Prey
I don’t really consider Prey a horror game, but it does terrify the player frequently enough that I might begin reconsidering that position. Every new room you step into is, after all, an entirely new environment that could be hiding a shape-shifting alien waiting to get the jump on you. Mimics aren’t even the worst thing you run into in Prey. Typhon alien species takes various shapes, like the always-intimidating Phantoms that blast you the minute they catch sight of you.Late in the game, a particularly huge Typhon simply hangs over you in certain areas and menaces you to no end.
There are lots of smaller moments and decisions like these that lend Prey the energy of a horror game, and it manages to get under your skin more effectively than a lot of attempts at horror in this medium. If you want to see for yourself how terrifying Prey can really be, pick it up while it’s $6, or snag it on Game Pass.
