The best horror games for Xbox Series X

Capcom has put in serious work to perfect the Resident Evil formula, and few of the titles have benefited as much as Village, a tightly focused RE game set in a gothic town filled with a wide variety of monsters and machinations. You play Ethan Winters, who explores and unlocks the village while running from — and eventually facing down — a number of terrifying enemies inspired by ancient horror tropes (plus, of course, the towering Lady Dimitrescu). The Series X does a particularly great job of running the ray tracing around Village while still ensuring 60fps. Gamers who like action with their horror will certainly want to try Village, even if it’s been a while since you’ve dipped your toes into the Resident Evil series.

Styling itself a sci-fi survival-horror RPG, this game is set in the literal Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – they did a 3D map of it and used it for the game’s environment. The story follows a physicist returning to the nuclear plant to investigate the 30-year mystery of his lost fiancée. What he finds are dark secrets, chilling reminders, and monsters in the shadows. It’s primarily a shooter with some stealth and survival elements.

The Callisto Protocol is the game all Dead Space fans have been waiting for, created by Striking Distance studio, which is helmed by Glen Schofield, one of the co-creators of Dead Space. The similarities are easy to see: You play as an inmate who escaped from a prison on Jupiter’s dead moon Callisto, where you must survive both modern and ancient horrors, master tools like gravity guns, and (of course) focus on cutting off limbs of the abominations you find. The release date is set for early December 2022, so you don’t have long to wait.

This Outbreak sequel is Series X enhanced and ready for a buddy! It’s a co-op survival horror game centering on a scary nighttime zombie experience. There’s some Left 4 Dead in it, certainly, but with a variety of interesting twists:  You only get one life per playthrough, so scrounging for supplies and staying hidden is vital to success. Many missions include tense, timed activities where death is always just around the corner. The shadowy environments are also creepy in a way few recent zombie games have been — and horror is always more fun when you can bring friends along, too.

Little Nightmares 2 is filled with what made Little Nightmares so great, but with more of it. While the first game made you a mouse-like person hiding in a ship overcome by monsters, the second takes you to a new world. Here you play as another of these small people, a young boy trying to escape a creepy landscape dominated by an eerie signal tower — and a variety of twisted monsters, haunted locations, and more threats eager to hunt you down. Comparisons to Inside are easy to make, but there’s a greater focus on platforming than puzzle solving here, and the combination works very well.

One of the very first horror games made for the Series X, The Medium has a very clear core gameplay offering: As a medium, you’re able to jump between two different worlds, one real and one spiritual, to uncover the truth. You use these powers to explore a rundown resort and piece together what actually happened. Just one thing — the spiritual realm can get truly nightmarish, and you aren’t the only presence haunting these ruins. Those looking for plenty of narrative and exploration will enjoy this ride.

This reimagined look at Alone in the Dark is optimized for the Xbox Series X and written by Mikael Hedberg, who you might recognize from games like Amnesia and Soma. It’s a gothic horror sensation that follows two people exploring an old mansion – one that increasingly becomes more terrifying and filled with evil as the game progresses. Reality and nightmare merge, and you have previous few weapons to fight the madness. The reason we’re putting this one lower on the list is that it’s not out until the end of 2022, although you can preorder.