10 Anticipated Horror Games of 2016

Remember how creepy the first Outlast was? No weapons, no combat, just some batteries and lots of heavy breathing in lockers. It was a fun and scary experience that wasn’t afraid to experiment with its novel concept. While details for the sequel are still scarce, the teaser is leading some to believe this time around there’ll be more open environments to roam around in, which likely means less places to run and hide. Eek! The series creator David Chåteauneuf at Red Barrels is a bonafide horror fan and probably knows what it takes to scare your pants off a second time. This is one to look out for.

Perception is story about Cassie, a young blind woman who is suffering from bizarre visions of a haunted mansion. We covered this game just a little while back, so you already know that the developer behind Perception is none other than Deep End Games. Formed by ex Bioshock and ex Dead Space developers, this is a studio that knows horror. What you might not know is that the game’s creator Bill Gardner is responsible for some of the slower paced, more horror-oriented levels in the original Bioshock game. This makes it really exciting for anyone who wants an atmospheric game first, and an action game second.

Not a lot is known about The Walking Dead Season 3 but if the first two games in the series are any indication, we’ll be regretting lots of decisions around the halfway point in the game. While some will be as simple as who we gave our flashlight to, others will literally be a matter of life and death for you and your friends. The Walking Dead series thus far has been a great tool to see what type of person you are and what type of monster you’d become in a true zombie apocalypse. We expect nothing different in The Walking Dead Season 3.

Doom, the grandfather of all first person shooters, is getting back into the video game scene and you know it’s bringing a BFG. Though technically a shooter, Doom has you step into the boots of an unnamed space marine trying to shoot his way to survival against hordes of demons hell bent on his demise, so I say it counts as a horror game also. If you’re craving a fast paced, gory good time, look no further.

Stop having sex! Jason is back. Again. Everyone’s favorite murderous, unkillable prude is back. Friday the 13th will have two modes. In the single player mode, players take control of a camp counselor and try escape Jason’s grisly grasp in time for the cops to arrive, which for some reason means you win, when we all know Mr. Voorhees has been treating officers like murder fodder for decades now. But the real meat of the game is in the multiplayer mode where one player takes control of the pissed off goalie and six other friends play as camp counselors trying to survive a night of fun at Camp Crystal Lake.

Billed as a first person horror exploration game, Routine is reminiscent of the movie Alien in pacing and tone. Set in an abandoned Moon Base, players must explore the lunar station to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of its crew. The developers have been forthright about their influences from the horror genre, citing The Thing, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the aforementioned Alien as reference material. But what makes Routine different from everything else on this list is permadeath. Meaning, if you die in Routine there is no reloading checkpoints. Death, like in real life, is a permanent condition. While that might turn some players off, those looking for a true survival horror experience will be right at home.

The Hum series is setting up to be a robust franchise spanning novels, games, comics, and probably a movie or two for good measure. What we have coming in 2016 is The Hum: Abductions, a prequel to the main story about an alien invasion, but where the game separates itself from typical Hollywood fare is in the approach of the alien invaders. Instead of the usual boombastic, high octane attack on earth, the alien technology in The Hum is so advanced that we wake up one day and everybody is simply gone. Players take control of Holly, a mother and wife looking to uncover the mystery of her family’s whereabouts.

Considered by many to be the spiritual successor to Konami’s P.T., the playable teaser for the canceled game Silent Hills, Allison Road is yet another first person exploration horror game. But before we write this off as a just another copycat, take a look at that gameplay trailer. From the ambient sounds to the peering shadows creeping around every corner, Allison Road drips with terrifying atmosphere. The 13 minute gameplay trailer below should be a great example of the horror that awaits.

From the studio that brought us classy joints like Killer7, and Lollipop Chainsaw, Let It Die is described as a free-to-play, hack and slash, survival action game. Unfortunately, development hit a bit of a dry spell so not a lot of information has come out recently. But we do know that after numerous delays it’s scheduled for release sometime in 2016. What makes Let it Die so interesting is its asynchronous online elements that allows enemies in the game to utilize other players’ data against you, though the how of that hasn’t been made entirely clear yet. What is clear from the look of the trailer is that Let It Die looks like it’s aiming to be just as in-your-face as the Suda 51’s past work.

Nearly nothing is known about this remake, heck, we barely know it’s happening at all. But we did get the game’s developer Capcom to confirm that the project has been approved. So that gives us hope. Resident Evil 2 is widely considered to be the best Resident Evil game without a four in the title and is the only game Capcom has yet to give the remake treatment to, so this would be a pretty big deal for them and for us. Will it come out in 2016? With Capcom, who knows but there is a chance.