Nothing curdles the blood more disturbingly than macabre monsters and uniquely unsettling settings under the auspices of a deadly dollop of insidious imagination.

The Evil Within and its sequel, another “child” of Shinji Mikami – the man behind the Resident Evil series – suits this description perfectly.

Both games – released in 2014 and 2017 respectively – blend a truly frightening vibe with hearty amount of action, placing them somewhere on the fringes of the survival horror genre and the no man’s land of adventure games, adding up a touch of stealth game.

We take the role of Sebastian Castellanos, a seasoned detective who needs to survive the hallucinatory turmoil of the first game, and unwind the entanglement of the more personal take of the second installment. Abominable monsters, shapeshifting locations, and blood splattering in gallons.

How would you like to try some similar yet at times slightly different titles out?

Games Like The Evil Within
GameReleaseGenreDeveloper
Tormented Souls 2021-08-27 Adventure Dual Effect
The Callisto Protocol Digital Deluxe Edition 2022-12-02 Action Striking Distance Studios
Ghostwire Tokyo 2022-03-25 Action Tango Gameworks
Alan Wake 2 2023-10-27 Adventure Remedy Entertainment
Call Of Cthulhu 2018-10-30 Adventure Cyanide
The Sinking City Epic Key Europe 2019-06-27 Adventure Frogwares
Dying Light Definitive Edition 2015-01-26 Adventure Techland
Dying Light 2 2022-02-04 Action Techland Publishing
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard Biohazard 7 Resident Evil 2017-01-23 Horror CAPCOM
Outlast 2 2017-04-25 Adventure Red Barrels
Red Dead Redemption 2 2019-11-05 Adventure Rockstar Games
The Last Of Us Part I 2023-03-28 Adventure Naughty Dog LLC
Alan Wake 2012-02-16 Adventure Remedy Entertainment
Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain 2015-09-01 Adventure Kojima Productions
Wolfenstein The New Order 2014-05-19 Action & Shooter MachineGames

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Release date:2017-01-23
Genre:Horror
Developer:CAPCOM

Occupying the middle ground between back-to-the-roots motives and novel solutions.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard takes us to the middle-of-nowhere farm in Louisiana belonging to the Bakers – a family which may easily substitute for the psychopathic antagonists of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
movie. Our task? To find our missing wife which is somewhere in there.

The seventh installment of the beloved survival horror series loses third person perspective in favor of the classic FPP and also allows to use VR tools.

Conversely, it nods to the first RE installments and brings back unity of place and amplifies the OG survival horror vibes with scarcity of items, limited storage space, and more resilient adversaries.

Key features
  • A blend of new and old RE tropes
  • Hick Texas Chain Saw Massacre-like foes
  • VR enabled
  • FPP instead of over-the-shoulder TPP

Outlast 2

Release date:2017-04-25
Genre:Adventure
Developer:Red Barrels

A 2017 Red Barrels’ production leaves us at the mercy of to yet another godforsaken town, this time in the mountainous area, whose inhabitants are not inbred psychopaths but religious fanatics.

There is another wife missing, this time by abduction, and the “find-out-what-happened-and-get-the-hell-outta-here” motive is spiked with issues from protagonist and his missing wife’s past.

With reduced amount of cheap jump scares, moderately gory, yet still adequately deploying outbursts of squeamish squirming, Outlast 2 provides a solid gameplay.

Sound design enhances the suspense and the general vile atmosphere. Our protagonist is no superman, and he may be harmed with ease, especially on higher difficulty levels. So be careful out there or you won’t last long!

Key features
  • Religious fanatics inaccessible area deadly setting
  • Downsized jump scare ratio
  • Able to make your skin crawl

Red Dead Redemption 2

Release date:2019-11-05
Genre:Adventure
Developer:Rockstar Games

Another big-time blockbuster from Rockstar Studios and one of the best prequels ever made.

A third-person perspective Wild West action-adventure game, RDR2 is what Rockstar has us all grown accustomed to: gripping gameplay, open-world freedom, nuanced characters, and lots of ricochets and bullets flying overhead.

