil: Gaiden (2001/2002)

Resident Evil- Gaiden

At the point that this game was released, Resident Evil had arguably started to grow stale, so it comes as no surprise that Capcom would attempt to do something different with Resident Evil: Gaiden. The story deals with a zombie outbreak on a cruise ship and when Leon S. Kennedy goes missing after swooping in to investigate, Barry Burton is sent in to rescue him.

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2D horror games have been proven to work and with a plot written by the writer of Code Veronica that features a fun setting and two fan favorites as the leads. Yet, while the game's RPG-style combat is functional, it ultimately robs that game of any tension or atmosphere, which is inexcusable for a Resident Evil game.

Geist (2005)

Geist

Nintendo isn't known for their M-Rated games, but there were a surprising amount of horror games on the GameCube, with Geist certainly being one of them. The plot revolves around John Raimi, an agent of a counter-terrorism unit called CR-2, who uses his ability to separate his soul and possess people to battle the evil terrorist organization Project Z.

As ridiculous as that sounds, Geist has the most perfect, video-game-esque plot that feels like the horror version of a Saturday morning cartoon. Unfortunately, the game's bad controls rear their ugly head on more than one occasion, and its voice acting falls just short of being laughably bad.

Hello Neighbor (2017/2018)

Hello Neighbor

In a parallel universe, Hello Neighbor could've been the best horror game of the 2010s, as its narrative and artistic style are S-tier. Following a little boy who investigates his mysterious neighbor who has a dark secret, he is dead-set on keeping hidden, Hello Neighbor should have been a true exercise in tension, which makes the way its gameplay lets it down sting all the more.

Not only are the game's non-responsive controls enough to spawn serial killers, but its poor AI and bad frame rate utterly destroy the game's pace and tension. At the end of the day, what could've been one of the greatest horror games ever made ended up being a huge disappointment.

Vampire: The Masquerade-Redemption (2000/2001)

Vampire The Masquerade-Redemption

When one thinks of Vampire: The Masquerade's gaming history, they tend to think of Bloodlines, but one game brought The World of Darkness to PCs long before that. Vampire: The Masquerade-Redemption is a tragic love story that spans the centuries, telling the tale of Christof, a Templar who becomes a vampire, whose love for a nun named Anezka leads to him encountering her in two decades.

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The ambition on display in Redemption is impressive, but the game itself lets it down, as the gameplay makes the game feel like a cheap knock-off version of Warcraft. If a gamer wants to dip into The World of Darkness, it'd be best if they stuck to Bloodlines.

Silent Hill: Downpour (2012)

Silent Hill- Downpour

The second-to-last Silent Hill game, Silent Hill: Downpour attempt to go back to the series' roots, bringing back the difficulty in the puzzles and the deep themes in the story, but sadly those are some of the game's only positive aspects. Murphy Pendleton, a convicted criminal, finds himself in Silent Hill after his transport van crashes and is forced to make his way through the town, encountering a unique group of people going through their own personal hell.

In all honesty, it feels like if Konami had given the development team a little more time to refine some facets of the game, it could've been up there with the likes of Silent Hill 2, but sadly its overuse of combat, clearly rushed technical performance, and use of Korn in the soundtrack made fans roll their eyes. Also, Downpour has by far the most unimpressive monster design in the series' history.

Predator: Concrete Jungle (2005)

Predator-Concrete Jungle

For a character with an insane amount of powerful weapons that would be cool to use in a video game, the Predator franchise's history in gaming is a bit spotty when he isn't paired with the Xenomorphs from Alien. With a narrative that begins with The Predator battling mobsters in the 1930s and ends with him fighting Xenomorphs and cyborgs in the future, it can't be denied that Predator: Concrete Jungle has a pretty massive scope.

With a script penned by acclaimed comic book author Grant Morrison and the underrated Eurocom behind the development, Predator: Concrete Jungle has no right to be as junky as it is. The controls feel awkward and are immensely frustrating, not aided by graphics that were dated even back in 2005.

Rule Of Rose (2006)

The cast of Rule Of Rose

It hurts to call Rule of Rose a bad horror game, as its music, voice acting, and story are of the highest quality. Told in the format of a fairy tale, the story follows Jennifer, an orphan girl trapped in a society of bloodthirsty little girls, leading to a tragic story of love, abuse, and broken promises.

The story can not and should not be spoiled here, as it's in everyone's best interest to view the story firsthand. That said, it would be best if they did so via a long-play, as not only is Rule of Rose extremely expensive to buy, but the controls and gameplay are absolutely atrocious.

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