4. Bioshock: The Collection
Bioshock is one of the most terrifying games to get a prequel and an origin story which each felt unique and addressed different political and psychological motifs while remaining scary. The full collection and all of the available DLC are remastered in Bioshock: The Collection for Xbox One, created by Irrational Games and the brilliant mind of Ken Levine who implemented several philosophies written by Ayn Rand. Each Bioshock game has storytelling depth that is comparable to some of the best films and although they include beautiful set pieces, intense boss fights and a timeless soundtrack, it’s still the story that carries the experience. In the first title, you play as Jack who is the lone survivor of a plane crash who discovers a massive underwater metropolis known as Rapture. Your experience in rapture includes Splicers who lunge at you from the shadows, Big Daddy’s who hulk over any other NPC and simultaneously scary and intense boss fights. Bioshock 2 takes place 10 years after the original game and you take control of a Big Daddy and uncover the events that transpired during Rapture’s civil war. Though being a Big Daddy honestly reduces the scare factor to the game, the story is still worth unfolding as the society of Rapture seems eternally on edge and at war. Bioshock: Infinite is set in the airborne city of Columbia where you play as as Booker Dewitt. Bioshock: Infinite combines religious imagery with dictatorship propaganda to tremendous effect with this installment and the writing continues to be top notch as the game has one of the most unforgettable endings in gaming history. What enemy is the true fear factor of Bioshock? Our own preconceived misconceptions of what is real and what is right but Andrew Ryan does an amazing job playing villain to the first game, as does Comstock in Bioshock Infinite.
3. Outlast 1 & 2
The Outlast series includes some of the most terrifying occult imagery in gaming including human sacrifice and bloody shrines that would look comfortable in the DOOM universe. When the first game released in 2013, it felt like a spiritual successor to Resident Evil 4 in that most of the enemies were human but they are severely disturbed and often disfigured. You play as investigative journalist Miles Upshur as he tries to uncover a series of bizarre human experiments at Mount Massive Asylum. Your best way of viewing the twisted world of Outlast is through the eye of Miles’ camera but the battery slowly dies the more you use it. This game does a great job of making you feel helpless as a man armed only with a video camera going through such hostile territory. The consistently nerve racking experience has you running and hiding from super buff cultists, some armed with weapons and some mutilated and fused with technology. The survival horror genre has been reinvented several times over the years and Outlast 1 & 2 are two of the most effective titles in regards to horror. The sequel wasn’t received as positively as the original Outlast, taking control of Blake Langermann, a cameraman accompanying his investigative journalist wife, Lynn, as they attempt to uncover the mystery of an unidentified pregnant woman’s murder. The storytelling changes were interesting but the original felt more scary, most likely because you don’t know what to expect. Both Outlast 1 & 2 are on Xbox One and are both extremely graphic and disturbing, which makes them perfect for mature audiences going into Halloween.