Scariest FPS Games

Key Takeaways

• FPS games excite with shooting mechanics but often weave in horror elements, adding intense fear to gameplay.
• Horror FPS games like Doom, F.E.A.R., and Clive Barker’s Undying offer terrifying monsters and suspenseful gameplay.
• Cry of Fear and Lost in Vivo challenge players with limited resources in horrifying settings, testing their courage.

First-person shooters pride themselves first and foremost on exciting, heart-racing, adrenaline-fueling gameplay, focusing on how fun and satisfying the shooting mechanics are for the player. The story and characters, while they can still be excellent, are usually not the shining stars. Sometimes, though, FPS titles mix things up by throwing in another genre, spicing up the game and story.

Horror is one of the more popular genres used for FPS games. After all, what is one to do when they see a terrifying monster lurching towards them, other than grab a gun and start blasting in hopes it’ll leave them alone? But even with a weapon in their trembling, clammy hands, there is little reprieve to be found from the horrors in these titles.

7 Doom (2016)

Face the Unyielding Forces of Hell

Humans have found their way to Mars, and a way to exploit an energy that seems to be coming from the infernal depths of hell itself. But in a not-so-surprising twist, tapping into energies from Hell has adverse effects, starting with those poor workers who were forced to traverse in and out of Hell as part of their research. Eventually, the facility becomes overrun by demons, and the Slayer is awoken as a last resort to repel the hellish invasion.

Armed to the teeth and fearless in the faces of the unfathomable, it is hard not to feel like a badass when stepping into Doom Slayer’s Praetor Suit. Every kill reaches a crescendo of gratuitous blood and gore, and every creature looks like something that would slither from the deepest, most deplorable pit of hell. It’s hard to deny the demons are some of the most horrifying monsters in the history of gaming.

6 F.E.A.R.

Home to Gaming’s Scariest Ghost

F.E.A.R. is an apt name for this game, as it is what players will be feeling the most while playing. As part of the First Encounter Assault Recon, Point Man is a newcomer to the team, and is about to have a first day on the job that could rival Leon Kennedy’s. The squad infiltrates the facility where an operative has gone rogue, using cloned soldiers to overthrow the management. It isn’t long before the player starts seeing vivid hallucinations. The most notable are those of Alma, and this is when the fear begins.

What should have been a simple elimination job devolves into a fight for survival. Point Man not only has to contend with facing scores of Replicas, but also Alma, who has powers beyond what her diminutive form might suggest. The twisting hallways of the facility are as quiet as death. Players feel overwhelming suspense as they brave each corner, wondering if it will be another empty corridor, enemy forces, or the dreaded Alma, who terrifies with every encounter.

5 Cry of Fear

Fight to Survive with Limited Resources

Starting as a Half-Life 2 mod, Cry of Fear eventually became its own standalone game, and became a notable one among horror aficionados. Players take control of Simon Henriksson, the recent victim of an apparent hit-and-run. He awakens in the alleyway of a ghost town, but soon discovers that it may not be as empty as he originally thought. Exploring the streets, and even worse, the apartment complex, unveils the horrors hiding in the shadows.

Armed with a gun but very few bullets, Cry of Fear is a test of players’ courage as well as resource management. Those familiar with old school Resident Evil might feel right at home here, with limited resources and terrifying monsters stalking through dark areas. But even those players will find themselves terrified when confronted with the horrific entities inside this game, especially as they might not have the bullets needed to defend themselves.

4 Lost in Vivo

A Silent Hill-Inspired Shooter

How far a person is willing to go for their beloved dog is a question that has been posed before, and Lost in Vivo explores this in the form of horror. During a storm, the player character’s service dog disappears from their grasp through a storm drain and into the sewers, and the player character quickly finds the nearest entrance to chase after it. There will be more to face in the sewers than gross fluids and disgusting smells. Players will also encounter horrific fears that throw reality into question.

The sewers are the perfect claustrophobic location to bring about a smothering atmosphere that only elevates the horror they will find within. There are others dwelling here in the darkness, but not all of them are friendly. More often than not, the player will be forced to defend themselves to the death.

3 Clive Barker’s Undying

Undo a Family’s Curse Before it is too Late

Known mostly for the horror movie series Hellraiser, Clive Barker has also dabbled in horror games, resulting in Clive Barker’s Undying, an FPS horror all about a family curse that has picked off the Covenant siblings one by one. Jeremiah is the only survivor, but he fears he might soon join them as his reanimated siblings return as terrifying monsters fueled by pure evil. As a desperate last measure, he contacts his friend Patrick Galloway for his expertise in the occult, asking to be spared from the curse.

Patrick sets out to save his friend, but the process of doing so will be far from pleasant. The Covenant estate is creepy enough without the sounds of a family living within its walls, and the curse has an entity known as the Undying King behind it. The player must not only contend with the Covenant siblings, but the creatures behind the curses. Each creature is more terrifying than the lost, and the consequences of failure are too dire to think about.

2 BioShock

Beware The Big Daddy

Welcome to Rapture, an underwater city with some significant promises that it failed to uphold. The city was designed as a utopia, meant for the upper classes to operate their businesses without the interference of government or morality. Art and science flourished, resulting in a substance known as Adam and the Plasmids, which gifted people supernatural powers such as telekinesis or shooting fire from their hands.

The player character, Jack, arrives in a Rapture past its prime, devolved into a partially flooded nightmare where Adam-addled splicers try to kill him on sight. But even more alarming are the thundering footsteps and inhuman groans of the Big Daddies and the Little Sisters, young girls with a lot of Adam in their bodies. The player must face the Big Daddies to harvest or spare the Little Sisters, and they are near-unstoppable juggernauts capable of dealing deadly amounts of damage. Every fight with them becomes a panicked jump, spray, and pray, as there are few things scarier than a frenzied Big Daddy charging towards the player.

1 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Welcome to the Family

Most Resident Evil games revolve around heroes who have field training to give them the skills needed to defend themselves against all sorts of dangers. Then there is Ethan, introduced in Resident Evil 7. He sets off for Louisiana after hearing from his wife, who has been missing for the past three years. He winds up at the Baker estate, a place that has fallen from grace and is now home to the deranged and dangerous Baker family.

There are many terrifying locations players will be forced to explore, such as the Baker Mansion, the Old House, and the ship. Each place perfectly crafts an atmosphere ripe for scares and inhabited by some of the most terrifying monsters in Resident Evil history. It is little wonder that Resident Evil 7 has earned a reputation as one of the scariest games in the entire franchise, and maybe even in all horror gaming history.