- 1 day ago
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:05Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're counting down our picks for the very best horror moments
00:10for each year from 2000 through 2025.
00:14Beware there are spoilers ahead.
00:26Before we begin, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring
00:32the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:352000 Alfred Ashford's Twisted Psyche, Resident Evil Code Veronica
00:48By the year 2000, we'd gotten our fair share of some of the best horror games our medium
00:52has ever seen, even to this day.
00:54Resident Evil Code Veronica is a testament to this, and even now, one of its biggest reveals
00:59is one of the series' best moments.
01:00For much of the game's opening hours, you're led to believe that the main antagonists are
01:04twins Alfred and Alexia Ashford.
01:06Little does the player know that Alfred is actually Alexia this whole time, in a twisted
01:10case of split personality.
01:22He took on both roles as she was part of Project Code Veronica, and Claire and Steve were fighting
01:27one person the whole time.
01:28So there never was an Alexia after all.
01:32You mean, he thinks he's two people?
01:352001. Pyramid Head's Introduction. Silent Hill 2.
01:482024's Silent Hill 2 remake may have done the iconic Pyramid Head modern-day justice,
01:52but even back in 2001, it was a terrifying, awesome reveal.
01:55We first encounter the giant, sword-wielding weirdo early on in the game,
01:59where he's seen in a struggle with some of the mannequin enemies.
02:10If you're familiar with this game, you know how disturbing this scene truly is.
02:14Since his introduction, Pyramid Head has become the de facto face, or head, of the series,
02:19appearing in all of the movies and even inspiring some impressive cosplay over the years.
02:332002. Mind-Bending Sanity Effects. Eternal Darkness. Sanity's Requiem.
02:49This moment broke our minds.
02:51At the time, meta-interactions like this were definitely not commonplace in video games,
02:56so you can imagine our surprise when we thought the game actually stopped working.
02:59If you're unfamiliar, Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem for the Nintendo GameCube
03:03does a great job of including meta-ways to mess with its players' heads.
03:06These Sanity Effects, as they're called, will make you believe your game has crashed,
03:10your video output has stopped working, your TV was muted, and so on and so forth.
03:24It's a known mechanic now, but back when it was released,
03:27it really broke the mold of what a psychological horror game could be.
03:402003. Meeting Sae. Fatal Frame 2. Crimson Butterfly.
03:54Fatal Frame 2 is getting a modern remake in early 2026,
03:57but the original still holds up as one of the scariest video games ever.
04:01Thanks to its unique mechanics and genuinely terrifying Japanese horror themes,
04:04this game lives rent-free in our heads, offering endless nightmares.
04:08The scene where we meet Sae for the first time is memorable for its gruesome imagery,
04:12and we can't wait to see how the remake tackles this scene.
04:232004. Ocean House Hotel.
04:25Vampire the Masquerade. Bloodlines.
04:33The first-person vampire action RPG game finally got its long-awaited sequel in October of 2025,
04:39but the original is where we fell in love.
04:41The Ocean House Hotel level is one of the original game's most iconic locations,
04:45since it's filled with a tense and eerie atmosphere,
04:47and creepy sound design that'll make your skin crawl.
04:59This area isn't over-reliant on jumpscares,
05:02instead using disembodied whispers and dark lighting to make your traversal one for the books.
05:172005. The Ladder Scare.
05:19Fear.
05:24Fear introduced a new benchmark for sci-fi horror games,
05:27and many of the titles we see today are inspired by it.
05:30If you've played it before, you know exactly which moment this entry is about.
05:33For the uninitiated, there's a quick moment during the game where you must climb down a ladder,
05:37something you've done countless times here and in other first-person games.
05:40But at the last moment, Alma appears out of nowhere with a creepy laugh.
05:44If that's not enough, once you get down the ladder,
05:45another apparition of another character appears right in your face.
05:58It seems a bit tame by today's standards,
06:01but believe us when we say that in 2005, this scene ruined many an underpin.
06:062006. First stepping foot into Willamette Mall.
06:09Dead Rising.
06:10Everyone, move this way!
