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Finished Watching 'Stranger Things'? Here's 5 Horror Games to Tide You Over Until Season 2!

Here are five horror games that just might sate your need for 'Stranger Things'-esque scares, goosebumps, and shrieks of fear.

By Dustin MurphyPublished 7 years ago 5 min read
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If you've been surfing the internet at all lately, you're no stranger to the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. The show is a 1980s horror period piece using suspense, subtle psychological twists, and the element of surprise to lure its viewers in. Even non-horror fans are finding a lot to love.

After finishing the show, you're undoubtedly wanting other shows to watch to satisfy that itch, but nothing quite does the job quite like horror games to mess with your mind.

If you've got that slightly twisted desire for being scared, filled with suspense, and riddled with anxiety, you're in the right place. We're taking a look at five horror games that just might sate your need for Stranger Things-esq scares, goosebumps, and shrieks of fear.

5. Outlast, with Whistleblower DLC

Outlast is a game that just doesn't hone in on the senses of horror that gamers would expect. They tease at your senses of paranoia with small subtle sound effects, wandering psychopaths, and even a tossed up insane asylum. The game features the use of the first person view for players unfamiliar with the title.

Players are not given weapons to fight back with, instead you are given a camera flashlight to help you see while hiding in dark rooms.

Your story picks up as the game's protagonist, Miles Upshure, receives a tip about inhumane experiments that took place at the Mount Massive Asylum. The hospital was once a private psychiatric ward. In your time there, you'll be wandering through the unethical practices of the Murkoff Corporation and exploring what has happened here. With deranged patients known as "Variants". As your story gets underway, you must escape harsh terrains, terrifying enemies, and your own worst inner fears to escape the asylum.

The title has been so highly acclaimed even a sequel has been announced, coming soon to a console and PC near you.

4. SOMA

Nothing screams terror like being stuck in an underwater deep sea facility known only by a codename. Waking up a room within the building known as "Site Upsilon," players will find themselves taking the role as protagonist Simon Jarrett that has suffered severe brain damage after a car crash. After the crash, he agreed to an experimental brain scan that could potentially reverse his life to the way it had been previous to his injury - but while in a coma, the world was hit by a massive comet, causing a mass extinction event.

During your time in the underwater facility PATHOS-II, players will find themselves running into the AI cyborgs that drives the machines to remain running. In the year 2104, survival is key as Earth has been devastated by a massive comet that destroyed everything on land. Now it's your fight for survival in dark, tight, and creepy corridors that may have enemies waiting just around the corner.

3. Alien: Isolation

We've all had that dream of taking to the Alien universe created by Ridley Scott. Our chance is finally here with Alien: Isolation. This title allows players to adventure into the year 2137, 15 years after the original events of the Nostromo spacecraft incident, which is where we last saw Ellen Ripley before she jettisoned off into outer space.

As her daughter, Amanda Ripley, players are approached by an android named Samuels from the Weyland-Yutani corporation.

In this title, players are placed upon a remote space station called Sevastopol, orbiting the gas giant planet of KG438. The game takes the elements of horror as we know it and twists it with a classic Aliens touch, placing a Xenomorph and killer androids into the mix with an adaptive A.I.. Players must sneak and hide to survive as the Alien hunts through the skeletal space station. Will you have what it takes to fight for survival and find out the truth behind Ellen Ripley's disappearance?

2. Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition

Zombies, we all hate the word, but what we hate more than the word or title for them? Dealing with them. Dying Light puts players in the midst of the mysterious outbreak that has hit the fictional city of Harran. The city's Defense Ministry has placed the city in a quarantine state as various forms of zombie-like creatures have begun to wander the streets.

As the virus begins to spread even more, the Global Relief Effort (GRE for short) has sent in supply drops by airdrop to assist those survivors that have been trapped inside the city. In turn they have hired playable character Kyle Crane to infiltrate Harran in order to retrieve a sensitive file that has been stolen by Kadir Suleiman. As the opening scene gets underway, we learn that our protagonist has been bitten by an infected and in turn has been rescued by Jade Aldemir.

It's now the player's job to uncover what is going on in Harran, to stop the gangs of bandits, and ultimate help save the world from this outbreak. However, all is not what it seems; once the sun goes down, new and more aggressive mutations of the zombie-like creatures take to the streets.

1. Dead Space

While Dead Space isn't in the most current realm of releases (original game released in 2008), it's a game that sticks true to the horror genre, and pushes players to every bit of their psychological limits. Players take role of engineer Isaac Clarke, the year is 2508, and humanity has managed to explore among the stars. Your story begins with Isaac Clarke as he and his team are sent to help the USG Ishimura, which has gone silent after sending out a distress signal.

The Ishimura's job was to crack open planets in order to extract ores in masses weighing in within the billions of tons range. Once they make it to the source of the distress signal, players find an eerily silent USG Ishimura hovering above the planet Aegis VII.

Your ship the USG Kellion has been sent out to help recover the crew, the ship, and to uncover what has happened. As the exploration begins for the rescue, players find a monstrous set of creatures living within. These creatures have managed to kill off all but the ships systems engineer, your character, Isaac Clarke - as well as a small handful of others. Your survival is fraught with limited resources, monstrous enemies crawling around every corner, and a fact that no one can hear you scream in outer space. Just remember, don't have a heart attack while playing.

horror
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About the Creator

Dustin Murphy

A video games journalist and Content Creator. He has been featured on sites such as AppTrigger and MoviePilot. He's the president and editor-in-chief of the independent news publisher Blast Away the Game Review.

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