The Greatest Survival Horror Games Of All Time
Photo: Resident Evil 2 / Capcom

The Greatest Survival Horror Games Of All Time

Ranker Community
Updated April 15, 2024 195.5K views 86 items
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70.5K votes
6.0K voters
23 reranks
Voting Rules
Any video game is the survival horror genre

These are the best survival horror games ever to hit gaming consoles. These scary video games take you out of your element to fight evil forces, and this list includes zombie games, RPG video games, and are some of the most addictive games of all time. Survival horror games are classified by their ability to make the player feel less powerful because of limited ammunition, health, speed, or a multitude of enemies. The best survival horror games of all time strike the right balance between making the player feel out of control and like they can still beat the game.

The survival horror genre has been prolific since it's inception during the days of the original Playstation. Early games combined the elements of slasher films, science fiction, and haunted house stories, and other horror games included monster adversaries as well as varying degrees of gore or violence. Popular series such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill and releases like Amnesia: The Dark Descent are widely considered the most terrifying and groundbreaking of this killing games genre, which is constantly testing its own boundaries.

What are the top survival horror games? Vote for your favorite zombie survival, dino-horror, and even ghost-terrorizing games to move them up the list, or press re-rank to create your own best survival video games list.

Most divisive: Silent Hill: Homecoming
Over 6.0K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Top Survival Horror Games
  • Resident Evil 2
    1

    Resident Evil 2

    Jan 21 1998
    2,105 votes
    Resident Evil 2, known in Japan as Biohazard 2, is a 1998 survival horror video game originally released for the PlayStation. Developed by Capcom as the second installment in the Resident Evil series, its story takes place two months after the events of the first game, Resident Evil. It is set in Raccoon City, an American community whose residents have been transformed into zombies by the T-virus, a biological weapon developed by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. In their escape from the city, the two protagonists, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, encounter other survivors, and are confronted by William Birkin, the mutated creator of the even more powerful G-virus. The gameplay of Resident Evil 2 focuses on exploration, puzzle solving and combat, and features typical survival horror elements such as limited saves and ammunition. The game's main difference from its predecessor is the "Zapping System", which provides each player character with unique storylines and obstacles. Developed by a team of 40–50 people over the course of one year and nine months, Resident Evil 2 was directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Shinji Mikami.
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  • Silent Hill 2
    2

    Silent Hill 2

    2001
    2,413 votes
    Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror video game published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The game was released in September 2001 as the second installment in the Silent Hill series. An extended version of the game was published for Xbox in December of the same year, containing a short bonus scenario and other minor additions. It was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows in 2002. A remastered high-definition version of the game was released for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 in 2012 as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection. While set in the series' eponymous fictional American town, Silent Hill 2 is not a direct sequel to the first Silent Hill game. Instead, it centers on James Sunderland, who enters the town after receiving a letter written by his deceased wife, saying she is waiting for him in their "special place" in Silent Hill. Joined by Maria, who strongly resembles her, he searches for her and discovers the truth about her death. Additional material in re-releases and ports included Born from a Wish, a sub-scenario which focuses on Maria before she and James meet.
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  • Resident Evil
    3

    Resident Evil

    Mar 22 1996
    2,112 votes
    Resident Evil, originally released in Japan as Bio Hazard, is a survival horror video game developed and released by Capcom originally for the Sony PlayStation in 1996. It was later ported for the Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows platforms, and re-released for the Nintendo DS and onto the Sony PlayStation Network. Resident Evil was very well received critically and commercially, and has been credited with starting the modern survival horror genre. Its success spawned a multitude of sequels and spin-offs in the Resident Evil series. Originally conceived as a remake of Capcom's earlier horror-themed game Sweet Home, development for the game was directed by Shinji Mikami, who took gameplay design cues from the 1992 game Alone in the Dark. Resident Evil establishes many conventions seen in later games of the series, such as the control scheme, the inventory system, as well as the iconic typewriter-based saving process. The game introduces the Resident Evil series mainstays Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine as members of an elite task force known as S.T.A.R.S.
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  • Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
    4
    Resident Evil 2 is a survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. A remake of Resident Evil 2 (1998), it follows rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield as they attempt to escape from Raccoon City during a zombie apocalypse. Unlike the original Resident Evil 2, which uses tank controls and fixed camera angles, the remake features "over-the-shoulder" third-person shooter gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4.
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  • Dead Space
    5

    Dead Space

    2008
    1,983 votes
    Dead Space is a survival, horror game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2008. The debut entry in the Dead Space series. Set on a mining spaceship overrun by deadly monsters called Necromorphs following the discovery of an artifact called the Marker, the player controls engineer Isaac Clarke as he navigates the spaceship and fights the Necromorphs while struggling with growing psychosis. Players control Isaac and explore different areas through its narrative, solving environmental puzzles and finding ammunition and equipment to survive.
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  • Silent Hill
    6

