21 Games Like Resident Evil
Our assembled collection of games like Resident Evil features other action adventures filled with horror themes on a number of platforms.
Resident Evil is a diverse franchise of horror games and other media which first launched in 1996 for the PlayStation with the series now spanning a number of sequels and spin-offs in the same game universe. This game world has revolved primarily about the Umbrella Corporation and the recreation of the T-virus that was capable of turning humans into zombie like creatures and the impact of this in the fictional American city of Raccoon City. Fighting against this corporation is the police tactical unit of STARS with several major recurring characters from this government counter force.
While your experience will differ slightly based on the game many of the core elements of the original have remained consistent across the decades. This includes the underlying horror themes, inventory systems, control schemes, shooting mechanics, third person perspectives, puzzle solving and boss battles. A key source of fear for the majority of titles has also been the scarcity of resources that requires players to carefully consider when to use ammunition or other items.
The games like Resident Evil found here offer similar action horror experiences where you’ll experience combat against zombies and other strange monsters while solving puzzles and improving your arsenal from one level to the next from a scarce resource pool.
System Shock 2
System Shock 2 is a role playing action and horror game released in 1999 as a sequel to the popular 1994 original. Wit hacking and psionic abilities serving as core elements alongside first person shooting the System Shock franchise is often cited as influencing various classic and modern day FPS/RPG hybrid video game adventures. The setting for System Shock 2 pushes players far into the future (2114) with a dystopian style theme that centres on the player soldier as they attempt to fight off a ...[Read Review]
Outlast
Outlast offers a terrifying experience that is very similar in design to the popular horror game, Amnesia. The game follows your journey as Miles Upshur, a freelance journalist who receives a tip about the psychiatric hospital Mount Massive Asylum. Once you arrive at the hospital you find that the doors are locked and you are unable to gain entry. After you gain entry (which also serves as the tutorial) you find that the staff of the hospital are dead and the monstrous patients are roaming aroun...[Read Review]
Dead Space
Dead Space is about as scary as it gets in the survival horror genre with a dark third person shooter experience available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows. In Dead Space players will be jumping into the role of Isaac Clarke, an engineer onboard a mining starship. The game takes place far into the future (2414) as you explore the USG Ishimura after a distress signal had you coming to their rescue. The problem is that there is nobody left to rescue on the ship and after a failed docking att...[Read Review]
The Evil Within
The Evil Within (known asPyscho Break in Japan) takes the survival horror genre into a whole new gruesome level with a third person adventure requiring you to scavenge for suppliers and pick your fights carefully if you wish to have any hope to survive. Released in 2014 (with a 2017 sequel) the game challenges the main protagonist with a world of dark distortions, nightmares and mutated creatures that is explored in third person. Requiring you to overcome these enemies and even boss variants you...[Read Review]
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth brings you a survival horror experience for your Xbox or PC. The game was developed by Headfirst Productions and released in 2005. The story for the game draws heavily from several novels written by H. P. Lovecraft. Call of Cthulhu combines first person shooting and a number of stealth gameplay elements to offer a horror story that has players choosing the right times to fight for their life or hide in the shadows. While the setting and characters for t...[Read Review]
Doom 3
Doom 3 adds to the Doom franchise with a similarly scary experience that finds itself planted firmly in the survival horror genre. Like the other titles in the franchise players will find themselves on Mars with first person shooter mechanics as they slowly progress through a truly terrifying atmosphere of blood, gore and demons with a devastating arsenal of marine weapons. Released in 2003 with an improved edition (BFG Edition) in 2012 along with a 2019 release for modern platforms (Switch, PS4...[Read Review]
Cry of Fear
Cry of Fear is a free to play horror focused adventure with single player and multiplayer game modes that originally started as a mod for Half-Life 1. With the success of the mod a full standalone version was released on the Steam platform in 2013 which was similarly well received for maintaining and improving the atmosphere offered by the original mod. Cry of Fear is focused on offering a psychological adventure that will take you through a town that has been overrun by all types of horrible a...[Read Review]
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Condemned 2: Bloodshot is one of the few psychological games to be available on the console platform (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3). The game launched in 2009 and is a sequel to the original released in 2005. Condemned 2 has significant violent and horrorifying content making it the perfect game for fans of the horror genre. In Condemned 2 you will again take on the role of Ethan Thomas with the game taking place around a year after the events of the original Condemned game. Since the events of th...[Read Review]
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned: Criminal Origins is a horror video game for your Xbox 360 and PC that also blends in some detective game mechanics into the experience. Delivering a strong horror atmosphere Condemned: Criminal Origins has received strong praise from genre fans for bringing fresh perspective and ideas into what was a stale genre at the time of release. Condemned: Criminal Origins takes place in a fictional city and puts you in the shoes of Ethan Thomas, a crime scene expert working for the FBI who get...[Read Review]
Alan Wake