06:11Quick! To the stairs!
06:13Move!
06:17Dead Rising is an action-horror game that prefers to carry a much sillier tone than most other titles on
06:22this list,
06:23but we can't deny its icon status in the grand scheme of things.
06:26One of the most memorable moments from the first game is when you arrive at Willamette Mall
06:29and come face-to-face with a literal horde of zombies.
06:40In 2006, the sheer size and scale of groups of enemies like this was relatively unheard of
06:45and can quickly be overwhelming if you don't know what you're doing.
06:552007. World War I Hellscape.
06:58The Darkness.
07:07The Darkness follows Jackie Estaccato and his ties to the New York Mafia,
07:11who've put a hit on him.
07:12Through a complicated string of bad luck and great writing,
07:14he and The Darkness find themselves in The Otherworld,
07:17a World War I-like realm with evil spirits locked in battle.
07:20It's an iconic location and a part of the game that helped The Darkness gain popularity over the years.
07:362008. Meeting the Necromorphs. Dead Space.
07:45The first time we see a necromorph in both the original and remake of Dead Space
07:48is one of the most memorable moments in all of survival horror games.
07:52We're first introduced to the grotesque alien in a shadowy confrontation with the rest of your crew.
07:57Then, not long after, you're ambushed by one and have to fight for your life.
08:08It's a great start to the game and sets the tone for what players would expect throughout the game
08:12until they rolled credits.
08:222009. Startling a Witch. Left 4 Dead 2.
08:36Left 4 Dead 2 built on its predecessor's formula
08:39and centered itself as one of the most iconic cooperative survival horror experiences of its era.
08:43Of the many enemy types in Left 4 Dead 2,
08:46the Witch is easily the scariest and hardest to kill.
08:48When you encounter one of these relentless enemies,
08:50she'll be crying and unassuming,
08:52but once you startle her, you'll wish you were never born.
09:04She'll attack you non-stop, soaking any and all damage you deal her way.
09:142010. Don't Fall Into the Water.
09:17The Dark Descent.
09:25Amnesia The Dark Descent is one of the games that kicked off the horror game streamer phenomenon in the early
09:292010s.
09:30Its water-flooded cellar section is one of the scariest in the game
09:33and has seared itself into our brains as one of the tensest moments in all of horror games.
09:37There's a creepy monster that you can't see pursuing you
09:40and all you have are a few floating boxes to jump to and from to avoid it.
09:43Try your best not to splash.
09:522011. Brain Surgery for Dummies. Dead Space 2.
09:56Rollinside. Step 2.
10:00This group's so tight. All around.
10:03Even if you're not a fan of the survival horror genre,
10:06chances are you're familiar with this iconic scene from Dead Space 2.
10:09Isaac Clarke returns to battle the necromorphs, this time unmasked.
10:12So naturally that means the developers just had to do something awful to his face.
10:16Cue the needle scene.
10:17Isaac has to sit still and allow a needle to penetrate his eye
10:20in order to give him access to information regarding the markers.
10:23It's a simple succeed or fail situation,
10:26and either option is a tough one to watch.
10:312012. St. John Family's Gruesome Secret.
10:34The Walking Dead. A Telltale Game Series.
10:44What's worse than the post-apocalyptic zombie-filled wasteland?
10:47A post-apocalyptic zombie-filled wasteland with cannibals.
10:50Telltale's The Walking Dead was a masterclass of tension and storytelling at the time,
10:54offering the same humans-are-the-real-monsters trope we've seen from the comics and TV show.
10:59The most disturbing part of the early days of the games are with the St. John Family,
11:02who are quickly found out to have a lot in common with the undead.
11:05They're cannibals and are looking for their next meal in Lee and the Gang.
11:11Don't eat that!
11:13Huh?
11:162013. First encounter with Chris Walker.
11:19Outlast.
11:19Little fake.
11:25We can all agree that Outlast was one of the best horror games ever made up until 2013,
11:30and even now, 12 years later.
11:32It's dark lighting, terrifying sound design, and setting make our hair stand on end every playthrough.
