Summer Game Fest and all of the surrounding showcase streams gave us dozens of great new games to look forward. From cozy indies to AAA bangers, there’s something for everyone. But lately, it seems like one genre has seen quite the uptick in popularity. Survival horror games are no stranger to the medium, with legendary franchises like Resident Evil still going strong. During Summer Game Fest, we checked out five horror games in both hands-on and off sessions that we think should be on your radar.
Grave Seasons
Grave Seasons is a narrative pixel-art farming sim where a supernatural serial killer lurks in the town. Farm, romance, and investigate your way through the unsettling town of Ashenridge. Complete quests for the townsfolk, establish trust, and make your choices carefully. Unlike other farming sims, but on brand for Blumhouse Games, there is a chance to romance the killer. Wishlist it on Steam now. –Jaesa Evermore
Grave Seasons launches August 14 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC.
Hellraiser: Revival
I had the opportunity to play about an hour of Hellraiser: Revival. This is a first-person action horror game with BioShock-like elements. You’ll use traditional firearms to battle grotesque enemies, but you can also engage more with the environment using the Genesis Configuration. This is a mysterious puzzle box that allows you to telekinetically control fire and surrounding objects to deal damage. In my demo, I learned more about Aiden and his quest to find his missing girlfriend. I came face to face with the terrifying Cenobites and other stomach-curdling enemies. As a big horror fan, I enjoyed my time with it, but recommend those with weak stomachs are not much experience with the genre go in cautious. Hellraiser: Revival may stir up controversy with its sexually violent subject matter and imagery.
Hellraiser: Revival launches October 8 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
The Lost Wild
Imagine if Alien: Isolation and Jurassic Park had a baby. That’s what you get with The Lost Wild. During Summer Game Fest, I was treated to a roughly half hour long hands-off presentation on the upcoming survival game. This is an immersive evasion-based experience where you have to escape from nature’s oldest predators; dinosaurs. In the demo, we were being hunted by the massive Allosaurus. You play as Saskia, who has wakes up on the dino-infested island with no recollection of how she got there, with a mystery much larger waiting to be discovered. You don’t engage in combat with the prehistoric creatures. Your only goal is evade them and make it out alive. You can throw objects to distract them, mess with lights and sounds, and slow-walk through tall grass to survive.
The Lost Wild launches in 2027.
Saw: Genesis
What’s that, another asymmetric multiplayer horror IP video game? I’d have preferred Saw get a different treatment, but there’s a reason this subgenre continues to do well. Saw: Genesis is another game I saw via a hands-off presentation at Summer Game Fest, lasting around 30 minutes. It takes place about 100 years before the start of the first Saw film, and the developers on hands confirmed the story is canon. In it, three survivors have to play through Jigsaw-type levels, solve puzzles, and sever limbs to prove how much they value life. The fourth player, the Judge, is the ringleader. They can spring traps, ambush and knock out the other players, and manipulate the environment to win.
Closed alpha test for Saw: Genesis start in early July for PC.
Silent Hill Townfall
Finally, Silent Hill: Townfall was one more hands-off presentation. I again saw about half an hour of gameplay. Developed by Screen Burn, this is the first Silent Hill title to be played in first-person. It follows Simon Ordell as returns to the Scottish isle of St. Amelia. Like previous entires, there’s minimal UI for better immersion, and some combat against terrifying new enemies. Townfall captures the spirit of what a Silent Hill game is; impeccable sound design, psychological horror, engaging puzzles, and, from what I’ve seen so far, a story that will twist the mind and make you question everything as you play. One new gameplay mechanic is the CRTV Simon carries throughout. You can tune it to different frequencies to find your objective, but can also use it to scan for enemies. It’s a new dynamic gameplay style that’s new to the series, and I’m excited to see how it works in the final game.
Silent Hill Townfall launches September 23 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
