Highlights
- The PlayStation 3 era saw a renaissance for the horror genre, with challenging and memorable games being released.
- Games like The Last of Us and Alien: Isolation provided intense gameplay experiences, focusing on stealth and survival horror.
- The high difficulty levels in games like F.E.A.R. and Dark Souls added to the horror, making them some of the hardest horror games ever.
The PlayStation 3 era was a great one for gaming, with many fantastic game series already running and releasing memorable entries, in addition to many new, instant classic franchises appearing on the scene. While this was happening across the gaming industry, there was a particular renaissance for the horror genre.
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Mostly to that point, horror games had been minimal and confined to action games with jump-scares attached to some degree. But that changed around this era, with some especially challenging games being released to trouble console gamers. From survival horror to puzzling platformers, there were a lot of great and tough horror games for the PlayStation 3.
7 The Last of Us
Maybe the best game ever released for the PlayStation 3, The Last of Us was a huge win of an exclusive for the system. The incredible post-apocalyptic world, characters, and narrative built around this game are even more horrifying than the zombies that must be stealthily faced off against.
The real challenge in The Last of Us comes from the need for stealth since it is so much more necessary than many games with stealth mechanics. Joel and Ellie really have to creep in many situations, and the actual combat can take some getting used to as well.
6 F.E.A.R.
The F.E.A.R. series, also known as First Encounter Assault Recon, is a series of FPS horror games focusing on psychological aspects, which features a group that investigates paranormal activity. In the first game, they are tasked with stopping a rogue psychic that has escaped from a research program.
Players have struggled a lot in the past with all of these games. Again, F.E.A.R. is a game that features intelligent AI enemies, but beyond that, players often don’t realize how much actual hiding and taking cover they will need to do in order to make it through many of the levels, it becomes a much larger aspect than in many other FPS games.
5 Resident Evil 5
Often named by fans as the most challenging of all the Resident Evil games, the fifth entry in the series gets mixed reviews from fans. The challenge is apparent throughout however there is a significant way to combat it, by having a partner, since the game can be played on co-op.
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Without a human partner, the AI one doesn’t do enough to get by a lot of the time, particularly on the higher difficulties. On lower difficulty settings, the game is doable single-player, but some of the shifts like inventory management have changed from the previous entry, adding some smaller bits of challenge, including some brutally hard bosses.
4 Dead Space 2
The first Dead Space game wasn’t too challenging, the terrifying nature of being almost entirely alone on a spaceship might have made it seem harder for gamers though. But despite the controls and graphics improving in the sequel, the difficulty level just kept going up as well.
Dead Space 2 can be played on a variety of difficulties, but the average one will really give players some challenge as they take control of a deteriorating Isaac who is attempting to fight back against another infestation of Necromorphs, making for one of the best games on the PlayStation 3 platform.
3 The Evil Within
A game that can confuse players, making them feel totally helpless, and probably has the most brutal top difficulty setting in all horror. The Evil Within came from the creator of the Resident Evil series, and it has sought to redefine the horror genre all over again while increasing the difficulty beyond any of the Resident Evil games.
The story of Sebastian as he is put through a world of hellish nightmares is fascinating, and some of the enemies are hugely memorable. But more than that, The Evil Within brings the sort of challenge that makes it perfect horror, because as a survival game, there is nothing more stressful than never being safe.
2 Doom 3: BFG Edition
DOOM 3
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS1 , Switch , Xbox (Original)
- Released
- August 3, 2004
- Developer(s)
- id Software
The Doom franchise has always come with a lot of difficulty, and while some of this was taken out in the re-release of Doom 3, this old-school style remains, as well as a huge volume of literal darkness. That means that there are some brutal levels, some real challenges in puzzle terms, and worst of all, brutal exploration.
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Finding the way through a level in Doom has always been the greatest challenge of the franchise, with many players left scratching their heads as to how they are meant to make their way through the rest of a stage or get a certain key. Doom 3 does very little to remove this challenge, making each level win feel like a real victory.
1 Alien: Isolation
Considered by many to be one of the hardest horror games of all time, Alien: Isolation focuses on survival horror and stealth. There are many times when it is all that players can do just to survive by hiding. This game finally nailed the experience and challenge of facing off with a Xenomorph.
There are times when players are left completely stunned, feeling like the Xenomorph AI is actually just smarter than they are because it is amazing what it is capable of doing in order to catch players out. This next level of intelligence and design makes players feel like there is very little they can do, making this one of the most terrifying experiences ever in gaming.
Special Mention: Dark Souls
One of the hardest video games ever, Dark Souls scares players every bit as much as it enrages them. The nihilistic medieval world of this game is terrifying to witness, the story and lore help make it even more dark and depressing, and the level of difficulty manages to outdo them all.
The entire Soulsborne franchise has become known for the high difficulty levels that players must deal with in order to get through any of the games. While players like to make challenges out of this high difficulty, Dark Souls definitely isn’t for every kind of player.
An argument could be made that Dark Souls is not horror, but it has enough genre elements to at least warrant a mention. The same goes for Demon's Souls .
