Summary
- 2005 saw groundbreaking horror games like Resident Evil 4, shifting to a third-person perspective.
- Other notable titles include FPS games like Call of Cthulhu and Evil Dead: Regeneration.
- The era introduced unique horror titles like Condemned: Criminal Origins and The Suffering: Ties That Bind.
Horror games were beginning to see an evolution in the 2000s with many experimental changes being made to the formula, and perhaps none more major than the steady rise of first-person games. 2005 was one of the most formative years for survival horror, where a variety of key titles launched and changed the landscape for the better.
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2005 had some excellent original and groundbreaking horror games, whether it was a new direction for the Resident Evil series, a certain FPS studio making two classic back-to-back horror hits, new sequels returning to haunt players, or more underrated gems.
10
Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
- Released
-
March 24, 2006
- Developer(s)
-
Headfirst Productions
- Developer
-
Headfirst Productions
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
- Engine
-
Gamebryo
- How Long To Beat
-
12 Hours
It seems as though every decade can’t go without a Call of Cthulhu entry to satisfy H.P. Lovecraft fans. Dark Corners of the Earth is an FPS game that’s based on Lovecraft’s The Shadow over Innsmouth novella. The game tells an original story set in the town of Innsmouth, with the protagonist being private detective Jack Walters.
Walters heads to Innsmouth for a missing persons case, but he’s soon met with dangerous cultists from the Esoteric Order of Dagon and finds himself working with the FBI, led by J. Edgar Hoover. You’ll encounter many Lovecraftian creatures, which have terrific designs. If you’ve played 2018’s Call of Cthulhu, the gameplay will be very familiar.
9
Evil Dead: Regeneration
Since Army of Darkness finished off the original trilogy, there wouldn’t be a new Evil Dead film until Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reimagining. But in the meantime, Evil Dead: Regeneration came in 2005 with Bruce Campbell even reprising the voice of the Deadites’ worst nightmare, Ash Williams.
He’s got his boomstick and chainsaw arm and is ready to rumble with the demonic forces that the Necronomicon has unleashed in a hack-and-slash gameplay design. The game is set before the events of the third movie, where Ash is committed to an asylum and his evil doctor is behind all the Deadite horrors. The setting is different, building a creepy hospital atmosphere, and there are some new and interesting enemy types.
8
The Suffering: Ties That Bind
The Suffering was a unique horror game set in a prison that didn’t grow as popular as other games from this era. It followed a convict on death row for the heinous crime of the murder of his family, until an earthquake occurred and unleashed terrifying creatures he had to dispatch. Torque’s story continued in 2005 with the launch of a surprise sequel, The Suffering: Ties That Bind.
In Ties That Bind, the creatures now follow Torque back to his hometown of Baltimore. The gameplay is more or less the same, keeping the option to switch between a first-person and third-person perspective. The best feature is that it lets you choose your opening based on the save file of the ending you got in the original game, something you don’t see too much in modern games. The multiple endings and morality system also return here.
7
Cold Fear
While you might not think of Ubisoft as a horror game developer, Cold Fear is the studio’s hidden gem from the 2000s. It takes place on a Russian ship in the middle of an Arctic storm, and all the crewmates have been transformed into some form of infected.
You assume the role of Coast Guard member Tom Hansen, who is summoned to the whaler after a distress signal is sent out. The game uses a mix of fixed camera angles and more modern third-person shooter mechanics, but the best part is how it tries to capture the realism of the waves constantly crashing onto the ship and the boat constantly being rocked from side to side, which adds a whole other dynamic to the tension and combat.
6
Darkwatch
Darkwatch: Curse Of The West
- Released
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August 12, 2005
- Developer(s)
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High Moon Studios
- Engine
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renderware, havok
- How Long To Beat
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13 hours
Before Call of Juarez took off and before Evil West graced the Double-A scene, you had this first-person shooter Western with a Gothic horror element infused into it. Darkwatch follows a hunter and former Civil War veteran named Jericho Cross, who dispatches vampiric monsters of all sorts for the titular organization.
You get some cool weapons with nice detail and animations for such an older game. The missions are linear and offer non-stop action and shootouts with enemies, like you’d desire from any Western movie or video game. The main antagonist, the winged ancient vampire named Lazarus Malkoth, is compelling and like something out of the Underworld movies.
5
Fear
Fear is a genre-bending horror game like no other at the time. It’s an FPS game that follows the titular specialized military unit, First Encounter Assault Recon, and you get your standard arsenal of weapons, even some dual-wielding action with pistols. There’s also a popular bullet-time mechanic to enhance the gunplay.
Where the horror aspect comes in is the setting, the main antagonist, and the protagonist’s bouts of psychological horror triggered by haunting hallucinations. The government project happening in the building you enter is tied to experiments on telepathy, featuring a young girl named Alma who tends to eerily pop up when you least expect it.
4
Haunting Ground
Haunting Ground
- Released
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May 10, 2005
- Engine
-
unreal engine
- How Long To Beat
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9 Hours
Haunting Ground is a survival horror venture from Capcom in a similar vein to its previous game, Clock Tower 3. The setting takes place in a castle where experiments tied to alchemy are taking place, and you encounter some of the strange inhabitants.
You end up trapped in the castle after a car crash, and you’re left to discover the mystery of how you ended up there and what’s been going on. What this horror game had over any other that launched that year was a dog companion, the cutest and goodest boy named Hewie. You could give Hewie commands to retrieve items and fend off enemies, and give him lots of pets.
3
Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented
Fatal Frame III: The Tormented
- Released
-
July 28, 2005
- Developer(s)
-
Tecmo
- How Long To Beat
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15 Hours
2005 marked another year for a Fatal Frame launch, allowing players to pick up the Camera Obscura once more to fend off some ghosts. Almost in coordination with the installment, you get three protagonists that you will be switching off, who are all connected by some form of loss. Their journey leads them to a location known as the Manor of Sleep where the tragic spirit of Reika haunts the grounds.
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The story is tied to tattoo rituals performed at the Kuze Shrine, and the game’s story masterfully moves between the real world and the dream world of this setting. Even though Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is hailed as the series’ best, The Tormented is still brilliant and more than lives up to its name.
2
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned: Criminal Origins
- Released
-
November 22, 2005
- Developer(s)
-
Monolith Productions
- Engine
-
Lithtech Jupiter EX
- How Long To Beat
-
7 Hours
Game developer Monolith saw two major horror game launches within a single month in 2005. In addition to Fear, Condemned: Criminal Origins also arrived for horror fans, and it was another unique approach to the genre. In an almost Max Payne-style setup, you have a detective hunting down a serial killer who ends up getting framed and having to evade his own Serial Crimes Unit within the FBI.
The key twist is that the combat is specifically oriented toward melee attacks to evoke more brutal and strategic gameplay since certain weapons have better advantages over others. It’s also said to be inspired by Seven and The Silence of the Lambs, and that’s the kind of chilling cop versus killer vibe the game has in store.
1
Resident Evil 4
The most important horror game launch of 2005 was Resident Evil 4, a defining game not just for the series itself but also for the future of third-person titles and the survival horror genre. All the Resident Evil games prior to RE4 had fixed camera angles, which was the norm for survival horror, but now you get to take control of Special Agent Leon Kennedy from an over-the-shoulder perspective.
The story sees Leon venture into a rural village in Spain to rescue the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham, and battle various forms of parasite-infected Las Plagas enemies and bosses. While the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 is great, the original has the classic odd and quirky dialogue between Leon and the other characters as well as the nostalgic levels that were cut from the remake.
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