It might not completely take the sting away from GTA 6’s delay, but it remains one of the best games ever made. Of course, for those who can’t experience it on PS5, the PS4 version is also available. Other notable titles this month include rogue-like driving title Pacific Drive (which recently got an expansion) and first-person narrative horror Still Wakes the Deep, both playable on PS5.

Multiplayer fans who enjoyed Battlefield 6 might want to check out Insurgency: Sandstorm, which offers another modern setting with realistic gunplay on PS4 and PS5. If you’re keen on something more light-hearted, there’s the British comedy title Thank Goodness You’re Here! Another underrated addition, at least for puzzle gamers, is The Talos Principle 2 (with the original receiving a remaster earlier this year).

Monster Jam Showdown and MotoGP 25 offer solid racing, while Premium subscribers get access to Tomb Raider: Anniversary on PS5 and PS4.

Sons of the Forest

Sons of the Forest is perhaps one of the best-realized fusions of survival sandbox gameplay and horror. At first glance, it seems like just another in a long line of sandbox crafting games. Yet it executes both elements so well that the experience eclipses expectation. Between the uncanny swamp mutant abominations to the unpredictable scenarios and clever diegetic crafting menus, Sons of the Forest is not to be missed.

Layers of Fear (2023)

If you prefer more subtle horror with psychological leanings, Layers of Fear may just end up being a new favorite. Labyrinthine creepy mansion: check. Mysterious past to uncover: check. Heaps of atmospheric storytelling and puzzles to solve: check. This game hits all the marks of classic survival horror from days past, with echoes of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and even The Shining. Fans of the Silent Hill 2 remake should especially consider checking out this gem from Bloober Team.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

Ghostwire: Tokyo takes a more unconventional approach to horror, ditching the ‘survival’ aspect and replacing it with some good old karate….with magic. The atmosphere of the game is a highlight. Shibuya is haunted and desolate, with nothing but neon lights and abandoned belongings of those who went missing. Your adversaries are modern-day interpretations of Yokai from Japanese folklore. These take the form of blank-faced salarymen and headless schoolgirls to name just a few. The fast-paced action of the magic karate doesn’t take away from the unsettled nature of the empty Tokyo streets or the creative enemy designs.

Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil does all the things excellent survival horror is supposed to be. It situates players into a vulnerable position with lack of resources, and the atmosphere and zombies are downright terrifying. Resident Evil Village does the classic formula and vibe well, filling the journey with a blend of slower-paced exploration and puzzles with tense set-piece moments and boss fights. Village does a particularly good job with its contrasting environments and themes. The baroque Castle Dimetrescu feels so distinct from Heisenberg’s industrial factory. And it’s all framed through an interesting folktale lens to boot.

Amnesia: Rebirth

The Amnesia series does one thing better than pretty much every other horror series: instilling vulnerability to the player. Like previous Amnesia titles, Rebirth features no combat. Encounters must be overcome through escapes, puzzle-solving, and exploration. But unlike other past games, Rebirth takes place out in the desert instead of a factory or other claustrophobic interior. You play as Tasi, a pregnant woman searching for her missing crew within the vast Algerian desert. You’re still sneaking through interiors such as pitch-black caverns and creepy abandoned ruins though, so it retains that dark atmosphere despite its unique setting.

System Shock Remake

For those itching for deep choice-driven gameplay mechanics, System Shock Remake is a sure bet. The original is a seminal classic in the survival horror space, being one of the first immersive sim games to reach broad appeal. The ship’s AI, SHODAN, remains one of the more engaging villains in the genre. The sci-fi ship almost feels haunted by SHODAN, with the persistent monitoring and sabotage of various ship systems engaging the player’s every move. The game’s atmosphere compliments her constant presence with eerie rattles and distorted sounds almost too well, and the modern remake polishes those scares to a beautiful and terrifying shine.

Choo-Choo Charles

Taking a different turn is the indie game Choo-Choo Charles. This is the ideal horror game on the list if you don’t have a lot of time to invest as it only takes around 3 to 4 to go through. The premise is both unique and simple. You collect eggs and do tasks for NPCs in order to summon the villainous train, Charles, to defeat him. It’s a unique and charming concept and Charles’ jump scare attacks provide ample scares.

