Silent Hill is one of the most acclaimed survival horror franchises of all time and for a good reason. The game was one of the scariest things made during the PSone era.
The unintentional fog created to mask rendering issues gave the game a visual signature that is mentioned to this day. It unintentionally boosted the creepy aspects of the game and was written into the lore of the franchise.
As a result, Silent Hill quickly became a name that all games knew about, and an entire franchise was born out of it.
If you love the franchise and are now looking for similar survival horror games that will make you fearful of the dark, stick around. I’m sure you will find something you will like below in our list of 12 third-person games like Silent Hill.
Resident Evil
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Capcom |
| Release Date: | March 22, 2002 |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store, My Nintendo Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 11 hours |
Although Resident Evil eventually became known for action-packed sequences, there was a time when it was merely about survival horror.
That time was back in the PSone era, and it inspired the existence of games such as the very Silent Hill that inspired this list.
The first Resident Evil was a very mysterious game. It’s about a group of elite cops investigating a house in the middle of nowhere and suddenly having to deal with seemingly impossible things.
The pacing of the first game is excellent. The plot thickens over time, the stakes get higher, and many things are revealed throughout the story.
Still, there is a lot of tension throughout the game. The walking dead moaning in the corridors that rise even after you shoot them down, monsters, conspiracies, and biological terrorism are some things you see in this game.
The second game is a direct sequel to the first. One of the characters is the sister of one of the officers from the first game. The other playable character is a rookie cop on his first day of work.
Unfortunately for them, the entire Racoon City was affected by whatever came out of the mansion. Resident Evil is a fantastic franchise, and the first two games are legendary. They both have pretty good remakes that are worth playing as well.
Eventually, Resident Evil returned to its survival horror origins. Resident Evil 2, 7, and 8 are some of the best horror games on Steam.
FATAL FRAME / PROJECT ZERO: Maiden of Black Water
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| Release Date: | September 27, 2014 |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store, My Nintendo Store, Microsoft Store, and Steam |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 15 hours |
One of my favorite horror franchises, Fatal Frame hits you differently. Maybe it’s the Japanese horror elements, the sound design, or the combination of them all, but there’s something inherently creepy about Fatal Frame.
The first game puts you inside a house where the wood floor squeaks when you walk, and you never know where a ghost is going to come out of the wall.
Obviously, things go wrong, making one of them in charge of saving the other. The game is designed to make you fear a jump scare at all times, making you more susceptible to them.
Things happen in a similar way in most games. You are always in a creepy place with a weird story behind it that causes the spirits to behave in a terrifying way.
Eventually, the main character finds a special camera with the power to exorcise evil spirits — yes, it gets a bit weird. It is said that Makoto Shibata developed the idea based on his personal spiritual experiences, whatever that means.
Fatal Frame also became a successful survival horror franchise that, much like Silent Hill, seems to have been inspired by Resident Evil.
There is a lot of exploration, item collecting, and fighting involved — even though you do the last by taking pictures.
Unfortunately, the franchise is very old, and most games will feel dated, but at least we have FATAL FRAME / PROJECT ZERO: Maiden of Black Water to lure in new players.
The Evil Within
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Tango Gameworks |
| Release Date: | October 14, 2014 |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 37 hours |
The Evil Within is a survival horror that shows some appreciation for old and newer Resident Evil games, much like Dead Space.
In the Evil Within, or Psychobreak as it is known in Japan, you take the role of Detective Sebastian Castellanos.
He and his colleagues are investigating the scene of a horrific mass murder when they come upon powers beyond what they were able to handle.
Sebastian witnesses the murder of his fellow cops. For some reason, Sebastian survives. Upon waking up, he finds himself in a bizarre realm that might be worse than death.
Now, he has to go through a terrifying quest to understand what is going on, banish this evil power, and survive one of the most bizarre moments of his life.
The Evil Within might not be the best horror game out there, but it was one of the few trying to keep the genre alive.
Either way, it has over 83% positive reviews on Steam, so it might be worth checking it out. If you are a fan of Resident Evil 4 and bizarre horror stories, there is a good chance you will enjoy playing this game.
