Last Wednesday, Sony shared trailers for a host of upcoming games as part of its regular State of Play series. The big takeaway proved to be Ghost of Yotei, the much anticipated successor to Ghost of Tsushima. And rightfully so. However, the fall State of Play had another undercurrent to it: horror games.
Though not the biggest announcement of the showcase, horror games appeared in abundance. Arguably, they proved the unofficial theme of the night. The approximately 30 minute stream showcased everything from indie horror to survival horror to VR horror and more. Here’s a list and breakdown of every horror game shown off.
And yes, one could argue that some of these are more “psychological” than pure horror. But I prefer to take a big tent approach. After all, some people might want something a little lighter on scares for Halloween. But don’t worry, we’ve got some real scary titles too.
The Midnight Walk
From the minds behind Lost in Random comes The Midnight Walk, an indie adventure game. Handcrafted in clay, the macabre title about a lantern creature encountering monsters evokes claymation films like James and the Giant Peach. Developed by MoonHood and published by Fast Travel Games, The Midnight Walk doesn’t have a release date just yet.
Hell is Us
Hell is Us is a bit more of an action-adventure game than a horror title. Players will explore a semi-open world ravaged by civil war and calamity. However, this mysterious calamity has also given rise to terrifying creatures, which players will battle using their sword and accompanying drone. Developed by Rogue Factor and published by Nacon, Hell is Us will introduce players to its spooky world sometime in 2025.
Metro Awakening
Long-running Metro series, based on the novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky, delivers its next entry in the form of a VR title. With each title taking place within a Moscow Metro system devastated by nuclear war, the dark corridors of the games contain all sorts of irradiated beasties This is no different in Metro Awakening, but this time the claustrophobic creepiness comes closer than ever in Virtual Reality. The Vertigo Games title arrives November 7th, not too far away, though it’s not the earliest-releasing game on this list.
Fear the Spotlight
Just in time for Halloween, indie horror game Fear the Spotlight arrives on PlayStation 5 this month. The third-person horror adventure actually arrived on PC last year to positive reviews, but the visuals evoke a classic PS1 title. So, fittingly, the high school horror puzzle game will arrive on PlayStation 5 on October 22nd.
Alan Wake 2: Lake House DLC
When the trailer for Alan Wake 2: Lake House dropped, I thought for a moment that it might be for Control 2. Alas, we’ll still have to wait for more news on that game. However, like the prior Alan Wake 2 DLC of Nights Springs, it appears that this one may also tie into the Control-iverse. And since Night Springs was excellent, I expect that Lake House may also prove a must-play. We’ll find out when the Remedy DLC arrives later this month.
And with that, we have a bunch of horror games to look forward to on PlayStation. This month alone we have a couple of games for the Halloween spirit, but there are many more to look forward to down the (spooky) road.