E. L. King shares and discusses the ten horror video games they're most eager to play this year.
An incredible year for horror video games is on the horizon—particularly games based on some of our favorite horror film franchises like Evil Dead and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in addition to sequels and prequels to some of the scariest horror games we've ever played. We often refer to ourselves as phobophiles. We love the thrill of getting scared in a controlled environment.
While we love settling down for a two-hour film, nothing quite measures up to the immersive experience of playing a spooky video game. We're more likely to be caught by a well placed jump-scare that will send us into a fit of screams and laughter. We don't just love to discuss horror films, we love playing and discussing horror games as well, especially with friends and a lot of co-op experiences are coming our way. So, we've curated a list of ten horror games we're most eager to play alone in the dark with our dog, Jonesy and with friends in 2022.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
A game based on true events—Gun Interactive and Sumo Digital Nottingham announced their partnership on Gun's latest asymmetrical horror experience based on director Tobe Hooper's innovative and iconic horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) at The Game Awards. With an eye on authenticity, Gun is worked with Kim Henkel co-writer of the original film, to match the tone of the film and its family of Killers—the Cook, the Hitchhiker and Leatherface while also introducing new Slaughter family characters. The team has taken great care to pay homeage to Texas, Hooper's birthplace and evoke the 1970s. While the game has no officially announced release date at this time, we know it's coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC this year. Like us, you can keep up with development news on the game's Community Hub! This one tops our list of horror games we're dying to play as newly minted residents of Texas and fans of TCM.
Evil Dead: The Game
Eagerly, we've waited to step into the role of Ash and all of his Evil Dead franchise friends, Deadites included since we first got wind of the co-op and PVP multiplayer horror game that would bring together characters, good and evil from the three original films and the Ash vs Evil Dead series on Starz. The game has encountered multiple release delays with the team tweeting news of yet another push to the release date in order to deliver players the best possible experience last Friday. Despite the delays, with several of the original actors voicing the characters, our love of Evil Dead (1980) and the nostalgia alone—our Necronomicon and Boomsticks are ready. We'll be first in line to play Evil Dead: The Game on May 13, 2022. The game is set to release on all platforms, PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The team at Saber Interactive have promised that pre-order information and a new trailer will be dropping in February 2022.
Sons of the Forest
A sequel to one of the most terrifying horror survial games we've ever played featuring building gameplay, crafting, cave and land exploration along with creepy enemies of the cannibal variety, The Forest (2014)—Endnight Games surprised fans with the reveal that Sons of the Forest, will release May 20, 2022. With little information beyond an official trailer, gameplay trailer, tweeted screenshots and limited news from the development team since last year, we've been able to surmise that like its predecessor, the game will feature more of the same survival mechanics along with new forest and cave dwelling creatures, an extended storyline, co-op gameplay and a zone known as Holosprings. As of right now, the game is set to release to PC only.
The Outlast Trials
The first-person psychological horror game is the third in the Outlast series developed and published by Red Barrels and will serve as a prequel to the first two games in the series. Set in the Cold War, unwilling volunteers have been recruited by The Murkoff Corporation to test new methods of brainwashing and mind control. Players will work alongside their friends in a world of distrust, fear, and violence in an attempt to survive The Outlast Trials. We first played Outlast in 2016 for a seven-hour one shot stream on Twitch and it's still one of the scariest gaming experiences we've ever had. Luckily, there's plenty for fans of the video game franchise to sync their teeth into on the website and Red Barrels official YouTube including behind-the-scenes featurettes exploring the game's characters, sound and music. The horror co-op multiplayer game features a single-player option or the ability to play with up to three friends. While no official release date has been announced, the game is available to wishlist on Steam and the Epic Store.
