October is all about the fear, right? Halloween is almost here and the rest of us can be terrified of Christmas shopping. This month, a couple new horror games have been released, and they have some big shoes to fill. Here are our picks of some of the better horror games of the past 10 years in honour of our Fear Fest. Just the last ten years or so so please no moaning about the lack of Silent Hill 2 or whatever other game you love didn’t make our list.
Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs
Coming hot off the heels of Dark Descent, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs was a more thematic and and crafted journey into pure nightmare fuel. Dripping with deviant and filled with the kind of monsters usually reserved to scare children into behaving, Amnesia is a well-oiled machine that’ll have you swearing off pork for the rest of your life.
Dead Space
If there was one game that gave the survival horror genre the kick in the pants that it needed, it was Dead Space. Moody, violent and terrifying around every corner, the game was a masterpiece of storytelling and jump scares as players had to not only survive the dreaded bowels of a spaceship that had tripped an event horizon of madness, but fight back as well.
Penumbra
Back before the sickos at Frictional Games were terrifying gamers with Amnesia, they were scaring the dickens out of people with the Penumbra series of first person survival-horror games. Penumbra follows Phillip and his unsettling journey through an underground research base. Much like Amnesia, Penumbra eschews combat in favour of puzzles, stealth and running away like a scared little girl.
Fatal Frame/Project Zero
Bleak, nasty and dripping with that nihilistic Japanese approach to horror, Project Zero isn’t just one of the greatest horror games ever made. It’s also a game that has held up remarkeably well over the years thanks to competent controls and an engrossing storyline.
F.E.A.R.
The game that made climbing up ladders a torturous mental affair. F.E.A.R introduced gamers to Alma, a menacing paranormal entity all wrapped up in the body of a little girl. Alma was the reason why your heart never really had a break while playing, making you beg for the next big firefight so that she could stay away for a little while. Although the scares gave way for more shooting in subsequent sequels, F.E.A.R. is still pretty damn horrifying.
Outlast
How scary is Outlast? It’s so bloody terrifying that we have staff members here who have yet to move past the main menu of the game. Thanks to the camera gimmick, Outlast has a subtle approach to building up fear, with a result that will end up in your pants dying themselves a putrid brown at the end of any session. It’s maddeningly terrifying, and made for people who themselves are made up of sterner stern-like stuff.
Resident Evil
From those classic zombie groans to the fear of running out of healing items, nothing quite captures the horror genre like Resident Evil. There is a reason it is a staple survival horror, and one which all others are compared to. Thanks to Revelations, it has also returned to its more suspenseful roots, instead of the action game it became. With dogs, a nemesis and crazy environments, Resident Evil will keep you up at night preparing for the zombie apocalypse.
Slender Man
Who is the Slender Man? Why is he after me? How can a tall fellow with a bag over his head be the most terrifying foe even encountered in a game? You could ask all those questions if you really want to. But by then, you’d realise that you’re already dead.
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl
Before there was Metro 2033, there was S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl. Setting the stage for a vast and atmospheric game set in the nuclear wastelands of Russia, S.T.A.L.K.E.R was a journey into the unknown. Desolate, spooky and filled with an atmosphere that felt as toxic as the irradiated grounds of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R was an ambitious games that was rubbish in some areas and remarkably terrifying in other gameplay departments.
ZombiU
Sure, zombies are overdone, but ZombiU brought something new and fresh to the experience. Exploring post-apocalyptic London with only a crazy man’s voice to guide you, the game was the first to make stellar use of the Wii U gamepad. It is tense, terrifying and incredibly difficult – just like real survival. With a unique approach to death and your failures having consequences, ZombiU might just make you wear down your teeth as you grind, sweat and cry your way to the end.
New arrivals this month
There are two horror games out this month that deserve your attention. First up, Alien Isolation. Geoff gave it an 8 and claimed it was mighty scary. You can pick it up at all your favorite retailers.
The Evil Within is also a real horror fest from the director of Resident Evil. I’m playing it now and the review should be out in the next few days, if I can keep from changing my pants while playing. You can also grab it from all the usual places.
Last Updated: October 20, 2014
Corrie
October 20, 2014 at 15:36
Yup definitely outlast, got into the asylum and after the first door I turned it off and haven’t looked back at that game
Mossel
October 20, 2014 at 16:07
haha dude same here! I still need to get passed the first 40min.