    Silent Hill

    Jan 01 1999
    2,174 votes
    Silent Hill is a survival horror video game for the PlayStation published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo group. The first installment in the Silent Hill series, the game was released in North America in January 1999, and in Japan and Europe later that year. Silent Hill uses a third-person view, with real-time 3D environments. To mitigate limitations of the hardware, developers liberally used fog and darkness to muddle the graphics. Unlike earlier survival horror games that focused on protagonists with combat training, the player character of Silent Hill is an "everyman". The game follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in the eponymous fictional American town of Silent Hill; stumbling upon a cult conducting a ritual to revive a deity it worships, he discovers her true origin. Five game endings are possible, depending on actions taken by the player, including one joke ending. Silent Hill received positive reviews from critics on its release and was commercially successful.
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  • Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
    7
    Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is a survival horror game developed by Capcom and published by Capcom. The game was released for Playstation in 1999. It is the third game in the Resident Evil series and takes place almost concurrently with the events of Resident Evil 2. The player controls former elite agent Jill Valentine as she escapes from a city that has been infected by a new type of biological weapon secretly developed by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. It was designed to have more action-oriented gameplay than its predecessors and features a larger number of enemies for the player to defeat. It also introduces Nemesis, a creature that periodically pursues the player throughout the game.
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  • Silent Hill 3
    8

    Silent Hill 3

    2003
    1,694 votes
    Silent Hill 3 is a survival horror video game published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. It is the third installment in the Silent Hill series and a direct sequel to the first Silent Hill game. It was released in May 2003, with a port to Microsoft Windows released in October of the same year. A remastered high-definition version was released for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on March 20, 2012. Set seventeen years after the events of Silent Hill in which Harry Mason defeats the god of the town cult and is given a baby girl to care for, Silent Hill 3 focuses on Heather Mason, a teenage girl raised by Harry in Portland. She discovers that the cult plans to use her to birth their god, and becomes caught in a conflict within the cult. Silent Hill 3 was mostly well received by critics, especially in its presentation, including the environments, graphics and audio, as well as the overall horror elements and themes that are continued from past installments. Its plot was loosely adapted into the 2012 film Silent Hill: Revelation 3D.
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  • Resident Evil 4
    9

    Resident Evil 4

    2005
    2,267 votes
    Resident Evil 4, known as Biohazard 4 in Japan, is a survival horror video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and released by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific. The sixth main entry in the Resident Evil horror series, the game was originally released for the GameCube in January 2005 in North America and Japan, and in March 2005 in Europe and Australia. The story of Resident Evil 4 follows the U.S. government special agent Leon S. Kennedy, who is sent on a mission to rescue Ashley Graham, the U.S. President's daughter who has been kidnapped by a sinister cult. Traveling to a remote rural area of Europe, Leon fights hordes of violent villagers and mutated monsters, and reunites with the mysterious spy Ada Wong. The game pioneered and popularized the "over the shoulder" third-person view perspective in video games. First hinted at in early December 1999, Resident Evil 4 underwent a long development time during which four proposed versions of the game were discarded.
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  • Alien: Isolation
    10

    Alien: Isolation

    2014
    670 votes
    Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly and based on the Alien science fiction horror film series. It was published by Sega and released for Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in October 2014. The game is set 15 years after the events of the 1979 Alien film and follows Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, as she investigates the disappearance of her mother. Unlike previous game adaptations of the Alien franchise, Alien: Isolation places a emphasis on stealth and survival horror gameplay, requiring the player to avoid and outsmart a single alien creature with tools such as a motion tracker and flamethrower. It was designed to more resemble the original Alien film than the more action-oriented 1986 sequel Aliens, and features a similar lo-fi, 1970s vision of what the future would look like. The game runs on an engine built from scratch to accommodate technical aspects such as atmospheric and lighting effects and the alien's behaviour. Creative Assembly intended to make Alien: Isolation a third-person game, but used first-person to create a more intense experience.
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  • Resident Evil 7
    11
  • Dead Space 2
    12

    Dead Space 2

    2011
    1,270 votes
    Dead Space 2 is a survival horror game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2011. The second mainline entry in the Dead Space series, set on the Titan-based Sprawl space station, the story follows series protagonist Isaac Clarke as he fights against both an outbreak of the monstrous Necromorphs and debilitating mental illness induced by the alien Markers. Players control Isaac and explore a series of levels, solving puzzles to progress, and finding resources while fighting off Necromorphs. The game includes a competitive multiplayer mode, with the Sprawl's security forces fighting teams of Necromorphs.
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  • The Evil Within
    13