If you are looking for your next scare then Alan Wake promises an interesting adventure filled with horror. The game is available for the Xbox 360 console and Windows. Alan Wake follows the story of a thriller novelist Alan Wake as he goes on a vacation to the quiet town of Bright Falls in a hope to cure his writer’s block. Just like a book or television series the game is split into episodes that each contain a cliff hanger. Things take a dramatic turn for the worse when his wife goes missing a...[Read Review]
Anna
Anna offers an adventure experience with horror themes exploring an abandoned sawmill deep in the Italian mountainside. Following it’s an initial release in 2012 a 2013 Extended Edition added a vast number of changes to the core experience intended to provide greater variety of puzzles and environments while addressing some user feedback on the user interface and certain graphical elements. Borrowing ideas from similar psychological horror experiences Anna is played in first person and exp...[Read Review]
Dead Rising 3
If you want more over the top zombie killing Dead Rising 3 lets you step back into the zombie infested franchise as you seek to survive and smash any zombie that gets in your way. Elevating the series to the next insane chapter Dead Rising 3 features similar mechanics to Dead Rising 2 and the original but significantly ups the action with this 2013 release for Windows and Xbox One. If you’ve been following the series closely you’ll find that Dead Rising 3 takes place a decade after the events of...[Read Review]
Dead Space 2
Want to fight off the Necromorphs once more? Dead Space 2 lets you return to the shoes of Isaac Clarke and once again dismember your enemies in all sorts of ways. Unlike the original Dead Space players can now team up with friends in a multiplayer game mode. Dead Space 2 takes place several years after the events of the original as a new outbreak of the Necromorphs is taking place on a space station currently in orbit of Saturn’s moon. Players join the fight after they wake up without memory of ...[Read Review]
Dead Rising 2
Dead Rising is back with more zombie killing goodness, in Dead Rising 2 players can expect a similar open world horror experience to the original with endless hordes of zombies just waiting to be dealt with. Dead Rising 2 takes place half a decade after the first Dead Rising and introduces a new protagonist into the game (Chuck Greene). The game setting has also changed and now takes place in a fictional town called Fortune City which feels very much inspired by the likes of Las Vegas. Chuck Gre...[Read Review]
Dead Space 3
It’s time to put an end to the Necromorph virus in this game in the Dead Space series. Just like the previous games you’ll be assuming the role of Isaac Clarke through a third person perspective as you fight your way through the horrific Neocromorphs. In Dead Space 3 players will try to track down their girlfriend from the past, Ellie Langford. This journey takes place on the icy world of Tau Volantis which is scattered with two hundred year old ruins of the civilisation that once called this pl...[Read Review]
Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage
Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage was released in 2010 and offers a real thriller of a video game with great 3D game environments. The game mixes mystery, thriller and some horror elements to create an always on edge experience. The game draws inspiration from the horror writings of H.P. Lovecraft to deliver a well written and paced horror experience that fans of the genre will be immersed in. The game is published by Iceberg Interactive and was picked up after the publisher of the original ga...[Read Review]
Dead Rising
Dead Rising combines horror and open world environments to create a fun and unique survival experience for players. The game was released in 2006 and is only available on the Xbox 360 platform. In Dead Rising players take on the role of Frank West in a shopping mall that is simply packed full of zombies. In the game you’ll have to fight to stay alive as you attempt to unlock the secrets behind this strange incident. During your adventure you’ll complete a large number of main story missions alon...[Read Review]
I Am Alive
I Am Alive belongs to the survival horror genre and lets players explore a decaying and dangerous game world very similar to other post-apocalyptic games. Players join the game a year after a cataclysmic event that destroyed many American cities with earthquakes and other natural disasters. As you would expect these events led to a massive shortage in resources for the population leaving many citizens to die in the aftermath or turn to violence in order to meet their needs. In the game players j...[Read Review]
Deadly Premonition
Deadly Premonition rolls open world gameplay, horror and even comedy into a single ball of interesting to create an adventure that is borderline insane. The game originally released on Xbox 360 in 2010 and saw a Director’s Cut for the PlayStation 3 and Windows released in 2013 after the game attracted a cult following online creating demand for the game to be delivered on alternative platforms. This same following was likely the reason behind the games port to Nintendo Switch in 2019. Part of th...[Read Review]
Penumbra (Collection)
The Penumbra Collection is a series of horror video games developed by Frictional games that also developed the much loved Amnesia series. The three games in the Penumbra series include Overture (2007), Black Plague (2008) and Requiem (2008). All games in the series feature similar gameplay and the same protagonist, as such it is recommended that players interested in the Penumbra series grab the entire collection at once (available on GOG) and play the series in game order for the full experien...[Read Review]
Dark Fall: Lost Souls
Dark Fall: Lost Souls aims to give fans of puzzle adventure titles a journey that incorporates horror themes and is the third addition in the Dark Fall series that was released in 2009. This blend of puzzle, horror and adventure takes place in a familiar location while also honing in on the horror and puzzle elements although this does come at some cost to the depth of story compared to the first two games. Players of previous Dark Fall games will instantly recognise the familiar setting of the ...[Read Review]