11:37But meeting Chris Walker for the first time,
11:39that massive brute who relentlessly pursues you throughout the game,
11:42sets the tone for how the rest of the game will play out.
11:44The idea of being chased the entire game by an unkillable enemy
11:47is now a bit of a trope by today's horror standards,
11:50but Outlast's Chris Walker is one of the scariest around.
12:022014. Hello Lisa. PT.
12:10Even though we never got to see the full vision come to fruition,
12:13Hideo Kojima's PT, or playable teaser,
12:15is at the top of many fans' favorite horror games list.
12:18It's peak psychological horror,
12:20and the jump scares in PT are some of the most startling we've seen in any game.
12:28The first time you encounter Lisa,
12:30the horrifying apparition tormenting you throughout the entire playthrough,
12:33she's standing menacingly in the hallway, daring you to walk past her.
12:37Sadly, we have no real way of experiencing PT again,
12:40since it was removed from digital storefronts,
12:42but it lives on in our memories
12:43as one of the greatest survival horror experiences of all time.
12:572015. Wendigo's in the Lodge. Until Dawn.
13:08Supermassive Games' first choose-your-own-adventure game Until Dawn
13:11is still one of the best in their vast library of similar titles,
13:15now dubbed the Dark Pictures Anthology.
13:17You're led to believe it's a run-of-the-mill murder mystery,
13:19but deep into the game you learn the threat is more mythical.
13:22The real monsters of Until Dawn
13:23are the Native American folklore beasts,
13:25the Wendigo,
13:33and the climax of the game is a super-tense moment
13:36where multiple of your survivors face the real possibility of dying.
13:522016. Nothing is as it seems. Layers of Fear.
14:02Layers of Fear is easily one of the shortest games on this list,
14:05but that doesn't mean it isn't incredible.
14:06Similar to Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem,
14:09Layers of Fear does a great job of messing with the player's senses and expectations.
14:12The Painter's Mansion is filled to the brim with changing hallways,
14:15disappearing doors,
14:16and plenty of twists and turns
14:18to make sure you're stuck in its maze-like structure forever.
14:28Nothing is as it seems in this game,
14:30and this fact makes it one of the most tense games around.
14:402017. You're Invited for Dinner.
14:42Resident Evil 7 Biohazard.
14:52Welcome to the Family, Son is one of the many iconic lines
14:55from Resident Evil 7 Biohazard.
14:57The Baker family are the antagonists this time around,
14:59and their introductory scene at the kitchen table
15:01is the perfect way to jumpstart this soft reboot of the franchise.
15:13We learn about Jack, Marguerite, Lucas, and Evelyn
15:16while they enjoy their tasty meal of entrails and organs.
15:19This scene set the tone for what else the game had in store,
15:22and was the perfect way to set a new benchmark for the series going forward.
15:312018.
15:32First encountering the cannibals.
15:34The Forest.
15:44The Forest puts the survival in survival horror.
15:47In this 2018 game,
15:48you're stranded on a seemingly deserted island
15:50after a deadly plane crash
15:51and have to live off the land to survive.
15:53Sounds simple, right?
15:54Wrong.
15:55The island isn't quite deserted.
15:57It's home to tribes of cannibals
15:59who will attack your settlement at night,
16:00so make sure you build your defenses accordingly.
16:02The first time you come across one is random,
16:04but is terrifying nonetheless,
16:06as they're extremely fast-moving and unpredictable.
16:28The first time you meet the massive Mr. X in 2019's amazing remake of Resident Evil 2 is one of
16:34the game's most iconic moments.
16:35The big guy surprises you by single-handedly lifting up a downed helicopter,
16:39then spends the majority of the game pursuing you,
16:42offering endless jump scares and making you question every route you take to survive.
16:52The original's iteration of this relentless enemy is scary in its own right,
16:55but its modernized version is one of the most memorable in any horror game.
17:172020's Visage is a modern psychological horror game masterpiece,
17:20sharing much of its DNA with the aforementioned PT,
17:23with doors slamming shut on their own and lights mysteriously going out.