Hammersteyn
October 20, 2014 at 15:40
But while there are those who’d love to see a return to classic Resident
Evil gameplay, the market for that style — “survival horror” — just
isn’t viable enough to warrant the biggest investments, Capcom’s
Resident Evil: Revelations producer Masachika Kawata told Gamasutra in
an interview.
CAE9872
October 20, 2014 at 17:23
But isn’t that because their expectations are wrong. If you expect COD numbers for survival horror it is highly unlikely; but go into a project with a realistic budget and a realistic expectation then I think it can be quite lucrative.
Gamers clearly love shitting themselves!
Hammersteyn
October 20, 2014 at 18:23
I’ve no idea what went through their minds. But it didn’t work at all.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 20, 2014 at 15:40
That first underground base you enter in Stalker – I can’t forget that squeaking light. And that stupid FEAR ladder – I hated you so much.
Watched Rock play a bit of Outlast, made me not want to play it lol. Dit was poefdrukkend.
Admiral Chief 0
October 20, 2014 at 16:14
Yup, that first base, still remember it quite well.
Captain JJ in the shadow
October 20, 2014 at 16:44
Wow, first base was that scary to you hey?
I can’t imagine how third base must’ve been with girls.
Rock789
October 21, 2014 at 08:02
Oh yeah… Outlast can really get to you. Helluva game – best survival horror in years!
Hammersteyn
October 20, 2014 at 15:40
No Silent Hill???
Cadis Etrama Di Umar
October 20, 2014 at 15:51
Yeah I find that weird too. SH is much scarier than most of the games on the list
Thami540
October 20, 2014 at 15:50
204863
Hammersteyn
October 20, 2014 at 15:52
P.T 😀
Cadis Etrama Di Umar
October 20, 2014 at 15:50
I peronsally think Siren should be there instead of Slender. Awesome list
Hammersteyn
October 20, 2014 at 15:53
Should have made it 13 games. 13 is a scary number
Cadis Etrama Di Umar
October 20, 2014 at 16:12
Its such a scary linear number 😮
Viking Of Divinity
October 20, 2014 at 15:54
I don’t get why people praise Amnesia so much, I treid both and found them dull,
“oh no, don’t touch the water” there’s a thing. Oh god a monster, yawn…..
Cadis Etrama Di Umar
October 20, 2014 at 15:54
Honestly. P.T is the SCARIEST thing I’ve played in a very long time
Willem Swanepoel
October 20, 2014 at 15:57
I also found that Doom 3 was pretty scary for me 😉
AvP playing as Human. When I had to turn on the power in the base where the ship landed, damn that was crazy.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 20, 2014 at 16:01
Oh yes, that AvP as human.
I found Doom 3 scary in the beginning, but after I figured out how they spawned in it begin very predictable.
Willem Swanepoel
October 20, 2014 at 16:09
AvP as human had me shaking a lot 😉
I stopped Doom 3 because of the scary stuff lol … fail
I cannot say Thief 1,2 and 3 is scary but it had some creepy stuff in it 😉
I struggle to finish scary games. it must have a very good story to keep me playing. I can only take scary stuff to a point and then I had enough 😉
Captain JJ in the shadow
October 20, 2014 at 16:45
Doom 3 had great scare value. As in, something jumps up behind you and you sh&$ yourself. But it wasn’t frightening to me. Fear had that down quite well, and more recently The Forest.
Rags
October 20, 2014 at 22:45
Yes, Doom III. Lights off, headphones. Man oh man. The tension it builds. Had to take breaks regularly. The graphics and sound helped so much for the immersion. Played fear a month ago and that game did not age well at all. Doom 3 is still a blast to play.
Lardus-Resident Perve
October 20, 2014 at 15:58
Change underwear…I would probably need to wear some first…
Willem Swanepoel
October 20, 2014 at 16:06
why? It can just run down your leg and you can just kick it off.
Captain JJ in the shadow
October 20, 2014 at 16:45
I bet you like the Commando game.
Lardus-Resident Perve
October 20, 2014 at 17:05
If you are referring to this one, then YES!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Commandos_Behind_Enemy_Lines.jpg
L337J1MB0B
October 20, 2014 at 16:00
Alan Wake had it’s moment as well, but not sure if I’d place it in top ten.
