It’s that time of year again. And while watching one of the classics on TV or Blu-ray never gets old, sometimes you want to mix things up for Halloween with video game or two.
There’s obviously no shortage of titles to choose from, but if you’re stuck with what to play this year, we’ve come up with a couple of suggestions of recent releases (and some classics) for you or a group of like-minded folks to get in your seasonal scares.
Obviously, if you feel there’s a grievous omission, feel free to chime in down before as to your choice. The more to choose from, the more the fun!
7 Minutes in Hell
If you’re a fan of Squid Games and Survival Horror, then you should check out Gaggle Studios’ effort, which is currently out now in Early Access on Steam. 7 Minutes in Hell has contestants competing in a livestreamed gameshow, where they have seven minutes to snatch as much loot and valuables as they can while trying to stay alive. In addition to the various monsters, obstacles and traps in the arena, you’ve also got to watch out for other players, who can either work with you or turn against you at a moment’s notice. If you make it through, you can try your luck again by purchasing gear to help you survive again.
Silent Hill 2
Come on, you knew this was coming. After all of the naysaying and doubting, Bloober Team finally delivered on the highly-anticipated remake of one of Survival Horror’s classics. The Silent Hill 2 remake goes just how you imagined it would: taking the original gem of a game, and mixing in modern gameplay concepts and visuals to scare longtime fans all over again, while also showing a new generation of Survival Horror enthusiasts just what all the fuss was about. Here’s hoping that Bloober Team and Konami decide to revisit the series again with either additional content (Born From a Wish, please), or tackling the one that started it all.
Iron Meat
For those who prefer Aliens (run-and-gun gameplay like Contra) to Alien (well, Alien: Isolation), there’s Retroware’s tribute to Konami’s classic in Iron Meat. this tough-but-fair shooter has everything you’d expect: bullets flying everywhere, with hideous monstrosities that explode into red paste with your arsenal of familiar but not-quite weapons, and all set to an appropriately kickass soundtrack. Even with the graphical upgrades, there are still bits and pieces of the gorgeous pixel art animation that has you thinking back to the 1987 classic on your NES. If you haven’t checked it out, you can always hit up the demo on Steam to whet your appetite.
RetroRealms: Ash vs. Evil Dead and Halloween
While Aaron wasn’t all in on RetroRealms‘ two arcade offerings, there’s still very much an appeal either blowing away Deadites with you boomstick or carving people up with your kitchen knife in these tributes to arcade platformers. And true to those classic 16-bit inspirations, you have varied movesets for Ash and Michael, as well as various collectibles to unlock new moves and abilities, and of course, that arcade-style difficulty. The cool thing is that once you have both titles, you can play as one character in the other’s game to add even more variety. Plus, it’s Halloween in video game form. That should tide you over until developer Boss Team Games (hopefully) gives fans what we all want.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Gun Interactive continues to give The Texas Chain Saw Massacre the love it deserves. On top of being the recipient of the inaugural Chainsaw Award for Best Video Game from Fangoria and the recently-released Rush Week game mode, the game still remains a fun (and frightening) take on the genre. The reliance on stealth in the game’s cat-and-mouse gameplay while playing as the victims seems like it was tailor made for a sequence from Tobe Hooper’s classic. And as advertised, the Rush Week mode feels very much like a Giallo film in video game form. There are still a few optimizations and balancing issues that Gun Interactive is working to address, but if you’re looking for something outside of what Dead by Daylight offers in the realm of asymmetrical multiplayer, Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a good place to start.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
Coming out of left field back when it was first announced in June, and giving fans of the franchise some needed love after a decade-plus absence, the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster hit all the right spots when it launched last month. All of the fun you had back in 2006 is still here (yes, even the time limit), with quality-of-life conveniences to make the game in line with more modern titles. While Capcom hasn’t revealed the numbers just yet for the Deluxe Remaster sales, they seem keen on continuing to explore more for the Dead Rising franchise in some form.
Alien: Isolation
Really, a decade-old game, you say? Come on, after the announcement that Creative Assembly has finally started work on a sequel, that seems as good of an excuse as any (as if you needed one) to revisit this genuinely terrifying trip to space. What more can be said about Alien: Isolation that we haven’t talked about before? The terror as you’re stalked by the Xenomorph, which seems to know exactly where to look, still grips you like not much else. And despite being a last-generation title, the graphics still hold up, mimicking the look and feel of the 1979 film to a tee. Subsequent Alien games have focused more on James Cameron’s sequel for inspiration, almost as if everyone knows that you can’t top what Creative Assembly accomplished with Alien: Isolation.
Crow Country
If you’re a sucker for old-school Survival Horror, but don’t feel like breaking out your PlayStation for Resident Evil or Silent Hill, SFB Games has your solution with Crow Country. While Crow Country does miss out on the fixed camera angles that gave some Survival Horror titles that cinematic look, the inventory management, tank controls, purposely-unwieldy combat and puzzle-solving are all here. Not to mention, the desire to explore every location for that one note to reveal more exposition about the world. As noted in our review, the game truly feels like a labour of love for the developers who just “get” what made those Survival Horror games on the PS1 so much fun.
The Dark Pictures Anthology
With the second season kicking off next year with Directive 8020 (not to mention the upcoming film), much like Alien: Isolation, revisiting the first season of Supermassive’s horror anthology series is kind of a no-brainer. As for which episode to revisit, that depends on your tastes. You’ve got your aquatic horror with Man of Medan, your haunted town in Little Hope, a vampiric creature feature in House of Ashes, and the slasher-inspired The Devil in Me. And, with the games’ feature that allows multiple players to be assigned a character in the game (and making their choices), it’s a perfect couch co-op affair.
Doom 3
Okay, we’re reaching back even further with this one. Doom 3 is the weird “black sheep” of the Doom series, even though it’s still a great game to play even today. The focus on Survival Horror elements is what sets this one apart from the others in the series, which turned a few people off who were hoping for a return to pure shotgunning of demons. That, and the purposefully crippling mechanic of having to swap between your weapon and your flashlight. Scripted scares aside, Doom 3 is a tense affair. Despite being a badass marine, the dark confines of the Mars station, the limited ammo and the reliance on that flashlight mechanic combine to make you think twice before you turn that corner.