Visage

Visage is another indie horror game but this one is often lauded as a spiritual successor to P.T. You’re stuck exploring a 1980s suburban mansion, one that’s both haunted and filled with locked doors. Aside from the numerous puzzles to solve, you must keep your sanity in check by avoiding dark zones and ghost attacks. Those looking for an unpredictable P.T.-like experience owe it to themselves to play Visage.

The Mortuary Assistant

Ever want to inspect dead bodies and exorcise demons in a video game? Well, This solo-developed indie horror title provides that and then some. The Mortuary Assistant puts the player into the shoes of a newly trained assistant at a morgue, tasked with performing her job of preparing corpses for burial. However, it isn’t just another mundane job; demons regularly inhabit the corpses and Rebecca must exorcise them out in-between her paid work. The story is somewhat procedural as well, providing a good amount of replayability.

Ad Infinitum

Ad Infinitum represents yet another creative premise on this list. Players take on the role of a World War 1 vet coming home to take care of an ailing father. The horror takes form from the trauma suffered  in the trenches. This trauma is represented by monsters scouring the house through the mind of the veteran. In gameplay terms, this means solving puzzles around the large house while overcoming the threat of monsters.

Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia is perhaps the most widely played game on the list, which may come as a surprise for some. Social deduction games have been popular of late, and Phasmophobia channels that chaotic premise into a terrifying horror atmosphere. Investigating ghosts as a team may not sound like the most terrifying thing compared to other horror games, but the slow unraveling and eventual reveal of the ghost, and the player’s possession by it, can be a shock, even in a group setting.

Still Wakes the Deep

Described as “The Thing on an oil rig”, Still Wakes the Deep is another game on the list with no combat whatsoever. Players must rely on stealth and avoidance when it comes to monster encounters. The oil rig evolves as the story progresses, with previously explored areas becoming flooded or wrecked. The lack of a HUD helps sell the atmosphere even more. If you enjoy traditional explorative horror, give Still Wakes the Deep a try.

Nightmare of Decay

For those on a tight budget, this $4 indie horror game just might do the trick, especially for fans of old school action horror titles. Nightmare of Decay plays a bit like a first-person Resident Evil 2 with its generous ammo supply and healthy number of zombies infesting the mansion. And there’s plenty of mansion to explore here with puzzles and numerous weapon types scattered about. This is a hidden gem for the Resident Evil 2 fans.

Stay Out of the House

You didn’t think we’d get through this list without a slasher themed horror game, did you? Stay Out of the House is a straight-up cannibal escape simulator. Your goal is simply to survive from the serial killer cannibal stalking the house and surrounding neighborhood. It’s done on a budget, but with tasteful retro filters to make the PS1 aesthetic charming rather than a detriment.

The Outlast Trials

The Outlast Trials is a clever take on cooperative horror gameplay. The game follows a structure that updates the player’s abilities upon successful trials. It’s one of those titles with superb gameplay/story integration. Set during the Cold War, recruits are sent to compete in trials against failed recruits who have become psychologically deranged and dangerous. There’s plenty of lore through radio recordings and environmental details that enrich the experience beyond that of just another horror game.

Anyone who even vaguely knows about the game can guess – a mysterious, potentially alien entity has infiltrated the rig, causing massive damage. There were more questions than answers left afterwards, which is why there’s some appeal to Siren’s Rest. What really happened? Well, you’re not going to find out here.

The story focuses on Mhairi, who leads a saturation dive into the wreckage, deep in the trenches, to find any remains of the crew and their possessions to return to their families (alongside obtaining the rig’s data logger). While the depths are visually good-looking, swimming across the ocean floor is also appropriately harrowing, with lone flares pointing the way until you’re on your own within the ruins, where most of the story unfolds.

"It’s pretty straightforward, and even the puzzle-solving doesn’t amount to much more than “Cut through this rusted bit” or “Move this heavy object.” The fact that many of the interactive parts are painted yellow, further dulls any real sense of challenge or tension."

There are two chapters in total, each encompassing different dives. Still, the overarching gameplay is relatively the same: Swim through the winding wreckage, breaking open doors, drawers, and cabinets to collect Mementos and photograph the remains of the crew. Some familiar names and interesting bits of lore drop, especially surrounding the rig’s boss Rennick, but it’s nothing that massively impacts the story (outside of the big reveal around Mhairi’s identity, which you’ll likely have guessed early on).

