What’s Halloween without diving into one of your favorite horror franchises, no? So just me then? Well, whatever the case we have gone and selected the best Game Series Worth Revisiting that you can pick up during this time of year and enjoy the spine-chilling thrill of some of the best game series to play this time of year. Before we get into the gory details about our selections, it should be known we have only picked game series that fit strict criteria. The selected criteria are as follows:
- The inclusion is NOT too old (we are not looking for a Gamecube series)
- The Latest addition to the series is playable on modern hardware (PS or Xbox titles are permitted)
- Inclusive of all hardware not just PlayStation
- Soon-to-be-released additions to the franchise have been taken into consideration
For these points, franchises that don’t provide at least 2 releases on current hardware have to be overlooked, however, we have a list of Honorable Mentions at the bottom.
Resident Evil
A Biological threat, Hoards of undead monsters, and legendary heroes. Resident Evil is an ingrained franchise that everyone knows in one form or another, starting in 1996 on the original PlayStation, this series is an almost must-look at, at Halloween.
Ranging through 10 incarnations, of the main story, over a nearly 27-year lifespan Resident Evil, or Biohazard, features an array of plot lines. However, the overarching story is around a deadly virus which is going to be or has been released. In recent years we have seen a re-release of four of the mainstream titles for current-generation systems which are;
- Resident Evil (HD Remaster)
- Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
- Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (Remake)
- Resident Evil 4 (Remake)
The series also features a total of 14 spin-offs to the main storyline in addition to the Revelations Storyline. Overall that brings the franchise to an astounding 26 entries, which is almost 1 release a year. The latest addition to the series follows newly added protagonist Ethan Winters, the protagonist from Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The latest addition is RE 8: Village and it follows the same First Person experience that 7 introduced to the player. This meant that a VR experience could be had to make the horror that much closer to home. The games that you can play on modern hardware are:
- Resident Evil Director’s Cut
- Resident Evil 2 Remake
- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Remake
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica
- Resident Evil: Zero
- Resident Evil 4/ Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Resident Evil 5
- Resident Evil 6
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Resident Evil 8: Village
Developed by Capcom and published by them, this franchise is great for getting in the Halloween mood. Featuring an array of horror monsters from Zombies to Werewolf and Bio-mutated creatures there should be an entry for everyone to enjoy.
Dead Rising
An infestation of the living dead, a hero destined to rise and save the masses who still survive, and the endless possibilities for weapons to combat the dead. You know we had to pick a real zombie thrill, of course, it’s Dead Rising. Originally released in 2006 and as an exclusive for Xbox this series has come to the PlayStation during the PS3 generation.
Covering four titles, with a parallel story for the second game titled Off The Record, this series has only 4 of its titles on PlayStation. Unfortunately, the third title, Dead Rising 3, is the only game not on PlayStation. Where 3 stands a little above the rest of the entries and theoretically concludes the Zombie threat, the 4th game reawakens the threat in the form of the cure, developed at the end of the 3rd game, not working on this new strain of zombies. It’s kind of an out-there plotline, in the fourth game, but the previous instalments show the zombies adapting so maybe they didn’t just want to bring Frank West back. The games work on a Timer system which counts down until you are rescued from the city. This timer gives you 72 hours to explore and complete the story, this plays out in real-time over 6 hours. The games in the series that you can play on modern hardware are:
- Dead Rising
- Dead Rising 2
- Dead Rising 2: Off The Record
- Dead Rising 3 (Xbox/ PC Only)
- Dead Rising 4
Developed by Capcom and published by them, this zombie thrill only improves with each new iteration. The first game was a nice taste of the horror in mind for the franchise but the second and third games really make it come together by introducing and expanding on the combining weapons system and giving more freedom. The third game also introduces the open world, with the advancements in technology and being able to generate more complicated worlds. The fourth instalment also does away with the long-standing timer, allowing players to focus more on exploring and enjoying a world which is overrun with zombies, looters and psychotic killers. As an added bonus Dead Rising 3 is the Apocalypse Edition, which includes all DLC, whereas Dead Rising 4 can be got as a standalone or with all DLC including the Frank Rising Pack. On PlayStation, you will only have the option to get a complete package of Dead Rising 4.
The Evil Within
Join Detective Sebastian Castellanos on an adventure into the psyche, full of physiological thrills in an adventure from Bethesda’s Tango Gameworks. First introduced nearly a decade ago now, in 2014 this series might not be old or have very many entries to its name, but what it does have is the traits of a fantastic Horror game.
