Top 10 Horror Games of 2022 (So Far)

If you’ve been itching for a little bit of dark fantasy or want to delve into a solid puzzle game, “Loot River” is definitely worth your time. Explore vast, watery dungeons while controlling the blocks you walk on. Be wary of where you move your piece to! There are many instances where you’ll connect with another block only to be met with a swarm of monsters. While the controls might take some time to grasp, this mix of traversal and intense combat makes “Loot River” an entertaining roguelike.

As much as we really wanted to put “Dying Light 2” higher on the list, we’re kind of befuddled at the state of the game. Credit where credit is due though, “Dying Light 2” still manages to deliver a fun experience in its combat. Running around and doing parkour around Villedor is immensely satisfying, and it’s hilarious being able to run up to zombies only to dropkick ‘em. On top of that, the paraglider manages to help you cut down on time getting from one high ledge to another. Even with the occasional presence of bugs and glitches, we’d say “Dying Light 2” is still a blast. We just hope the game will get ironed out some more before the end of the year.

Looking for a new title while being restricted to a budget? Might we recommend “Nightmare of Decay”? Trapped inside a mysterious manor, you’ll encounter bloodthirsty zombies, devious devout cultists, and a slew of other horrors as you try to escape this awful dream. If this game looks eerily familiar, it should. During our time with “Nightmare of Decay”, we noticed various aspects of the game harken back to the good ol’ days of “Resident Evil” and “Silent Hill”. Needless to say, if you come from that era of gaming, you should give this game a chance. At a price of five bucks, this game is super affordable while delivering a quality package.

Those who fawn over gothic horror and boomer shooters will find solace in this indie title. “Kingdom of the Dead” puts you in the shoes of a paranormal investigator who receives word about mysterious occurrences that have awakened Death’s army. The gunplay feels fantastic, the hand-drawn visuals are stylish and morbidly breathtaking, and the enemy variety is vast and keeps you on your toes as they lurk in dark corners. Challenging, terrifying, and loud, “Kingdom of the Dead” fires off on every cylinder that’ll satisfy anyone who likes “DOOM” and “Wolfenstein’s” gunplay.

It isn’t often that we come across a solid vampire game, but to our surprise, “V Rising” has quickly shown us that it’s one of the best “vampire simulators” out there. Rise from your coffin and venture out into a procedurally generated world filled with bandits, poachers, vampire hunters, necromancers, and more as you gather materials to build your own castle. While it does take some time to get your footing (like most survival games), the hunt for bosses and their abilities are what kept us wanting to improve our character and our castle more and more. Play it smart and resourcefully, and you wind up being as powerful as “Castlevania’s” Dracula!

Upon finding her body, Giulia is mistaken for her deceased sister and is forced to live out the rest of her days pretending to be someone else. What follows is a tale of deceit, negligence, guilt, and identity. “Martha is Dead” is definitely not for the faint of heart. Even with the low points being long and quiet, the moments of pure terror are highly intense. The most disturbing facet is how the game will force the player to participate in its visceral scenarios, and the way the PS5 version makes use of the DualSense only makes things more frightening. For thirty bucks, “Martha is Dead” will definitely haunt you long after playing.

Let’s ease up and have some lighthearted fun for a change. If you want something a tad spooky, but not something insanely tense, we want to give a respectful nod to “Have a Nice Death”. Drowning in paperwork, Death has decided he has had enough and ventures out to lay it onto his bosses. With your trusty scythe, you’ll navigate through the many departments of Death, Inc. and meet its many employees while fighting through the mindless underlings. With its frenetic combat and high risk-high reward modifiers, “Have a Nice Death” is well worth the price of admission.

For a time, it seemed that Supermassive was reaching a point of mediocrity with both “The Inpatient” and “Dark Pictures” games failing to reach the same level of success as “Until Dawn”. It seems that the studio is learning to have fun again, and it’s prominent in “The Quarry”. With summer coming to a close, six friends spend one last night at a camp ground only to discover that the grounds are holding a dark secret. With a likable cast and clear passion for campy horror movies of the 80’s such as one particular Sam Raimi franchise, “The Quarry” is a fantastic title with a fun multiplayer mode for you and your friends to experience together.

A literal bloodbath. A scream of rage. A rush of pure adrenaline that will make you insatiable. “Nightmare Reaper” ticks all of the boxes for a horror-shooter. You play as a young woman, trapped inside a psychiatric ward and left to fend off her inner demons. Fusing modern FPS mechanics with retro visuals, “Nightmare Reaper” is by far the best boomer shooter we have played in YEARS. It is an outstanding action-horror game that will steal your time as you uncover hidden areas for high-level weaponry, play minigames to obtain improved skills, and soak every area in the remains of your enemies. If you have a computer, you NEED this game!

While there has been a surge in asymmetrical multiplayer horror games over the last few years, very few of them have managed to retain the horror aspect of their respective gameplay. In the case of “Evil Dead: The Game”, tensions are constantly high thanks to the Kandarian Demon player being able to lay down Scare Traps to increase the Survivors’ Fear levels. Additionally, “Evil Dead: The Game” is structured in such a way that either side can turn the tide of the match at any given moment. It is a constant tug-of-war that feels fair and will challenge your knowledge of your character’s abilities as well as your combat prowess. In other words, this game deserves to be printed in blood-soaked gold with the word “groovy” engraved on it.