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Spooky Games That’ll Put You in a Halloween Mood

Spooky Games That’ll Put You in a Halloween Mood

‘Tis the season! Halloween is upon on us, and what better way to celebrate than to list a few of my favorite horror games? I chose these games for the atmosphere they present and any unique game mechanics that help them stand out from the basic haunted house simulator. Nothing sets the Halloween mood like the slow build of a gothic horror game. That isn’t to say I don’t love my hilarious Dracula or Dead Rising , but that list is for another time – Halloween has room for both, to be sure. So let’s get started!

First on the list is a game already out for PS4, PC, Xbox One, so you can definitely play this one on the fateful scary day. Layers of Fear is a game centred around a painting maestro on his search for the perfect masterpiece. But his paintings aren’t just normal paintings – look again and they change to reveal the truth or another layer of illusion. It becomes apparent quite quickly that the painter the player controls is off his rocker. One of the first things you discover is that he has paid for pest control to get rid of the rats in the house – only there are no rats. Rats, however, star in the painter’s illusions almost more often than anything else. It can be argued that Layers of Fear is nothing more than a boring haunted house simulator, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Room after room, loop after loop, the game can get fairly tiresome. The unique mechanic of this game is what breaks these loops of one similar room after another – they are changing constantly. The moment you leave one room, it is no longer behind you. You can step into a parlour room and in the next moment, it will change. Doors will disappear until there is no exit at all (which gave my claustrophobia a run for its money). What better way to spend Halloween than to get lost in the ever-morphing maze of Layers of Fear ?

This next game is to be released October 13 (if only it were a Friday) for the PS4 and PSVR. Here They Lie is published by Sony and developed by The Tangentlemen. Judging by the trailer, this game is certainly well suited to the PSVR. It places you in a very strange city, apparently deserted by humans. Instead, you meet golem-like creatures with glowing eyes – and I could swear those are branches coming out of their heads. Though not particularly frightening in appearance (yet), they make the telltale clicking noise that would make any decent horror gamer run for the hills. Here They Lie steps out of the haunted house into the haunted city, varying the “rooms” into open environments. I’m certainly curious to know if you get the luxury of being armed in this game, or how far you can run if this city is so inescapable. Nonetheless, Sony implied there’s a great deal more to this game. “Struggle to survive as you wrestle with life or death moral choices and try to uncover the mystery of the woman in yellow,” says Sony’s blog. The woman in yellow narrates the trailer and she seems almost wistful about the terrifying situation in which you find yourself, which certainly lends to the mystery of this game.

Spooky Games That’ll Put You in a Halloween Mood

Last but not least, the only game that is scheduled to come out this year but probably won’t: Perception . As much as I wanted to keep this list about games you can actually play in the month of October, discovering this gem is too good not to share. It’s developed by a small team of veteran designers who were a part of Irrational Games during it’s peak with BioShock. If that isn’t enough to spark your interest, the premise of this game should. Cassie, the main character of Perception, is a young blind woman who has been drawing the same mansion over and over – until now. She’s finally found it, an apparently deserted estate on Echo Bluff. Once she enters the building, it becomes clear exactly how the player is able to see. Cassie uses echolocation, with each thump of her cane illuminating about a five foot radius for a few seconds. Everything is outlined in blue, a kind of sketch of what things look like to her. Problems arise, however, when it occurs to Cassie that sound attracts whatever is in the estate. There are so many other cool mechanics in addition to this, and I highly suggest you go check it out if you like horror games.

There, two amazing games you can play this Halloween and one to anticipate. I highly suggest turning out the lights and turning up your headphones, as there is nothing that completes a horror game more than sound – creepy or benign. Layers of Fear has just the right amount of psychedelic visions and physics defying rooms to keep you on your toes. Here They Lie sets the mood with a city out to get you and mystery a la Edgar Allan Poe. Finally, Perception certainly sounds like a game that will have you shivering with every blind step you take. Happy early Halloween!

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