17:26One of the game's earlier chapters involving Lucy's imaginary friend
17:29is generally agreed upon as the game's strongest and most terrifying section.
17:43You're unable to save your game during this chapter,
17:46adding even more pressure and turning up the tension to 11.
17:49If you're not a horror game veteran, fair warning, this chapter will keep you up at night.
18:052021, House Beneviento, Resident Evil Village
18:18Despite the marketing heavily showcasing Lady Dimitrescu as a main villain,
18:22in reality, she was just the first boss of the game and didn't have a lot of screen time.
18:25Instead, the most horrifying part of Resident Evil Village
18:28is in the unassuming mountain residence of one Donna Beneviento,
18:32one of Mother Miranda's four lords and certified creepy ventriloquist.
18:35You'll quickly be put under the influence of a hallucinogen
18:38and be chased by, wait for it, a giant baby monster.
18:50You also lose all of your weapons,
18:52meaning you only have your wits at your disposal
18:54as you solve puzzles and make it out of the house alive.
18:57Oh, and the end of this section sees you fight against
18:59a terrifying flying ventriloquist dummy.
19:01If all my friends murder you!
19:07Tick-tock!
19:09You're like a son of a...
19:11Wait!
19:112022, Surprise Supernatural Encounters, The Mortuary Assistant
19:20Tell you what.
19:22What?
19:23Why don't you go ahead and head out?
19:25The Mortuary Assistant is another horror streamer's delight.
19:28It offers a good mix of body horror and supernatural elements
19:31with randomized scares that'll make every playthrough feel fresh.
19:34The first time you encounter one of the terrifying demons is unpredictable,
19:37offering an even deeper sense of dread and tension.
19:49The core gameplay involves performing autopsies on recently deceased individuals,
19:52but of course nothing is ever as it seems in a horror game.
19:55The Mortuary Assistant has some of the best recent jump scares in any game
19:59and is a masterclass intention.
20:01This is all your fault.
20:05I regret every second with you.
20:09Time is running now, Rebecca.
20:112023, The Well Segment, Alan Wake 2.
20:15Okay, Saga.
20:17Let's get the liquor from these assholes.
20:22While the We Sing section of Alan Wake 2 is an unhinged masterpiece,
20:26our pick for this game's best moment is The Well Segment from The Return 3 chapter,
20:30which has you playing as FBI agent Saga Anderson.
20:33This area is a jump scare heavy section with scary atmospheric sound design
20:36and impressive level design that'll be seared into your brain long after you roll credits.
20:41It features eerie FMV cutscenes projected throughout the level
20:44as you descend down seemingly endless wells in the overlap,
20:47culminating in a tough boss fight against Mulligan and Thornton.
21:002024, The Final Birthday Party, Mouthwashing.
21:09Mouthwashing is a surprise indie horror hit that quickly became a favorite among fans of the genre.
21:13It sports a retro PS1 art style and great atmospheric sound design
21:17with no combat and spooky vibes.
21:19The birthday party moment towards the end of the game is one of its most memorable.
21:22The bodies of your dead crewmates are arranged around a table with birthday hats
21:26with Curly laying across the table.
21:28It's a powerful image that works as a great way to send off these characters
21:31and captures the tense tone of the overall game well once you get there.
21:452025, Scarecrow Puzzle, Silent Hill F.
21:552025 was filled to the brim with great horror games
21:58and in turn, great horror moments.
21:59But the one that sticks out like a sore thumb
22:01is the scarecrow field section in Silent Hill F.
22:04It's equal parts terrifying, hard, confusing,
22:06and extremely annoying all in one package.
22:09To make it out alive, you have to weave your way through a foggy field
22:11of disturbing-looking scarecrows
22:13to find the correct one that will point you in the right direction.
22:16Literally.
22:16If you choose wrong, they'll wake up
22:18and do their darndest to fillet you into a thousand tiny pieces.
22:22Don't say we didn't warn you.
22:31What are some of the best horror moments
22:33that you experienced over the last 25 years?
22:35Be sure to let us know in the comments.
Comments