Every movement feels important to Selene’s ongoing survival, and knowing the consequence of falling to the tendrils or energy blasts of one of Atropos’ nastier inhabitants is a trip back to the start that manages to be exhilarating where it could easily have been frustrating.īack 4 Blood (Developer: Turtle Rock – Format: Multi)
What really sells it is the punishing arcade-inspired combat. From the Giger-esque environments of its alien world of Atropos, to the cosmic horror monstrosities that inhabit it, and in the strange occurrences that blight protagonist Selene, Returnal is all atmosphere and dread. Yet my biggest takeaway from it was that of horror. More sci-fi action than horror? Yes, you could indeed say that of Returnal. Returnal (Developer: Housemarque – Format: PS5) I doubt it will end up gaining anything like the cult status of the games it’s inspired from, but Tormented Souls invokes the spirit of them superbly. The work of a small studio is quite impressive here, especially in the detail of its creepy old private hospital setting. Tormented Souls (Developer: Dual Effect – Format: Multi)Ī throwback survival horror with a PS2-era attitude, Tormented Souls is sincere enough with its schlocky melodramatic attempt to recreate the likes of Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose to be forgiven for some of its technical misgivings. As ever, your own personal picks for games of the year are more than welcome in the comments section below! Obviously, these are my personal picks, and as such, if something isn’t here that you think should be, I didn’t play it or didn’t get on with it as much as the rest.
Right then, onto the Best Horror (and yes, sometimes horror adjacent) Games of 2021.
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Jupiter Hell: Doom as a top-down, turn-based game? That’s essentially what Jupiter Hell is, and it pulls it off pretty well.Ĭhristmas Massacre: Right at the death, Puppet Combo dropped a festive score attack game where you are a serial killer, racking up kills against the public whilst dressed as Santa. Nix Umbra: A deceptively simple score attack game setup leads to an unsettling, visually-captivating folk horror experience The Last Stand: Aftermath: A solid apocalypse survival game that plays out like a serious take on Death Road to Canada.
Violent, bloody, and excellent it may be, but it leans further into sci-fi than horror. I love it a lot, and slapped the whole 5 skulls on it for this very website, but it would be a bit much to have it adorn a top 10 of the year for horror. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood: Shallow as a puddle in so many ways, but let me tell you, I really enjoyed being a hulking eco-warrior who can turn into a regular wolf and a monstrous werewolf.ĭeathloop: Look, Deathloop is fantastic. So first up, a few honorable mentions that, for various reasons, didn’t quite make the final ten. So much so that I struggled to keep it at just ten. One thing that struck me this year was the sheer variety of horror experiences on offer.
Whilst it’d be nice to just swim in a sea of hazy sentimentality, 2021 had plenty of new games to discover as well. Nostalgia was well rewarded in 2021, with ports and stellar remasters of revered classics such as Alan Wake, Quake, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors among the restored hits. Elsewhere, Silent Hill 2 turned 20 with rumblings of new entries in the franchise sadly still just that.
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Not only did the series celebrate its 25th anniversary, but the eighth mainline game was also released and proved there was still plenty in the tank for the franchise’s future. Luckily, there was plenty of it on offer.Ģ021 marked a huge year for perhaps the biggest name in horror games, Resident Evil. Unfortunately, 2021 was still largely haunted by the ghost of 2020, and as such, escapism remained a vital component of day-to-day life.