Mossel
October 20, 2014 at 16:06
Outlast. The guy in the wheelchair. That is all I’m going to say.
Mossel
October 20, 2014 at 16:07
I think what makes Outlast terrifying is the fact that you can’t fight back. You need to run like the little bitch that you are!
Jac7
October 20, 2014 at 16:09
Outlast is the scariest by far. Got into the asylum, walked down a single corridor and switched it off. I literally have no idea how I’m going to play it. I haven’t played Slender Man either. Walked into the house right in the beginning and I heard a noise. Probably my own flatulence. Switched it off. Dead space was terrifying, but the ability to shoot at your enemies makes it bearable. Another game that scared the life out of me was Doom 3.
Johan du Preez
October 20, 2014 at 17:10
Yup playing doom 3 with all the lights of. ITs not initially scary but its got the ability to get under your skin and before you know it you are cowering like a little girl in the corner.
Admiral Chief 0
October 20, 2014 at 16:12
Dat STALKER…man those bloodsuckers and the poltergeists!
GENUGTIG
Deejay Kza
October 20, 2014 at 16:13
Manhunt was cool too.
Dutch Matrix
October 20, 2014 at 16:13
Soul Calibur had an underwear change inducing moment the minute I laid eyes on Ivy…
http://de.cosplayhouse.com/images/T/upload001-01.jpg
Captain JJ in the shadow
October 20, 2014 at 16:43
Penumbra, hells yes. Crap scary.
The Forest still sits on my top five list of scariest games ever though. That thing is a killer.
Johan du Preez
October 20, 2014 at 17:08
F.E.A.R now there is a game I shat myself a few times in. Alma always likes to surprise you when you turn to get down a ladder. Or those invisible creature that jumps up the walls in the expansion.
I am currently playing outlast its also quite scary.
Ibrahim Chhaya
October 20, 2014 at 20:28
What’s even scarier is that this post was written by an unnamed person/thing.
BTW where’s your Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel review? I haven’t seen a single South African gaming site with one.
Matthew Holliday
October 20, 2014 at 22:04
The US had an earlier release date than us, so theyv had a few more days to get their reviews out.
20 hours to complete the story + side missions.
game was released here on friday, dont think anyone got an early copy of it, assuming it would take a solid weekend to finish a single playthrough and catering for writing time, you can probably expect one within the next 2 days. (most likely from Darryn)
personally thought the game was good, its no game of the year like B2 was though, but expecting otherwise would just be dumb, B2 was steller.
the presequel is fan service, especially if you paid attention/played a shit tonne of B2, but its quality fan service.
finished my first playthrough, 7.5/10, would bang again.
Ibrahim Chhaya
October 21, 2014 at 19:11
Makes sense. Thanks for the info!
But is it worth the R700 price tag?
Matthew Holliday
October 21, 2014 at 19:35
i dont think any game is worth R700, thats why im playing it on PC.
But Id say its more worth it than any others that were released this year.
legit replay value, seasons pass & DLC should be quality.
if you look at how much it costs, compared to how long you’ll play it (if you enjoyed it) then borderlands is probably the most cost effect series out there.
Ibrahim Chhaya
October 22, 2014 at 17:13
Will probably get it when Steam has a sale.
Matthew Holliday
October 20, 2014 at 22:09
The Suffering broke my sanity.
had to get a friend round to play it. I was 14 at the time, so it was probably not THAT bad, but ugh, that sound of metal running on the roof, my nerves man…
Rock789
October 21, 2014 at 08:05
I would say the original Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 deserve to be on this list. 🙂
But yeah, Outlast is one freaky game! I don’t scare easily, which is why I’ve played alot of horror games, but Outlast can really get to you… That sense of helplessness about not being able to fight back just makes it that much more intense. Brilliant game!
I also loved the original FEAR and Dead Space (before the ‘last-action-developers’ got hold of those franchises). And, of course, who can forget the original Resident Evil.
z1n
October 21, 2014 at 09:19
I know I’ll probably get flak for this… but I played Dead Space on my phone with headphones on. I was seriously surprised and then scared shitless again and again. Good audio is a huge part of a successful horror and I’m really impressed they managed to accomplish that on a phone.