I don’t know if you’ve noticed this already, but this is an incredibly exciting time to be a horror fan. There are more new horror releases now than there’s ever been. We’ve seen multiple entries in franchises like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, as well as a slew of quality indie horror games from devs like Frictional Games (Amnesia), Blue Isle (Slender: The Arrival), and Red Barrels (Outlast), among others. Perhaps what’s most exciting about this recent surge of popularity the genre’s seeing are the hints at where it’s headed next.
Five years ago action horror was the thing. As popular series like Resident Evil (RE4-5) and Silent Hill (Homecoming) strayed away from their survival horror roots and newcomers like Dead Space and Left 4 Dead saw great success, for a while it looked like the final nails were being hammered into the beloved subgenre’s coffin. Don’t get me wrong, action horror is still big now, but after the relative failures of Resident Evil 6 and Dead Space 3, I no longer see it becoming the norm. Between games like the six I have waiting for you after the break, it looks like survival horror is coming back, and this time it’s returning in a far more terrifying form.
Survival horror is slow, calculating, it forces you to think. Action horror is the genre’s attempt at going mainstream, quickening the pace and making the player feel more capable of defending themselves. Some of these games aren’t fully either, so I think they need a new name, something that reflects the tone and shared mechanics of the games within it. Something like Nightmare Horror.
Here are a few upcoming horror games that aren’t afraid to do something different — some are survival horror, others are action horror, hell, a few might even be nightmare horror (#nightmarehorror – TWEET THE WORD, PEOPLE!), but one thing all they all share is how intensely scary they look.
Of all the games on this list, DreadOut may be the most familiar. At its core it’s a lot like Fatal Frame, and I mean that in the best way possible. There’s room for more than one — or two, if you count the abysmal 3DS game Spirit Camera — spirit photography game, and if you’re not located in Japan or motivated enough to import a copy, you probably haven’t played a Fatal Frame game since The Tormented back in 2005.
That’s where indie dev Digital Happiness comes in with their wonderful homage to the series that manages to escape the confines of the indie horror genre by looking and playing remarkably well. You’re still taking pictures of ghosts, only this time with a camera phone instead of a camera obscura. It also has a distinct Indonesian flavor, which you can see in its enemies and locale.
DreadOut is the survival horror game fans, including myself, have been craving for years.
Zombie Studios is the studio behind the series of games based on the Saw films, a mixed bag of games that started off with serious potential before Flesh & Blood went and ruined it all. The developer is no stranger to the horror genre, and they’re next game, Daylight, looks to be taking a few pages out of more recent genre games.
For starters, unless you count your camera phone, you’re totally unarmed. Amnesia, Slender, Outlast (more on that later), this has become a trend. While I don’t necessarily need every horror game I play to throw me into a dangerous area without a weapon, I’m glad more developers are jumping on this bandwagon.
That’s great, but to me what’s most interesting about Daylight is how short it is. It’s bite-sized horror. A playthrough can be completed in thirty minutes, and thanks to the prowess of Epic’s new Unreal Engine 4, each time you play the world is randomly generated, making every playthrough unique.
Okay, fine, we don’t actually know really anything about inSANE, what it’s about, or if it’s even still in development.
There are two reasons why I refuse to give up hope. First off, it’s a horror game from the wonderful mind of Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth). Secondly, it’s inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. There aren’t enough horror games that take from the gold mine of twisted terror that only Lovecraft could deliver. If this ever sees the light of day and has a solid developer behind it, I have total faith that Del Toro and friends will deliver a memorable horror game.
Mikami is what some call the “father” of survival horror. This is because he’s one of the minds behind the Resident Evil and Dino Crisis series. He also had a hand in one of my favorite recent horror games, Shadows of the Damned. His next game, and potentially the last title he’ll direct, is easily his darkest yet. We haven’t seen actual gameplay, but if it’s anything like its live-action trailer than I expect it will be a deeply disturbing game.
Judging by the batch of images — they’re more concept art and bullshots than actual screenshots — we can at least see what Mikami and his Tango Gameworks studio is aiming for. To me, it looks like everything Resident Evil fans have been asking for. The camera, combat and some of the enemies are reminiscent of Resident Evil 4, but the art style and story are significantly darker.
We won’t know for sure whether Mikami will go out with a bang or a whimper, but I have very high hopes for this.
This one shouldn’t require any explanation, as I’m sure you’re already sold on it. It’s the sequel to Frictional’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent, the “scariest game of all time.” This time around, development is behind handled by the very capable indie dev thechineseroom, that brought us Dear Esther. If you haven’t played that, get on it.
A Machine for Pigs will scare you. There’s no escaping that truth. If you don’t believe me, watch this.
I was sold on Outlast the first time I saw it, but it wasn’t until I started hearing those who have been lucky enough to play it compare it to Amnesia that I started getting really excited for it.
It’s set in a Colorado asylum thought to be long abandoned. You play as an independent journalist named Miles Upshur who follows a tip from an inside source and breaks into the building. Little does he know what lurks within… (dun duunn DUUUNNN)
Outlast looks incredible, it’s being developed by a team of industry veterans who have worked on franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia, and Splinter Cell, and word is, it’s actually scarier than Amnesia.
Did I miss a game you’re particularly enthused about? Let me know in the comments!
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
No comments:
Post a Comment