While there’s nothing inherently bad about the gameplay – swimming feels responsive enough, and propelling through narrow corridors is fine – it also feels dull. Maybe I got easily bored with popping things open or cutting through rusted hinges to open doors. After a point, the latter occasionally felt less like a mechanic that would be expanded upon and more like the trigger for loading the next segments. Siren’s Rest eventually mixes things up with air pockets, which Mhairi can venture into, oftentimes disconnecting her umbilical cable.

These sections offer more boots-on-the-ground exploration and light platforming alongside the occasional quick-time event. I wasn’t the biggest fan of jumping across gaps to grab onto ledges since it often felt like Mhairi would cease all momentum before an edge, thus causing her to drop like a stone upon jumping. Eventually, it became clear that I had to slightly fall off and then jump, as weird as it sounds. It’s not something that came up a lot, but with that in mind, one would think it’d feel less awkward.

Otherwise, most of the tension arises from the rig falling apart, effectively sealing off the initial entrances and prompting you to find another exit. It’s pretty straightforward, and even the puzzle-solving doesn’t amount to much more than “Cut through this rusted bit” or “Move this heavy object.” The fact that many of the interactive parts are painted yellow, further dulls any real sense of challenge or tension.

It’s not long before things get trippy, and Chapter 2 kicks off with Mhairi venturing into even greater depths, where the entity itself is still seemingly alive. Some hallucinations are mixed into the exploration, eventually revealing Mhairi’s purpose for undertaking the dive before culminating in hide and seek from a monster. The emphasis on flares over the flashlight also made for tenser proceedings, with environments illuminated just enough to proceed but with more than oppressive darkness. And to be fair, the few sequences with the monster can be tense, given its speed.

"The bugs were more immersion-breaking, from the umbilical cable constantly clipping through walls to Mhairi remaining stationary in the water after missing a jump. Another bug caused voice lines to overlap while identifying a crew member’s remains, completely muddling the moment."

However, even while stopping around and reloading a few times because of bugs, the DLC took less than two hours to clear. While it’s what the developer promised, it only left me with more questions. It feels like more of an epilogue, one more focused on closure and moving on than actually solving any mysteries.

The ambiguity of the entity was a big appeal for Still Wakes the Deep – much like The Thing, not knowing its purpose and simply fearing its spread was enough (even if The Chinese Room’s execution of the concept wasn’t nearly as great). Siren’s Rest pretty much distills it into just a scary monster that you need to avoid (or run into because, hey, free Achievement/Trophy). Even the hallucinations don’t serve much purpose here. You leave with pretty much the same conclusion, except there’s some unnecessary open-endedness about how much of it was real.

While I can appreciate the voice acting, especially that of Lois Chimamba as Mhairi, there are some rather annoying plot contrivances. After some terrible occurrences to close out Chapter 1, she insists – or is encouraged, rather – to skip her safety list, simply diving into something much more dangerous than before, which just felt baffling. I also wasn’t a big fan of her suddenly screaming like she missed grabbing onto a ledge, especially since it made that one jump where she landed perfectly look ridiculous.

The DLC does have some admittedly good-looking visuals, just like the base game, though it’s not the best when it comes to facial expressions. Gazing down into the inky darkness and dropping a flare, watching it tumble along the way before hitting the bottom, was cool, limited as such moments could be.

Performance was also good on Epic settings at 1440p, with DLSS set to Quality, but there were some noticeable jaggies. Bringing the settings down to High and opting for DLAA didn’t completely remove them, but it certainly helped, even with noticeable performance drops. The bugs were more immersion-breaking, from the umbilical cable constantly clipping through walls to Mhairi remaining stationary in the water after missing a jump. Another bug caused voice lines to overlap while identifying a crew member’s remains, completely muddling the moment.

"Mhairi’s pursuit of answers takes over the plot yet doesn’t feel developed enough to inspire much empathy. And that’s with Chimamba putting in a strong performance throughout."

There are also weird instances where straying too far from the fixed path triggers a warning. Another path required going somewhere else and acquiring the flares first since my flashlight wouldn’t work. How did the development team communicate this? By covering my screen in the entity’s effects and promptly killing me. It’s the most video gamey way of saying, “No, not this way yet,” that I’ve seen in a long while. That same “no, no, no” attitude pervades the use of the underwater camera. Want to take pictures of anything but human remains for whatever reason? Well, you can’t.

