In the past, most people celebrated Halloween by popping in a horror film and turning the lights down low. Although scary films are still a big draw at the box office, video games have now become the entertainment of choice for people of all ages, sexes, and areas of interest. But what horror games are worth checking out and which should be left on the shelf?
The following titles are spooky, scary, and interesting games that can keep one or two players white knuckled and terrified to click the "resume" button. The focus here is on games that have a creepy atmosphere or use traditional horror tropes such as ghosts, zombies, or other supernatural creatures, as opposed to games that feature a lot of gore. All games are available on XBox unless noted otherwise.
4. Dead Rising 2
Perhaps this isn't the scariest of games, but it heavily draws from the zombie-movie tradition of George Romero and more recent movies such as 28 Days Later. Dead Rising 2 has fun with the unusual setting of an abandoned, zombie-packed Las Vegas.
As you wander through casinos and malls, killing zombies in Hawaiian-print shirts with hand-made tools and trying on different outfits you plunder from various mall stores, terrifying cut-scenes introduce us to such boss-characters as a disgruntled mascot and a hippy who has gone off the deep end. This game has it's moments of terror, but it's also very funny in moments and does an excellent job of skewering Las Vegas culture.
3. Resident Evil 5
The Resident Evil series has provided many terrifying moments (though it spawned a not-so-good movie franchise), and the newest installment doesn't disappoint. With a change of setting to South Africa, the franchise is able to keep the traditional umbrella-corporation-sponsored disease as a major point, but to take it to new places and even provide some subtle political commentary.
The South African setting makes the whole game bright, sunny, and therefore disconcerting as you race through ravaged South African streets, trying to find a place to hide from the "infected".Try this game in two-player mode.
2. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Like all games in the Silent Hill series, Shattered Memories centers around a mysterious, near-deserted town called Silent Hill. This newest game, only on the Wii, changes many familiar elements of the Silent Hill franchise while keeping the terrifying monsters and the theme of a mysterious, deadly town.
For example, there is no combat in Shattered Memories and the shifting, puzzling, and terrifying plot twists mean that the players is always at the edge of their seats, waiting to see what unfolds. This game is heavy on psychological horror and even has interactive "psychiatric visits," which supposedly control the events and outcome of the game.
1. Alan Wake
Hands-down, Alan Wake is one of the most complex, beautiful, and atmospheric games out within the last five years. Alan Wake mixes the horror genre with thriller, mystery, and traditional action game. The complex plot involving a horror-writer with amnesia traipsing through a haunted Washington-State landscape to find his wife, unfolds slowly over six chapters. The game stuffs so many thrills and mysterious twists into each chapter that you never feel anxious for any big reveal.
In addition, the setting is simply atmospheric and stunning. Wake's story happens at night, and the game is dominated by lovely vistas of rustling trees and mountains. Extras such as live radio reports (which reflect things that happened in the game), pages of Wake's manuscript, and televisions playing a "Twilight-Zone" like show called "Night Springs" all add fun and spooky elements to the game.
Although this list is by no means complete, these games can give you a good sense of the range of horror or scary games available. The hours of spooky game play provided by these games should keep you terrified all the way to Thanksgiving.
Resources:
- IGN Review of Alan Wake: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/108/1087706p1.html
- IGN Review of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories: http://wii.ign.com/articles/105/1050951p1.html
- IGN Review of Resident Evil 5: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/960/960151p1.html
- IGN Review of Left 4 Dead Vegas: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1123121p1.html
Letitia Trent - I am a writer, teacher, and avid reader. I graduated from the Ohio State University Creative Writing Program and have published my work in ...
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