    The Evil Within

    2014
    745 votes
    The Evil Within, known as Psycho Break in Japan, is a third-person survival horror video game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released in October 2014 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows video gaming platforms. The game centers around protagonist Sebastian Castellanos as he is pulled through a distorted world full of nightmarish locations and horrid creatures. The game is directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. The Evil Within received a generally positive reception upon release; praise was mostly directed at the game's horror elements, while criticism was directed at the game's technical related issues.
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  • Outlast
    14

    Outlast

    Feb 4, 2014
    820 votes
  • The Evil Within 2
    15
  • Resident Evil Code: Veronica
    16
    Resident Evil Code: Veronica is a survival horror game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom. Originally released for the Dreamcast in 2000, it is the fourth main installment in the Resident Evil series and the first to debut on a separate platform from the PlayStation. The story takes place three months after the events of Resident Evil 2, and follows Claire Redfield and her brother Chris Redfield in their efforts to survive a viral outbreak at a remote prison island in the Southern Ocean and a research facility in Antarctica. An updated version of the game, titled Code: Veronica X, was released for the Dreamcast in Japan and for the PlayStation 2 worldwide in 2001. This revision was ported to the GameCube in 2003. Code: Veronica X includes updated and new cutscenes spliced into the main game along with mild graphical changes.
  • The Last of Us
    17

    The Last of Us

    Jun 14, 2013
    1,163 votes
    The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 3 on June 14, 2013; an updated version, The Last of Us Remastered, was released for the PlayStation 4 on July 29, 2014. The player controls Joel, a man tasked with escorting the young Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. The Last of Us is played from a third-person perspective; players use firearms, improvised weapons and stealth to defend against hostile humans and zombie-like creatures infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus. "Listen mode" lets players locate enemies through a heightened sense of hearing and spatial awareness. Players can also customize weapons and items using items scavenged from the environment. In the game's online multiplayer, up to eight players engage in co-operative and competitive gameplay in recreations of single-player settings. Development of The Last of Us began in 2009, soon after the release of Naughty Dog's previous game, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
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  • Fatal Frame
    18

    Fatal Frame

    March 4, 2002
    1,145 votes
    Fatal Frame s a survival horror video game developed by Tecmo for the PlayStation 2. The first installment in the Fatal Frame series, it released in 2001 in Japan and 2002 in North America and Europe. An enhanced port for the Xbox was released in 2002 in North America and 2003 in Japan and Europe. Fatal Frame / Project Zero is a survival horror video game set within an abandoned Japanese mansion, divided into four chapters and a prologue which act as levels and tutorial respectively. The player controls Miku Hinasaki for the majority of the game, with its opening featuring Miku's brother Mafuyu as the player character.
  • Resident Evil Zero
    19

    Resident Evil Zero

    Nov 12 2002
    882 votes
    Resident Evil Zero is a 2002 survival horror video game that was developed and published for the GameCube by Capcom. The game's storyline serves as a prequel to the first Resident Evil and covers the ordeals experienced by the police force Special Tactics And Rescue Service's Bravo Team and its newest member Rebecca Chambers. She investigates a series of murders and teams up with convict Billy Coen to survive a viral outbreak involving zombies. The player may switch between these two characters throughout the game to solve puzzles and to take advantage of their unique abilities.
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  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent
    20
    Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a survival horror video game by Frictional Games, released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms. The game features a protagonist named Daniel exploring a dark and foreboding castle, while avoiding monsters and other obstructions as well as solving puzzles. The game was critically well received, earning two awards from the Independent Games Festival and numerous positive reviews. Originally released independently as a download, the game has since been published in retail by 1C Company in Russia and Eastern Europe as well as THQ in North America. A collection of five short stories set in the world of Amnesia, written by Mikael Hedberg and illustrated by the game's concept artists, was also made available. In addition, the game's soundtrack is available for purchase and a free content expansion called "Justine" has been released as well as many fan-made expansions and stories for its unique "Custom Story" gamemode.
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  • Silent Hill 4: The Room
    21

    Silent Hill 4: The Room

    Sep 08 2004
    1,207 votes
    Silent Hill 4: The Room is survival horror video game, the fourth installment in the Silent Hill series, published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The game was released in Japan in June 2004 and in North America and Europe in September of the same year. Silent Hill 4 was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. A soundtrack release was also made at the same time. Unlike the previous installments, which were set primarily in the town of Silent Hill, this game is set in the fictional town of South Ashfield, and follows Henry Townshend as he attempts to escape from his locked-down apartment. During the course of the game, Henry explores a series of supernatural worlds and finds himself in conflict with an undead serial killer. Silent Hill 4 features an altered gameplay style with third-person navigation and plot elements taken from previous installments. Upon its release, the game received generally positive critical reaction, and its departure from the typical features of the series received a range of reactions.
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  • Until Dawn
    22

