While we have another month to go until Halloween I figured that I’d get in there early (when you least expect it…muahahaha!) and take a look at four upcoming horror games. Although I like horror games I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to playing them as I slowly slog my way through them crapping myself before turning every corner. I have bad memories of stupidly playing Doom 3 in the dark, although I wasn’t as bad as this guy. Anyway, here’s a quick look at what you’ll be needing new underwear for in the coming months.

Left 4 Dead

Release date: November 21 (UK)

The people at Valve always put out amazing games (Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 anyone?) and Left 4 Dead seems like it’s shaping up to be no exception to this rule. The premise see’s you and three other players stuck in a city overrun by zombies and other strange monsters such as the obese ‘Boomer’ who, when it explodes, can cause massive damage to anyone in the immediate area. The objective is to escape, but you have to work as a team to do this and anyone who departs from this will find themselves quickly overrun by the games intelligent ‘director’ AI.

I’m really excited by this one, even if the fast zombies may seem horribly overwhelming at first. I’m not sure what version to get as my PC is not exactly stellar these days but, at the same time, I love the mod scene and one will inevitably grow up around this game. Check out this link for some footage from the Xbox360 version.

Resident Evil 5

Release date: March 13 2009 (UK)

If you haven’t heard of this one then your cave must go pretty deep, especially with all the controversy surrounding it. Fans of the series will recognise the return of Chris Redfield, this time thrown into infected Africa. The game will play similar to the control system used in Resident Evil 4 and, if that game is anything to go by, it will be just as perfect.

Resident Evil 4 showed us that you don’t need the usual shambling zombie to be scared stiff as the thinking one can be far more terrifying. I remember the beginning of the 4th installment when the villages break into the house you’re in and chase you upstairs. Getting trapped in an upstairs room with hordes of people chasing you is pretty scary, until you find the window - and then you realise that they’re climbing up on ladders. That’s not forgetting the chainsaw guy (who makes his return in this installment, along with a particularly intimidating guy with an axe) and the boat on the lake scene that may put you off water for life.

Thankfully you can also experience the terror with a friend as the game supports an online co-op mode.

Dead Space.

Release date: October 24 (UK)

It’s being called Bioshock in space but will it be anywhere near as good? Dead Space is EA’s attempt at creating a new horror IP and they’re doing a good job building up all the fiction around it, but that’s all well and good until the game turns out absolutely pants. Luckily it seems to be shaping up pretty well, and is also looking pretty terrifying!

The story takes place on the giant mining space ship the Ishimura, but the crew who made the distress call seem to have turned into horrific nightmares. Since the ship is stricken and no longer under control you’ll encounter parts of the ship devoid of gravity, which you have to navigate using your magnetic boots while putting up with mind bending ceiling-is-now-the-floor type puzzles like those seen in Prey.  Oh, and there’s also that small matter of the incredible amounts of gore.

If EA can pull this off then we may just have an excellent new horror series on our hands.

Silent Hill: Homecoming

Release date: November 20 (UK)

Like Resident Evil the Silent Hill franchise is still going strong and, as always, will probably turn out to be far more terrifying than the Resident Evil franchise (although the giant spiders still freak me out). Since the original the Silent Hill games have got progressively weirder and weirder and, quite frankly, I’ve lost all hope of understanding just what the hell is going on. I think the above picture pretty much just sums up my reaction to each new Silent Hill game, as I’m sure you’re all with me in thinking ‘what the hell is that??!?’.

Another person goes to Silent Hill in search of someone…yawn. Real-time wounds will show up on Alex, the protagonist, and the strange creatures that populate this town from hell, which I guess sounds pretty cool. This is combined with completely new enemy AI and physics that allow more realistic interaction with the environment, so bumping against an object can alert terrifying creatures to your position.

However, Team Silent (the developers behind most of the franchise) aren’t developing this installment so I’m a bit sceptical about how the new developers, The Collective, will be able to handle the constantly confusing storyline.