Game On: The coming months are stacked with horror games

I’m no horror game buff, but I have to admit the genre is absolutely brimming with fantastic titles lately, with even more just around the corner. This year saw the release of hyped titles like Scorn and Dying Light 2 Stay Human, both of which were in development for nearly a decade. Today, 2021’s critically acclaimed Resident Evil Village receives a significant story expansion, Shadows of Rose.

Meanwhile, Konami finally lifted the veil on a handful of projects in the Silent Hill franchise, which hasn’t seen a new release since 2012. Despite being one of the largest video game publishers in Japan, they’ve been allergic to making good business decisions for several years – almost completely ignoring Silent Hill, Dance Dance Revolution and Castlevania, while also allegedly forcing out Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima in 2015.

With that in mind, it was a pleasant surprise to see Konami finally looking to breathe life into one of their most famous IPs with a Silent Hill 2 remake likely to be released in 2023 and the wholly original Silent Hill F on the way after that. Other original horror games on the way include Dead Island 2, due Feb. 3, and Callisto Protocol, which is being directed by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield and slated for a Dec. 2 release.

Speaking of Dead Space, Electronic Arts has a remake of the original 2008 title in the works. On Jan. 7, it’ll arrive a decade after the financial underperformer that was Dead Space 3. There’s a theme here – large publishers like to squeeze every ounce of creativity out of a successful IP in a short timespan, and then give up on it for years when consumers get bored of the rapidfire releases.

By adequately spacing out new games, Capcom has managed to keep Resident Evil relevant for almost 30 years now. On Oct. 21, the publisher released both a story and gameplay trailer for Resident Evil 4 Remake. In-game footage months ahead of a game’s release is always a good sign, taking a project I was already hopeful for and elevating my hype to newfound highs.

Like the films that inspired them, horror games are a bit of an acquired taste. Not all of us enjoy jump scares, and the gross-out factor can be a hard sell. Over the years I’ve found there to be a fantastic variety of titles in the genre, however, and I found my niche – the original Resident Evil 4 checked all the boxes for me.

The atmosphere is heavy without being completely oppressive. In true Resident Evil fashion, there’s a huge variety of monsters. And unlike many horror games, there are precious few enemies who will instantly slay you with no opportunity to fight back – you’re well-equipped, but some of the bigger monsters will still give you a proper scare. Wrap all that up with the occasional bit of campy humor, and you’ve got yourself an instant classic.

And a classic it was. Initially released in 2005, Resident Evil 4 holds a 96/100 on Metacritic, averaged from 82 critic reviews. It went on to represent a middle-ground between its horror-focused predecessors and the more action-centric games that followed it – Resident Evil 5 and 6 – before the series returned to its horror roots with 7 onward.

Suffice to say, Resident Evil 4 is far and away my favorite horror game. The only other title that comes close for me is The Evil Within, which was heavily inspired by RE4. The remake is in the hands of M-Two, the same development team that modernized Resident Evil 2 in 2019, which was even more successful than the original game back in 1998.

It appears Resident Evil 4 Remake is in great hands. From what’s been shown so far, M-Two is reimagining various aspects of the game while attempting to stay true to the spirit of the original. That’s a tough balancing act, but I’m hopeful. Even if they fail, 2023 will certainly have plenty of other fantastic horror titles to fall back on.