It Came To The PC!
- Details
- Created on Saturday, 25 October 2014 15:06
- Written by KTP
It Came To The PC!: A collection of good and free PC games this Halloween season.
This week, we highlight some lesser known and pretty well done horror titles for the PC. For fans of the genre, we are not going to do a “TOP TEN MOST” bullshit list with the same games you see over and over again. Instead, we are going to highlight some well done if lesser known titles that deserve their own time in the sun. Don’t worry about cost as these are all free thanks to a devoted community.
This isn't Ebola. This kid just got stuck watching How To Get Away With Murder. Sucks bro.
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
This Korean game has been updated and fan patched since 2001 which is an accomplishment on its own. While it may seem a bit dated, the scares are there in a more psychological way with a mixture of visuals and use of sound rather than jump scares. You are a new student stuck in the wrong school at the wrong time at night. While you meet other students (who also decide it's a great idea to just fucking hang out at a school after it lets out), you must get out as quickly as possible before a seemingly insane janitors bash your head in with their bloody bats. It gets stranger as you navigate this haunted campus filled with some pretty eerie shit. You have no weapons and have to rely on hiding are hauling ass out of an area so the survival horror element is in its pure form. It may have some dated graphics and glitches, but this not bad for those that are looking for an anime-ish horror this season.
If you are into weird shit, Yume Nikki is a toybox full of it.
Yume Nikki
Probably the most bizarre title out of the list, Yume Nikki is not so much scary as it is extremely unsettling and weird. It's a very open exploration game with 16-bit graphics and sound. You start off as recluse named Madotsuki in her small apartment. There's not much there save a bed, a TV with a really horrible video game, and a notebook where you can save your progress. You can't exit the apartment and sleep is seemingly the only option. This is where the game really begins as sleeping takes you to a very bizarre dreamscape where you can roam as you wish. Spread across 12 different areas are 24 items that can help get into hidden areas, have strange and odd effect when equipped, and help to unlock the ending. The visuals and sound turn from odd and weird to downright disturbing if you believe the fan theories and symbolism.
There is color in the game, I swear.
Imscared
A good example of not judging a book by its cover, this has to be one of the most interesting horror games I have played in some time. Imscared is a first person exploration game that touts low resolution graphics and a really creepy vibe that is surprising from its setting. What makes it stand out it how it actually writes files to you in the installation folder that try to convey horror when you exit out of the program. It’s extremely short but still manages a few scares if you have about an hour to spare. I'm really curious what could be done with this idea at a next-gen level.
I guess you could classify it as a picnic simulator, if said picnic required an AK to fight off swarms of nightmarish creatures and crazy fucking Russians. Just remember the vodka to pass the time and fight off radiation.
STALKER: The Lost Alpha
We covered this in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Guide but it deserves to be on the list due to having high production values and having terrifying moments. Being a scout in an anomaly ridden area known as the Zone, you are on the hunt for a man named Strelok and set chase to the deepest and darkest areas of the nightmarish industrial wasteland. Not only do strange and horrific creatures roam the wastes, but bandits, mercenaries, and the military won't let your quest be a stroll through a field of flowers. The environment is also dangerous with hazardous radiation, invisible anomalies that can tear you apart if you don't hunt them, and blowouts that will immediately kill you if you don't find shelter. If you can't spare the cash to get Shadow of Chernobyl and put some mods on it, the Lost Alpha is a great alternative.
Download STALKER: The Lost Alpha (4 parts)
I promise the isn't a gothic grafitti game.
Cry of Fear
A free mod on Steam, Cry of Fear is probably the most intense on the list. Team Psykskallar, who is responsible for the much loved Afraid of Monsters mod, has come up with this horribly depressing and twisted tale. You start in an opressively lonely city walking home until you get hit by a car and pass out. Waking up, you find that there are homicidal monsters wandering the city and attack you on sight. Seemingly heavily influenced by Silent Hill with the monsters, ambiance, and bleak city atmosphere but still manages to require FPS combat to survive. There are some great scares and really twisted shit in this one.
I promise the isn't a gothic grafitti game.
SCP: Containment Breach
Someone turned collaborative fan fiction into a game and unless it's MLP Bronie tales, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The SCP monsters (SCP standing for Secure Contain Protect) are made up of horror fans that create these contained monsters and write dossier and scientific findings of these fake creatures. Some are silly (a haunted slot machine, really?) while some are creative enough have their own horror film. The team behind SCP: Containment Breach decided to put the player in the lab containing these monstrosities. It's actually pretty good even if the source material doesn't interest you. The ending is actually one of the more clever ideas in a horror game.