The premise of the game is more than a little odd, you take control of Detective Sebastian Castellanos who is investigating a mass murder at Beacon Mental Hospital. That is pretty much where rational thoughts end and the game starts being more of a mind trip. Everything that happens past this point and until the end of the first game all happens as if Sebastian is in the Matrix. The second game is just as good for this, set 3 years after the event at Beacon, Sebastastian is pulled back into the events on a personal endeavour. Much like Assassin’s Creed has the Animus to simulate an ancestor’s Memories, The Evil Within has STEM. While this is a very interesting concept, realistically The Matrix spawned this back in 1999 and it is a very interesting idea to see implemented, The Evil Within however, combined it with Horror making it so much more interesting. The games in the series are:
- The Evil Within
- The Evil Within 2
It should be noted that the name of the game changes for Japan. For that release, the game title is PsychoBreak. Although the game is the same for the most part it is just a naming thing, much like Resident Evil is called Biohazard for the Japanese release.
Developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda, these might be new additions to horror, however, they have held strong against other franchises of the genre.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
The Midnight Hour, Living Anthopormothic Anamitronic Animals, anything but a quiet Graveyard shift. Due to the upcoming Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, releasing later this month, we felt it was important to actually include this series as a selection to play through.
Starting in 2014 and having 2 releases that year, this series has grown pretty well in the past 9 years. There are a total of 9 instalments in the series, including an upcoming release in December for Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2, these games are:
- Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 3
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 4
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location
- Freddy Fazbare’s Pizzeria Simulator
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2
Although the premise of the games differ slightly from one to another, like the setting, Murderous Anthopormothic Animal, and the player’s toolkit, the core of the game is still that of survival while doing your job as a night guard. This is of course easier said than done, and although rich in lore it has a somewhat gruesome feel to it all. The first game is set in a Pizzaria and it’s possibly the last place you would want to find murderous animatronic animals, as the games progress the setting changes to a horror attraction, a child’s room, and even a Rental and Entertainment company.
Developed and Published by Scott Cawthon, the console releases were handled by Clickteam, this series of 9 reasonably short set of games, except the later ones, it is estimated that it should take about 3 hours apiece to complete the story.
Silent Hill
Concluding our series selection, we have the horror from The Fog, Silent Hill. Originally surfacing in 1999 on the original PlayStation Silent Hill has had a bit of a hard life, suffering movie adaptations that didn’t quite do justice to the franchise all the way to the promises of P.T.
Spanning a total of only 8 main tiles, including the upcoming Silent Hill F, over its nearly 24-year life span, it has also got Remakes. The Upcoming Silent Hill 2 is one such remake telling the story of the second game which was released in 2001. The other release that got a remake was the very first game, however, it was rebranded as Shattered Memories. Although there is not one on current hardware that we can include the reason for our inclusion of this series is because of the upcoming Silent Hill Ascension (Oct 2023) and Silent Hill 2 (Expected early 2024). That being said there are some titles which can be enjoyed on your current hardware if you are an Xbox owner, these are:
- Silent Hill: Collection
- Silent Hill: Downpour
Where it would have been nice to include a Silent Hill game for the current hardware, sadly we have had to overlook that little aspect and hope that Silent Hill 2 Remake is just as good as the original.
The Silent Hill franchise has passed through many studios over its lifespan, some prominent names include:
- Konami Digital Entertainment (2007)
- Climax Studios (2007–2009)
- Double Helix Games (2008)
- Kojima Productions (2014)
- DJ2 Entertainment (2023)
- Bloober Team (2024)
Currently, Konami holds the license for the franchise and has been the publisher of the games throughout its long life. The last addition to the franchise was developed by Kojima Productions in 2014, who developed the now unavailable P.T. Demo.
Honorable Mentions
Where the list is packed with things for everyone, we did have a good number of other series that are perfect for this time of year, and where we don’t feel it would be suitable to go into full detail about them as we have above we have listed them.
- Fatal Frame/ Project Zero
- F.E.A.R.
- Castlevania
- Alone In The Dark
- Dead Space
- Dead Island
- Alien
- Evil Dead
- Amnesia
- The Last Of Us
- A Plague Tale
- The Dark Pictures Anthology
- Dying Light
Liked this article and want to see some more must-play games? Then check out some other games to play!
