Top 10 Survival Horror Games Like Alien Isolation
For a hardcore fan of the original Alien film, Alien Isolation is a nightmare come true (in the BEST possible way). Horrifying, atmospheric, and constantly pulse-pounding, it was able to recapture the true essence of what made the original movie so frightening and powerful.
And it did this by taking major cues from the new wave of survival/horror games. So the great news is, if you’re looking for more experiences like Alien Isolation to scare you silly; you’re in luck!
Here are 10 awesome games similar to Alien Isolation that are guaranteed to thrill and maybe make you start sleeping with the lights on:...
10. SOMA
SOMA Gameplay Walkthrough
Enter PATHOS-II: a sub-aquatic facility in a state of disrepair, and home to some seriously menacing stuff. You are put in the shoes of Simon Jarrett, who has absolutely no idea how he ended up in such a terrible place. Years of isolation have resulted in the facility’s advanced machines becoming sentient and insane—as if the horrific creatures lurking the halls weren’t enough already. It’s no use trying to fight these things, so your only hope is to hide—and try to find out what the hell happened down here.
SOMA comes from the creators of Amnesia: Dark Descent (Frictional Games). That game was basically the pioneer of this style of survival/horror, so it’s fairly safe to trust in their ability to make you question your sanity. Like Amnesia, SOMA is played through a first-person perspective and features absolutely no combat—you’ve just got to run, hide, and outsmart everything that’s trying to murder you (no big deal…).
Humanity’s in short supply down here: a variety of horrifying things are waiting to greet you in PATHOS-II
Keep a cool head: although there are no weapons for you to defend yourself, you may be able to use the tech you find to your advantage
9. Monstrum
Monstrum Gameplay Walkthrough
You’re on a cargo freighter in the middle of the ocean, seemingly alone but I think we all know that’s not the case...
Monstrum takes the popular survival/horror formula and spins it into an infinitely repeatable experience where the levels are never the same (procedurally generated), the threat you face may not be what you’re expecting, and death means game over.
Of course, you can continue playing after death but you wind up at the beginning of an entirely different scenario (different layout, monster etc.).
Your goal is elegantly simple: get the hell off this ship. Achieving that, however, is less simple. Whether your means of escape is via helicopter, submarine, or life raft, you will have to scour the ship in search of supplies necessary to get things working—all the while trying to evade the mysterious horror that lurks the halls. The game’s randomness means that you can’t just learn a few exploits or strategies and ‘master’ the game—because there’s a good chance they might not work the next time around.
You weren’t on the crew manifest: there are 3 different types of monsters that you may be avoiding throughout the rusty ship
Hurray for hygiene!: nothing like a miserably dank and decrepit environment to keep your spirits high
8. Hello Neighbour
Hello Neighbour Gameplay Walkthrough
It turns out you can actually have a frightening and thrilling experience without dark, creepy environments. In fact, Hello Neighbour takes it pretty much to the other end of the spectrum—but don’t let its bright and jolly cartoon aesthetic fool you…
It seems that your neighbour—you know, the one with the creepy moustache and black rubber gloves—may be hiding an incredibly dark secret.
As the hero of the neighbourhood, it’s up to you to infiltrate his house, navigate its maze of secret doors and locked rooms, and find out what horrible things he’s been up to. The catch is that this guy is more cunning than you might expect. His AI—not unlike that of the Alien in Alien Isolation—is designed to learn from the player’s actions on the fly, meaning he’ll figure out where you like to hide and which window you like to sneak in through. And when he’s chasing you, he can even predict which way you’re going and take a different path to cut you off.
So stay on your toes, and do your best not to become another one of his ‘guests.’
Not quite Narnia: wardrobes may be doors, and paintings may be hiding holes in the wall. The house is full of surprises
He’s got a sweater-vest! RUN AWAY!: the neighbour will try to catch you, but he won’t want to risk getting too far from his home, so if things go south; run for the hills!
7. The Beast Inside
The Beast Inside Gameplay
Not yet released, The Beast Inside promises to be a powerful new entry in the survival/horror genre. Funded largely through Kickstarter, this indie nightmare boasts top-notch graphics and the ridiculously immersive gameplay that has become a trademark of the genre.
