Best Horror Games Of 2023

2023 has been filled with a wide variety of horror games that range from indie to AAA remakes. There were some surprise hits like Dead Island 2 and a few flops such as Redfall. This year has been one never to forget but fresh off of Halloween let’s dive into the games that create great jumpscares and live streams.

Resident Evil 4 Remake

Let’s look at the big remakes that found a way to provide a fresh experience of classic games. Resident Evil 4 Remake, released March 24^th, 2023 developed and published by Capcom, for a game that has over 5 different versions of it already in existence. Capcom must have sacrificed a few of its rathalos’ to make lighting strike again with the story of Leon saving the president’s daughter. This remake of a game that was originally released in 2005 and has been retold multiple times has a 93 on Metacritic. I know review scores are not everything but this has to be something special. Capcom’s RE Engine originally designed for Resident Evil 7, does way more than add a new coat of paint to Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Dead Space

Now the other highly anticipated remake was Dead Space. Developed by Motive Studio and published by Electronic Arts, Dead Space was released on January 27, 2023. This was a solid survival horror to start the year with. With a Metacritic score of 89, the remake of Isaac Clarke’s terrifying journey aboard the Ishimura is described as the definitive way to play Dead Space. Isaac is no longer a silent protagonist, and the gore has been ramped up when fighting the Necromorphs. These two heavy-hitting remakes launched in the first quarter of 2023.

Sons of The Forest

Now let’s move on to some of the indie horror games that launched this year. First up we have Sons of The Forest, the sequel to 2018’s The Forest. It takes place after the first game on an island called Site 2. The main gameplay is not extremely different from the first, but improves upon the core mechanics and makes for a far scarier experience. I forgot to mention that you are stranded on an island full of cannibals.

They will hunt you down destroy your camp and eat you like cannibals tend to do. According to Wikipedia the island you are on is 4x bigger than the one from the first game. Also, one big change is you can issue orders to your companion Kelvin and there is up to 8-player online coop. The developers Endnight Games did an amazing job creating a game that does not allow you to relax.

Dredge

Moving on, this year was filled with so many horror games that somehow we got a fishing one. Yes, you heard that correctly Dredge, developed by Black Salt Games and published by Team17 Digital is a scary fishing game. As the captain of a fishing boat around some small islands. You will be solving a dark mystery, finding hidden treasure, finding ways to survive the night, and of course fishing. The low polygon art style works as a façade to hide the darkness of Dredge.

Alan Wake 2

Finally, the game that people around the internet are calling Game of the Year, is Alan Wake 2. Developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games, Alan Wake 2 was released on October 27th, 2023. In a year not only filled with top-tier horror games. Many critics are saying that this is better than most games in 2023. The story takes place 13 years after the first Alan Wake game. And you will now control two characters, Alan Wake and Saga Anderson.

Trapped in The Dark Place Alan is trying to get out while on the other side of reality, it looks like Saga is trying to find him. The enemies will range from evil shadows to beings called the taken. Alan Wake 2 release around Halloween may have been a great marketing strategy but from the way people describe this game it would have made any month it released a spooky one.