Arkane Studios’ sci-fi horror had launched last 2 weeks go, and it got me thinking about my Top 5 Horror Games I played on the PS4. A little head’s up, this is a list of Top 5 Horror games I have played. If you don’t find your favorite horror game here, chances are that I haven’t played it yet or maybe I didn’t like it. But that is fine. We can both like difference things. So here goes
5: Outlast
Starting with one of the earliest horror games on the system, Outlast kept me on the edge of my seat for countless weeks, mainly because I took my sweet time playing the game. Taking the non-combat approach popularized by Amnesia: The Dark Decent, Outlast has you exploring a defunct mental chasing the story of the life time. The game also capitalizes on the Found-footage boom that was all-so prevalent in the early 2010s by having the night vision mode of a recording camera as the only way your character see in the dark.
4: Until Dawn
If you are more into Friday the 13th and Evil Dead than Paranormal Activity, then Until Dawn would be perfect for you. Until Dawn is a love letter to old school horror specifically a genre I affectionately call Cabin Horror. The game has you control teenagers who are taking a break on a cabin in the mountains. In typical horror fashion, something freaky starts happening. Your job is to get them to survive Until Dawn. Anyone who has played any Quantic Dream or David Cage game will feel right at home playing Until Dawn. It uses what they call the Butterfly Effect to create a branching story based off player choice. The level of impact your choices have greatly affects who lives and who dies. It has even been argued that they out David Cage. David Cage.
3: Bioshock
Bioshock excels in atmospheric horror. While the gameplay itself is the most action-oriented of all on this list, the world around you just screams horror. The game was created in the mid-2000s and the way the game played with light and shadows was something that was never seen before, especially on consoles. The game is also a philosophical trip showing us a world without restrictions. A world where science and medicine is unhindered and doctors and scientists are free to explore their most demented experiments. The game mirrors a lot of Frank Shelly’s Frankenstein and even H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau. It also has a huge commentary on player choice in video games that all of you probably are aware of by now.
2: Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 1 and Season 2
The Walking Dead games by TellTale single-handedly revitalized the Point-and-Click action adventure game genre and is arguably the reason why we have so many episodic games coming out right now. Similar to Until Dawn, TellTale’s The Walking Dead is a very narrative game. Some might even say that it is not a game at all due to how heavy it relies on QTEs but that is beside the point. The game forces you to make very real decisions reminds you constantly that every choice has a consequence. I really don’t want to say anything else because I want you guys to experience it yourself. A word of warning: Don’t “binge-watch” these games. Take a break between episodes or even a day. Marat honing this will leave you mentally drained and exhausted.
Honorable Mention: P.T. : Playable Teaser
Before we go to my number 1 pick, I want to give a shout out to the game that never will be. Silent Hills’ PT A playable teaser was released on the PS4 and it caught the world by storm. The demo was short and set in one corridor but the photo-realism of the environment made it feel all too real. The first time I saw her I literally squealed like a little pig. PT is not a numbered entry because it never technically was a game and no one can download it anymore. Konami cancelled Silent Hills and pulled PT from the PlayStation store. Even those who have it on their library can’t re-download the game. It is so sad to lose something that showed such promise.
1: Resident Evil VII
Where do I even begin with this one? Capcom managed to bring old-school and new-school and reintroduced us to the Survival Horror Genre. Everything you loved from the old RE games is here except that it is now in a new First Person View. The game dropped the auto-save feature that is all too common in games today and reintroduced the save point. This small change increases the horror factor by a significant margin as you are more aware of how fragile your character is. You keep hoping for a new save point just so you can take a break. Resident Evil VII is a return to form for a franchise many of us, myself included, thought was beyond redemption.