Horror fans are truly spoiled at the moment. Hot on the heels of the fantastic Cronos: The New Dawn and Silent Hill f we are now excitedly waiting for the latest in Capcom’s legendary Resident Evil series. But the wait shouldn’t be bereft of awesome horror games as indie developers are producing titles of superb quality. Recent classics like Crow Country, Hollowbody, The Mute House, and Dead of Darkness are all great choices if you’ve not played them yet, but with Halloween tonight, we’re right in the middle of a flourish of horrifying highlights. So many games are coming out that I’m not going to be able to fully cover them with reviews so here’s what’s going to be keeping me busy in my personal gaming time over the next few weeks and months.
Tormented Souls 2
I’m working on a review for this sequel to the cult classic original, which launched last week. That game really captured the feel and challenge of survival horror whilst also adding some unique twists of its own.
The second game continues this and adds an extra layer of polish on top. The combat remains refreshingly hard and the puzzles often require some lateral thinking whilst the narrative is dark and full of mystery. This is an easy recommend but my full review should be up next week.
Painted in Blood
Out now in Early Access, Painted in Blood offers a more action packed first person perspective and feels like the fusion of classic survival horror atmosphere and the Painkiller series. The clear Boomer Shooter influence makes this title stand out amongst the more traditional fixed camera games that populate this list and the look and feel of the game only cement this as a stand out title
Silly Polly Beast
Strange name aside, this recently released title has a striking visual style and unique identity, taking part through multiple camera perspective and playstyles. The titular Polly escapes from her orphanage prison and finds herself trapped in Hell. As she makes her way through she encounters many demons and otherworldy creatures who can be friend or foe whilst learning magic spells to unleash her full strength and potential.
Flesh Made Fear
One of two classic fixed camera angle survival horror games scheduled to release today, on Halloween itself, Flesh Made Fear brings grindhouse visuals and sensibilities to the genre.
The atmosphere reminds me of horror films like Night of the Living Dead as your group of special forces operatives find themselves stranded in the nightmarish Rotwood Forest in search of the sinister Victor Ripper, a mad scientist whose experiments have turned the town into a horrific mix of mutations and occult rituals. The demo for this showed a real understanding of the genre whilst promising some new twists and I’m excited to start it as soon as I can.
Echoes of the Living
The other Halloween release is a game I’ve been following for years since the first announcement and early demos. Echoes of the Living is a ridiculously polished looking project from a husband and wife dev team that absolutely nails the Resident Evil 2 vibe with alternating characters and routes through a city at the mercy of a zombie virus. This has been up there with the new Silent Hills and Resident Evils in my most wanted list and its upcoming release is a testament to the passion of indie developers in this genre.
If this isn’t enough horror to tide you over, then the releases keep coming. While dates aren’t yet confirmed, the following games have demos or playtests to try out before adding them to your wishlist.
Becrowned
Becrowned is another game that I have been following closely for a while now, with each demo showcasing the progression of a title that promises a fusion of Silent Hill and Resident Evil. The most recent demo features the beginning of the game and offers a glimpse of the psychological horror it contains. The surreal and dream-like atmosphere sees your player character, Richard Torrance, venture through a range of locations in a purgatorial quest to unravel the nature of his imprisonment in such a nightmare.
Pinnacle Point
Like many other games in this list, Pinnacle Point takes clear inspiration from the two main survival horror juggernauts but also adds in some Alan Wake to the equation. You play as Aron, a troubled scientist returning to the location of a world changing experiment to find his brother who he left behind.
The island of Pinnacle Point stays in Aron’s dreams and calls out to him, leading him into a world of twisted mutations and cosmic horror. Shadowy foes are protected by a radiation field that must be disrupted before they can be hurt, with the mechanic playing out similarly to the torch and gun approach of Alan Wake.
Even this list isn’t exhaustive, with promising titles such as Kingdom of Night, SSR Wives: The Murder of My Winter Crush, Welcome to Doll Town, Wicked Seed, Shutter Story, Project Songbird, Withering Realms, and the recently announced Darkwood 2 all due over the next year or so. There’s almost certainly more titles that I’ve forgotten as the new golden age of indie horror continues to offer terrifying delights.
