While this year has been dominated by major role-playing games, it’s important not to ignore the horror genre. The Dead Space remake made a powerful start, and as 2023 comes to a close, Alan Wake II is bringing another intense round of frights.
The two titles are fantastic bookends for a strong year in horror. Fans should have no shortage of frightening games to thrill them. Here are the ones that should be at the top of your list.
Alan Wake II
It has been 13 years since Remedy Entertainment released its cult classic, and the sequel is worth the wait. Told almost like a TV serial, the game follows Saga Anderson and the titular hero, who makes his return.
The familiar action returns as light becomes one of the defenses against the mysterious Dark Presence that takes over humans, animals and other parts of Bright Falls. At the same time, the developers add a heavier mystery element as Saga and Alan try to solve their respective cases. There’s a whole system where players have to piece together clues on a wall or a board to figure out the next step in the campaign. It’s reminiscent of parts of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and introduces clues almost like a police procedural element.
Remedy does a fantastic job of crafting a narrative that hooks you with a bizarre, "X-Files" -ish mystery and doesn’t let you go as it constantly builds the tension and peels back the layers of intrigue. Alan Wake II launched on Oct. 27.
Resident Evil 4
Capcom’s remake efforts continue to be one of its most cherished entries in the series. As U.S. agent Leon Kennedy, players have to rescue the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham, in a Spanish countryside with some unsettling secrets. When it was first released, this sequel was a revelation that rewrote the book on the survival-horror genre.
The team that worked on the remake tried to fulfill the original vision of the team by using the power of today’s technology to do away with quick-time events so that big moments fold seamlessly into the action. It’s a game that captures the tension, scares and even the campy nature of the original while updating the gameplay to be more responsive and fun.
The remake offers veterans a fresh look at a classic while introducing a masterpiece to newcomers, who may have passed on it because it looked dated. Resident Evil 4 is available now.
Resident Evil Village
Every year, Apple narrows the gap between its devices and modern consoles. If previous iPhones offered players graphics on par with PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, then the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPads with the M1 chips are nearly at PlayStation 5 levels.
As proof of that, Capcom has brought Resident Evil Village to the latest Apple devices. It looks and plays almost as if you were playing on a console. The game itself is one of the better chapters in the survival-horror franchise, with a twist that players won’t see coming as they again control Ethan Winters, who is on a mission to rescue his daughter Rosemary.
It’s a title that’s more action-oriented than its predecessor and is packed with enough scares and thrilling moments that you’ll lose yourself in the experience. Resident Evil Village for iOS came out on Oct. 30.
Dead Space
EA took a page from Capcom’s book and decided to remake its own classic survival-horror game. The update revamps everything about the original, from the visuals to parts of the level design and gameplay. It’s still terrifying as players take on the role of Isaac Clarke and venture through the USG Ishimura.
The vessel has been taken over by monstrosities called necromorphs, and players will have to investigate what happened to its crew and how the ship fell into disrepair. Motive Studio did an exemplary job of amplifying the dread and tension of the remake by taking advantage of the power of modern machines to create a more realistic environment. The developers also take advantage of the darkness and great sound design to make it seem as if enemies could pop out of anywhere.
The Dead Space remake is a reminder of how good the original game was and how, in the right hands, it can be improved. Dead Space is available now.
Callisto Protocol
One of the minds behind Dead Space was Glen Schofield, and after spending a few years working on Call of Duty, he returned to the survival-horror genre. As head of Striking Distance Studios, he created another sci-fi fright-fest, but this time, it’s set on one of Jupiter’s moons.
Players take on the role of Jacob Lee (played by Josh Duhamel), a freight transporter who ends up at the UJC-operated Black Iron Prison after his ship crash lands on Callisto. Now an inmate there, he discovers an infection that turns the inmates, guards and staff into terrifying creatures that spread throughout the facility.
Jacob has to find a way out of the prison, and along the way, he discovers the secrets behind the facility and the outbreak.
Although the game has echoes of Dead Space, it’s more linear and focused on melee combat and stealth. Ammo is extremely limited, so players often must dodge and counterattack the infected inmates and their more mutated forms. The melee-focused combat makes encounters more tense than players would face in 2Dead Space.
Best of all, Callisto Protocol is free as part of PlayStation Plus.
Scorn
When this title first came out as part of Xbox Game Pass, it was a gory revelation. The developers at Ebb Software created a game inspired by the work of artists H.R. Giger and Zdzislaw Beksinski. That means players will see a world that resembles the environments from the "Alien" franchise.
In this creepy setting, players take on the role of a silent protagonist who wakes up after trying to reach a citadel called The Crater. From there, the campaign takes players through strange facilities where bodies are repurposed and biomechanical enemies roam the halls. Players have a tool gun to help them fight, but ammo is minimal, so it’s often better to avoid confrontation.
They’ll also encounter strange puzzles that take a while to figure out because they’re so alien. Scorn will shock players with its gruesomeness and it will be unsettling, especially because the game takes place in the first person, further increasing the immersion. It’s an adventure that’s not for the faint of heart.
Scorn is still available on Xbox Game Pass. It recently became available on PlayStation 5 for the first time.