Horror is back for 2017 and it's not messing around. Resident Evil 7’s kicked things off in great style and that’s only the beginning of the terror creeping your way. I’ve picked out six more games for the year ahead that are guaranteed to give you nightmares, or at least mild trauma. There’s body parts, psychological torture and plenty of ‘don't open the door’ doors.
But you will open those doors because that’s half the fun - the tightening tummy as you reach for the handle, the noise you make when the jump happens, and the laugh that follows. Horror games are great and these are some great horror games.
Friday the 13th: The Game
PC, PS4 & Xbox One
Release date: May 26th 2017
What is it and why should I be afraid?
While most horror games are trying to max out the blood and guts, this is going for full authenticity (and the blood and guts). It’s an asymmetrical multiplayer thing lovingly crafted by fans of the movie who are trying to capture every nuance, kill and mechanic of the films. They've even got actual Jason Voorhees, Kane Hodder, to do the mo-cap. Jason has heightened senses and an ability to teleport around the map as he pursues the counsellors at Camp Crystal Lake. They, in turn, can try and go it alone to survive, or team up to trigger ‘epic wins’ like fixing a car and getting the hell out of there. There's even a fear meter that means the more scared the counsellors get, the easier they'll be to track down. Disturbingly, Jason hears his mother encouraging him to murder his teenage victims. The attention to detail is excellent, with traditional horror tropes, multiple movie Jasons to choose from, iconic kills and music from the film all being worked in with care. Chhh chh chh chhh chh......
Worst bit: Watcha doin’ down there?
Perception
PC, PS4 & Xbox One
Release date: May 30, 2017
What is it and why should I be afraid?
What better way to make you afraid than limit your vision? How about totally blind? Actually that’s not strictly true, the hero Cassie can ‘see’ sound via a form of echolocation. So anything that creates a noise, including a cane she can use to bang on the floor, will create an image via reflections. It’s a stroke of genius because the very thing you need to see is also what can give you away. All we know for a plot so far is that Cassie is exploring a strange house while being pursued by a malevolent entity called The Presence. He sounds nice.
Worst bit: Oh Hell no.
The Town of Light
PC, PS4 & Xbox One
Release date: TBC 2017 (out now on PC)
What is it and why should I be afraid?
19th century asylums aren't known for progressive mental health treatment. It was more a case of doctors standing around and taking notes like ‘throwing cold water over them just seems to be make things worse.’ This is based on real life accounts of old asylum patients, making it the most dreadful kind of terror: true. It follows a patient called Renée who returns to an asylum where she was treated in an attempt to piece together a past full of physical and mental abuse.
Worst bit: What? I'm just stroking my doll by a table of medical instruments.
Call of Cthulhu
PC, PS4 & Xbox One
Release date: 2017 TBC
What is it and why should I be afraid?
H.P. Lovecraft created one of the most unpleasant horror worlds ever, full of tentacles, madness and a race of dimension-spanning alien Elder Gods. Even if you’ve never read any of it (and you should) you’ve encountered some slithering touch of it somewhere. This new take follows a private detective called Edward Pierce as he investigates a murder on Darkwater Island, where whales have washed up torn to pieces and the locals aren’t pleased to have visitors. It promises to play with one of Lovecraft’s biggest themes: insanity. The closer you get to Cthulhu the less reliable reality will get and you’ll descend further and deeper into madness.
Worst bit: I’ll come back later.
Agony
PC, PS4 & Xbox One
Release date: Spring 2017
What is it and why should I be afraid?
It’s hard to know where to start with Agony. Imagine being buried in a trough full of bloody mince but the mince has a face and it’s screaming. And on fire. That’s what you think about to forget Agony. Pitched simply as the story of a tortured soul trying to escape Hell, it touches just about every combination of taboo you can think of with blood, sex, mutilation, babies and torture all sort of happening at once. It’s like there’s a ice cream sprinkles bar for eternal damnation that just dumps everything on your cone. You can get a bigger breakdown of Agony’s horribleness here.
Worst bit: Round these parts we call this ‘Tuesday’.
Visage
PC, PS4 & Xbox One
Release date: Spring 2017
What is it and why should I be afraid?
The developer behind Visage knows exactly what it’s doing - creating a PT/Silent Hill substitute for the people that can’t let go. (Most of us, then.) This is a horror game all about story as you explore a house that has seen horrible things, as you will too eventually. “Death that comes at the hands of hate leaves traces…” states the trailer and Visage takes place in a building that’s seen multiple deaths. That’s conjured up some nightmarish entries stalking its corridors and a fairly loose grip on reality, with warping corridors and shifting rooms. There’s also a very old-school Silent Hill feel to an otherworld area that seems to exists inside the house.
Worst bit: Do you have... any other doors?