During the latter days of the Cold War, you take on the role of a CIA codebreaker (Adam) who has just moved with his wife into a pre-Civil War house deep in the American wilderness. But fairly quickly during the move-in process, Adam begins to discover some unsettling clues about the house’s history. As Adam reads the previous owner’s journal, the perspective switches to the mid-late nineteenth century where you experience the house’s horrifying history firsthand.
The game continues to switch between these two perspectives, with Adam slowly trying to piece together the story of an unsolved tragedy. The gameplay puts loads of emphasis on interacting with the environment, engaging in physics-based puzzles or simply finding matches to light your way—and if you’re lucky, you might even find a revolver to give you a bit of a fighting chance.
The release date for The Beast Inside is unconfirmed, but it’s definitely a horror title to keep your eyes on.
Probably not here to make friends: between shadowy home-invaders and murderous ghosts, this house has no shortage of threats
I’d live there…: like many others in this genre, The Beast Inside prioritises realism and photo-realistic visuals to bring immersion up to the maximum
6. Project Nightmares Case 36: Henrietta Kedward
Project Nightmares Case 36 Gameplay
Another indie horror title aiming to be as photo-realistic and immersive as possible, Project Nightmares truly lives up to its title. Case 36 is supposed to be the first in a planned series of installments, all based around your character—a psychic—who is being utilised as a conduit for connecting to cursed objects, so that the evil within can be investigated. Case 36 specifically deals with the story of Henrietta Kedward, an elderly woman with a few too many issues (understatement).
You have to enter into the nightmare surrounding her, explore the vividly spooky environment, and find clues that might explain the evil behind her, all the while trying to not let her jaws wrap around your windpipe. Sort of like Monstrum, Project Nightmares also makes use of procedural generation so that the environment is always changing.
It’s still considered to be Early Access (work in progress), but it already shows some serious promise.
Time for tea, dearie: think Blair Witch—except she’s entirely visible and you have a candle rather than video cameras...
No stone unturned: like SOMA and The Beast Inside, interacting with the environment is incredibly important. Every drawer could be hiding something vital to your goal
5. PREY
PREY Gameplay
Prey takes a bit of a different route with its horror stylings. The core gameplay is all about upgrading your arsenal and evolving your unique abilities while unravelling a deep and complex story. It just so happens that you—an either male or female Morgan Yu—are one of the few surviving humans onboard a space station that is now crawling with a murderous alien species.
The ‘typhon’ are organisms capable of mimicking physical objects, corrupting other organisms and technology, and manipulating the space around them with psychokinetic powers. The gameplay is built around flexibility, so it’s up to you whether you want to take the more subtle and stealthy route—even avoiding combat in many situations—or just throw caution to the wind and shove a shotgun down each of their alien throats. You also have many unique abilities to choose from using ‘Neuromods’—even adopting some of the typhon’s abilities if you’re willing to sacrifice a bit of humanity…
Although it’s much more action-oriented than Alien Isolation, the dark atmosphere, sci-fi setting, and formidable alien foes definitely put it in a similar arena. It also has its fair share of dread and jump-inducing moments.
As dark as night; as fast as light: aside from their own natural forms, the typhon can corrupt living things (like people) and turn them into powerful and vicious monsters
Easy, big fella: the typhon possess impressive supernatural abilities. The good news is that you might just get to use them for yourself
4. Dead Space 2
Dead Space 2 Gameplay
Following up from the original, Dead Space 2 was able to find its sweet-spot between sci-fi action and horror. Playing as the woefully unlucky engineer Isaac Clarke, you find yourself on the Sprawl: a massive space station that turns out to be no further from the threat Isaac faced on board the USG Ishimura. The station happens to be run by an insanely misguided cult that worships The Marker—the very artifact that is responsible for the horrifying necromorph virus.
In no time at all, Isaac is right back in the nightmare he thought he left behind. Blasting your way through the horde of terrors (you’ve got to dismember them), you have to work together with whatever survivors you can find, and try to find a way to end the slaughter—or, failing that, get the hell off the station. It’s a thrilling, atmospheric experience that takes massive inspiration from pretty much every film in the sci-fi/horror genre.