    Until Dawn

    2015
    402 votes
    Until Dawn is a horror adventure video game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 4. It was originally scheduled to be released for PlayStation 3 and feature PlayStation Move support, but in August 2014 the game was re-introduced as a PlayStation 4 title, and was released worldwide in August 2015. Set in Western Canada, Until Dawn centres around a group of eight teenagers who decide to have a holiday for a night in a cabin on the fictional Blackwood Mountain, exactly one year after the disappearance of two girls, the twin sisters of a member of their group. Shortly after arriving, the gang find themselves under attack by a madman and must attempt to survive until sunrise. Throughout the adventure, players alternate between all eight characters, making critical decisions as the story advances which drastically affects the game's outcome, leading to hundreds of different scenarios.
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  • Alan Wake
    23

    Alan Wake

    2010
    998 votes
    Alan Wake is a survival horror video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game was released for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows and a remaster was released for PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2021. The story follows best-selling thriller novelist Alan Wake, as he tries to uncover the mystery behind his wife's disappearance during a vacation in the small fictional town of Bright Falls, Washington, all while experiencing events from the plot in his latest novel, which he cannot remember writing, coming to life.
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  • P.T.
    24

    P.T.

    2014
    229 votes
  • Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
    25
    Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, known in Europe as Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly and in Japan as Zero ~Akai Chō~, is a 2003 Japanese survival horror video game developed and originally published by Tecmo. It is the second installment in the Fatal Frame series, and is widely considered to be among the scariest video games ever created. Crimson Butterfly was originally released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and for the PlayStation 3 in 2013, and a "Director's Cut" version for the Xbox in 2004 included some additional features. A remake of the game, titled Project Zero 2: Wii Edition, was released for the Wii in 2012.
  • Dino Crisis
    26

    Dino Crisis

    Jan 01, 1999
    859 votes
    Dino Crisis is a survival horror video game developed and produced by Capcom originally for the Sony PlayStation console in 1999. Directed by Shinji Mikami, Dino Crisis was developed by the same team behind Capcom's Resident Evil, and shares many similarities with the Resident Evil games that preceded it, but is more action-oriented. Players control Regina, a redheaded special operations agent who is part of a team sent to investigate a mysterious island facility. Finding the place overrun with vicious dinosaurs, Regina must fight through the Velociraptor-filled facility to discover what happened and ultimately escape alive. The game mixes exploration and puzzle-based gameplay with traditional survival horror mechanics. Dino Crisis has been ported to the Sega Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows, as well as being re-released for the PlayStation Network. The game spawned two sequels, Dino Crisis 2 and Dino Crisis 3, as well as a light gun-based spinoff in Capcom's Gun Survivor series, known as Dino Stalker.
  • SOMA
    27

    SOMA

    2015
    321 votes
    Soma is a science fiction survival horror video game being developed by Frictional Games. It is expected to be released in early 2015. The game will take place on the PATHOS-2, an underwater remote research facility with machinery that begins to take human characteristics.
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  • Resident Evil Village
    28
    Resident Evil Village is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom, and the tenth major installment in the series. Set a few years after the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the game follows Ethan Winters as he sees answers to Chris Redfield's shocking actions, and ultimately finding him in a mysterious village.
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  • Parasite Eve
    29

    Parasite Eve

    September 9, 1998
    950 votes
    Parasite Eve is an action role-playing survival horror video game developed by Square. The game is a sequel to the novel Parasite Eve, written by Hideaki Sena. It is the first game in the Parasite Eve series.
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  • Alone in the Dark
    30

    Alone in the Dark

    Jan 01 1992
    363 votes
    Alone in the Dark is an action-adventure horror video game originally designed by Frédérick Raynal and developed and published by Infogrames for the PC. Alone in the Dark was released on DOS in 1992, ported for the 3DO by Krisalis in 1994, and ported for iOS by Atari in 2014. Set in 1920s Louisiana, the game challenges the player to guide the player character out of a haunted mansion, advancing by solving puzzles while either banishing, slaying, or eluding various ghosts and monsters. The player can collect and use weapons, manage a weight-based inventory system, and explore a partially nonlinear map. Alone in the Dark received critical acclaim upon its release, and is still considered a breakthrough and influential title, as it was the first 3D survival horror game. Among the accolades which followed its release, Alone in the Dark received the European Computer Trade Show 1993 awards for Best Graphics and Most Original Game. In 2009, Empire included Alone in the Dark on their list of 100 greatest video games of all time. Alone in the Dark is considered a forefather of the survival horror genre, and its influence can be seen on the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises.