It’s finally the season of the spook, and that means it’s time to celebrate some of the best in the horror genre! I’ve put together a recommendation list of some of the best spooky games I’ve played for those looking for a scare this Halloween season. So turn out the lights, lock your doors, and prepare to get spooked!
All of the games listed here are available to play right now, and should be rather cheap to get a hold of. They’re also available on almost all platforms so you can experience them in which ever way you want! We hope you enjoy and decide to try out one of these games if you haven’t yet.
Raw, Untamed Horror
This section features the scariest, most ruthless games on this list. These games are designed to terrify you to the core; as our wits and your will are your greatest asset as you are underpowered and ill-equipped to deal with the situation. In other words: welcome to the survival horror section.
The picks for this sections are for those who want a horror experience that will have them sleeping with the lights on at night. These games are certainly not for the faint of heart; and they’ll scare even the bravest among us gamers.
Outlast
This survival horror classic remains one of the most horrifying among like-games; and a large part of that is because of its presentation. Outlast sees investigative journalist Miles Upshur navigate through a psychiatric hospital which just happens to be overrun but insane homicidal patients. While this dark & creaky hospital would be enough to unsettle even the bravest; the best light source you have is a nigh vision mode on your cam recorder, which runs out of batteries often.
What makes Outlast even scarier is that you have absolutely no way to defend yourself, at all. If you’re spotted, you better hope you can find a place to hide or are fast enough to outrun these insane people. This is one of the most memorable horror games I’ve played in recent memory, and it holds up incredibly well despite being originally released in 2013.
Dead Space
Hope you don’t plan on sleeping, because Dead Space will ensure that every light in your house stays on. You play as Isaac Clarke, a former ships systems engineer who embarks to a mining space station in search of his girlfriend after a communications failure. Turns out the entire crew of the station has overrun with horrifying monsters called Necromorphs and you get the opportunity to figure out how to survive!
There’s so much that makes Dead Space an outstanding horror game; from its creepy atmosphere, terrifying Necromorphs, gruesome deaths and thoughtful scares throughout. The HUD is fully integrated with Isaac’s suit, which keeps the feel authentic and the player engaged with the game. Really there’s not much else to say that hasn’t been said already; do yourself a favour and play Dead Space this Halloween season.
Alien Isolation
In space, nobody can hear you scream… Except for the Xenomorph, it can hear you very well. Alien Isolation is a first-person survival horror game that is set deep within the Alien film mythos; as you play as Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda. Set aboard an atmospheric space station, this horror masterpiece uses its environment to its advantage as a hyperintelligent Alien Xenomorph hunts you down.
The Xenomorph’s AI is incredibly smart and largely unscripted; and it will listen for your footsteps and will learn how you play as you progress. The game throws you into countless deadly situations that you’ll have to outwit under the pressure of an Alien breathing down your neck. Alien Isolation is the scariest and best horror game I’ve personally experienced, and is an absolute must play for sci-fi horror fans! Read my Game Recommendation to learn more about Alien Isolation.
One In The Chamber
If it goes bump in the night, shoot it. In this section, we take a look at some spooky games that may scare you and get what what they deserve in return. Get your double-barrel shotgun loaded and welcome the the action horror section.
While these games do feature their fair share of the spooks, they also focus on the gameplay and giving you more options to kill them. They are still very much horror games in nature; just with a little more control on the player’s side.
Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
Everybody loves a great zombie game, especially one as iconic as Resident Evil 2. The game’s recent remaster is both faithful to the original and downright horrifying with it’s updated photorealistic graphics. Taking place in the zombie occupied Raccoon City, the game follows Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield as playable characters in two different scenarios.
Resident Evil 2’s camera has changed to an over the shoulder third person view with refined gameplay that throws you directly into the horror. There’s enough action to go around, even if it’s tough to kill and horrifying zombies and special infected, and hardly enough ammo and supplies to survive; Resident Evil 2 is a perfectly spooky game to play!
Left 4 Dead 2
What’s that, more zombies? Don’t alert the horde! Left 4 Dead 2 is an iconic action-horror game that brings the zombie apocalypse to a whole new level. With up to 4-player co-op, you and you friends are quite literally left for dead and must fight your way from safe house to safe house until you can get evacuated. There are several different campaigns, each one is about 5 levels long and has the same goal of getting out alive.
In Left 4 Dead 2, there tons of fast zombies and special infected that needs to be dealt with; and its very self aware about that fact. Pick up assault rifles, shotguns, magnums, swords, axes as more as you battle through wave after wave of freaky zombies! While this game can be played alone, it’s even more fun with friends; and joining now is great as a brand new update as released for the game!
DOOM 3
A science base on Mars, a careless corporation and portal access to Hell, what could possibly go wrong? DOOM 3 combines dark & satanic horror with big guns as it becomes equal parts scary and fun as hell. It features unified lighting and shadowing that was ahead of its time, which makes the overrun UAC Mars Facility scary even for today’s standards.
DOOM 3 takes the franchises iconic demons and alters their designs into pure nightmare fuel; and then adds more awfully gross demons, including demon babies! Being a DOOM game, it doesn’t hold back and giving you access to a heavy arsenal to shoot your way through with. With a unique take on Hell, freaky satanic inspired rituals and whispers and a plentiful of jump scares; DOOM 3 is high on my recommendation of action-horror games!
Become The Nightmare
Sometimes it’s fun being afraid of the dark, and other times it’s even more fun when you become the nightmare. This section flips the idea of the horror game; and puts you in the place of the scary entity hunting down your prey.
This section features game that are spooky in nature, but are not necessarily horror games. If anything, these are games you can enjoy with your friends or without being to scared to go to sleep. The primary goal here is to show the spooky scary skeletons who’s boss!
Dead By Daylight
Let’s be honest, Halloween wouldn’t be the same without the slasher genre. Oh but I’m not talking about the movies, but rather the unique asymmetrical slasher game Dead By Deadlight. This is a multiplayer game takes place across a variety of different realms, all with different killers and survivors. One killer will play in the first person perspective and hunt down 4 survivors playing in third person; as they try to shut down generators and outsmart the killer.
This game is an absolute thrill to play with friends as they all cower in terror as you chase them down; and is also fun to be a fleeing survivor! The best part about Dead By Daylight is the many DLCs that it has received over the years, adding iconic characters such as; The Shape from Halloween, Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street, The Demogorgon from Stranger Things and so many more! This is a great horror game to play with friends on Halloween!
Aliens Vs. Predator
So let’s say you wanted to play as the Alien instead of hiding from it in Alien Isolation. Aliens Vs. Predator is the game for you, as features 3 distinct campaign stories that allows you to play as either the Alien, the Predator or even a marine! Let’s be honest, if you’re here, you want to play as the Alien or Predator; and this game makes slaughtering the other side incredibly fulfilling! Unlike the film counter parts, this game is actually gory, violent and good!
Playing as a marine is your standard action-horror thrill, which is fun but definitely not the reason to play this game. Playing as an Alien or Predator is distinctly unique, as you’ll be killing humans and the opposite species in the most violent ways imaginable. Personally, aside from Alien Isolation, this is one of my favourite game featuring these famous movie monsters, and is definitely worth checking out!
DOOM (2016, Eternal)
In DOOM 3 you’re stuck in a room with a bunch of demons, but in DOOM (2016); the demons are stuck in the room with you. While this might be technically breaking the rules of this section, are you going to tell him that? You play as The Doom Slayer; an ancient warrior so brutal and powerful that the forces of Hell collectively cries in fear when in his presence. DOOM (2016) is the prime example of an anti-horror game; as it features the perfect environment, demon design and lighting for a horror game just to flip it on its head.
You become the horror story, the ultimate slasher, the thing that goes bump in the night; and the only thing they’ll ever fear will be you. After playing all the spooky games this month, you will no longer have anything to fear once you play thorough DOOM (2016); and if you do then that’s where DOOM Eternal comes in to finish the job. These are my two favourite games of the current generation, and I genuinely do play these games after watching a horror movie or playing a spooky game.
Spooky Pixels
Welcome to the season of the spook! These are some of the best spooky games out there, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the list and found a new game to enjoy the season with! There’s so many more games to look into as well, so keep it tuned here at Informed Pixel to keep up with news and perhaps even find your new favourite game!
As always, for more reviews and gaming news you can keep up to date at Informed Pixel. Want to speak to the team and interact with other gamers, or even tell us what your favourite spooky game is? You can do so over on the Informed Pixel Facebook page or on the Informed Pixel Twitter account.
Listen to my personal project, The Noble Core Podcast on Spotify and Apple. Our weekly Podcast primarily focuses on Halo news and content! Follow us on Twitter @TheNobleCore, you can also find me @TheNobleGrunt and my co-host @JonTheChief117 as well. Join us as we get absolutely hyped about Halo Infinite, despite the delay!
