Last week we launched IGN’s Festival of Fear, and part of the occassion was marked by the return of our Best Horror Video Game Face-Off. We added the latest batch of terrifying games to the list, like Resident Evil 4 Remake, Lies of P, and Sons of the Forest to see if any of them had what it took to dethrone Silent Hill 2 (which won the last Face-Off a year ago).
After thousands and thousands of battles, a new champion of horror games has now ascended to the spooky throne, leaving Silent Hill 2 in its wake. So, which game claimed the top horrifying honor? Chilling drumroll, please…
With an 84.0% win percentage, Resident Evil 4 Remake has, perhaps unsurprisingly, become the new winner of the best horror video game of all time according to IGN’s audience. While it may be one of the least shocking outcomes in this Face-Off, it is clearly more than warranted as we gave this remake of one of the most celebrated video games of all time a 10/10.
“Whether you’re a fan of the original or a newcomer with a hankering for some action-heavy horror of the highest quality, Resident Evil 4 is like a parasite-riddled Spaniard: a total no-brainer,” IGN’s Tristan Ogilvie wrote in his review. “Its combat is friction-free but no less stress-inducing thanks to its ferocious cast of creatures, its story rapidly shuttles through a series of action scenes that are diverse in structure but uniformly unwavering in intensity, and its world is rich in detail and full of fun and often snarling surprises.”
Resident Evil 4 Remake didn’t zombie-run away with the victory, however, as it only beat Resident Evil 2 Remake by .1%, proving every vote really does count! Resident Evil 2 Remake also placed second in our original horror game Face-Off, and a year hasn’t changed the minds of very many as to the quality of what Capcom is doing with these projects.
As for how the rest of the list compared to last year, the top 10 in this Face-Off are Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Dead Space, Silent Hill 2, the original Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil 2, Silent Hill, Resident Evil Village, and Dead Space 2.
If we compare these winners to last year’s list, we see 2022’s top 10 was Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Dead Space, the original Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill, Resident Evil Village, the original Resident Evil 2, Silent Hill 3, and Resident Evil Remake.
One thing is clear, IGN’s audience loves Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Dead Space! These mega-franchises held strong to their relative placements, proving the strength of the foundation they’ve all built.
On the other side of the spooky spectrum lies Cooking Companions with a win percentage of only 11.7%. It was joined by HumanitZ, Bigfoot, The Coma: Cutting Class, Eresys, Slay the Princess, Atama, Enemy Zero, Anatomy, and Uncanny Valley.
As with many of these Face-Offs, it’s clear the big franchises have the power to rise to the top of the competition, and sometimes these indie titles just don’t have enough of a presence to stand toe-to-toe with them in this type of battle.
That being said, many of these are beloved and terrifying experiences that we encourage fans of the genre to check out. Just because a game doesn’t make it high on a Face-Off like this, it doesn’t mean it isn’t a special experience that may click with you!
Are you wondering where your favorite horror video game landed, like maybe P.T.? (It took spot #15) For all the rankings, you can check out the full list of where all 141 horror games that competed in this Face-Off ended up. You can also check out 2022’s Face-Off to see how they compare!
For more things in the world of horror, be sure to check out all the scary goodness from IGN’s Festival of Fear, including the 25 best monster movies of all time, the seven biggest halloween in-game events to play right now, and why horror is the most important movie genre.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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