Dead Space
| Genre: | Third-Person, Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Visceral Games, Motive |
| Release Date: | October 14, 2008 |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 12 hours |
I’m a sucker for space horror, and no game has done it better than Dead Space. This is another game heavily inspired by Resident Evil, much like Silent Hill. However, Dead Space feels like a course correction.
In many ways, one can clearly see the influence that Resident Evil 4 had over this game. That said, the original RE4 is much more of an action game than a survival horror one. Dead Space, on the other hand, is a horrifying experience of exploration and resource management that includes combat, much like older survival horror games.
In this game, you play as an engineer named Isaac. He is a starship engineer who, along with his crew, is in charge of finding and rescuing the enormous mining cruiser, the Ishimura.
However, like in any horror story, things don’t work out that easily. Most of the crew is dead, the surviving ones seem crazy, and the spacecraft is filled with horrendous, deformed creatures made of dead people.
The story also has a bit of cosmic horror in it, which does wonders for the overall atmosphere of the game.
Siren
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Japan Studio |
| Release Date: | November 6, 2003 |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 20 hours |
Keiichiro Toyama, one of the minds behind the Silent Hill series, is the man responsible for this horror masterpiece of the PlayStation 2.
Siren is very much inspired by Silent Hill, and it shows. The way the horror is presented feels much more supernatural and tangible in a way you never feel comfortable with. In Siren, a group of characters is stuck in a town filled with undead creatures called shibito.
The game’s innovative mechanic is about the main characters’ supernatural abilities. They can see through other people’s eyes, which you will have to use in order to dodge the threats and advance in the game.
Although the game’s reception was controversial, Siren became a somewhat successful franchise. Two other games were released, and it also gained a movie and a manga adaptation. Over time, the game became a cult classic and is now celebrated as a memorable horror experience from the PS2 era.
Parasite Eve
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Square |
| Release Date: | March 29, 1998 |
| Find at: | Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 10 hours |
Parasite Eve is a cult game that people still hope to see remade. In this game, you play as Aya Brea, a half-Japanese, half-white police officer from New York.
This game might be the weirdest on the list, but you can thank the Squaresoft people for their crazy gameplay ideas.
Parasite Eve looks and feels like a classic horror game in many ways. It even uses biological horror as one of its themes. That said, how they decided to combat is the most peculiar thing about this title.
Instead of the real-time, clunky combat seen in other survival horror games, Parasite Eve developers decided to make their title a turn-based RPG.
Don’t get me wrong, I love this game. Many people do. It is odd, charming, and horrifying at times, but it is also quite slightly weird compared to its competition.
That said, it’s that weirdness that I love about this game. Its combat was most likely the differential Squaresoft was trying to push to make the title popular.
Tormented Souls
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Dual Effect, Abstract Digital |
| Release Date: | August 27, 2021 |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store, My Nintendo Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 9 hours |
This game was an attempt to fill in a gap found in the market. After all, in an age when studios appeal to nostalgia, there aren’t many survival horror games with a fixed-camera style.
Tormented Souls has that and also tries to add the creepy atmosphere and tight spaces present in many of the old classics.
Although it is clearly inspired by Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, and similar franchises, Tormented Souls tries to modernize the fixed camera style by adding its own twists to the genre.
In this game, you play as Caroline Walker as she looks into the inexplicable disappearance of twin girls in a terrible mansion-turned-hospital.
The game has plenty of exploration, pre-rendered backgrounds, puzzle solving, and clunky combat meant to remind you that Caroline Walker is not an action hero.
Tormented Souls might not be a legendary survival horror game, and it wasn’t very complimented by critics. Nonetheless, it was very well-received on Steam by players. It has over 85% positive reviews on Steam, and its user score on Metacritic is 82. I honestly think this game is worth playing if you are a fan of the genre.
The Medium
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | January 28, 2021 |
| Release Date: | Bloober Team |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 8 hours |
Medium is a modern, retro-inspired horror game with fixed camera angles.
In Medium, you will have to unravel a dark mystery that can only be solved by one that can see the spirit world.
