Summary
- Many horror games explore the darker aspects of religion and faith, diving into themes of blind worship and evil gods.
- Games like Agony, Siren: Blood Curse, and Darkwood feature malevolent deities and cults, adding depth to the horror experience.
- From Resident Evil Village to Bloodborne, these games showcase the sinister side of worshiping beings like the Black God and the Great Ones.
Religion and faith are at the center of many horror games, whether it's a battle between good and evil or getting embroiled with truly messed-up cults. Most gamers will be familiar with the premise of angels and demons, gods and devils; there are plenty of games that explore wars of heaven and hell - take Diablo or Doom 3, for example.
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While faith can be a comfort in dark times, sometimes it can also be the cause of those dark times, an idea these horror games revel in exploring.
But what happens when the very being that is worshiped as a god turns out to be a malicious entity? Here's a look at some of the best games that feature evil gods, where blind faith and unfaltering loyalty might prove to be the downfall of the very followers that worship them.
The following games feature beings that are explicitly considered and referred to in-game as gods rather than demons.
Some of the following entries contain lore and plot spoilers!
8 Agony
Red Goddess: Delights In Torture And Cruelty
Agony
- Released
- May 29, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Madmind Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Forever Entertainment, PlayWay
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Agony is notorious for having some of the most graphic and gruesome depictions of Hell in video games, with its shock factor proving divisive. Unfortunately, the macabre (yet stunning) visuals were overshadowed by its gameplay issues and bugs, leaving many players disappointed.
That said, there is plenty of worthwhile content for fans of the grotesque. Agony follows Nimrod, an amnesiac who has been thrown into hell and whose key to escape lies with the Red Goddess. Despite being the ruler of the underworld and delighting in torture and cruelty, she is worshiped worldwide as a goddess.
7 Siren: Blood Curse
Kaiko: Will Stop At Nothing To Stay Alive
Siren: Blood Curse
- Released
- July 24, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- JapanStudio
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Computer Entertainment
- Platform(s)
- PS3
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Siren: Blood Curse is the third game in the Siren series and a western reimagining of the original Siren. The game follows multiple protagonists whose paths cross throughout, taking place in Hanuda Village, where the inhabitants disappeared decades before and rumors of human sacrifice prevail.
The crew investigating the village discover more than they bargained for when the zombified corpses born of strange rituals emerge to threaten them all. Causing all of this death and horror is Kaiko, an insectoid alien god that will do anything to ensure its resurrection.
6 Silent Hill 3
The God: Slaughter Disguised As Salvation
Silent Hill 3
- Released
- August 6, 2003
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Konami
- Franchise
- Silent Hill
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
The Silent Hill franchise is renowned for tackling disturbing themes, and Silent Hill 3 is no exception. Following Heather Mason on her journey through Silent Hill to enact her revenge, players are soon thrown into the true psychological horror experience, complete with all the traumas of adolescence.
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Heather becomes involved with the Order, a cult dedicated to finding a host to birth their deity, known simply as "the god," who is believed to bring about Paradise - a world free from sin. Unfortunately, in this case, getting rid of sin comes with the caveat of getting rid of the sinners and wiping out the entirety of humanity.
5 Blasphemous
The High Wills: Have No Hesitations Making Humans Suffer
Blasphemous
- Released
- September 10, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- The Game Kitchen
- Publisher(s)
- Team17
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania, Soulslike
Blasphemous is a Metroidvania horror game inspired by Catholic iconography and, as such, is rife with Gothic imagery amid the body horror of its hack-and-slash action. The player controls the Penitent One, a survivor of the "Brotherhood of Silent Sorrow" who seeks to end the suffering in Cvstodia caused by the "Miracle."
The High Wills are the main antagonist of Blasphemous, a giant three-headed deity and ruler of Cvstodia. Believing everyone to be born a sinner, they condemn everyone to suffer physically for their guilt in order for them to find peace in the afterlife - not the most benevolent by any means.
4 Dredge
The Deity: Bringer Of Madness And Parent Of Aberrations
Dredge
- Released
- March 31, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Black Salt Games
- Publisher(s)
- Team17
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
H. P. Lovecraft has been an incredibly influential figure in the realm of horror, with his work often being regarded as the cornerstone of cosmic horror. Dredge is one of many games inspired by the author. In it, players arrive in a slightly odd town, Greater Marrow, as an angler. The task is to catch fish, and the caveat is that they must return to shore by sundown.
Needless to say, what begins as a relatively relaxing fishing experience soon becomes a dangerous exploration of seas that hide much more sinister entities, one of which is The Deity. While it can be a cozy experience, there is plenty of horror in Dredge, especially for those with a fear of the sea, large objects, or incomprehensible gods of old.
There are a lot of Lovecraftian horror games that feature cosmic deities, so, for the sake of variety, only one has been included on this list. Call of Cthulhu and World of Horror deserve honorable mentions.
3 Darkwood
The Being: Invades The Natural World, Sparing Nothing And No One
Darkwood
- Released
- August 18, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Acid Wizard Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Crunching Koalas
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
In an era of survival horror games, Darkwood stands out both visually, as a top-down title, and gameplay-wise, with its brutal and often challenging mechanics. Players must try to escape a forest, with the wood itself seemingly ever-expanding with a life of its own. With cagey characters and interweaving plotlines, Darkwood proves to have plenty of replay value.
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These games change up the camera angle to give players a new look at horror.
While a lot of the story is, for the most part, shrouded in mystery and up for interpretation, at the center of the events is the Being. Appearing only in the Epilogue, the Being is presented as a mass of pulsating roots and is responsible for the forest inhabitants' mutations and plague.
2 Resident Evil Village
The Black God: Consumes And Mutates All It Touches
Resident Evil Village
- Released
- May 7, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR2, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS
If facing the Baker family wasn't enough trauma for Ethan Winters, he is once again confronted with evil when his wife, Mia, and baby daughter, Rose, are abducted. Players must embark on a mission to find and save them - a journey that takes them to an ominous mountain village, ruled by four lords with their own sinister intentions.
The Black God is a "Fungal Root" worshiped by the Cult of the Black God, headed by the intimidating Mother Miranda, with the ability to replicate its victims and retain their consciousness. Whether or not the Black God is pure evil or just an organism doing what it needs to survive, to the villagers, it is a protector and granter of immortality.
1 Bloodborne
The Great Ones: Hold Little Regard For Human Life
Bloodborne
- Released
- March 24, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4
Miyazaki draws a lot of inspiration from Gothic and cosmic horror, such as Sroker's Dracula and the Cthulhu Mythos of Lovecraft's universe - influences that clearly manifest in both the settings and the enemies in Bloodborne. Excelling in soundtrack, story, atmosphere, and gameplay, Bloodborne easily gained top marks across the board. The player takes on the role of a Hunter on a mission to stop the Ashen Blood plague that has ravaged the city of Yharnam.
Amid the horrific beasts and deformed creatures are the Great Ones, powerful, otherworldly beings that are able to sway the world's tide. The Great Ones have some immense and grotesque designs, making for some terrifying boss battles. Whether they are objectively evil is up to players' interpretation of their motives, though one thing is certain: these eldritch horrors do not take kindly to humans.
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