Summary
A common byproduct of a popular video game release is the emergence of amodding communityformed around said game. Mods, as many gamers will already know, are excellent avenues for talented fans to expand upon the content in their favorite titles; be it story expansions or additions that, through the sheer absurdity of their concept, heighten a gaming experience tenfold.
Horroris a genre that modders tend to flock to,choosing either to amp up the scares or lighten them up with goofy changes.The horror games below boast some of the most dedicated modding communities in the industry.
Resident Evil
Most installments in theResident Evilfranchise, especially post-Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, have come with a plethora of mods from the community. For example, the franchise’s latest remake,Resident Evil 4(2023), boasts several mods that range from addingcheats to the game’s inventory systemto changingcharacters' outfits.Then there’sResident Evil Village,with an essential mod that replacesevery painting in the game with stills fromSpongeBob Squarepants.
Though these mods aren’t as game-changing as some of the others featured on this list, the cosmetic switch-ups and gameplay tweaks makeadditional playthroughsofResident Evilgames all the more enjoyable.
16 years on,Left 4 Dead 2still stands as one of gaming’sgreatest zombie shooters.Though simple, its gameplay is endlessly fun, throwing waves upon waves of zombies at players as they blast through the game’s sprawling levels.
Since its release, part of the core experience ofLeft 4 Dead 2has evolved beyond its vanilla state. Many gamers have naturally associated their memories of the shooter with its plethora of mods on Steam Workshop.Said mods can heighten the horror of the game’s iconic hordes by turning its zombies into something even more horrifying,like Teletubbies.
Even with so many great co-op horror games popping up in recent years,Lethal Companyhas managed to maintain its spot among the best of the genre thanks to a mixture of bottled lighting and continued support from developer Zeekerss.
However, some players may be looking for a little more to keep their nightmarish spelunking fresh. Thankfully, sites likeThunderstoreprovide players with a host of mods to choose from.FlipMods’s ReservedFlashlightSlot,for example, removes one of the game’s more tedious aspects by allowing players to use the flashlight without holding it. What sounds like a small change at first acts as an incredible quality of life improvement. It shows howLethalCompany’smodding community shines without even looking at its bigger mods,like x753’s Mimics,which adds an entirely new monster to the game.
Panstasz’sWorld of Horroris the maggot-infested cosmopolitan ice cream of horror games. It blends a visual novel with bothturn-based combatand roguelite elements to create something that feels truly unique.
In the game, players solve supernatural mysteries in the Junji Ito-inspired town of Shiokawa. AlthoughWorld of Horroralready features 20 of these investigations in the base game, players can gorge themselves further on fan-made stories from the modding community. Mods likeanv0309’s Sinister Scoop of the Sunlit Shuttlefeature new events and enemies for players to encounter that feel right at home with the game’s original content. On top of that, of course, comesWorld of Horror’s numerous character mods, allowing players to solve supernatural murders as ahunter fromBloodborne,for example.
Darkest Dungeon, as the name suggests, sets players off into dungeon after dungeon with a party of heroes under their control. With the game featuring 18 of these characters,DLCs included,there is lots of room for players to experiment while putting together their teams.
The modding community behindDarkest Dungeon, however, inflates this number drastically—reaching the hundreds even. A notable modder in the communityis Marvin Seo, who, by themselves, has added seven playable classes to the game, among other non-class-related mods. With a community made up of talented creators like Marvin, there’s no shortage of modded content for fans ofDarkest Dungeonto enjoy.
Players looking to satiatef their gothic horror fix after completingFrictional Games’Amnesia: The Dark Descentshould absolutely check out the game’s many fan-made stories. These mini-campaigns are some of the most high-effort mods found in video games in general, featuring well-written stories and more ‘premium’ aspects like voice acting.
Fans often citeThe Great Workby Carmender as one of the best mods in the community, delivering a 7-chapter story with enough legs that it can almost stand on its own as a separate game. Others, likeProfaned Capitalby Rednie, reach across franchises, creating a story inspired directly byDark Souls 3.
Half-Lifeis renowned for paving the way for a whole new generation of shooters, with its influential roots still being felt in games today. But it was in its modding scene where the literal foundations for entirely separate games were laid.
Horror classicCry of Fearand the now massively popular FPS,Counter-Strike,are just a couple of the games that started out as humble mods forHalf-Life. Even if one were to ignore these behemoths,Half-Lifestill features an arrayof campaign modsthat, though they may not have become their own standalone games, are still worth players' time.
Doom 2has been modded ever since its release in 1994, meaning it has accumulated one of the most extensive mod libraries in all of gaming. Players interested in diving into the community have a wide selection of not just maps, but total conversion mods that heavily alter the game, to choose from.
What modders have achieved with the GZDoom engine, a modified version of the originalDoomengine (Id Tech 1), is truly mind-blowing.Total Chaos, a conversion mod soon to be its own game, turnsDoom 2into a full-blown survival horror game with graphics that seem a far cry from the pixelated visuals of the base game.Meanwhile, MyHouse.wadsends players on aHouse of Leavesinspired journey filled with all sorts of mysteries and eerie environments.
