Summary
- Robots in video games often exploit phobias, offering immersive horror experiences.
- Games like Generation Zero & Atomic Heart create terror through hostile robot enemies.
- Disturbing robots in games like SOMA & The Prototype offer a unique and atmospheric horror.
Robots already exist in many aspects of life, from remote control toys to factory machines and food delivery vehicles. With technology and artificial intelligence developing at breakneck speeds, concerns about their potential to turn sentient and hostile are also increasing.
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Featuring robots in video games has therefore become increasingly common, with many iconic mechanical characters existing in the likes of Zelda, Fallout, and Borderlands, to name a few. But when it comes to considering the potential dangerous consequences of advanced technology, horror games do it best. Featuring alien machinery and human-made droids, these are some of the best horror games that revolve around robots.
9 Generation Zero
A First-Person Shooter With Some Genuinely Scary Enemies
Generation Zero
- Released
- October 18, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Avalanche Studios
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
Generation Zero takes place in 1980s Sweden, where killer robots have invaded, killing everyone in their path. In the game, the player takes on the role of a teenager who has returned from a trip to some offshore islands to discover that everyone is missing or dead, and they must find a way to defeat the attackers. Despite featuring a somewhat explicit story, the open world leaves much to be discovered through the environment.
Although not necessarily marketed as a horror, the robots exploit a range of phobias, from the spider-esque "ticks" to the huge and fast "tanks," which are especially terrifying when night falls. The shooter looter elements - missions, base building, and weapon customization - also offer an immersive multiplayer genre crossover for those who prefer FPS horror.
8 Atomic Heart
Explores Biotechnology And Body Horror In An Alternate History Backdrop
Atomic Heart
- Released
- February 21, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Mundfish
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, FPS
Atomic Heart takes place in an alternate reality where the Soviet Union has had major technological breakthroughs and become the world superpower after World War 2. After being invited to Facility 3826 and learning that the labor robots have become violent, veteran Major Nechayev, also known as "P-3," must find and apprehend the one responsible for their malfunction.
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While not a horror game in the sense of supernatural jumpscares, Atomic Heart lends itself to the body horror genre. The facility is riddled with biomechanical experiments gone wrong, resulting in some genuinely grotesque bosses and unsettling enemies. Despite gameplay being janky at times, the story is engaging and explores many political themes through a mix of open world and upgradeable combat types.
7 Five Nights At Freddy's
A Survival Horror With Simple But Effective Mechanics
Five Nights at Freddy's
One of the most widely known horror game franchises, Five Nights at Freddy's sees the player take on the role of a night security guard in Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. However, the animatronic mascots seem to have minds of their own, and the player must fend them off from their office using lights, cameras, and mechanical doors.
FNAF becomes a terrifying survival game by combining simple mechanics, limited control, and complex lore to provide an experience well worthy of its cult status. There have been many FNAF games, including fan-games and spin-offs, as well as a series of graphic novels and a film.
6 SIGNALIS
A Dystopian Landscape Embedded With A Touching Story
Signalis
- Released
- October 27, 2022
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S
- Developer
- rose-engine, Rose-engine games
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Indie Games, Adventure, Shooter
After being cryogenically frozen, a technician "Replika" (humanoid worker robot), Elster, crash-lands and awakens on planet Leng. The player must advance through the planet's mining facility to search for her human partner, Ariane. However, the human population is dead, and the remaining Replikas have become aggressive.
SIGNALIS creates an engaging atmosphere through third-person camera angles, cinematic pixel graphics, and intricate world-building. The story is revealed through cutscenes, notes, and the environment. It combines puzzles, exploration, gun-play and stealth, offering something for all kinds of gamers. The scary enemy encounters and dystopian settings are countered with a poignant plot that has multiple possible endings.
5 SOMA
Sci-Fi Horror Game That Explores Human Identity
SOMA
- Released
- September 15, 2015
- Developer(s)
- Frictional Games
- Genre(s)
- Horror
SOMA follows Simon Jarrett who, after attending a brain scan for his car crash-sustained injuries, awakes at "PATHOS-II." At this underground energy and technology facility, the player must navigate their way through and discover the truth about the fate of its inhabitants.
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As expected from the creators of the Amnesia franchise, SOMA has amazing story pacing and environmental/sound design. With no instructions on where to go or what to do, it leaves the player feeling lost, adding to the immersive and tense gameplay. Combined with disturbing, hostile robots that the player cannot fight back against, this game proves to be incredibly atmospheric and great for psychological horror fans.
4 The Prototype
A Shorter Experience With An Incredibly Uncanny Story And Visuals
- Release: July 31, 2023
- Developer: rainslice
- Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
In The Prototype, the player controls a tester for the prototype of the latest "Pandaemonium Technologies" model - a talking companion functioning for all ages as family, a friend, or entertainment. Allegedly having features like lifelike movement, a singing voice, and human speech, the player must determine whether its responses to stimuli are "normal" or "not normal."
As the game progresses, the prototype's behavior and dialogue becomes increasingly sinister, and the disturbing truth about Pandaemonium Technologies is revealed. The robot design is extremely uncanny, and despite being a shorter experience, The Prototype transforms a simple concept and mechanics into a genuinely horrifying experience.
3 INPUT6
A Stealth Horror With Unique Mechanics
- Release: December 23, 2022
- Developer: GOOSTRONAUT
- Platform: Windows
INPUT6 is a found-footage style game wherein the player must investigate the abandoned TECH-AID ROBOTICS factory to discover why the company closed. The catch is that there is also a hostile malfunctioning animatronic maid, "Maidai," roaming the facility. The player's objective is to find five remote controls to shut her down.
The player can jump between "inputs" specific to different areas of the factory and escape the robot by switching between them when she appears. There is also a story element to the game, with items that allude to and unveil the reason for TECH-AID's downfall. The jump-cuts when switching input and the timer introduce extra elements of tension to the gameplay.
2 BioShock
A Cautionary Tale About Genetic Modification With A Unique Art Style
BioShock
- Released
- August 21, 2007
- Developer(s)
- Irrational Games
- Genre(s)
- FPS
BioShock is an FPS action game. In it, the player takes control of Jack, whose plane has crash-landed in the Atlantic. After being transported via a lighthouse to "Rapture," an off-grid city under the ocean that is isolated from post-World War II society, he must embark on a quest to rescue the family of his guide, Atlas.
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Although BioShock lacks the typical features of a horror game, the plot is extremely disturbing. As the player progresses, they will discover that not everyone or everything is as it seems. The game tackles socioeconomic issues such as class, revolution, and trafficking in very dark and atmospheric ways.
1 TOBOR
Dystopian Horror With Great World-Building And Interesting Characters
- Release: November 15, 2023
- Developer: Cogoo
- Platform: Windows, macOS
Players of TOBOR take on the role of "TOBOR no.2b," a spy robot in Undercroft. By monitoring 16 different surveillance feeds over seven days, they must report findings from eavesdropping and item scans back to RA Corporation's HQ. There are only three rules: Do not empathize, interfere, or betray the Corporation.
As this game is more narrative-driven, it is relatively slower paced, but it has great world-building elements with prevailing dark, dystopian themes and unique characters. The experience is shaped by the player's decisions with multiple possible endings.
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