Best multi-campaign horror games, ranked

Summary

• Game campaigns with different perspectives provide replay value.

• Horror games distinguish themselves by offering branching paths and unique stories.

• Multiple campaigns enhance the player experience and narrative depth.

Having more than one campaign can provide a game with tons of replay value, encouraging players to jump into the experience after their original playthrough to discover what additional content is available for them to view. Horror games are usually the genre that will experiment with this the most, usually showing a horrific adventure through multiple perspectives, or sometimes, keeping the same characters but having several completely different stories to follow.

Either way, having more than one campaign isn't exactly new to the horror genre, but it's still always an exciting addition that ensures players have plenty to get through when they boot up the game. Here are the very best horror games that include multiple campaigns and stories as part of their package. Before jumping in, this list will rank each of these games according to both their overall quality and how well they manage to integrate their multiple campaigns, depending on the content they offer and their relevance to the wider plot.

7

Remake of The House Of The Dead

Players can create their own campaign through branching paths

In classical House of the dead mode, the remake of the very first game features several branching paths that players can navigate through by making specific in-game choices. As a result, players can essentially create their own adventures with new scenes and enemies in each playthrough, providing a new experience each time.

Survivors rescued, along with important items retrieved and secret passageways opened, can all affect the path the player takes and what their next adventure will look like. Therefore, although the game doesn't explicitly say so, it basically offers many campaigns all wrapped into one.

6

Alone in the Dark (2024)

Emily and Edward Moth have small changes to their scenes and collectibles

When you upload Alone in the dark remake for the first time, players will be given the choice of either Emily or Edward to play as. Admittedly, while the two will follow the same story for a few hours of the game, it's in Chapter 4 where their paths, and the cutscenes, really start to diverge.

Both private detectives have different reactions to their surroundings and the events taking place in the game, making it well worth jumping in for a second playthrough to get the full picture. There are also different collectibles for the two, so anyone looking to reach 100% completion will need to see both campaigns to the end, especially since there are also two secret endings up for grabs.

5

Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2's multi-campaign structure allows for quick and satisfying play sessions

The Left 4 Dead game have always been quite unique, mainly because they don't technically contain a story. Instead, Left 4 Deadalong with its sequel, gives players multiple campaigns to embark on, each featuring 3 to 5 rigorous levels all filled with not only regular zombies, but also the deadly Special Infected.

Given that each campaign only lasts an hour or two, this means players can jump straight into a quick session and have fun with their friends without having to commit to a lengthy co-op story mode. This is a big reason why Left 4 Dead 2 has maintained such a strong player base on Steam years after launch because there is just so much content to enjoy through its multiple campaigns.

4

Silent Hill 2

Born From A Wish is a bonus story that focuses primarily on Maria

While everyone is already aware of Silent Hill 2's main campaign, where James embarks on a nightmarish adventure through Silent Hill in hopes of reuniting with his deceased wife, many are unaware of other smaller stories featured in some of the ports. This campaign is called “Born From a Wish” and was first made available on the Xbox version of Silent Hill 2 before being added to the Greatest Hits PS2 version, it puts players in Maria's shoes as she finds herself stuck in the middle of the monster-infested city.

While much of Maria's character and origins are shrouded in mystery for the main game, this additional story at least helps bring some clarity to this suspicious seductress. Although it is automatically displayed in most versions of the Silent Hill 2the remake decided to leave it out, although many fans hope that this additional campaign will appear as DLC in the future.

3

The Last Of Us: Remastered

The remastered and remastered versions of this classic survival horror feature the optional story “Left Behind”

The original Last of us The game allowed players to enjoy Joel and Ellie's epic journey across America as they tried to find the Fireflies, a group that could potentially find a cure for the infection that has destroyed the world. Throughout the base story, Ellie mentions a few times that she once had a close friend named Riley, who was sadly taken away from her when she was still young.

This part of Ellie's life was the core of the DLC, Left Behind, which would become part of the base game with the remaster and remake later. Left Behind is a little less combat-focused than the original campaign, and is more centered around character development, particularly for Ellie, who is forced to accept the untimely fate of her closest friend.

2

Resident Evil 2

Capcom allows players to experience the Raccoon City outbreak through two completely different perspectives

Arguably the game that put the idea of ​​multiple campaigns on the map, the original Resident Evil 2 is quite clever when it comes to bringing two stories together in the same adventure. While Leon and Claire both find themselves trapped in Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak, their personal journeys and goals become very different once they leave the RPD.

While Leon becomes concerned with protecting Ada and getting to the bottom of the outbreak's origins, Claire is more concerned with finding a safe way out for Sherry, a young girl she encounters early in the game. While the environments are largely the same for both characters, there are some cutscenes, weapons, and items that have been altered and changed to help them feel as unique as possible, with the trend continuing in the remake that would arrive in 2019.

1

Alan Wake 2

Saga and Alan bring their own unique mechanics to their respective stories

For the first hours of Alan Wake 2players will be limited to controlling Saga, a new face to the series who works as an FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer. However, after meeting Alan, the game will then allow players to choose which protagonist to control, with the two having different levels and mechanics baked into their respective campaigns.

For example, Alan must use his writing skills to rearrange environments so he can move forward. Meanwhile, Saga's story plays more like a traditional survival horror game, but to spice things up, she can also enter the “Mind Place” which allows Saga to piece together clues and even read people's minds. Having two campaigns as part of the same story adds a ton of variety Alan Wake 2and ensures players never get bored, as with the push of a button they can always jump to the other character to see what they're up to.