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Influential horror series 'Amnesia' now available on PS4
It turns out horror games are like buses -- you spend ages waiting for one to arrive and then three show up at once. After years of PC exclusivity, the Amnesia Collection finally allows PlayStation gamers to see what all the fuss is about. Costing $29.99, this digital package includes horror classics: Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, Amnesia: Justine and Amnesia: The Dark Descent -- for the first time.
'Here They Lie' trailer is a frightening glimpse at PlayStation VR
Here They Lie wowed us back at E3 with its virtual reality spin on existential horror. Now its latest trailer offers up plenty more reasons to get excited (or preemptively terrified) ahead of its October 13th release (right alongside PlayStation VR's debut). Developed by the team at Tangentleman, it puts you in the shoes of a man experiencing a smorgasbord of horrific imagery while pursuing a mysterious woman. And being a VR joint, you'll get to suffer right alongside him.
The resurrection of 'Allison Road'
When Chris Kesler was six years old, he sat just outside his cousin's room and peered at the flickering TV through a crack in the doorway. On-screen, in grainy VHS quality, a murderous red-haired doll in Cabbage Patch overalls laughed as it attempted to murder anyone in its path. Kesler was enraptured. He technically wasn't allowed to watch Child's Play, but he was drawn to its terror the way other kids gravitated toward Saturday morning cartoons. "I was scared for days, but there was something really fascinating about it," Kesler recalls. "I think one of the major draws of horror is that there's a whole range of emotions that you can experience from the comfort and safety of your home." Kesler's fascination with terror followed him into adulthood. He's the creator and lead developer of Allison Road, a first-person horror game that fans have been looking forward to since its reveal in late 2015. Allison Road gained early traction largely because of its similarities to P.T., a high-profile mini-game from Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro that served as the prequel to Silent Hills. The Silent Hill franchise is revered among horror fans, and at the time, its resurrection from two masters of storytelling was exciting news.
'Outlast 2' drops you in a desert for a fresh batch of nightmares
The Outlast 2 demo made me jump and shriek in the middle of the E3 show floor, in Microsoft's rowdy Xbox space where I was surrounded by swashbuckling pirates, roaring racing games and joyous fans. With my clammy fingers gripping an Xbox One controller, headphones hugging my ears, Outlast 2 sucked me in. Its setting, a pitch-black northern Arizona desert, was impressively immersive -- not to mention accurate to the actual Supai region that inspired it. I should know: I've backpacked through the area. The Outlast 2 demo is horrifying, wonderful, gruesome and downright marvelous -- in a bone-chilling kind of way.
'Here They Lie' made a nightmare feel safe on PlayStation VR
The advantage that horror video games have over movies is that you're an active participant in what's happening; you make what happens onscreen that much scarier. But playing these games in virtual reality instead of a 2-D screen is a different proposition: The display is on your face, and in the case of PlayStation VR, costs $400. Ripping the headset off and reflexively throwing it to the ground out of fright is going to be a very expensive mistake. That's why the team at Tangentlemen is taking a different approach for Here They Lie, a psychological thriller drawing from directors Stanley Kubrick and Terry Gilliam, and films like It Follows and Jacob's Ladder for inspiration.
Horror game 'The Park' reaches consoles May 3rd
Funcom's The Park has become a bit of a sleeper hit among PC gamers thanks to its combination of parenthood-themed horror and its Let's Play-friendly game mechanics, and now it's ready to come to consoles. The studio has revealed that The Park will be available on May 3rd for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The exploration title isn't expected to change much in the conversion, but that's fine -- really, it's all about the short-but-scary experience of losing your child in a theme park gone horribly wrong.
Why did 'Layers of Fear' launch in the month of love?
The universe of human emotion is complex and dense, filled with wildly firing synapses and warring wavelengths. Some people embrace all-consuming feelings like love but shy away from adrenaline-pumping activities like skydiving or visiting a haunted house. Others love to be scared yet are terrified of love. Few understand these emotional inconsistencies better than Bloober Team. The studio released the heart-pounding horror game Layers of Fear on Feb. 16th, just two days after Valentine's Day -- and about three months after Halloween. "Paradoxically, we like to be scared," says Rafal Basaj, a spokesperson for the company. "Although we cannot say that we live in times devoid of problems and fears, but most of us rarely feel terrified and our bodies just need to remember how to react to fear. The horror genre gives us a way of filling that gap in a safe environment."
