Summary
There aretons of sub-genreswithin the vast genre of horror games. While there are sub-genres such as survival horror titles and psychological horror titles, there is also the question of perspective. Which point of view the camera (and ultimately the player) takes impacts the entirety of a game; especially in the world of horror.
First-person and third-person horror are fairly mainstream, but isometric horror titles are a bit harder to come by. Horror is a much more difficult genre to explore in the isometric view, but a few innovative developers took the chance and created some iconic titles in the lesser-known subgenre.
Horror subgenres such as psychological horror and survival horror will be included.
Steam Rating: 7/10
Dead State: Reanimatedis the re-release of the 2014 title of the same name.Dead Statetakes place in a post-apocalyptic worldtaken over by zombies. While the graphics may not be astonishing,Dead Statemakes up for it in gameplay. There are tons of interesting characters who slowly join the player’s group; some with personalities that mesh with the rest of the group and some personalities that violently clash.
Aside from the combat,Dead Statefocuses on inventory management, forcing players to make the decision of how exactly to divvy up supplies amongst their group; do they play favorites or do they lead without bias?
6Stasis
Stasistakes place in afuturistic sci-fi atmosphere. The player takes the role of the mysterious John who has just awoken from cryogenic sleep. Upon his awakening on the Groomlake (the ship that also serves as the spooky backdrop for the story), he realizes that the entire crew is dead. The Groomlake itself is the main star of Stasis as this cold, metallic vessel in space is beautifully decorated with overgrowth, debris, and gruesome corpses. Although John slowly uncovers the story of the ship via notes from former workers, it is the Groomlake that shines in its environmental storytelling.
5Gorky 17 (Odium)
Steam Rating: 9/10
Gorky 17is a 1999 turn-based tactical horror game that was released in North America under the titleOdium. While the game is an RPG, it holds many aspects of retro survival horror games. The player joins a small group of NATO operatives who have been called to uncover the mystery behind horrid creatures that have appeared near a former Soviet military base.
Gorky 17features two main gameplay styles: one being a simple point-and-click adventure mode to explore any open areas and the other being theturn-based combat mode.
4Death Trash
Death Trashis an immersive RPG as it begins with a character creator screen right from the get-go. After that, players are pushed straight into the post-apocalyptic world ofDeath Trash. Death Trashgreets players with an eerie facility filled with futuristic androids that inform them that the player is now a former citizen of the society they used to inhabit and is forced to leave.
It is after leaving the facility that the player meets theterrifying (yet seemingly friendly) Fleshkraken. Upon the Fleshkraken’s request for the player to find more friends, the player then ventures out into the unforgiving world ofDeath Trashwhere the entities found there aren’t nearly as kind as the Fleshkraken itself.
Hatredis a horror game, but not in the conventional way most horror games are. Rather than players taking the role of a hero who must defeat a terrifying antagonist,Hatredputs players in the shoes of a heartless killer on the move to find more victims. The player character is on a violent rampage as his hatred for the human race as a whole is at its peak.
Thisshoot-em-up horror gameis completely in black and white, only shifting from its isometric perspective for cinematic cutscenes or brutal executions.
Sanitarium
After a car accident, you wake up in a gloomy asylum with your head wrapped in bandages. Many questions remain, but the most important one to solve is: what are you doing here?Sanitarium features a plot intricate set in an intense dark world where a very thin line separates senses from madness. There are many riddles to solve throughout this immersive and captivating adventure that will make your head spin with terror.Even now, Sanitarium is a masterwork suitable for point-and-click beginners, confirmed or riddle-solving experts who enjoy.
Sanitariumis aclassic psychological horrortitle that puts players in the shoes of a mysterious man who awakens after a car crash-induced coma. Unsure of where he is or who he is, the player character soon discovers that he has been admitted into a run-down sanitarium. Not knowing how to address him, the other inmates simply call the player character “Max”.
This isometric horror is a point-and-click game with the gameplay mainly featuring exploration and environmental puzzles to forward its story.
Project Zomboidis an open-world survival horror RPG where the player can customize their very own survivor. Players beginProject Zomboidwith nothing, not even a shirt on their back. The game heavily focuses oninventory management and looting, ensuring players keep the essentials handy whenever supplies are needed. While the beginning seems easy enough with the very first zombie kill being relatively straightforward, the game begins to increase in difficulty as time goes on.
Project Zomboidis a true zombie survival sim as players are forced to start from scratch, finding what they need and killing any zombies that get in the way.
