Horror in 2012: Games
By 9:36AM on Jan 12, 2012
Sure, there are any number of cinematic frights headed to the big screen this year, but what about movies that you can actually play on the small screen? 2011 was a light year for horror gamres with only a handful of terrifying titles with which to amuse ourselves. With that in mind, we're more hopeful for 2012 as we take a look at the coming months and offer up our suggestions on the most anticipated tities.
The Darkness II
Based upon the popular comic by Top Cow, the original Darkness game for the Xbox offered up a violent and exciting supernatural adventure. It’s tight world design, inventive kill mechanics and semi-explorable universe made it one of the more entertaining releases of last generation, spawning the upcoming sequel slated for early this year. Returning to the mob world of Jackie Estacado, players can now control four deadly tentacles in addition to duel wielding weapons, utilizing the powers of The Darkness to tear your foes limb from limb. A new, nearly cel-shaded graphical style gives the game a bit more of a comic-book aesthetic, but from our brief demo, it plays smoothly and offers up all the bloody bits that the horror hounds crave.
Resident Evil: Revelations
Fans of zombies and handheld gaming are in for a limbless treat later this year with Resident Evil: Revelations for the 3DS. A defacto sequel to last generation’s Resident Evil 4 – and bridging the gap to the next-gen RE: 5 – the title finds series mainstay Jill Valentine and her new partner boarding an arctic seafaring vessel in search of Chris Redfield. We went hands-on with Revelations at the 2011 New York Comic Con and were impressed not only with the sharp graphics and tight controls, but with the effective use of the 3D functionality in combat. Action-packed and atmospheric, Revelations promises to be a worthwhile stop-gap for those waiting anxiously for the announcement of a proper Resident Evil 6.
Aliens: Colonial Marines
James Cameron’s Aliens is one of the few cinematic sequels that arguably trumps the original, offering an intelligent take on Ridley Scott’s classic, sci-fi thriller and expanding the universe into the military action arena. While there were two more sequels and a handful of Alien vs. Predator spin-offs, few follow-ups have built as strongly upon that iconic foundation. Aliens: Colonial Marines promises to pick up where Aliens left off, bringing the dimly lit, extraterrestrial terror to gamers across all major consoles. Positive previews and a pair of encouraging trailers have put this quasi-sequel on our radar – along with a horde of approaching xenomorphs – for later this year.
The Secret World
In the world of the nerds, the fantasy MMO reins supreme, transporting us gamers into far-away realms of sorcery, intrigue and archetypical races. But even Dwarves, elves, paladins, assassins and monks can become tiresome after awhile. Hence our excitement for The Secret World, an Earth-bound MMO set in the apocalyptic landscape of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. An action-horror MMO spanning the globe from ancient ruins to ruined cities sounds like just the reprieve we need from mystical mountain and sprawling, castled kingdoms.
Silent Hill: Downpour
Silent Hill games have always been a hit-or-miss affair, hinging upon the same atmospheric location to fuel an often surreal, non-sensical story told through one-note, monotone performances. It’s absolutely execution-dependent, and when it works, it works to tremendously terrifying effect. So who can tell where the latest iteration, Downpour, will fall in the lineage, but a more open-world approach and a weather system that brings far deadlier creatures when the rain comes already has us looking for shelter. Next-gen gaming has yet to get a great Silent Hill title, and while Downpour has something of a turbulent history of developmental starts and stops, we’re hopeful that this latest chapter will have us frantically switching on all the lights.
The Last of Us
Relatively little is known about The Last of Us, announced late last year from the team behind the Uncharted series. What little is known, however, centers around a father and daughter attempting to survive in the aftermath of some presumably world-destroying scenario. On the run from ravenous, humanoid mutants in a desolate city overgrown by plant life, The Last of Us seems to promise an action-thriller with cooperative elements, but given the team’s pedigree, we’ve more than enough confidence that the game will ultimately deliver in every respect. Whether we’ll actually play it in 2012, albeit, remains to be seen.
BioShock Infinite
There’s little arguing that the best game released for horror fans in the last decade was BioShock, a beautifully designed thriller set in the utterly unique, under-sea world of Rapture. Violent, mysterious and terrifying, not only was BioShock gorgeous to look at and hugely satisfying to play, it was a perfectly balanced gaming experience. The subsequent sequel – developed by an entirely different team –was lackluster a best, retreading old mechanics and ideas, but the original developers are returning in 2012 with a completely new take on the BioShock franchise. Set not in the ocean allow, but in a city of airships in the skies above, BioShock Infinte promises the same sense of violent horror and narrative inventiveness set in a completely unique and fully realized environment. Early trailers and demos have left our jaws on the floor and we can say, without a doubt, that this is our most anticipated title of 2012.
