Halloween is just around the corner, so horror fans are in for a treat.
There’s the soft horror Halloween brings; the dressing up, parties and carved pumpkins. However, for real horror enthusiasts, it’s a chance to indulge in their passion legitimately. Streaming services will be pushing movies, introducing new content and hoping to keep fright fans occupied. For instance, Collider reveals that HBO Max will show classics such as Cat People and My Bloody Valentine and modern films like We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.
It won’t just be films that grab people’s attention; there will be plenty of video games that horror fans turn to for their scares. The horror genre has benefited hugely from improved technology, making frights more realistic, and that’s been seen on mobile devices. Horror themes pop up in iOS titles such as Dead By Daylight and The Dark Meadow. Horror is also used for other genres; Foxy Bingo has Slingo title called Slingo X-Scream which draws on horror imagery from films such as Halloween, but without some of the deep scares! Others, such as That Level Again, leverage horror in the puzzle genre in much the same way as the online slot provider.
Those games will keep a horror fan happy for a while, but there’s nothing quite like a good horror game on PlayStation or Xbox. Those titles use the latest technology to provide real fear for players, an interactive fear one can’t quite get from a horror film. If you want to play the protagonist role, running scared for hours on end, here is the game to play this fall.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil fans were fearful not for the gameplay but for how Resi 7 might come across after the nonsense of Resident Evil 6; they need not have been scared, not until they played the game. The first-person horror romp is the perfect blend of engaging storyline, fear and wonderful antagonists. The Bakers are chilling, and the gameplay strikes a balance between enjoyable and nervy. Bullets are in short supply, and boss battles are frightening because of the enemy and potentially running out of bullets.
Layers of Fear
Layers of Fear takes the accepted principle of horror and builds them into a terrifying game; it makes you doubt yourself, which induces genuine terror. You’re tasked with exploring a Gothic mansion, but everything is not as it seems; rooms reorganize themselves, corridors warp, and you begin to wonder what is real and what is not. There are some real jumpy moments to contend with, and they all combine to make this one of the finest horror games ever.
Outlast
Outlast is, to put it mildly, utterly terrifying in every way. It puts you into a first-person adventure exploring an old asylum where signs of life have been detected. The game is played through the viewfinder of a camera, inducing Blair Witch vibes, with a soundtrack intended to unsettle. If you get too close to things, there’s a grainy, pixelated effect you’d expect from a camera which only adds to the tension. If you don’t scream at least once every fifteen minutes, you’re made of very stern stuff.
The Last of Us Part 2
The Last of Us is different from the others; it’s a story-driven game that plays like a movie, with great character progression and genuine emotion sandwiching the scares and horror. Don’t get us wrong, taking on Clickers with next to no ammunition is frightening, but the feeling is accentuated because you care about the characters. You will die multiple times, and the sight of the protagonists being eaten alive, albeit for a second, is so much more than a death scene. The Last of Us Part 2 (and indeed Part 1) is a game you’ll need to set aside days rather than hours.