While having little to none typical horror moments, the creepiness and gruesomeness of some of in-game chance encounters stuck out a mile, i.e. localizing the serial killer’s lair, popping in the Aberdeen Pig Farm or having a stroll throughout the Whispering Forrest. Yikes and yuk!

Key features
  • An outstanding prequel
  • It’s a Rockstar game – it cannot simply be bad!
  • Scarce yet scary encounters

Silent Hill 2

Release date:2001-09-23
Genre:Adventure
Developer:Team Silent

An unquestionable legend, Ulysses of survival horror games, and one of the best titles ever made, Silent Hill 2 has been scaring us since 2001.

And we never ceased to be amazed by its overall awesomeness. Game design and ludology students write their theses based on it and hundreds of thousands of horror enthusiasts are still introduced to its one-of-a-kind charm

From gloomy scenery and setting, to ambient-ish music which spice up dreadful atmosphere, to multiple endings and the final revelation of things not being what they seem, it is unwise not to play Silent Hill 2. If you still haven’t, you’d better see that you do.

Key features
  • One of the most definitive survival horror games ever
  • Overall brilliance is overshadowed only by its popularity
  • Not many games have been objects of that thorough study
  • Just-play-it-already epicness

The Last of Us™ Part

Release date:2023-03-28
Genre:Adventure
Developer:Naughty Dog LLC

A remake of one of the most replayable games of all time, Last of Us Part I has been improved in several areas: combat mode, exploration and accessibility.

The visuals has also been boosted – Naughty Dog used the game engine from Part II to refresh graphics substantially.

What’s more, to recap this narrative gem par excellence, we are Joel – a guy with a past full of grief and loss – who gets to lead a teenage girl named Ellie throughout the US decimated by the lethal strain of Cordyceps fungus.

Neither being particularly scary nor classified as a horror game, Part I has its unnerving moments. Oh, did we mention the teary opening that literally tears you apart?

Key features
  • The overall overhaul of one of the greatest hits of the 2010’s gaming
  • More terrific than terrifying 😉
  • Memorable opening

Alan Wake

Release date:2012-02-16
Genre:Adventure
Developer:Remedy Entertainment

From creators of the one and only Max Payne, Alan Wake is a remarkable feat of narrative spectacularity.

We are introduced to the titular man, a famous writer suffering from the worst ailment possible – writer’s block – who comes with his wife to Bright Falls, a small town so remote even Devil himself doesn’t say goodnight there.

The holidays which were supposed to reconnect the writer to the muse and revive his somewhat tarnished marriage soon go awry, and the line between dreaming and being awake for Mr. Wake turns out to be not so clear anymore…

Splendid atmosphere and frights served with a finesse of the horror master himself – Stephen King – Alan Wake will stay with you for a long time.

Key features
  • Outstanding narrative
  • Nice nods to pop culture like Twin Peaks characters, etc.
  • More suspenseful than ‘jumpscaringly’ frightening

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Release date:2015-09-01
Genre:Adventure
Developer:Kojima Productions

A fifth canonical installment of the series and a prequel to the first Metal Gear, The Phantom Pain is Hideo Kojima’s seminal work.

Its polarizing reviews as to its all too intricate plot back in the day only spiced up its notoriety as a misunderstood gem (there are YouTube videos which juxtaposes it with Moby Dick!).

As the first true open-world Metal Gear, it fully enhances the freedom of tactics we may employ. The game follows tradition of the series and encourages not to waste enemies.

The means of moving around are spectacular: from tanks, to horseback riding, to rock climbing. Also, attention to detail is simply astounding, i.e. silencers that we use throughout the game wear away, which remains true to the durability of the silencers produced in the mid 80’s when the action of MGSV takes place.

Key features
  • The notoriety of its overly complex plot precedes it
  • A wide array of means of transport
  • Absolutely rad when it comes to details

That’s it, folks! Seven games like The Evil Within 1 & 2 are taking a bow and marching off now. Their features: unorthodox problem-solving, stealthy tactics, convoluted plots, as well as truly bizarre and fear-inducing vibes, will surely satisfy your exquisite horror tastes. Don’t forget to check out our marketplace to get them.