Spooky season: every horror video game being released in October 2024-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro

The Silent Hill 2 remake turned out better than anyone expected (Konami)

There’s a bumper crop of scary video games out this Halloween, from the excellent Silent Hill 2 to retro frightener Fear The Spotlight.

Horror might be the only genre which is indisputably at its most effective in video games, whether it’s terrifying survival horror titles like Amnesia: The Dark Descent or narrative adventures which try to emulate traditional horror films.

The problem for horror video games is that, unlike movies, they’re not usually any cheaper to make than regular games and somehow publishers seem to release them at any part of the year other than Halloween – but not this time.

So if you’re looking for a new game to freak out yourself (or your loved ones) across the spooky season and beyond, here’s a rundown of all the horror games out this month and beyond.

Until Dawn remake

October 4 (PS5, PC)

Designed as the video game equivalent of a slasher film, Until Dawn sees you control eight young adults who have to survive the night on Blackwood Mountain.

It’s essentially an interactive horror film, with all the choices you make contributing to a butterfly effect that dictates whether some (or all) characters live or die. The original game came out in 2015 on PlayStation 4, but this remake adds overhauled visuals, new camera controls, and some reworked sections – including a clear tease about a sequel.

The original creators, Supermassive Games, have gone on to make several games in the same vein, including The Dark Pictures anthology, The Quarry, and recently The Casting Of Frank Stone. If you’re looking for a good place to start though, Until Dawn is the best option.

Silent Hill 2 remake

October 8 (PS5, PC)

A PlayStation 2 survival horror classic is given new life in this remake, which sees you controlling James Sutherland as he journeys to the mysterious, foggy town of Silent Hill, after receiving a letter from his dead wife.

While there were concerns over whether it would live up to Konami’s 2001 original, as our review made clear, developer Bloober Team has managed to translate the chills into a modern over-the-shoulder horror experience, while maintaining the haunting atmosphere.

If you’re after what will likely become the most talked about horror game of the year, a stroll through Silent Hill is your best bet.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead

October 17 (PS5, XSX, PC)

Set within the film’s existing canon, this spin-off follows asthmatic college student Alex Taylor, who has to navigate the post-apocalyptic world with her boyfriend Martin. The game’s developer, Stormind Games, previously created the pretty great Remothered horror series, so this might be better than many people expect.

It certainly looks the part, with some impressive visuals and stealth mechanics involving a handheld device to measure sound levels, as you try to avoid the dreaded noise sensitive monsters.

RetroRealms Arcade Halloween & Ash Vs. Evil Dead

October 18 (XO, PS4, NS, XSX, PS5, PC)

If you prefer slapstick horror with a throwback flavour, these two 2D side-scrolling slashers arrive on the same day. After developer Boss Team Games tackled Sam Raimi’s classic with multiplayer title Evil Dead: The Game, the team is back with a new retro-inspired double feature of Ash Vs. Evil Dead and Halloween.

It looks more polished and pleasingly squishy than you might expect, with Michael Myers and Ash also able to swap between games if you purchase both titles. A special collector’s edition on Limited Run Games even comes with a Michael Myers plushie, if you’re down with hugging serial killers at night.

Fear The Spotlight

October 22 (PS4, NS, XSX, PS5, PC)

With its chunky 3D graphics, this third person horror adventure is one of many games in recent years capitalising on 90s PlayStation nostalgia (hello, Crow Country and Signalis). Here, you follow Vivian and Amy as you sneak into school after hours, solving puzzles and uncovering the mystery behind a tragedy from decades before.

Crucially, this is the first title from the new gaming division at Blumhouse, which is known for films like M3GAN and Insidious. As such, this will be a good indicator of whether the label is worth paying attention to, but it looks very promising so far.

No More Room In Hell 2

October 22 (PC)

Developed by Torn Banner Studios, who are best known for the Chivalry series, this eight player co-op game channels the spirit of Left 4 Dead, with zombie killing on what’s promised to be a massive, dynamic map. The original game, released way back in 2013, was originally created as a Half-Life 2 mod by developer Lever Games, who were later acquired by Torn Banner Studios.

The kicker is this is only launching in early access this month, so while it will be playable in some capacity, it might be a while yet before the full game is released. There’s always the original though.

Forest Hills: The Last Year

October 22 (PC)

If you’re not exhausted by asymmetrical horror games like Dead By Daylight, there’s a new option in this multiplayer slasher. Like those games, you can either play as one of five ‘Displaced’ survivors or as the Fiend, a supernatural killer.

The history behind this game is rocky, with its first incarnation, Last Year: The Nightmare being taken off Steam after the original developer Elastic Games went bankrupt. It was later acquired by Undaunted Games, who re-released that version last year.

Forest Hills: The Last Year essentially serves as another revamp, with extra content to try and make it stick, so it might be worth waiting until it comes out to see whether it’s worth giving a try.

Clock Tower: Rewind

October 29 (XO, PS4, NS, XSX, PS5, PC)

Originally released exclusively in Japan on the SNES, this updated release finally brings the classic 16-bit survival horror to the West, complete with additional content from 1997’s Clock Tower: The First Fear on PS1.

Although little known by most, this point ‘n’ click horror has been hugely influential on the genre, particularly in Japan. It revolves around you solving puzzles while being pursued by antagonist Scissorman, who you need to hide and escape from.

Purists can enjoy the original game in all its glory, but the revamped rewind mode promises an even more aggressive Scissorman, bug fixes, and other quality of life improvements, as overseen by 2D specialist WayForward.

Alan Wake 2: The Lake House

October (XSX, PS5, PC)

The sequel to Alan Wake might not have pleased us as much as it did some critics but there’s no doubting it was a slickly made adventure. The Lake House is the second and final piece of DLC, following Night Springs, which looks set to have stronger ties with Remedy’s other game Control (a significantly better game too, in our opinion).

Whereas Night Springs played up Alan Wake 2’s silly side, a trailer suggests this is going full on horror, to match the Halloween season. You’ll play as Kiran Estevez, an agent under the Federal Bureau of Control, as she investigates the Lake House in a story which runs parallel to events of the main game.

Slitterhead

November 8 (XO, PS4, XSX, PS5, PC)

It might fall just the wrong side of Halloween, but this survival horror title is, now that we’ve played Silent Hill 2, our most anticipated of the year. Directed by Keiichiro Toyama – who is best known as the creator of Silent Hill, Forbidden Siren, and Gravity Rush – Slitterhead looks like another unique proposition, where you control a spiritual entity that can possess humans and jump between bodies mid-combat.

While it doesn’t appear to lean on scares, the creature designs look suitably nasty based on trailers – with the gameplay appearing to fall somewhere between Devil May Cry and err… Geist on the Nintendo GameCube.

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