(Photo courtesy of Destructoid)
With Halloween right around the corner, you may find yourself itching to play or revisit some of the best horror games to get yourself in the mood for the season. Whether you’re looking for jump scares, heavy plot, a first person shooter, or a multiplayer game, here’s a list of 13 horror games that celebrate all things that go bump in the night.
Until Dawn
Platform: PlayStation 4
Until Dawn is a psychological thriller horror game that essentially leaves the player directing their very own horror film. Using decision-based technology, it’s up for the player to decide the fate of all it’s main characters. When a party at a mountain lodge between friends goes wrong, and someone ends up dead from an accident. One year later the remaining friends return to the lodge despite the tension between many of them. During their stay at the lodge, strange events begin to happen, leading them to believe that the death of their friend may not have been an accident. The game takes advantage of the butterfly effect system, with decisions and choices affecting various events later in the game. The player will even find themselves sitting in a therapist’s chair at times, with how they respond to the therapist also impacting later game play.
Resident Evil Village
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Resident Evil Village is a game from the first person perspective where the player in control of Ethan Winters, a man searching for his daughter. No stranger to the horrors of the world after the events of the previous Resident Evil game, Ethan wakes up in a mysterious European village overrun with werewolf-like creatures referred to as Lycan. The town is governed by four lords who all suffer from their own mutations but share one thing in common: wanting Ethan dead. The player must stop at nothing to find out what happened involving the disappearance of his child while finding out something about Ethan in the process.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a first-person survival horror game where the game player plays as Daniel, a man navigating a strange castle. Daniel must solve puzzles and avoid peril as he makes his way through the castle, while making sure to keep an eye on both his health and his sanity. Daniel has no means of protecting himself weapons wise, and must evade various creatures that pursue him, so his only choice is to often run or hide. Hiding in the veils of darkness may protect his health, but began to lower his sanity over time, causing him to experience hallucinations and even death in some cases.
Phasmophobia
Platforms: PC
Phasmophobia is a horror game with an investigation narrative in the first person perspective. The player can either play by themselves or play with a group up to four people in which everyone is part of a paranormal investigation team. Players communicate using the voice chat while they investigate multiple locations, but the game also includes speech recognition that can also be used to taunt the very ghosts they’re investigating. Players use various ghosting hunting equipment such as EMF readers, UV flashlights, and video cameras to make the chance of their investigation more successful, all while their sanity starts to decrease over time.
Dead Space 2
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Dead Space 2 is a third-person horror game where the player plays as Isaac Clarke, a CEC Engineer that was called to investigate a stress signal on a ship in outer space during the first game, only to find the ship overrun with hostel monsters called Necromorphs. Isaac quickly learned that the monsters were a result of a man-made marker that caused insanity, and begins to be affected by it himself. He returns as the protagonist in the second game, trying to find a cure for his insanity while taking on more of the Necromorph population, and finding out even more secrets.
Little Nightmares II
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Little Nightmares II is a puzzle-based horror game in which the protagonist is a boy named Mono exploring a 2.5D world full of creepy obstacles. Mono is lead through this strange, distorted world by a little girl named Six, and together they must tackle terrible threats from this world, as they try to save six from her dreadful fate.
The Last of Us
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
The Last of Us is action-adventure horror game in third person in which the player transverses a post-apocalyptical world overrun by zombie-like creatures infected with a virus. The protagonist, Joel Miller, is a survivor who smuggles goods in and out of the quarantined safe zones in the city. Joel is tasked with smuggling a young girl out of the city to a group of people called The Fireflies, only to find that Ellie’s journey is so important because she’s immune to the virus. Joel and Ellie learn that the infected aren’t the only monsters that they have to face, and that other people are equally as dangerous and violent.
Resident Evil 2 (2019 Remake)
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Resident Evil 2 is a remake of the 1998 game by the same name, and uses fixed camera angles as a third-person, over-the-shoulder horror game taking place during the first hours of the zombie apocalypse. The game takes place largely in Raccoon City’s police department, either as rookie cop Leon Kennedy, or Claire Redfield who is looking for her brother. Leon and Claire meet at the beginning of the game, but end up being separated with the goal of reuniting and finding Claire’s brother. The RPD is overrun with zombies, and later even more dangerous mutated creatures. While Leon finds out secrets pertaining to the zombie outbreak, Claire encounters a young girl who is being chased by a creature and vows to protect her.
The Evil Within
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
The Evil Within is a survival horror single-player game in the third person where the protagonist, Sebastian Castellanos, must make use of the things he finds in his environment in order to survive. While investigating the scene of a mass murder, Sebastian and some of his coworkers find themselves thrown into an unreal world. Sebastian and his partners attempt to survive as they run into various monstrosities, including chainsaw-wielding men, a long-haired multi-limbed creature, and a large humanoid monster wearing a spiked mask.
Silent Hill 2
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC
Silent Hill 2 is a horror game that provides the player with the objective of navigating James Sunderland through the town of Silent Hill, as he defeats monsters and searches for his missing wife.. even though she’s supposed to be dead. The game follows themes like grief and guilt, using James’ guilty conscience to manifest enemies and puzzles as he wanders through the town. There are also various riddles throughout the game, that are left up to the player to interpret. While there are monsters to defeat, the game has less of a focus of killing monsters, and more of a focus of navigating your way around obstructions and bypassing doors.
Dead by Daylight
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS,
Dead By Daylight is a multiplayer horror game that can either be played online with friends, or using the games match-making service. A group of four survivors is left to fend for themselves and escape the clutches of a killer hellbent on murdering all of them. Players choosing to be survivors must fix five generators in order to power up the exit gate that leads them to safety, or if they’re lucky, they may come across an escape hatch. On the opposite end of the game, players can also choose to be the killer, with the objective of trying to kill all the survivors before they manage to escape.
Outlast 2
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Outlast 2 is a psychological horror game that takes place in first person. A journalist, Blake Langermann, and his wife explore the death of a pregnant woman. Blake must find his wife as he explores a village inhabited by the hostile members of Temple Gate. Blake only possesses a camcorder and must run and hide from those that are out to get him. As Blake explores Temple Gate, he learns that the town has many dark secrets involving a religious cult and sacrifice.
P.T.
Platforms: No longer available
P.T. is a first person, psychological horror demo that may no longer be available, but still absolutely deserves a spot on this list because of just how fear-inducing it is. The unknown protagonist wakes up in a haunted suburban home where nothing is as it seems. The only playable part of the house that can be explored are a hallway, a bathroom, and two rooms. The only thing the player can do is walk and zoom in on objects, and attempt to move onto a different part of the house, which only results in a loop that puts the player right back where they started. To progress, the player must zoom in on certain objects and essentially accidentally solve puzzles in the process. If done in the correct way, the next loop will be slightly different than the last. With each correctly done loop, more things in the house change and the game becomes increasingly more frightening. While this game is no longer available, those that downloaded it prior to it being removed still have access to it and can still play it. If you’re looking for a truly terrifying game and didn’t get the chance to play it, it’s highly recommended that you ask around and see if anyone you know still has access to P.T.
Written by Ashley Laney
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