With Halloween round the corner, we decided to bring you a list of the top five scariest games to play at this spooky time. But are you brave enough to try them out? With realistic graphics and blood-drenched action, these games certainly aren’t for the squeamish amongst you. From post-apocalyptic planets to desolate ghost towns to giant spaceships and a set of haunted reels, the games on this list certainly aren’t the kind you’d want to play alone at night. You’ve been warned!
Dead Space
Credit: Electronic Arts
Dead Space is a space-based survival-horror video game that was released in 2008 and is widely regarded as one of the scariest video games ever made. At the centre of its twisted plot is Isaac, an engineer who is searching for his missing girlfriend in on a giant alien-infested spaceship.
Isaac to hack and slash his way through the swarms of aliens that use the zombified corpses of his dead team members to attack him. To defeat these monsters, the player has to systematically dismember their bodies using a variety of weapons and tools, and render them incapable of counterattacking.
Dead Space was well-received by gamers, who praised it for its tense atmosphere, gripping story and gory graphics which together make it a nightmare of a horror game.
Resident Evil 4
Credit: Capcom
Despite its name, Resident Evil 4 is the sixth title in the scary video game franchise. RE4 was released in 2005 and is still widely available in backward compatibility on most gaming platforms. In this game, the player controls secret agent Leon S. Kennedy, who is on a mission to save the US president’s daughter, who has been kidnapped by a cult.
The game mixes in various storylines from its predecessors, but the main action takes place in a small creepy Spanish town which is inhabited by crazed people who are out to literally make mincemeat out of you with their forks and chainsaw.
Resident Evil 4 popularised the over-the-shoulder perspective in video games and is considered to have been a significant influence on the development of the shooter games that came after it.
Scary Rich 2
Credit: Rival Gaming
For some spooky online frights and even more hair-raising rewards, check out Scary Rich 2. This horror-themed video slot game is packed with special features and blood-drenched mini-games that are perfect as a breather from the no-holds-barred killing action of the other games on our list.
Not that Scary Rich 2 is without its terrifying moments. The game, that has 5-reels and 20 lines, features Expanding Wild coffins which burst into flames and teems with monsters that stand between you and the riches that each spin could bring you.
Scary Rich 2 was released in 2008 and has been a hit with online players thanks to the bounty of multipliers and free spins. Players can give Scary Rich 2 a spin either for free of with real money to have a go at winning the jackpot. These days there’s 100s of slots games out there – this site lists most of them – to cater for all tastes, scary or not!
Left 4 Dead
Credit: Valve Corporation
Left 4 Dead offers fans of survival-horror with an exciting collaborative gameplay which sees them join forces with up to three other players. The game is set in a world ravaged by an infectious disease that turned most of the population into mindless and violent beings.
The players have to use weapons, explosives and other ingenious devices they create to stay alive. The game focuses on cooperation between the four characters who can either be controlled by a single player or played as an online multiplayer.
Left 4 Dead was released in 2008 and received very positive reviews by the critics who praised its innovative gameplay. The game was so popular that is spun off a sequel offering players even more hours of spine-chilling gaming entertainment.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
Credit: Monolith Productions
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a first-person shooter with a plot centred around Michael Beckett, a Delta Force operative, who is charged with putting a stop to the crisis caused by a supernatural being in the form a young creepy girl called Alma.
The game utilises slow-motion combat, martial arts and enhanced A.I. to give you a wide range of methods to defeat enemies and engage in spectacular fights against the supernatural forces that oppose you.
This psychological horror video game is a veritable scarefest, with the frights coming thick and fast. Released in 2009, F.E.A.R. 2 has won the favour of many critics, who praised it as a solid shooter and a worthy sequel to the original game.
So, tell us, how creepy is our list? Are there any other top scary video games you know of that didn’t make out list? Let us know in the comments below.
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