10 of the best nerve-shredding games

Resident Evil (PlayStation, 1996)

Really quite terrifying in places, Resident Evil was the master of the sudden shock. Zombie dogs crashing through windows when you’re not expecting it, that sort of thing. It was given a slightly comic B-Movie feel thanks to the bizarre hammy dialogue, but that just made it all the more loveable.

Silent Hill (PlayStation, 1999)

About as near to the X-Files as a video game ever got (the X-File games were rubbish), this used the limitations of the PlayStation hardware to hide nasties in fog and out of site down dark corridors. It also shocked through its use of sound, with pained moans pervading its miserable locations.

Alone in the Dark (PC, 1992)

One of the earliest examples of the genre that we would soon come to know as ‘survival horror’, Alone in the Dark dumped you in a gloomy, wonky, 3D monster mansion, packed with odd things. You had work out what’s happening while also not ending up dead.

Clock Tower (PlayStation, 1997)

After a few years existing as a mythical Japanese import, PlayStation owners got to experience Clock Tower in 1997. It’s a point & click adventure using a bizarre stalker game mechanic, where players often have to run away from a man trying to stab them with scissors. Quite odd.

Doom 3 (PC, 2004)

A bit on the simple side and subsequently criticised for being a bit of a bland corridor shooter, one thing Doom 3 did well was shocks. Monsters, darkness, odd sounds and more were hidden around corners, waiting to burst out and absorb your desperate shotgun blasts.

Condemned: (Criminal Origins Xbox 360, 2005)

A sort of extremely bleak X-Files episode, this had you investigating crimes in dark and gloomy, dishevelled locations. Populated by freaks, your only defence lay in what was around you, meaning you often beat people to death with pipes and sticks. Lovely.

F.E.A.R. (PC, 2005)

This crams everything in — guns, puzzles, fighting, slow-motion action and shocks, with the horror element particularly well done. It’s all about supernatural threats, weird little ghost girls, gore and darkness, plus it’s a great shooter under it all too, if you’re not really a plot person.

Dead Space (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, 2008)

The survival horror concept once again, only this time updated with more realistic depiction of entrails than ever thanks to the power of Xbox 360 and PS3. A glorious futuristic sci-fi setting and amazing levels of slaughter made it a fan favourite.

Alan Wake (Xbox 360, 2010)

Time awarded Alan Wake with the best game of 2010 accolade. You won’t be thinking about that when you’re being stalked in the dark woods, armed with a torch though. What are you going to to, blind the unseen horrors to death? Well, actually, yes. Banish the darkness with your flashlight, then shoot them dead. If your hands aren’t trembling too much that is.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent (PC. Mac, Linux, OnLive, 2010)

Have you ever been so terrified that you’ve actually wet yourself? No? Well neither have we. That’s why we’ll never, ever, play Amnesia. We’d like to keep our involuntary urination record nice and clean, thank you very much.

Wait, you missed out The Evil Within…

That’s because we’re too scared to even talk about it after watching a 15 minute walkthrough of it in a pitch black room at E3. That, and it won’t be out till August.

READ MORE: Stuff’s 200 Greatest Games of All Time