If you're feeling festively frightful, and looking for some games to make you soil yourself this Halloween, put that torch away, friend, and look no further.
Games are capable of making us feel a wide range of emotions and the games on this list will make you feel panic, fear, dread, and eternal thanks that it's not really real. We've compiled a list of some of the most terrifying games available to play on Xbox this Halloween. Turn off your lights, turn the sound up high and bring a towel for your sweaty brow; you're in for a bumpy night.
Must Play
Layers of Fear
Layers of Fear will twist your melon so hard you'll think it's become one of those curly glass bottles you keep colored sand in. Graphically gorgeous, the art style portrayed in Layers of Fear is wonderful and the artist's descent into madness is visually brutal. What's more, the artwork he creates is nothing short of chilling. The progress he makes on the work as he builds layers of the painting creates a vivid picture of mental sickness.
The artist's house is a maze of corridors and doors that appear out of nowhere or vanish and turn back on themselves, giving you the impression you are being messed with. Every moment this happens, it is equally unexpected and delightful to feel like you can't believe your own eyes. Genuinely in a class of it's own, Layers of Fear deserves the top spot just for how unexpectedly thrilling it is.
Bottom line: Using your peripheral vision against you, Layers of Fear will startle and scare you in a truly unique manner which is yet to be sufficienly emulated or bettered.
Runners up:Metro Redux | Resident Evil Remastered | Dead Space | Outlast | The Evil Within | Alien: Isolation | Among The Sleep
Apocalypse Remastered
Metro Redux
If you prefer shooting over skulking, Metro Redux has you covered. Metro Redux contains Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light in one great package. Nuclear war and radiactive mutations are real threats in Metro. It has wonderful horror elements, detailed environments and an engaging plot. The titular Metro refers to the fact that much of the planet's surfaces are irradiated, and the only safe places are below ground in Metro/subway stations.
Bottom line: Look after your gas mask, and it will look after you! If you want to go above ground, you'll need a working one. Or you could die.
Survival Horror
Resident Evil Remastered
Hailed as the very first game of the survivor horror genre, Resident Evil, created by Shinji Mikami recently reached its 20th birthday. 20 whole years of pooping yourself stupid over dogs jumping through windows, houses with a labyrinth of rooms and zombies, lickers, sharks, giant snakes... and that tell-tale squishy sound effect that meant you could hear zombies before you saw them.
Resident Evil tells the story of the Racoon City S.T.A.R.S team investigating the missing Bravo Team who had been last seen in the mountainous region. They are set upon during their search and find themselves in a mansion harboring a deadly biological secret. With a Resident Evil 2 remake also in the works, and Resident Evil 7 launching in 2017, we may be seeing S.T.A.R.S for a while yet.
Bottom line: This incredible classic will inject the jumps in all the right places, and offers more content for those only familiar with retro console releases.
Scream into the void
Dead Space
Dead Space isn't for the faint of heart — or the faint-bladdered, for that matter. My personal experience with the Dead Space franchise compels me to add it to this list because those necromorphs will haunt you forever.. Heavily atmospheric environments will have you jumping at every little noise, and believe me, the jumps come thick and fast. Exploring the depths of space and facing off against the horrific necromorphs is enough to put me off from volunteering for any missions to Mars anytime soon.
Grab Dead Space via Xbox One's Backwards Compatibility. Remember: in space, no-one can hear you soil yourself as you curl into a ball, weeping.
Bottom line: Dead Space is genuinely one of the scariest games you could ever play, but will be one you'll want to see through to the end of the franchise.
Hide and Seek
Outlast
There are things I like to be chased by, and big, naked, murderously violent men with no lips are not one of them. Outlast has you stepping into the shoes of an investigative journalist who has been tipped off to some weird goings-on at a mental asylum. Being the astute and eager young man he is, he rushes off to the asylum with nothing but his night-vision camcorder in hand. Played most often through that night-vision, Outlast is dark, stressful, atmospheric, and scary enough that the likelihood if it being played in short bursts is quite high.
The real kicker is that you have absolutely no way to protect yourself from attack. Should you alert an enemy, your only option is to run away and hide and hope they don't find you. The higher your difficulty setting, the more hiding places enemies will check, and the fewer batteries you will have at your disposal to recharge your camcorder.
Bottom line: Outlast is graphic, and certainly terrifying. It's even better to play with someone who doesn't know when the scares are!
The Evil Without
The Evil Within
Directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, The Evil Within seems a 'return-to-genre' comeback. As with all survival horror games, learning when to fight, and when to run the heck away are paramount, and you'll certainly have a hard time deciding which you should do. The Evil Within boasts even mild RPG elements, as collecting vials of Green Gel allows you to upgrade protagonist Sebastian Castellanos's health, stamina and ammo capacity.
Bottom line: The general consensus within the Windows Central Xbox team is that The Evil Within doesn't play around, scaring us witless on many an occasion.
Xenomorph Xenaphobia
Alien: Isolation
Many people might put this in the top spot. Xenomorphs are many people's favorite "horror movie monster", and Alien: Isolation really upped the ante. Previous 'Alien' games weren't good, but Isolation is truly terrifying. Rather than getting swamped with black shiny skinned, eyeless, murderous humanoids, Isolation features just one xenomorph who antagonises you for the duration of the game.
Bottom line: Emphasizing evasion over combat, ammo can be worryingly scarce.
Childhood Nightmares
Among the Sleep
Among The Sleep is a psychological horror game where you take control of a young boy as he collects memories of his mother with the help of his teddy bear guide. With a sad twist and plenty of ducking and diving from creepy tree monsters, Among The Sleep hides much more adult themes than first meets the eye.
Bottom line: This Kickstarter indie is vibrant and colorful, yet still manages to be frightening.
Best overall
Layers of Fear
I know, I know! What were we thinking, right? Putting Layers of Fear in the top spot and not Alien: Isolation for example?! Heresey! Here's why though. Games like Alien: Isolation are made to be overtly and obviously terrifying. The mind games of Layers of Fear are in many ways way more rewarding and enjoyable than hiding from xenomorphs. This year, we're recommending Layers of Fear for Halloween because you could look on any list and find the usual suspects in the top spot, and you guys deserve better than that!
The Bottom line: Layers of Fear is a smart and engaging horror game that should be appreciated in all it's indie glory.
One more thing: DLC has also recently been released, adding even more terror to the glorious mix!
Over to you!
Are there any other horror games you think should be on this list? Is there anything you'd change on the list? What would your list look like? Let us know in the comments!