A game’s atmosphere can make break immersion. This is how much dread it makes you feel just being in the world. It can make you a feeling of nostalgic adventure, it can transport you back to a time when you were a kid…or one of the worst times of your life. It’s very hard to have a game’s atmosphere be consistent and pull you in. This usually isn’t tied to the story or anything like that, but graphics do go hand-in-hand.

Alan Wake II

Alan Wake‘s atmosphere is some of the best in horror. It’s unsettling, surreal, and somehow too familiar. There are rarely any jumpscares and instead the game relies on tense gameplay, uncertainty, and putting what might frighten you right there in your face and making you watch it.

Runner-Ups

World of Horror

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Dead Space

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Resident Evil 4

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The Invincible