Halloween is an interesting holiday gamers in certain parts of the world enjoy. Whilst we generally fear and shun the dark creatures of fantasy and lore, during this time, children are no longer afraid of creatures told in their storybooks. Instead, they don costumes and roam the streets, terrorizing random households for candy. Whilst some residents may consider their presence to be a pleasant surprise, others view them as nothing more than a nuisance, and want something to drown out the gleeful screams of the little devils roaming in the night
Whether you’re anxiously waiting for the time when another little bunch comes collecting their due, or trying to pass the time while you desperately hope they don’t knock on your door, we present to you the top games you should play to get in the mood for (or to abandon trick-or-treating for) this Halloween!
Costume Quest
Do you miss the good times of your youth, back when you were amongst the ranks of the pillagers of sweets? Do you savor the times when you opened up your Pandora’s bag, full of random treats waiting for you? Do you want to relive Halloween as a kid once more?
Well, look no further! Costume Quest is a role playing game by Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions. Originally an Xbox Arcade only title, this nifty game has been very well ported into the personal computer for our enjoyment. Creatures have kidnapped your twin, and in order to save him/her, you’ll travel throughout neighborhood, gathering party members, completing quests for the neighborhood, creating new costumes, as well as trick-or-treating for candy!
As a bonus, the PC version of the games comes with the ‘Grubbins on Ice’ downloadable content pack, which pits our favorite twins into a new snowy scenario, with more costumes and quests!
Team Fortress 2
Valve’s over the top (now Free to Play) third person hat simulator has stricken the neighborhood once again, this time with yet another Halloween treat for all it’s participants. Halloween treats from the past, such as the Mann Manor map and the spooky Halloween themed hats and weapons are once again available to the masses, so there’s no better time to join the fray than now.
Alongside that, it seems the guys at Valve HQ may be planning something new for this year, so it’s best to keep your eyes open and your ears peeled for any new spooktacular events they will undoubtedly release over the course of the next few days…oh, did I near a howl in the distance?
Check out Team Fortress 2 here!
Dead Space (2)
If the joyful vibes of Double Fine’s Costume Quest or the mad hat parties of Valve’s Team Fortress 2 doesn’t suit your bill, Dead Space (2) might be the game for you.
Visceral Games’ entry into this horror series focuses on Engineer Issac Clarke, who responds to an emergency call from mining ship USG Ishimura. Assuming they needed repairs, the crew crash lands into the large mining complex, and things go out of hand fast. Within minutes, Issac’s crew are submitted to the horrors on board the Ishimura, and Issac must use all the resources the ship has to offer in order to traverse through the ship, for his remaining crew’s survival, and to find out the fate of his beloved on board.
The sequel follows Issac shortly after the events of Dead Space, as Issac is yet again plunged into the horrors that haunted him in the first game of the series. Proving themselves to be further evolved, the necromorphs have stricken again. Will Issac be able to survive this time?
F.E.A.R. Trilogy
In F.E.A.R., you play as a member of a US special operations team, specifically created to deal with paranormal activity. The plot revolves around him trying to stop Paxton Fettel’s ATC and it’s army of cloned super-soldiers. During that time, the player will also experience random hallucinations with a girl in a read dress named Alma. As the player progresses throughout the series, he’ll find out the intentions behind Fettel’s plans, as well as Alma’s origins, intentions, and whereabouts. This game is inspired heavily by Japanese horror, so players bored of the traditional horror games may be pleasantly spooked by this title.
The sequels follow the main protagonist as he finds out Alma’s true intent, while trying to survive the ever hostile paranormal events.
Check out the F.E.A.R. Trilogy here!
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
If you find Dead Space (2) and the FEAR series to be too much action and not enough horror, then we have a darker, much scarier (and we mean it!) title for you. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an adventure game created by the indie studio Frictional Games (which boasts a rather large number of horror adventures titles).
Daniel, the protagonist of this particular title, wakes up in an unknown place. Having lost his memories (Amnesia, get it?), he must find his way through a desolate castle looking for clues as to who he is, why he’s here, as well as the role he plays in this area, although it might not be as empty as it seems. Players will have to utilize tools and items to survive, as although there might be horror lurking in the corridors, there is a much greater darkness, stemming from within…Will you be able to tell the difference between reality and hallucinations?
Adult diapers recommended. You will scream like a little girl after she’s had her bag of sweets stolen.