I’ve been seeing all over social media throughout recent months that Halloween is now a month long event instead of the one day you may know it as. As I’m not a fan of chillier seasons I couldn’t be happier about this as October is usually just a cold boring month with only Halloween to look forward to at the end of it.
Embracing the new month long tradition, I’ll be forcing myself to play scarier games than I normally would all October long, including previously shunned titles featuring gameplay tropes seemingly designed to put me off. I’ll also be continuing my watch of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror anthology on my recently renewed Disney Plus subscription, so that’s another part of the month I’m really looking forward to. To kick off Respooking’s October 2021, this week let’s take a look at the five games I’m finally going to get around to this month!
Metro Exodus
I only recently started playing Metro Exodus, but as it was one of six games I had on the go at the time I temporarily shelved it so I could focus on it during our four and a half weeks of Halloween. I made it as far as the first open area after completing an excellent introduction segment which made me jump more times than I can count, and at one moment had me screaming ‘fuck off’ at my TV.
Now that I’m finished with Ghost of Tsushima: Directors Cut, Far Lone Sails, Hot Wheels and Pokémon Sword, it is finally time for Metro Exodus to return as the centre of my gaming attention. I have thoroughly enjoyed all I have experienced of it thus far, and have been informed in no uncertain terms by those I know who have played it that the best is yet to come!
Until Dawn
I hate, hate, HATE jumpscares. They’re cheap, basic, lazy and can completely ruin an otherwise solid gaming or film experience. Fortunately no matter how good the author is, nobody has managed to weave a jumpscare into the written word quite yet. No, that isn’t a challenge.
Back to the topic at hand, having heard during its promotion that Until Dawn is pretty jumpscare heavy, I have steered well clear of it so far. However, its inclusion in the PlayStation Plus collection on PS5 meaning that I can play it anytime for free has piqued my interest enough that I feel I should give it a go. After all, I ignored Days Gone for a long time before deciding to make a half-hearted attempt at playing it, with it transpiring very early on that I bloody love that game warts and all. Full review here.
Even if I have to play Until Dawn with all the lights on and the TV muted, so be it, but there’s a part of me that hopes its use of the despised mechanic will be what allows me to get over my aversion. The fact the game is often referred to as one of the greatest PS4 games of the generation helps too, and I’ll be sure to report back in a few weeks with how I got on. Provided it doesn’t jumpscare me to death of course..
Murdered Soul Suspect
Definitely not one of the scarier games on this list but I played it on Halloween almost a decade ago and had a great time with it. I recently included it in my list feature for games I will double Platinum, and as soon as its price plummets in the inevitable Halloween PlayStation Store sale I’ll be downloading it immediately.
I am a big fan of puzzle games where the idea of the ‘puzzle’ is not to challenge the player in the slightest, making me feel like the clever-clogs I’ve always known myself to be. I’m also a huge fan of scary games that are rarely scary, so as you can imagine, Murdered Soul Suspect could almost have been made exclusively for me!
Prey
Following the huge level of praise heaped on Arkane Studios most recent release, Deathloop, a lot of players have started extolling the virtues of their previous games, namely the Dishonored franchise and Prey. I bought Prey around the time it launched before discovering the blight that is jumpscares is prevalent throughout the game thanks to the Mimics, which put me off playing it until now. I love the work the team at Arkane Studios puts out as the Dishonored games are each a masterpiece in their own right, so feel like I owe it to the developer to actually play another one of their games. I will play and review Deathloop at some point, but that’s a story for the future.
Playing Prey will also give me a reason to brush the dust off my Xbox One X and play a game on it that isn’t Forza Horizon 4 for the first time in years!
Soma
Ahh Soma, this game and I go way back. I’ve attempted to play it several times but there’s always something that gets in the way. My most recent attempt during Halloween 2020 was cut short inside the first hour after I’d been exploring some industrial underwater hellhole but got lost and spent an age trying to figure out what I was meant to be doing when not gibbering like a frightened child and hiding behind crates when there was nothing to hide from. I’ll have another attempt at Soma this year and maybe, just maybe, even finish it this time!
What are your favourite Halloween games? Are you happy the holiday is going to dominate the month instead of just a day? Let me know in the comments and I’ll be back with something else next week for the month of Respooking, so I will catch you then!
