Still Wakes The Deep was a fun Lovecraftian horror from this year. Unique setting on a North Sea oil rig with an authentic Scottish cast. Also didn’t overstay its welcome at roughly 4 hours length; I believe it’s on GamePass.
I played a bit of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice last night for Halloween, and it definitely has that spooky Halloween vibe. Definitely check it out if you get a chance.
I’m not going to say it’s my favorite Halloween game (that goes to either Grim Fandango or Costume Quest), but it has been a worthwhile experience so far.
Not sure whether you could consider it a Halloween game or not, but Gears of War. What’s more Halloween than an apocalypse?
I really liked Clive Barker’s Undying and replayed it a couple times. Great atmosphere, though I’m not sure how well it would hold up today. Early 3D stuff.
Honestly, games like Undying are exactly the games that need a remaster to fulfill the vision that was clearly there in the original. The first 2/3 are still a marvelous horror game, but the end is so unfulfilling.
I’m not sure how old old is, but SOMA is always such a delight to play through.
Another somewhat older game is Duskers where you control drones one empty human ships, trying to find out where humans went.
SOMA might be the only game I’ve played that I almost regret going through. I can’t get it out of my head, and it always creeps me out at least a little when I think about it.
Same thing for me with the boiled one but I regret it completely.
I feel like Doom or Quake are cop outs here, but they are perennial replays, and they have some great horror aesthetics
Hexen for a change?
I wish the Hexen weapons felt more satisfying. They just pale in comparison to the Doom arsenal, with the meaty crown jewel being the double shotgun
They certainly sound satisfying, but definitely can’t beat Doom in terms of utility or power fantasy.
I do love the audio and visuals and vibe and just overall everything of HeXen a lot. It’s not as pick-up-and-play-able as the Doom, but it’s a great suggestion. Been a while since I did a replay, too…
MediEvil. It’s not a horror game, but I always think of it as the game that carries the Halloween feeling the best.
If you like point-and-click adventure games, there are a bunch in spooky territory:
Maniac Mansion/Day of the Tentacle
There are more, but these are the ones I’d start with if you haven’t played them.
Ooh, I loved Grim Fandango as a kid, but my disk kept breaking around the end of the game. I’ll have to go replay it, it has probably been long enough to forget most of the puzzle solutions. I recently replayed Day of the Tentacle and loved it. :)
The Monkey Island game that came out a year or two ago was pretty great too if you want a modern take on the genre.
I imagine you’ve played some of the others, but if not you should do 1 & 2 immediately.
I know I played Curse of Monkey Island, but I don’t think I played the first two, I’ll certainly give them a try. :)
Depends on what you call old and fitting for Halloween, but I can recommend Alice: Madness Returns .
Both Alice games are great. It’s too bad the third never got made.
Costume Quest
I was thinking the same thing. I quite enjoyed it!
Came here to say this.
I like me some horror games around Halloween, but this is by far my favorite actual Halloween game.
I don’t like horror games but Viscera Cleanup Detail I can accapt.
The only horror elements are the aftermath of a big and bloody gun fight and you’re tasked to clean up the mess. ;p
Of course, The 7th Guest! And The 11th Hour! I’m actually a bit obsessed…
7th guest VR is fantasic!
It’s not old, but I saw someone post their playthrough of Pumpkin Jack, which you play as a jack-o-lantern in a spooky-themed game.
I haven’t played it myself, but I’m a fan of fun platformers so I may check it out.
I played about an hour of it, and it’s okay. Expect a little less platformer and more action.
I don’t know about Halloween as such, but ghost-themed, I guess Ghost Master. Twenty years old now, but try to make use of various ghosts with different abilities to drive people out of various buildings and houses.
