Halloween Video Games

The fall season is a great time for horror fans as the nights get longer and it starts to cool. The decorations arrive in stores and neighbors begin to outfit their homes to signal the start of Halloween. Across the world, people celebrate the spooky season in different ways like participating in parades and festivals full of frights while others curate a list of their favorite pieces of horror media. There are many lengthy lists that often feature the scariest films to ever hit the screen and others that focus on video games that make people scream. Regardless of how it’s recognized, it’s celebrated by plenty of people who enjoy the thrill and chill of the season. Here it’s no different — so come along for the ride as we take a look at some horror themed video games full of ghosts and ghouls for Halloween.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

When it comes to media, Sony is known for many things like the playstation or spider-man movies — but they also have their own multi-media franchise of ghost hunting parapsychologists known as the Ghostbusters. Released in 1984, the Ghostbusters movie combined horror and comedy with spectacular special effects that were supplemented by actors like Bill Murray and Rick Moranis to become one of the biggest blockbusters of the 80’s. Besides the movies, there were cartoons, merchandise, a hit song, and of course, video games. Ghostbusters video games released as early as 1984 alongside the movie, but as many people know, games based on movies aren’t always the best.

That’s usually how it goes but in 2009, Terminal Reality managed to develop one of the greatest Ghostbustes games which was then re-released in 2019 by Saber Interactive. Developed against a decreased budget and during the middle of a company merger, Terminal Reality was able to do something that Sony couldn’t do for years. They got a hold of all four actors behind the Ghostbusters, and got them on board to lend their voices and likeness to the project. Surprisingly they convinced Murray who was hesitant to return to the franchise but agreed under the, “assurance that Winston Zeddemore, the underwritten black character from the movies (played by Ernie Hudson), would be elevated to full status. The other two, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis who wrote the movie’s script also contributed to the game’s script and called it, “essentially the third film.”

Dead Rising 2

The concept of zombies has existed in media since the early 1900’s but it wasn’t until the release of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968 that redefined the idea into the flesh eating monsters we know today. While comics like the Walking Dead have continued to take inspiration from the traditional Romero zombies, the creatures have continued to evolve across media over the years. Movies like 28 Days Later and the remake of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead have featured fast moving zombies or infected. Meanwhile video games have taken inspiration from both the old and new zombies with games like the Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising series.

Developed by Capcom and originally released in 2006, with a re-release in 2016, the Dead Rising games took clear inspiration from Romero’s work, down to its depiction of zombies and the overall setting of the first game. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead featured survivors that took shelter in a shopping mall, which added endless possibilities with all the available stores. Due to the similarities, there was a lawsuit against Capcom by the movie’s production company, but the court ruled in favor of Capcom. The judge added that the similarities were, “driven by the wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall during a zombie outbreak.” 

Destroy All Humans

Long before the Xenomporh terrorized marines in space where no one can hear you scream, aliens were depicted as invaders in media. Like in H. G. Wells' famous novel, The War of The Worlds, which was said to have caused mass hysteria during a radio broadcast in 1938. Coincidentally, this was the beginning of the golden age of science fiction that led to films full of alien invaders set during the cold war. While these movies may be seen as cheesy by today’s standards, they’ve been culturally significant for decades thanks to their themes like anti-war and have continued to inspire modern media.

Although many other pieces of media have paid homage to this age of sci-fi, not too many video games have embraced the era wholeheartedly. This was one of the main reasons that made Destroy All Humans standout from other games during the time. Originally released in 2005 and developed by Pandemic Studios, who are known for other games like Star War: Battlefront and Mercenaires, Destroy All Humans was a loving parody to everything that made the golden age of sci-fi significant. Initially pitched as a joke, its concept was made to contrast the media where alien invaders are the enemy. Instead you would actually play as the invaders, which was a promising “premise to cause mindless destruction.”