Dying Light 2
The highly anticipated horror action role-playing game Dying Light 2 developed and published by Techland featuring hordes of zombies, infected zones and double the terror after dark had its share of delays, but the team has kept us sintilated with regular updates and their YouTube series Dying 2 Know. The sequel to Dying Light (2015), is scheduled to be released this very week on February 4, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. To celebrate the upcoming sequel, we recently played Dying Light as a co-op campaign with friends eager to get reacquainted with Harran. We can hardly contain our excitement to return to the series this week. Join TechlandGG, unlock goodies and prepare yourself to become a Nightrunner.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me
While teased just before the release of Supermassive Games last Dark Pictures Anthology installment, House of Ashes (2021), a full announcement trailer for The Devil In Me was also released with the game. This decidedly more sinister installment is being positioned as a finale to season one of the series of the cinematic decision-based survival horror role-playing games. The Dark Pictures Anthology series is planned to consist of eight games, so it's not a stretch to expect a second season. Here's what we know. A documentary film crew receives a mysterious invite to a replica of the Chicago-based 'Murder Castle' of H.H. Holmes, renowned as America's first serial killer.
The story follows five main protagonists into a trap set by a modern day killer, who it appears like Holmes knows their way around a surgical blade and a thing or two about human anatomy. This will be particularly thrilling for true crime enthusiasts like us and for now, we'll just refer to the game's main antagonist as The Artist. The Supermassive Games team shared a post on December 31, 2021 featuring a view of the World's Fair Hotel with a man that appears to be The Curator standing in front of it with a message reading, "Check-in opens in 2022." The image feels like a bit of an homage to The Exorist (1973) and The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), sans the briefcase. We're dying to visit!
Instinction
Okay, here me out—dinosaurs! If you can get down with the idea that Jurassic Park (1993) is an action-adventure horror film that launched a man-eating franchise, then this game is probably for you. Developer Hashbane Interactive has released some details regarding it's key features on Steam and more on their website, but the game will definitely have a surivial horror element alongside being a cinematic pehistoric action-adventure story with combat, puzzles and exploration. The official trailer for Instinction released on October 20, 2021, but the game will be released on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Aftermath
In AFTERMATH players will follow the journey of Charlie Gray, an engineer and European astronaut. Following a reentry to earth gone wrong, and the traumatic events that ensue, Charlie returns a broken spirit and suffering from PTSD. She finds herself isolated in a deserted, defragmented world. The only thing she knows is that she has to find the one thing that still matters, her daughter, Sammy. Players will follow Charlie as she traverses an unfamiliar European city, searching for her daughter and fighting not only an unearthly presence, but also her own demons. The game features a engaging story of what it means to be human, delving into philosophical, psychological and other questions one would ask if found in an impossible situation. We got a peek at the official trailer in December 2021 and the game is visually stunning.
We're particularly intrigued by the unique visual aesthetics created by Italian visual artist Alessandro Bavari who designed the art conecepts for Alien: Covenant (2017) and Suspiria (2018). In the game, Charlie is locked in a waking nightmare and death isn't the end—an interesting idea for players to explore while being hunted by an unseen force. We're thrilled to get more horror games with female protagonists and eager to step into the role of Charlie. The science-fiction open world survial horror game featuring crafting and city exploration developed by ONE-O-ONE Games has not officially announced a release date aisde from slating the game for 2022. The game will be available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
A Quiet Place
Saber Interactive aims to bring us not one, but two horror games based on horror film franchises this year. The second being their tweeted announcement on October 26, 2021 that they are developing A Quiet Place with iLLOGIKA and EP1T0ME. We're told it will be a single-player, story-driven horror adventure game set in a universe based on the wildly successful film series directed by John Krasinski, but with it's own unique storyline in the universe. Given that the alien creatures hunt primarily with sound, it's likely this will be a slow-burn survival horror experience involving stealth gameplay and we're here for it. If the game mechanics are anything like the Dishonored franchise or Alien: Isolation (2014), it'll probably right up our alley.
Sker Ritual
The first sequel in the Sker series from developer Wales Interactive will be a single-player or four-player co-op survial horror first-person shooter experience where players will have to survive the Quiet Ones—zombies, it's lots and lots of zombies. Sker Ritual is a spiritual successor to the award-winning occult horror, Maid of Sker (2020). On January 21, 2022, the team posted a sneak peek on Steam featuring screenshots and their previously released teaser trailer. An official release date has not be set, but the game should be coming in Spring of 2022 to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. You can wishlist the game now on Steam! We're eagerly awaiting more details about the game.