Top 5: Horror Games To Play This Halloween
‘Tis the season of Halloween and we’re all getting painted up, dressed up and tormented by kids in masks banging on our doors at all hours. Which is great fun! Numerous strands of pop culture have hitched a ride on the Halloween bus over the years, but alongside movie fans, the gaming community are perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of the horror-fest that comes around every October. Here we look at five of the best games to try whilst waiting for the trick or treaters to invade your privacy …
Halloween Forever
As retro as it comes, Halloween Forever is an 8 Bit 2 D game featuring a cast of pumpkin-headed maniacs, bats, witches and cats. It’s level-based stuff which you could probably complete in a day or two – that’s all it takes to defeat the ghost and ghouls resurrected from the underworld. You are in control of the Pumpkin Man (incidentally the same name as the hero in this bonkers slasher movie) whose pumpkin vomit is his best weapon, and with just three lives he must conquer 5 levels of the game without any continuations. So be ready to get pretty frustrated and look to memorise every nook and cranny or you’ll get caught out. If you like games like Ghosts and Goblins then you’ll enjoy this little treat.
Resident Evil 2
No night of horror is complete without dipping into this stone-cold classic which built on the original to create an incredible fully-immersive masterpiece. Stuck in the abandoned police station, Leon and Claire fight off the zombie outbreak brought on by the experimentations of the deeply amoral Umbrella Corp. Its vivid artwork and crazy killing scenes are just what you need as darkness draws in this Halloween night. You’ll be hooked in and the outside world will truly fade out the more you play. Until that pesky doorbell rings …
The Evil Within
More mutant humans with bad intentions can be found in Tango Gamework’s The Evil Within, a game in which police detectives in the mythical metropolis of Krimson City are forced to battle to save their own lives in a mad mixture of shifting backdrops. The sites and sounds of this game are pretty top notch and there is a lot to learn as you journey deeper into the gameplay. It’s not on a level with Resident Evil, though that would be a tough ask, but if you haven’t experienced The Evil Within before, it’s one to try this Halloween.
Halloween Slot
Never one to miss a trick, the online gambling industry are also responsible for a fair number of horror-based games. Amongst the best would have to be Microgaming’s movie franchise-inspired video slot, Halloween. It’s based on the 1978 original film and comes with a dazzling array of 50 paylines, Jumbo symbols and a nicely-named Bogeyman Bonus feature where you can win cash through free spins of the reels mixed with prize multipliers to boost your payouts. If you fancy something a bit different then you can find it online at any of the latest Microgaming slot sites or casinos.
Alien Isolation
Once you’re done killing off flesh-eating zombies, insane knife-wielding killers and you’ve spun your last penny on the Halloween Slot game you can always take a journey into the deepest darkest parts of the universe to battle the perfect killing machine in the form of HR Giger’s Alien. In this version you are the daughter of Ellen Ripley looking for the black box of the Nostromo space ship on another abandoned craft where the killer also lurks. As you would expect Alien Isolation is hugely atmospheric and pretty terrifying in places. Its definitely worth delving into if you’re a classic horror fan.
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