'P.T' can return to your PS4 if you know the right tricks
When Konami cancelled Silent Hills as part of its broader retreat from top-tier video games, it was determined to burn bridges. It not only stopped offering the excellent P.T. teaser, but prevented people who had downloaded it from getting it again -- if you wiped your PS4, there was a real chance P.T. was gone forever. However, it now looks like there might be light at the end of the dark, creepy tunnel. A Gamexeon forum member has discovered that it should be possible to re-download the horror mini-game by installing PC software that lets you access your PS4 library through a proxy server.
Recommended Reading: Who are the best horror movie monsters?
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Happy 'Halloween': The Best Horror-Movie Monsters by Shea Serrano and Jason Concepcion, Grantland To get you in the proper mindset for tonight's ghoulish activities, Grantland offers a look at the best horror movie monsters of all time. Jason, Michael, Freddy and Leatherface are all considered for categories like best costume, most creative kill and more. Take a look... if you dare.
Periscope's first live horror flick will scare you off the internet for good
The internet can be a scary place if you're not careful. Horror film producer Jason Blum is making sure of that. His latest film, Fifteen, doesn't just leverage social media networks for its setting, they're also the movies' broadcast platform. The film follows a serial killer who livestreams his heinous crimes in real time using the Periscope app to promote his grisly deeds. So of course the movie itself premiered live on Periscope Thursday evening, just in time for the Halloween weekend. Blumhouse pictures, the film's production company, is billing the 20-minute show as a "live horror experience".
Terror returns in 'Outlast 2,' confirmed for fall 2016
Outlast was one of the most horrifying games of 2013 -- and perhaps of all time. Our review called it a "perfect nightmare" of gore, mental strain and tense sound design, and the Whistleblower DLC, which followed in 2014, was similarly heart-pounding. Just two days before Halloween 2015, independent studio Red Barrels has unveiled Outlast 2, due next fall for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Mac. Details are scarce, but we know that this sequel will be a brand-new beast. "The game will be a survival-horror experience and it will take place in the same universe as Outlast, but it will have different characters and a different setting," Red Barrels co-founder Philippe Morin outlined in October 2014. A brief teaser trailer released today suggests Outlast 2 will continue the franchise's theme of haunting religious imagery.
Playdate's Xbox 360 Halloween Horror: 'Dead Space' and 'Condemned'
Today on Playdate, we're facing our fears. Not of things that go bump in the night, but of industrial mining spaceships and rabid hobos. It's all in the name of good fun though! We're taking a trip back to check out some of the Xbox 360's best horror games this Halloween week with Dead Space and Condemned: Criminal Origins. Join myself and Sean Buckley for the scream-fest starting at 6PM Eastern / 3PM Pacific for two hours of survival horror here on this post, the Engadget Gaming homepage or Twitch.tv/joystiq if you'd like to make fun of Tim's shrill shouts of terror.
'The Park' isn't your typical haunted-carnival horror game
The Park looks like a classic first-person horror game that happens to take place in a creepy, dilapidated, deadly amusement park. It has all the horror bells and whistles, from rides that suddenly start on their own to a skeletal, shadowy figure known simply as "the boogey man." But, just like a placid lake in a haunted campground, something more lies beneath The Park's surface. Its narrative is inspired by something life-altering and terrifying. The Park is a game about parenting.
