The best way for any gamer to celebrate Halloween is with a spooky game. Fortunately, the horror genre usually never disappoints around this time of year, and gamers almost always have a nice selection of scary games to choose from. This year, gamers can select from the rat-infested horrors ofA Plague Tale: Requiem, or the terrors ofScorn.Resident Evil Villagealso brings a new expansion that makes it worth revisiting, andCthulhu: Books of Ancientsarrives at Halloween to satisfy Lovecraft fans.
This marks the start of a series of months that will bring some of the biggest titles of the year. After October’s jam-packed release calendar, gamers can look forward to another good month with November wherehighly anticipated titles likeGod of War: RagnarokandPokemon Scarlet and Violetwill be released. December also appears to be filling up nicely, with titles likeNeed for Speed: Unboundscheduled for the holiday season. However, gamers shouldn’t overlook all the horror titles debuting this month.
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Scorn
One of the most intriguing releases this October isScorn. Developed by Ebb Software,Scorntakes gamers to a strange biopunk worldwhere machines and flesh have blended. The hellish environment is as mesmerizing as it is terrifying, and there is a sense of impending danger lurking around every dark corner. Though players will have weapons, the game is not a shooter, and players will have to use their brains to survive. The game lacks dialogue, forcing players to rely on clues in the environment to figure out their next move.Scornappears to be a creepy, gruesome survival horror game with an unsettling soundtrack to match. It launches on October 21 on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
InA Plague Tale: Innocence, gamers were introduced to Hugo and Amicia. Although the siblings occasionally bicker, they love each other dearly and stick side by side as they face life-threatening situations. As they escape the Inquisition and flee from terrifying rat swarms, they learn more about Hugo and make a few friends along the way. The sequel,A Plague Tale: Requiem,will continue their story, but the stakes have ramped up.
Thanks to the power of current-generation consoles,Requiemwill render 300,000 rats at once. Trailers have shown the rat tsunamis that Hugo and Amicia will have to escape from, and they are nothing to be scoffed at. Fortunately, it appears Amicia has more tools to play with, which should help her with both rat and human enemies. In addition to a new crossbow, she will also be able to creep up on enemies and stab them with a knife.
It appears that the upcoming story will be even darker. InInnocence, gamers saw Hugo and Amicia have their childhoods snatched away from them as they are forced to witness and do heinous things to survive. In a PlayStation blog post, Asobo Studio lead writer Sebastien Renard hinted that Amicia’s trauma may be a focus in the upcoming game. With Amicia and her brother facing bigger rat swarms than ever, they may find themselves having to commit increasingly violent acts to stay alive.A Plague Tale: Requiemmay be the scariest gamefor horror fans this Halloween. The game hits stores on October 18 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch via cloud.
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Resident Evil Village Gold Edition
Resident Evil Villageis receiving a re-release through theGold Edition, which bundles the game with the Winters' Expansion. This gives gamers access to a third-person mode, which should drastically transform how the game feels. For gamers who have already playedResident Evil Village, this is more than enough reason to jump into the adventure again. For newcomers who may have preferred theResident Evil 2and3remakes, this mode gives a gameplay experience more similar to that.
Theexpansion also brings theShadows of RoseDLC. It is played in third-person mode, and it focuses on Rosemary Winters, who is Ethan’s daughters. The campaign may answer many lingering questions fans have regarding the Winters family, or it may raise several more. Either way, it appears gamers are in for a terrifying experience. Lastly, theWinters Expansionbrings with itThe Mercenaries, an arcade game mode which has gamers blasting away a certain number of enemies in an area before time’s up. The difficulty ramps up with every stage, so players have to ensure their strategies are top-notch. The upcoming expansion is massive, makingResident Evil Village Gold Editionone of best games for this Halloween. It releases on October 28 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Cthulhu: Books of Ancients
Lovecraftian horror has had a foothold in gaming for decades, and games inspired by the macabre writer are almost too numerous to name. Whether it be the Gothic streets ofYharnam inBloodborrne, the deterioration of insanity inAmnesia: Dark Descent, or more direct influences found in titles such asCall of Cthulhu, Lovecraft’s touch can be found everywhere. Gamers looking for some cosmic horror this Halloween should turn to SimFabric’sCthulhu: Books of Ancients.
Book of Ancientsis a first-person horror game that has gamers taking the role of a detective looking for six missing children. Things seem normal until a note leads players to the University of Miskatonic, where they find the pieces to solve the murder puzzle. For a Lovecraft-inspired horror experience, as well as a murder mystery,Cthulhu: Books of Ancientsseems to be a good bet. The game launches on Halloween on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Gamers looking for a spooky Halloween are spoiled for choice. However, there are plenty ofgames that aren’t scary releasing in October, too. This includes theUncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collectionwhich makes its debut on PC. The forecast for the next few months looks good, and gamers of all sorts should find something to suit their tastes.