Personal space infringed: Dead Space 2 is all about keeping distance—your guns aren’t going to be as much help when you’re getting diced into spaceman salad
I’ve got you, under my skin: the grotesque ‘Necromorphs’ will bring a smile to fans of John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’
3. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil 7 Gameplay
Resident Evil 7 represents the franchise’s first time in first-person perspective (all previous main entries being either isometric or over-the-shoulder third-person). Fans were surprised by this, but it turned out to be a stroke of brilliance. Capcom wanted to veer away from the series’ recent action-heavy focus and back towards its original approach of straight-up horror. And to take the scare-factor even further, they wisely decided to adopt the gameplay stylings that had been successfully taking other horror games to new heights of terror.
As Ethan Winters, you are drawn to a dilapidated manor house in Louisiana, in search of your believed-to-be-dead wife. As he soon discovers, the creepy plantation house isn’t as abandoned as it appeared to be. Captured by the deranged Baker family, your nightmare in this house is only just beginning. Some sort of virus is spreading; it’s affecting the family and creating horrible abominations; and your hours are numbered.
Southern hospitality: meet the Baker family. Their favorite pastimes include murder and cannibalism
Toothy grin: In keeping with the rest of the series, you will encounter some seriously grotesque monsters that THANKFULLY you have means to fight
2. Outlast
Outlast Gameplay
Outlast may have started as a fairly small indie horror game—taking inspiration from Amnesia’s combat-free gameplay—but it quickly blew up into being the poster boy for the entire genre.
You are Miles Upshur, a journalist investigating a tip about evil-doings at the supposedly abandoned Mount Massive Asylum. Armed with only your night-vision-capable camcorder, you quickly learn that you are not at all prepared for the horrors within.
With psychotic inmates running amok, you have no choice but to run and hide. But the true horror comes when facing the real results of the shadowy Murkoff Corporation’s vile experiments. Psychopaths pushed physically and mentally beyond the breaking point; inhuman monsters that want nothing more than to torture and kill you in as gruesome a manner as possible. The terror is almost enough to make you want to give up at times, but that investigative journalist’s drive keeps you pushing towards the truth. The world needs to know what happened here…
Just inspecting the bedsprings: your camera’s night vision is crucial in the darkness, but batteries are limited...
Paint the town red: if decrepit asylums weren’t already on your ‘places not to go’ list, they will be now
1. Outlast 2
Outlast 2 Intro Gameplay
Following Outlast’s amazing success, developer Red Barrels began work on a sequel that would carry forward the same core gameplay elements but in an entirely different context. As a new protagonist (Blake Langermann), you find yourself stranded in a mysterious farming community in rural Arizona when the helicopter that you and your journalist wife were on crashes.
Regaining consciousness and setting out to find your wife, you gradually discover that the village is inhabited by an insane cult of god-fearing murderers.
As your wife’s personal cameraman, you thankfully (once again) have a trusty camcorder by your side. It will be vital not only for its night-vision and ability to magnify sound, but also to document all of the disturbing and terrifying things you witness in the hidden town of Temple Gate.
Extremist religious belief replaces the theme of human experimentation; a fully voiced protagonist takes over from the first’s silent one; and the claustrophobic halls of the asylum are traded for an open, rural, and more original feeling setting. Having your character speak actually gives a lot more emotional weight to the story, and the more open level-design allows for way less predictable scares. Altogether it makes for a very powerful, spine-chilling experience—and a very worthy sequel.
Sweet home, Arizona: Outlast 2 trades the original’s asylum setting for a rural farming village
Ah, childhood memories: the story is interspersed with sequences of the nightmares that haunt Blake (your protagonist)
There, that should be enough to keep you disturbed for awhile...
All of these games take similar gameplay elements and are able to whip them into entirely unique and original horror experiences, just like Alien Isolation did. It really has proven to be a winning format for horror—arguably taking it beyond what horror movies are capable of. Rather than watching frightening things happen to other people, these experiences put you directly in the situation yourself. At times, especially with such advanced graphics, interactive environments, and overall realism, it can even trick the brain into forgetting that it’s just a video game—and that is something truly special.
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