'Slender: The Arrival' is ready to creep out Wii U players this month
Everyone knows the tale of Slender Man, the impossibly tall, lanky, humanoid creature with no face who wears a suit and stalks unsuspecting children in dark woods and quiet nighttime hallways. In other words, it's perfect fodder for a horror game. Slender: The Arrival is a first-person exploration game about Lauren, a young woman searching for her friend and Slender Man fanatic, Kate, who's gone missing. The game is already out on Steam, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and now it's coming to haunt the Wii U. Slender: The Arrival hits Wii U on October 22nd in North America, complete with special Wii remote capabilities. The flashlight is the most important item in the game, and Wii U players can move the Wii remote -- not the Wii U Gamepad -- to control the in-game torch. Not that it will stop Slender Man from finding them, of course.
Play as Jason in the first official 'Friday the 13th' game since 1989
When Gun Media's Wes Keltner and Ronnie Hobbs announced Summer Camp, a slasher-inspired horror game set in a creepy campground, it was already more than an homage to Friday the 13th. The developers were open about their love of ghostly, hockey-masked murderer Jason Voorhees and they had even recruited Friday the 13th veterans to work on the game. This included actor, director and special-effects creator Tom Savini, the man behind the mask in Friday the 13th parts 7-10 Kane Hodder, and the film's original composer Harry Manfredini. "Basically, we were a Friday the 13th video game; we just didn't have the license," Hobbs said. Five months after the announcement of Summer Camp, Friday the 13th creator and director Sean S. Cunningham reached out to the team with his blessing -- and, after a few meetings, the license to the Jason Voorhees franchise.
Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck on his first video game soundtrack
Robin Finck's slow entry into the video game industry began, as he puts it, "a hundred years ago." Around that time, Finck -- best known as the guitarist for Nine Inch Nails -- ran into Devolver Digital co-founder Mike Wilson in a fairly unconventional place. "Mike Wilson and I camped adjacent one another at Burning Man," Finck explains. "I think he was dressed in shades and a flag and not much more, save the dust."
Konami's canceled 'Silent Hills' featured a horror manga master
Konami didn't just waste the talents of famed director Guillermo del Toro when it canceled Silent Hills -- it also tossed aside a legend of the comic book world. Del Toro has revealed that horror manga master Junji Ito (of projects like Gyo and Hellstar Remina, above) was supposed to be collaborating on the project. It's unclear just what he was working on, but his tastes for unnerving imagery and warped storylines are likely good clues as to what you were going to get. And that's a real shame: Ito's approach is a perfect fit for the psychological horror of the Silent Hill series, and he might have helped the new title escape the common tropes of the genre. Let's just hope that Ito shapes other games in the future.
'Bedtime Stories for Awful Children,' a free ebook from 'Year Walk' devs
The dark, freezing woods of Sweden are the perfect breeding ground for terrifying tales of naughty children who get what they deserve. This week, Simogo -- the developer of beautifully macabre game Year Walk, and mysterious narrative experiences Device 6 and The Sailor's Dream -- released a free, illustrated ebook collecting a handful of five re-tooled, scary Swedish folk tales. It's called Year Walk Bedtime Stories for Awful Children, and it's available in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. "We think obnoxious children all over the world deserve dark nightmares," Simogo writes.
Sony isn't intentionally keeping 'Until Dawn' off of Twitch
Right now, there's a bit of an issue going on with Twitch and the PlayStation 4's horror-movie-director simulator, Until Dawn. Yesterday the Twitch Support Twitter account posted that if you were using PS4's built-in Twitch sharing functionality that Sony had disabled archiving. Based on the response we got from Sony, it doesn't seem like it was for a nefarious reason or anything, mostly just forgetting to flip a switch.
Playdate: We're screaming through the teen-horror of 'Until Dawn'
By now you've (hopefully!) read our review of Sony's latest PlayStation 4 exclusive, Until Dawn. I'd also like to think that you've gazed upon its faces and gorgeous cinematography too. If you're still on the fence about buying it though, well, maybe our Twitch stream starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT will change that. We'll be broadcasting two hours of the teen fright-fest today and I'd like to you join Sean Buckley and myself because the decisions we make in the game will be entirely up to you. That's right: You'll choose who lives and who dies, the paths we take through a Canadian mountainside and a whole lot more this afternoon. Are you ready for that kind of responsibility? Perhaps the better question is if you're ready to hear my shrill screams. Let's find out. Together.