At the end of it all, I’m not entirely sure how to feel about Siren’s Rest. Mhairi’s pursuit of answers takes over the plot yet doesn’t feel developed enough to inspire much empathy. And that’s with Chimamba putting in a strong performance throughout. In the same vein, I don’t really have any greater answers about the Beira D tragedy than before, and the relatively tame gameplay for much of the experience doesn’t help. If you’re really keen on revisiting the world of Still Wakes the Deep, Dicaprio-pointing at your screen upon recognizing some names while casually swimming around, it’s not the worst DLC. However, for its price and what it does and doesn’t offer, you could skip it without much consequence.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Siren’s Rest retails for $12.99 on all platforms, and you can start playing it immediately, though the developer recommends completing the base game first (if you haven’t already). It’s estimated to last 1.5 to two hours – you can check out some more extensive gameplay here. While it doesn’t reveal too much beyond exploration, something is seemingly waiting below the depths.

Still Wakes the Deep and Siren’s Rest are both playable on Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. You can check out our review for the base game here. We gave it a seven out of ten, praising the story, characters, and visuals but criticizing the simplistic gameplay.

How will it play out in comparison to the base game? Some extensive new gameplay is available featuring new protagonist Mhairi as she swims through the wreckage. You’ll pop open drawers, recover photographs and even take pictures of corpses. There’s trepidation about disrespecting the dead, though her colleague Rob assures her that it’s the opposite.

A set of flares is available on the ocean floor to help guide the player as Mhairi picks up a cutting arc to slice through a rusted door. It doesn’t provide a “deeper look” into the terrors lying below the surface, but there is a palpable tension throughout.

Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. For more details on the base game, check out our review.

Taking place almost ten years after the base game’s events, players return to Beira D as Mhairi, who leads a saturation dive to learn more about the truth behind the oil drilling platform’s disaster and what happened to its crew. The developer promises 1.5 to two hours of playtime, and there’s a heavier emphasis on underwater exploration.

Which is terrifying in its own right, especially when something is still lurking in the wreckage. Some cross-dimensional mystery also seems to be occurring, though we’ll need to play the DLC to learn more.

Stay tuned for more details when it launches. You can also read our review of Still Wakes the Deep here.

ANIMAL WELL 

The golden age of Metroidvanias continues to deliver modern classics, and Animal Well has surely joined that list. With no combat whatsoever and a striking pixel art aesthetic, it allows itself to stand out in a crowded genre, while its finely crafted and dense world, which remains a constant joy to explore from start to finish, is also a highlight. For fans of Metroidvanias, this one is unmissable.

Slitterhead

A bizarre mix of action and body horror from Keiichiro Toyama, the creator of Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush, Slitterhead practically screams, “Not for everyone.” As Hyoki, an amnesiac spirit who must slay the Slitterheads, you can take over the bodies of different NPCs and leverage their powers. Combat can be enjoyable, but technical issues, jank, and repetition blemish the experience. It’s an acquired taste, though, and some may enjoy the body-hopping-focused gameplay while basking in the sheer weirdness of it all.

TEKKEN 8 

Post-launch missteps notwithstanding, there’s plenty to love about Tekken 8 itself, and its visuals are high on that list. From the intricately crafted character models and the insanely detailed environments that all of the game’s explosive bouts take place in, to, of course, the fights themselves, everything in the game looks incredibly crisp and high-quality, helping elevating the on-screen action to even greater heights.

]]> 602689 https://gamingbolt.com/top-30-horror-games-you-need-to-play-2024-edition Wed, 16 Oct 2024 18:07:07 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=601622 Establishing how much fear can a game conjure in the name of entertainment is wholly subjective. Our nightmares aren’t collective. With this in mind, the top horror games on this list are deeply varied – cosmic nightmares, haunted houses, malevolence, gore, and hostility, it’s all here in ghoulish splendour. And, in a move which opens us up to rampant criticism, this rundown is presented in order, from chilling to terrifying.

Still Wakes the Deep

A shoo-in for scariest game of 2024 so far, Still Wakes the Deep duties you as electrician Caz aboard a bleak, ocean-rusting North Sea oil rig before an accident occurs and situations go awry. It’s best not to know too much before stepping aboard, but safe to say The Chinese Room have delivered an atmospheric horror for the ages, replete in equal measure dread and mystery.

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