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Halloween 2014: Horror video games fit for fright night
Why bother dressing up as a sexy nurse when you can lock yourself in your room and scare the living daylights out of yourself with these next-gen horror games…
DEAD RISING 3
Xbox One, PC
The latest incarnation of the zombie beat ‘em up sees you face off against hordes of the lumbering undead with a huge variety of improvised weapons, from sledge hammers to lawn mowers. While it’s not exactly sophisticated, ploughing down hundreds of vengeful corpses in a school bus is definitely more fun than it should be.
The Last Of Us
THE LAST OF US
PS4
This zombie thriller was the video games event of 2013 and a remastered update is available on PS4. Your character must shepherd a young girl – potentially mankind’s last hope of defeating a pathogenic spore that causes zombie-like behaviour – through a post-apocalyptic near-future. It’s scary and poignant in almost equal measure.
Alien: Isolation
ALIEN: ISOLATION
Xbox One, PS4, PC
No one has done Ridley Scott’s Alien justice in the video game world – until now. This claustrophobic space horror sees you assume the role of Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) daughter. Unlike other Alien games, you have no chance of killing this devastating predator – only of hiding and outsmarting it. It’s no exaggeration to say it’s one of the tensest, most frightening games ever made.
Daylight
DAYLIGHT
PS4 (PSN download), PC
Daylight’s plot isn’t about to win any awards for originality – you wake up in a psychiatric hospital with no idea how you got there. You’re hearing voices – or at least one voice – and something horrible seems to be following you, getting increasingly angry. The randomly generated levels ensure you’re constantly on your toes.
Among The Sleep
AMONG THE SLEEP
PS4 (PSN download), PC
This indie title is a breath of fresh air in terms of video game storytelling. You play a toddler crawling around your home, with terrifying creatures seeming to manifest around you. You’re hampered, unsurprisingly, by the fact you can’t walk properly yet. Crawling is your fastest mode of transport, but you can waddle for a few yards when you need to.
Outlast
OUTLAST
PS4 (PSN download), PC
If your idea of a good time is pure, unadulterated terror, then get onto the Playstation Network and download this survival horror nightmare. You play a journalist investigating a psychiatric hospital with a murky reputation. Inside are all manner of horrible things. Armed with only a phone and a video camera, you can’t fight what lies inside – only run. And if the batteries run out on your night-vision camera you’re in real trouble.
Evil Within Us
EVIL WITHIN US
Xbox One, PS4, PC
Released just in time for Hallowe’en, this new title from the mind of Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil) offers more of the same. Fight your way through various horror clichés, including deserted villages and creepy, blood splattered hospitals. There is nothing particularly new in terms of either story or execution but wasn’t the formula scary enough in the first place?