By KEVIN HOOVER
The scariest thing that horror gamers faced throughout 2024 was trying to decide exactly where to spend their gaming dollars. There was no genre, subgenre, trope or playstyle unexplored. Arcade racers were busy strewing body parts across the track in DEATHSPRINT 66. Dead by Daylight devotees ventured into cinematic territory with THE CASTING OF FRANK STONE. And, as one downtrodden space crew learned, even during impending doom, MOUTHWASHING is still important, but for very atypical reasons.
Indie devs and triple-A studios were equally represented in bringing the scary last year, and gamers benefitted at every spooky twist and turn. In no particular order, here’s RUE MORGUE’s online editors’ favorites of 2024.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
RETROREALMS: HALLOWEEN/ASH VS. EVIL DEAD – WayForward, Boss Team Games (Steam, PS4/5, Nintendo Switch, XB One/S/X): 16-bit stylized side-scroller that proves that licensed film IPs can work outside of the well-trodden grounds of asymmetrical multiplayer. (Read our review here.)
THE OUTLAST TRIALS – Red Barrels (Steam, PS4/5, XB One/S/X): Murkoff’s latest experiment is best enjoyed with friends, while the single-player experience may satiate gamers until the next proper Outlast title invades our nightmares. (Read our review here.)
THE BEST HORROR GAMES OF 2024
FEAR THE SPOTLIGHT – Blumhouse Games, Cozy Game Pals (Steam, PS4/5, Nintendo Switch, XB One/S/X): When Blumhouse launched their gaming division last summer, working alongside indie devs with new projects on a smaller budgetary scale was going to be the studio’s focus. If it worked for their film catalogue, surely it would work for their gaming offspring as well, right?
To quote a Burgess-penned and Kubrick-lensed Droog: “Right Right.”
The husband-and-wife team of Bryan Singh and Crista Castro’s FEAR THE SPOTLIGHT initially appeared on Steam late 2023, before mysteriously being removed before many got a chance to experience it. Blumhouse, in awe of the team’s ability to deliver strong, narrative-driven horror, stepped in and earmarked the title as the bedrock of their new video game portfolio. A couple of months back into development, and FEAR THE SPOTLIGHT would reemerge with more content, a bit of polish and console ports. The story of two high school friends who lose their way–and each other–when a séance goes awry is endearing, scary, thought-provoking, and, above all, “cozy.” Cast away the jump scares and gore, sprinkle in a few puzzles and a mechanic that prioritizes hiding above all else, wrap it all up in a two-three-hour long package, and call it one of the best of the year.
DEAD RISING DELUXE REMASTER – Capcom (Steam, PS5, XB S/X): Whoa there, RUE MORGUE, are you really calling the remaster of a nearly twenty-year-old Xbox 360 original one of the best games of the year? Is the notion of mowing down hundreds of on-screen zombies with everything including a literal mower still entertaining? We think you know the answer to both of those questions. Featuring quality of life improvements, an oh-so-very much needed autosave feature, full voice over for key characters (although getting used to a re-dubbed Frank West is still growing on us), graphical overhauls and AI-imbued NPCs who aren’t in such a damn fast hurry to get chewed on by zombies, DEAD RISING DELUXE REMASTER is everything that we wanted the OG game to be back in ’06.
SILENT HILL 2 – Konami, Bloober Team (Steam, PS5): Gamers spoke; Konami listened. One of the most beloved horror games of all time finally burned off the fog of a franchise that’s been dormant for better than a decade with the SILENT HILL 2 remake. Initial fears over a sterilized story, heavy emphasis on QTEs and a reorganization of plot beats were assuaged once the modern masterpiece was released upon the world, and a quick bit of internettin’ will show that Bloober’s respect to the source has been rewarded with millions of sales and heaps of critical acclaim.
SILENT HILL 2’s deeper exploration of mental health is often overlooked outside of analytical endeavors. Understandable, perhaps, when the game was responsible for giving interactive horror the likes of Pyramid Head and his bloody-bandaged Nurses. But make no mistake, the game works now as it did then by materializing the maladies of the human mind. In spite of rationale thinking, James’ jaunt into the foggy environs of the titular town in search of a wife who perished years before, the cast of characters he interacts with throughout and a roster of some of the most terrifying enemies ever coded into existence scares today as it did back in ’01 and will most assuredly continue to do when the eventual remake of a remake is undoubtedly released decades on down the line.
CLOCK TOWER: REWIND – WayForward (Steam, PS4/5, Nintendo Switch, XB S/X): In 1995, the U.S. horror gaming library was anemic. There were a few scant offerings, the majority of which were only available on PC and the ultra-expensive 3DO, and it would be some time before Resident Evil and Silent Hill would make their way stateside. Rumblings of an Argento-stylized point-and-click that was keeping Japanese gamers awake at night were starting to surface, stoking the interests of Western gamers who couldn’t wait until they got to experience firsthand the sheer terror of the Scissorman. And wait they did, until October of 2024, for that’s when the inaugural release into the Clock Tower series would finally receive an official localized port. Originally released on the Super Famicom system by Human Entertainment, one of the most influential titles in all of horror gaming is still also one of the most criminally overlooked.
CLOCK TOWER: REWIND is going to be a mixed bag for some. The archaic point-and-click interface, the frozen-in-time 16-bit graphics and the somewhat clunky controls lovingly show their age. But hiccups to some, highlights to others. For it’s that clip-clop plodding gait and “where in the ever-lovin’ hell DO I CLICK?” mechanic that amplifies the sense of dread when the Scissorman comes calling for his pound of flesh. A new, nifty rewind feature helps to chase away the ills of death, while new graphics and VO update the thirty-year old experience for a contemporary crowd.
STILL WAKES THE DEEP – The Chinese Room, Secret Mode (Steam, PS5, XB S/X): Replace The Thing’s frozen Antarctic tundra with a seabound oil rig and MacReady’s flamethrower with, uh … nothing … and you’ve got the gist of what STILL WAKES THE DEEP is all about.
The Beira D oil rig is an OSHA nightmare: piss-poor working conditions due to crumbling architecture, unsafe walkways and a poorly designed overall layout. Someone would have to be damn near running from the law to want to spend any time working on board, which is exactly the harsh reality that protagonist “Caz” McLeary is stuck in. Once the Lovecraftian tentacle monsters slither in and ratchet up the feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness, then you’ll begin to understand why STILL WAKES THE DEEP is one of our favorites of the year.
CROW COUNTRY – SFB Games (Steam, PS4/5, Nintendo Switch, XB S/X): A survival horror with a PS1 graphic overlay that feels as much at home today as it would’ve with its tank-controlled brethren of the late ‘90s and early aughts, CROW COUNTRY is an exercise in environmental dread. Not quite as tight-fisted with resources or jump-scare reliant as some of its influences affords players the chance to sink deep into the terror of exploring an abandoned theme park while in search of its missing namesake, Edward Crow. Interspersed throughout battles with the park’s undead “Guests” and numerous puzzles is a harrowing story line divulged through one text box after another. A shining example of marrying old school horror gaming with modern gameplay innovations and infusing all the necessary plot devices that ingrains a horror property into the minds of its consumers, CROW COUNTRY is not one to be slept on.
Did any of YOUR favorites make our list? If not, what did we miss? Tell us in the comments below!
