The Scariest Games of 2016

As we head into the Halloween season this year we noticed there haven’t been as many scary games this year as we’ve seen in previous years.  Last year, we were enjoying Until Dawn and Bloodborne, playing Soma, and still laughing at the godawful The Order: 1886.  This year, we don’t have nearly as many options.  Years before provided plenty of scary titles (some more successful than others) and this year there just not much horror out there. Part of this may be timing; both Outlast 2 and Resident Evil 7 are due next year (making 2017 a good year for horror titles).  Still, there are some fun scary experiences to be had.  Here’s our list of the scariest games we’ve played since last Halloween.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt DLC

I know, we talk about the Witcher a lot.  We love the hero, we love the story, and we love the gameplay.  The main title has some great sequences in it, but the main story of the game doesn’t have many really scary parts.  Sure, every now and then you might stumble over an overpowered monster that sends you running, but – for our money – the game’s scariest moments are all in the DLC.  The scariest scenes we played with Geralt – the sexy/scary vampire in Geralt’s basement, the terrifying scythe-wielding gardener, the spoon-hoarding wraith, and the From Dusk Til Dawn-style vampire invasion – all arrive in the two DLC releases that we played this year.  If you beat the main game and are looking for something scary for the Halloween season, check these two out.

Given Geralt’s fairly single-minded obsession with attractive women, it’s nice to see he draws the line somewhere.

Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear is a great little horror game about a struggling artist with demons in his past.  The game is technically a walking simulator (you can die but you come right back) but even without concerns for your health the game still managers to ratchet up the fear.  The game’s real strength comes early on when you are first exploring the house and begin to realize that doors and hallways are shifting around on you.  There are game shifts from unsettling to creepy the scary very slowly as you venture through the house uncovering memories and piecing together the source of supernatural happenings.  It’s a slow burn, but once you’re in it, it’s hard to put the game down.

It’s good, but is it “art?” Also, where is the mouth?

Inside

Inside is a standout game this year in which you play as a small boy on a mysterious quest into a secret government lab.  The most shocking elements of the game come when your character gets heartless killed (Limbo style) by wild dogs, evil agents, and other environmental hazards.  The story is told very abstractly and there’s a lot of ambiguity that persists after the credits roll, but the graphics and gameplay put this game firmly in the must-play category.  The game may lose some momentum as you shift from outdoor exploration into some underwater puzzles, but the bonkers final act makes the entire game worth playing.

It’s a shame we can’t use this technology to recreate “Thriller.”

Grayout

Grayout is a different kind of horror title.  Here, you play a patient with a peculiar condition affecting your ability to speak.  Each time you talk, you carefully create sentences.  Gradually, you begin to realize that the conditions in the hospital are more sinister than you were led to believe, and the horror here comes from your inability to control your own speech; each time you want to talk, you have to assemble phrases out of the jumble of words available.  With minimalist graphics, the game succeeds in making you feel truly powerless in a terrifying situation against some very dark forces.  For an unnerving and intellectual experience, you should check this one out.

Not much of a talker, am I?

Oxenfree

Oxenfree is an unusual game in which you lead a group of high school friends who are trying to escape an island haunted by interdimensional beings.  Gameplay is point-and-click as you explore the beautiful island and dialogue is extremely well written.  The game starts with a great Stephen King-esque reunion of old friends for a party and then introduces the omnipotent beings you have to outsmart to keep the characters alive (though I’m not sure anybody can actually die).  You have some choices about which locations to visit, which characters to partner with, and which plans to follow, and each of these decisions branches your story and provides greater replayability.  It’s kind of a quiet title, but it’s a great horror story for the point-and-click crowd.

Hey it looks like an Oxenfree/Firewatch crossover episode!

Dark Souls 3

There are few games out there that are as good as scaring us as the Dark Souls series.  The game has loads of dangerous enemies to battle who can kill you almost instantly.  You spend the game in a near-constant state of stress as the monsters seem to have you surrounded on all sides.  Dark Souls 3 is as scary as any Dark Souls title.  The bosses are also really terrifying this time around and, of course, instant death awaits around every corner.  There are few games that get under our skin as easily as the Dark Souls titles, and if you’re looking to be scare this Halloween, there’s no better game to play.

Dark Souls 3 has some terrific nightmare fuel.