Although this game feels a lot like old horror titles, The Medium describes itself as a third-person psychological horror game instead of a survival horror. It also features what it calls an exclusive dual-reality soundtrack.
The Silent Hill influence is clearly seen when the main character sees and travels through the spiritual world. You have to navigate both realities and solve puzzles to advance in the game.
The game’s gimmick is the main character’s ability to send her soul to an area that she can’t physically reach. The game often divides the screen to let you see both worlds simultaneously.
This game is very interesting, quite innovative, and quite creepy at times. It is certainly a good horror game that will remind you of old classics.
Alan Wake
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Remedy Entertainment |
| Release Date: | May 14, 2010 |
| Find at: | PlayStation Store, My Nintendo Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 11 hours |
This game puts you in the shoes of a disturbed author called Alan Wake as he desperately searches for his missing wife, Alice. Alan’s story starts to get really weird when he finds a novel supposedly written by himself that he has no memory of.
Although Alan Wake seems inspired by old horror games, it feels more like a psychological horror than a survival horror. The game gets weird and scary at times. Allan will question his sanity when the story in his book seems to turn into reality.
To prevent this evil from spreading, and before he loses the rest of his mind, Alan decides to do whatever he can to avoid this thing from taking over all he knows. Unfortunately for him, all he has is a handgun and a flashlight.
Alan Wake has action sections and many thrilling moments. Players will experience a variety of obstacles, twists, and suspense as they dive deeper into the mystery.
Haunting Ground
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Capcom |
| Release Date: | April 21, 2005 |
| Find at: | Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 9 hours |
This is another game that was not necessarily acclaimed by critics but held a really high user score on Metacritic. Haunting Ground, also known as Demento, players take the role of Fiona Beili. She was the only survivor of the car crash that made her an orphan.Â
Upon waking up, the girl is locked in an old castle where she has to understand what is going on and find a way to escape.
Fiona is just a regular girl, so you won’t be fighting, but you will craft, use traps, and hide while you solve the mystery of the mansion. In many ways, this game feels like a spiritual successor to Clock Tower.
The main character’s fragility and the freakishly twisted plot of the game are skillfully intertwined throughout the game.
This game is not easy to come across. It is a PS2 game from an era when fixed-camera Survival Horrors were huge. That said, in case you have the chance to experience Fiona’s journey, don’t skip it. This cult classic is a gem worth appreciating.
Obscure
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Mighty Rocket Studio |
| Release Date: | June 17, 2004 |
| Find at: | Steam and Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 6 hours |
Ironically, this is a very obscure game from the PS2 era.
The game happens at Leafmore High School, a place that has been the setting for unexplained disappearances.
In this survival horror game, you take control of a group of 5 American students. This is a survival horror game in which you will, with the help of your friends, investigate all the recent mysterious occurrences.
After one of the students disappears, it will be up to this group to find them while trying to survive the long, dangerous night ahead of you.
This game, very much like most in this list, was inspired by resident Evil and other old horror games with a fixed camera. You can find it on Steam, where the game has many positive reviews.
The game’s gimmick is the multiplayer feature that allows you to play with a friend. It might be an excellent game to play with your partner if they like horror-themed entertainment.
Clock Tower 3
| Genre: | Survival Horror |
| Developers: | Sunsoft, Capcom |
| Release Date: | December 12, 2002 |
| Find at: | Amazon |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playthrough: | 6 hours |
This classic franchise started back in the 16-bit era. However, if you want something closer to Silent Hill, play Clock Tower 2 or 3. The franchise’s third game feels detached from the other games that share its name, but it might be a good thing.
It is unnecessary to have played the series’ earlier installments to understand Clock Tower 3 because of the self-contained nature of the tale.
The plot centers on Alyssa Hamilton, a 14-year-old girl who belongs to a lineage of female warrior time travelers who fight evil spirits in the past. Yes, it’s that over-the-top, but it doesn’t mean it is not a great game.
You will take the role of Alyssa as she goes from her time in 2003 London to the 1940s and 1960s. Things can get very creepy while you figure out how to combat the evil entities and help people who have suffered because of them.
