Genres of Horror

The word “horror” is a broad term which encompasses anything remotely scary in video games. Fans of horror games know that this category of games comes in many flavors and varieties. When recommending a quality scary game, sometimes just slapping the label of “horror” is just not enough.

Like horror movies, horror video games can be broken down into several smaller subgenres. Many of our favorite horror games in the market fall into one or more of these categories. Each genre also has several shiny new games to look forward to this year.

We decided that lumping zombies in with ghosts will simply not do. Today we have compiled a list of the most popular horror genres and what about them that has us afraid to turn off the lights. 

1. Zombie

Little girl, you have to go for the head shot!

Since the explosion in the popularity of The Walking Dead, Zombies have been the entertainment industry’s cash cow. After all this time, zombies do not appear to be losing steam. It seems that every year there are at least a couple titles which features zombies as the main antagonists. For 2016 alone we will be seeing the release of Resident Evil Zero Remastered, Telltale’s Michonne Miniseries, and Overkill’s Walking Dead game.

For video games, zombies are an ideal enemy. A single zombie does not pose a great threat, but as a group they become a force of nature. Can anyone say “cannon fodder”? Games like shooters require massive numbers of disposable enemy hordes. Zombies fit this description perfectly. Nothing makes a player feel more like the king of the apocalypse than plowing through a zombie horde with a machine gun or a double-ended chainsaw.

This is not to say that every zombie game is a gun-happy zombie-killing good time. Some games like The Last of Us make ammo a valuable commodity. In this instance you probably want to kill as quietly as possible, or avoid open conflict altogether. Other games, such as Telltale’s Walking Dead, focuses heavily on the human aspect of surviving the end of the world, and the emotional toll it takes on the mind. Zombies are enough of a blank slate that game creators can quite a bit of creative license, giving us variety in a world seemingly oversaturated with zombie games.

Examples from this genre include: 

• Dying Light (2016)

Parkour and zombies. Enough said. 

• Dead Rising (2006)

Customize your weapons and witness the carnage. 

• Last of Us (2013)

Fungus zombies!

• Dead Island (2011)

Even zombies need a beach vacation.

• Left 4 Dead (2008)

Can four survivors make it against a horde of zombies?

• Telltale's Walking Dead (2012)

Sometimes there are no happy endings in a zombie apocalypse.