The Best Hack And Slash Horror Games

Summary

• Hack and slash is well-suited to horror games like Splatterhouse, Silent Hill, and Hellblade.
• Splatterhouse channels classic 80s slashers with a side-scrolling gruesome adventure.
• Hellblade offers brutal swordplay against deformed Norse enemies in a Viking-inspired setting.

Hack and slash has been an established genre in video gaming ever since the likes of The Legend of Kage and Strider became popular arcade games; today, titles like Devil May Cry and Darksiders might come to mind. The genre generally encompasses games where combat with melee weapons is the main focus, although some incorporate it in other gameplay styles.

Hack and slash works particularly well with horror, where close-quarters combat with horrifying abominations results in a lot of gruesome, hair-raising scenarios. Many will have seen the two in tandem in slasher movies, but these are some of the best hack-and-slash horror games that offer plenty of brutal action.

This list currently focuses on games that solely or heavily emphasize melee combat, rather than those where the player is free to switch between ranged and melee weapons or asymmetrical titles featuring slasher villains.

10

Splatterhouse

An Arcade Classic With Plenty Of Slasher Gore

While hack and slash is still a popular genre, it is worth looking back to where it all began with 80s arcade games. Splatterhouse is a 1988 hack-and-slash sidescroller that began as an arcade game, later being released on other consoles. Turned into a superhuman after being resurrected by the “Hell Mask”, the player must fight their way through a mansion full of monsters.

Swinging the likes of axes and cleavers, Splatterhouse has all the appeal of classic 80s slashers like Friday the 13th combined with the straightforward gameplay of arcade titles. Fans of good old gore, violence, and body horror should definitely dust off their older consoles to give this game a try.

9

Silent Hill: Book Of Memories

A Daring Attempt At Branching Out

The Silent Hill franchise is known for its survival horror titles, but that’s not to say there aren’t a number of spin-offs that have attempted to drift away from the genre-defining formula. Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a dungeon crawler that sees the player trying to rewrite their story after receiving a book of their entire life, with dire consequences.

Unfortunately, Book of Memories was not well received by fans of the franchise, but outside the Silent Hill name, it still offers some enjoyable gameplay. Players can use weapons such as knives and crowbars to hammer through a roster of both new and familiar grotesque enemies.

8

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

A Psychological Horror Inspired By Norse Mythology

Horror games are more often than not set in the present, perhaps partially in an attempt to make them seem more real and possible. As such, it is always interesting to see horror titles that venture outside the modern box. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is one such game, taking place in the Viking age where a Celtic warrior, Senua, must journey into Helheim to save her dead lover’s soul.

Combat in Senua’s Sacrifice is not as frequent as some other entries, as it is a psychological horror game. However, when players encounter enemies – disturbing and deformed Norsemen – they can engage in some super satisfying swordplay, made all the more brutal by its realistic graphics.

7

Diablo

Venture Through Hell To Defeat The Demon Lord

• Developer: Blizzard North

Diablo wears many hats; RPG, dungeon crawler, hack and slash. It’s certainly much more horror-focused than the titles that would follow. In this franchise kick-starter, the player embarks on a journey to free the world from demons and put an end to the Demon Lord’s reign.

While combat can be somewhat repetitive, for gamers who enjoy simply plowing through their enemies, Diablo is perfect. Thematically dark, aesthetically Gothic, and rife with grim depictions of humanity’s fate, this is a game that still holds up as a gruesome experience today.

6

Dead Island

Zombie-Bashing At A Tropical Retreat

Imagine waking up after a wild party in a tropical paradise to find it crawling with plague-infected flesh eaters. Add wrenches, knives, maybe even a katana into the equation, and Dead Island is born. The player, as an immune survivor, must bash their way through zombies to escape the island and their pursuers.

Dead Island leans heavily into melee combat, encouraging players to use a variety of blunt and sharp weapons rather than guns (which aren’t even available until act two). These handheld weapons can be upgraded and modded for plenty of personalized and addictive combat.

5

Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP

A Horror Parody Brimming With Style

With a protagonist who is simultaneously a high school student, a cheerleader, and a zombie hunter, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP plays like a comedy-horror. It’s a parody that pokes fun at the genre through an over-the-top, outlandish premise, on par with the likes of The Babysitter.

The player takes on the role of Juliet, the chainsaw-wielding hero, after the portal between Earth and the Rotten World is opened, unleashing a zombie outbreak. Beyond the obvious brutal chainsaw hacking and slashing, Lollipop Chainsaw also offers plenty of unlockable content, including moves, costumes, and artwork.

4

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Parkour, Melee, And Terrifying Zombies

Dying Light 2 is an open-world zombie survival game set after the outbreak of a mutated virus. Caught between conflicting factions vying for control and dangerous variants of the infected, the player follows wanderer Aiden Caldwell in the search for his sister, Mia.

While guns were added to Dying Light 2 in the “Firearms Update”, this addition proved controversial, with many preferring the post-apocalyptic feel without them. This, along with the fact that some zombie types are attracted by noise, means that the game remains melee-focused, and doing parkour across the map with a machete is still the main appeal for most.

3

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster

Everything’s A Weapon

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is an updated version of the 2006 zombie survival game Dead Rising. Once again controlling journalist Frank West, the player must survive in a zombie-infested mall long enough to get rescued while completing missions or go wild in the sandbox “Infinity” mode.

Much of Dead Rising‘s novelty comes from the sheer number of things that can be used as a weapon, ranging from bags of flour to shopping carts to sledgehammers, which have a much more comic appeal than the available firearms. Likewise, the updated graphics of Deluxe Remaster make the close-quarters horde smashing all the more satisfying.

2

Dante’s Inferno

Slice Through A Brutal Rendition Of Hell

Dante’s Inferno is known for having one of the most savage portrayals of Hell in gaming. Inspired in part by Dante’s The Divine Comedy, the player, as the titular Templar, must fight through the nine Circles of Hell to rescue his wife Beatrice from Lucifer.

Not only are the environments immense and full of visceral representations of torture but there are also swathes of demon armies to be harvested. Armed with a scythe, a holy cross, and magic, Dante’s Inferno lets players slaughter their enemies in the masses, as well as upgrade their battle skills via a skill tree, making for some truly epic combat.

1

Alice: Madness Returns

A Surreal Interpretation Of Carroll’s Wonderland

For all the color and whimsy that Lewis Carroll injected into the original novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has its fair share of surreal and disturbing elements, which the horror community has taken full advantage of. Alice: Madness Returns follows Alice, recently released from Rutledge Asylum, through both reality and wonderland as she navigates her trauma.

The game combines the beloved characters and unusual environments of its source material and molds them into a dark narrative that is full of gore and combat. Wielding a knife, the player has plenty of opportunities to slash at some genuinely horrifying enemies that reflect the twisted version of Wonderland. Beyond the brutality, Alice: Madness Returns also has a compelling style, exploring heavy themes in strangely charming ways.