10 Game Series That Would Be Perfect For A Horror Entry

[ShadeShadow]

So many great and iconic game series are known for the settings and characters they feature, like The Legend Of Zelda primarily being a fantastical epic adventure and Mega Man being a colorful action-packed cartoon romp. There are several that have dipped their toes into horror territory, as Ocarina Of Time did with "Bottom of the Well". Even blockbuster first-person shooter franchise Call of Duty has had game modes and hidden secrets that are purely horror-based.

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Some of these series could easily feature a strict horror title in their respective catalogs, The possibilities that today's talented game developers could achieve would delight horror fans to no end.

10Call Of Duty

Anyone who has played a Call of Duty title in the last decade is familiar with the Zombies mode that has become a staple for certain titles in the franchise. Despite the campaign and main multiplayer modes being firmly based in the real world, the Zombies co-op and multiplayer modes have found their way into main modes like the current uber-popular Warzone battle royale.

The franchise could really go wild and feature an all-horror title, complete with a zombie campaign, similar to something like Resident Evil, and could go into even further paranormal territory. Just imagine the night-vision level in the London townhouse from 2019's Modern Warfare but in a haunted house.

9The Legend Of Zelda

Zelda has always been a family-friendly title, making it a huge shock when players encountered horrifying situations in the 3D N64 titles, like the ReDead enemies and the Shadow Temple.

Majora's Mask is a title absolutely soaked in horror, and this only leads to the possibility that a fully horror Zelda title could be a potential masterpiece. It could even feature the return of Majora's Mask and that frightening moon — or something worse — with even scarier areas and temples, haunting music, and a sense of terror around every corner. Exploration, puzzles, and combat would still remain the main focus but it would have players on edge at all times.

8Hitman

The Hitman series has featured the iconic Agent 47 as the titular killer, either masquerading in plain sight to eliminate his targets or sneaking in the shadows and corners in his famous suit to perform a stealthy kill. Recently, titles Dead By Daylight and Friday The 13th: The Game have shown players how fun it is to control a murderous killer that stalks his prey around a map. Basing a title in the Hitman series on a serial killer that can disguise themselves in terrifying getups, or just go at it as an everyday person, would make for a horrifyingly entertaining game for players to experience.

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It may remain questionable if society really needs a game like this to exist, but the victims could be evil people similar to Hitman to make the game feel less morally wrong.

7Grand Theft Auto

Rockstar Games' billion-dollar franchise featuring criminals committing mayhem is far from a horror title, with all of the raunchy humor and real-world drama that the franchise is known for. But longtime fans of the series know that Rockstar love to pack their games with seriously creepy secrets and characters, and it's easy to imagine how creative they could get with a horror title.

Players could explore a dense map full of terrifying monstrosities lurking in the wild, or killers out for blood. Paranormal and extraterrestrial activity could be rampant, or the game could even take place in an apocalyptic setting, similar to The Last of Us or Days Gone, but with something other than a zombie outbreak. Leave it to Rockstar to come up with something unique and completely unexpected — and knock it out of the park.

6God Of War

Kratos and his god-killing activities in this franchise have tiptoed around the fantasy-horror genre, with plenty of bloodthirsty creatures, beasts, and undead beings to rip apart in various gory ways. There's never any part of the games that feel scary since Kratos is essentially a killing machine, but a title could go all in and feature Kratos in a new world of gods and beasts unlike before.

Imagine gods inspired by (or directly referencing) H.P. Lovecraft beings, with Kratos going toe-to-toe with multi-eyed, multi-tentacled elder gods. There could be a terrifying underwater realm full of oceanic terrors, or an outer space kingdom ripe with alien lords that even Kratos can barely comprehend. It would be a crime to nerf Kratos' power for the sake of the game, but he could acquire new powers, unlike anything before to go against these leviathans.

5Persona

The critically acclaimed Persona series is the quintessential JRPG for fans of character-driven stories, outlandish plot twists, and killer combat. Never afraid to tackle touchy subjects, the series features very real situations combined with fantasy-world elements and creatures. Along with the sometimes horrifically designed Personas that the characters summon, the enemies and bosses all are prime for a more terrifying horror makeover, and the story has the potential to get even weirder, darker, and creepier.

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Just imagining some of the palaces and dungeons that players explore... but scarier.

4Batman: Arkham Series

For a superhero-comic action series, the Batman: Arkham games contain their fair share of horror moments. Who can forget the morgue, the fake game crash sequence, and generally all of Scarecrow's moments from Arkham Asylum? The series went further with Arkham Knight, bringing the villain's fear toxin into the plot as the main catalyst, and earned itself an M rating in the process. In the comics, Batman once became a vampire himself, and a game exploring something like this could completely shake the foundation for what the series can offer.

Imagine an even more gothic Gotham City, with other villains having a monstrous form, lurking in the shadows. Bring in a fan-favorite spooky villain like the Phantasm, and players could have an iconic title on their hands.

3Metroid

Players have been loving the sci-fi adventures of bounty hunter Samus Aran for decades, as she explores alien planets, fights creatures, and acquires updates for her ever-expanding suit. Each world has its share of unique lifeforms and atmospheric settings, from lush green planets to cold frozen wastelands.

Nintendo has always kept this series quite tame in terms of violence and scares, but players could only imagine Samus getting thrown into a more Dead Space-style adventure. There could be a dark, foreboding cave with a horrifying monster awaiting inside or a haunted underground facility that leads to a deadly creature-infested hive with a massive terrifying being at the center. Oxygen levels dropping, and a mysterious figure stalking Samus from behind. The potential is massive.

2Mortal Kombat

For a series all too familiar with gory deaths and demonic otherworldly characters, Mortal Kombat already has its roots firmly engrained in horror. One major highlight of the recent entries in the series has been the inclusion of several horror movie franchise characters, like Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, the Alien Xenomorph, and more.

What would be the perfect horror cocktail for fans is for MK to contain an all-horror character entry, delivering an original storyline featuring the Devil bringing all of them together for a tournament of evil. Toss in some unique entries like villains from Leprachaun, Pumpkinhead, and even wilder ones like the body-morphing entity from The Thing, and fans would have a legendary horror-themed fighter for the ages.

1The Elder Scrolls

So many players look at The Elder Scrolls series as an epic fantasy quest that can also be a relaxing life simulator on the side. Explore a dungeon, find a legendary sword, then go back to town and hang out in the pub, sell your wares and get a good night's sleep. There are tons of terrors, however, lurking throughout the world, with giant spiders, dragons, and the undead waiting for their next victim.

In Skyrim, there await several creepy quests involving haunted houses and eerie cults. If the series wanted to go full horror for an entry, it wouldn't be hard to imagine players existing in a terrifying world with even scarier enemies. Abandoned towns full of ghosts, bodies of water full of sea creatures, and barely any safe spaces or locales to visit. Everyone is an enemy, and monsters await everywhere players go. It wouldn't be hard to imagine how obsessed players could get with this new and frightening world.