What are the best body horror games on PC?
Atomic Heart sparked a discussion about other video games with excellent examples of body Horror. We’ve all got our favourites, from Resident Evil and Dead Space to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Clive Barker’s Jericho.
Atomic Heart’s Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded earlier this year, and we’ve since been treated to some fantastic trailers and gameplay snippets showcasing its blend of supernatural and body horror. Just watching one minute of the body horror game is enough to send shivers down your spine, but what are some other video games that deal in the macabre? Here are some of the best examples from horror games and otherwise.
The best body horror games are:
No list would be complete without Dead Space. Visceral Games’ series was praised by several users with one saying, “Dead Space has some of the most brutal and fascinating morphed human designs in any game.” Others mentioned its similarities to Alien and Event Horizon.
“Tied for my favourite transformation scene,” one user shared. “A woman who didn’t make it morphed into a Necromorph while being held in an autoclave, while you had to escape.” Another mentioned, “A baby Necromorph that jumps onto Isaac’s face and tries to gnaw on his eyes.”
This FPS/survival horror game was met with mixed reactions from players, with many citing its clunky gameplay and uninteresting world. However, the game’s aesthetics were praised by many users, with one saying, “Clive Barker’s Jericho had some of the best visuals I’ve seen in a game, and they were all inspired by his work.”
Others agreed and mentioned, “The game’s environments were a highlight and the visual style is very evocative of Barker’s work and paintings.” Another added, “The visuals and atmosphere were great, and I loved how it was inspired by Barker’s work and paintings.”
A few users recommended SOMA, saying, “SOMA has some really great physical mutations, that I thought were handled pretty well.” Another said, “SOMA is a fantastic body horror game. I really liked its psychological horror, too, but its physical mutations were really well done.”
The Last of Us is another excellent example of body horror, with one user saying, “The Last of Us has some of the most disturbing zombies I’ve ever seen in a game. They’re just so realistically animated.”
Another user said, “The Half-Life series has some of my favourite zombie designs ever. The Headcrab Zombies are terrifying!”
“The Big Daddy reveal at the end of Bioshock 1 and the recent Doom games were the best body horror moments for me,” one user shared.
“The Resident Evil games are certainly not all body horror, but there are some great examples of it,” one user said. Another added, “The RE series is definitely not just body horror, but there are some nasty enemies and scenes. The RE Remake had one of the most unsettling scenes, where you have to watch a zombie eat their way through a girl’s torso.”
“I’m really looking forward to SCORN,” one user said. Another added, “SCORN looks really interesting, I’ve loved everything I’ve seen from it so far.”
“Little Nightmares is definitely body horror,” one user said. Another added, “Little Nightmares is definitely a great example of body horror. The atmosphere and design is incredible.”
“The Evil Within is an underrated game,” one user said. Another added, “The Evil Within is a solid horror game with some great body horror. Especially that one scene with the twins.”
“The Call of Cthulhu games are actually pretty great at body horror,” one user said. Another added, “I love how Call of Cthulhu is so detailed when it comes to the mutating effects of the Deep Ones’ influence on humans.
