Halloween is approaching, which means it’s high time to share a list of horror projects that can tickle your nerves. I’ll say right away that I’m not the biggest fan of horror, but sometimes I just can’t pass by some games for one reason or another. And it’s precisely these “gemstones of gamedev” that I want to share with you.
WORLD OF HORROR
Let me start with something fresh and quite unusual. WORLD OF HORROR is a roguelike in a unique style, inspired by the works of Junji Ito and Masaaki Nakayama.
The old gods awaken, returning to a world that is descending into madness. In hospitals, abandoned classrooms, quiet apartments and dark forests, strange occurrences and unexplained phenomena test the sanity of the residents of the Japanese city of Shiokawa.
The game, although not difficult, often makes you feel, if not scared, then at least extremely uncomfortable. For example, you see a door that you absolutely do not need to open, because the game warns you that “there is something strange here.” But you, unable to overcome your curiosity, slowly open it, meet the gaze of a creepy creature and with a sharp movement of the mouse close the door. It seems like nothing happened, but your heart started pounding.
If you have nothing to do in the middle of the night, WORLD OF HORROR will be a great investment of a few hundred rubles in your Steam account.
Silent Hill 4: The Room
It is impossible to do without the horror classics in the form of the Silent Hill series. Why is it the fourth part, and not the second or third? Simply because I can. But seriously, Silent Hill 4: The Room, in my opinion, turned out to be the most uncomfortable game in the series, plus it is quite well received by newcomers who are not familiar with the previous parts.
The game takes place in the suburbs of Silent Hill, where the protagonist Henry tries to escape from his apartment, but constantly ends up in other worlds. Well, where else can you get to by diving into a strange hole in the wall?
On the menu are puzzles, creepy monsters (in particular, my favorite Gemini), a crazy plot, an amazing soundtrack from Akira Yamaoka and Melissa Williamson, and, of course, Eileen – the best girl in the franchise.
Spirit Hunter: NG
Let’s continue the parade of Japanese things with the visual novel Spirit Hunter: NG, in which the main character is forced to hunt Japanese spirits and test the veracity of various urban legends on himself.
Spirit Hunter: NG boasts well-written characters, beautiful visuals (by novel standards, of course), not always logical puzzles and a creepy atmosphere of Japanese urban mysticism. Screamers and gore content are present, so be careful.
I won’t say anything about the plot, except to note that one of the endings can give you a good kick in the face and send you into frustration for 10-15 minutes.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
The Fatal Frame series is also a must-see. The second part is my favorite, and all thanks to the main characters.
Twins Miyu and Mayu were walking in the forest and “unexpectedly” got lost. More precisely, the younger Miyu got lost, running away after a strange butterfly, and the older Mayu went in search of the lost one, which led her to the abandoned village of Minakami, which became a real purgatory due to an improperly performed ritual.
This is a classic Japanese survival horror game, in which the player has to take pictures of ghosts with a camera (thereby destroying them), look for his sister and find out the whole truth about how completely crazy the villagers were.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is a rather dark, I would even say depressing game, in which all the events are closely intertwined with the events of other parts, but the second part is great for “rolling in” to the series. I can only advise playing the version for the original Xbox, as it is the most complete in terms of content.
Dead Space (2023)
Perhaps it’s enough to smear yourself with turkey and old stuff. It’s time for something fresh and with a big budget. Electronic Arts managed not to lose all the polymers and pleased fans of the Dead Space series with an excellent remake of the first part.
The story centers on the same story of Isaac Clarke and the ship “Ishimura”, which is overrun by terrible monsters. The player will have to survive battles with the creatures and save his other half, in search of whom we actually flew in.
Screamers, juicy dismemberment and the atmosphere of a cool space horror will deliver a ton of emotions during the passage. In our time, when large publishers screw up with their releases with enviable regularity, skipping such a high-quality and expensive project would be a crime against the industry.
The Evil Within
You can criticize the game for its derivative nature, lack of anything new, and story DLCs for a long time, but arguing that The Evil Within is an excellent horror is the height of madness. And madness is exactly the word that perfectly describes the creation of Tango Gameworks.
Detective Sebastian Castellanos, due to his job, ends up in a psychiatric hospital where a mass murder has occurred, and suddenly finds himself in a situation where creepy monsters really want to get to the hero’s body with not the best intentions.
It is precisely for the atmosphere of madness that I love the first part of The Evil Within. Yes, sometimes the game is capable of warming up the butt with the high difficulty of some encounters, but the plot more than compensates for all the nerve cells killed during the passage.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
The seventh part of the great Resident Evil series was a real discovery for me at the time. I admit honestly, at that time I had already buried Capcom, but they managed to reboot the series and return to the roots in a new form.
The game’s protagonist, Ethan Winters, finds himself at the threshold of a creepy abandoned mansion in the American outback while searching for his wife Mia. The wife, oddly enough, is found right away, but flatly refuses to leave the house of a strange family of cannibals.
The return to a slow, atmospheric horror adventure sold the game to me. After the pathos and action of the previous games, Resident Evil 7 does a great job of conveying the atmosphere of fear and claustrophobia, delivering the creeps with enviable regularity.
If you have the opportunity to play Resident Evil 7 in VR, then definitely take advantage of it. And yes, the crazy grandpa is the best character in the game
Kinzo from Supermassive Games
I won’t single out any particular projects and will simply say that games from Supermassive Games are ideal for late-night sessions with friends and buddies over strong drinks.
Both Until Dawn and the Dark Pictures anthology are capable of giving a huge amount of pleasant emotions if you don’t go into details and ignore some plot holes. As a project for a fun company that decided to tickle their nerves a little, these games will be an ideal solution.