Welcome to The Attic, fellow gamers!

There is one thing I haven’t been able to mention a lot on since the site made its debut: I am a pretty avid gamer. I have been sitting crosslegged in front of the TV, controller in hand, since I was about 5 years old. My Dad had a Nintendo, so I started on games like Rad Racer, this God-awful-yet-addicting gambling game set in Vegas, and of course Ghostbusters II. As I got older I had a Sega, and then a PS2 and now a 360 and 2DS. But oddly enough it took me a long time to get into horror games. Most likely because most are crap. The vast majority of them either look good, but are terrible for story and/or mechanical reasons, or they just have dumb plots. However, a trend seems to be appearing over the horizon, and it’s one that has me very excited. There are four, count ‘em, four horror games that have been announced that are set in classic 80s-style slasher settings. I’ll just quickly run down each one, and what we know about them so far.

Until Dawn

Release Date: TBD

This upcoming PS4 exclusive centers around eight friends who go on a mountain retreat together, and end up stranded. But they aren’t alone… Until Dawn is one game where your choices are truly supposed to have an affect on the outcome of the story, and ultimately determines who survives. Utilizing the Killzone: Shadow Fall engine, the graphics should be quite crisp, and the screenshots I’ve seen so far look breathtaking. The star of the game, Sam, is played by Hayden Panettiere, so that’s interesting (I’m a BIG fan). Based on the trailer below, it appears that this one relies on quick time events for a lot of the action, which I normally grit my teeth at. But you know, in a horror game, some added tension and pressure isn’t a bad thing. It’ll get you more involved and keep you on your toes. I really like that the quick time events seem to be more choice based than button-mashing in a 2-second window (I’m glaring at you Resident Evil). This one truly seems to have all the right things checked off, including a hot girl in nothing but a towel. I could see this being a 80s horror classic, and right now I’m wishing it was because I wouldn’t have to wait.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InhV7glyMl0&w=560&h=315]

Summer Camp

Release Date: TBD

The creator of Summer Camp, Wes Keltner is quoted on the game’s site as saying “this is my love letter to the Friday the 13th film series,” and it shows. This is also set in a very Camp Crystal Lake stylized setting, and you get to choose whether you’re a counselor or the killer. It is a third-person survival horror game, and the visuals are very cleverly meant to mimic the style of VHS, complete with occasional tracking lines. A VERY important note on this one is the fact that the Executive Producer and Cinematographer is none other than the Legen-wait-for-it-DARY Tom Savini. This man is a God to horror fans and if there’s any doubt in your mind about this game being the real deal, this will set your mind at ease. To top it off, Harry Manfredini, the man who created the score for the original Friday the 13th is the composer for the game. I mean seriously, shut up and take my money! This will be released across the board: PS4, Xbone, and Steam.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQAxSmKGuJM&w=560&h=315]

Last Year

Release Date: Q4 (tentative)

We have another reason to thank Kickstarter, as Last Year looks to be campy fun all the way, and is the one that looks the most like Friday the 13th, without being a F13 game. This will be a Steam release only as far as I can tell, so I better work on getting a gaming computer ASAP. It focuses more on co-op, as you take control of one of five high school students to complete objectives together in order to survive. It’s important to note that each character has their own traits and benefits to have around. If your medic dies you can’t heal anymore. If the nerd dies there’s no way to get the lights on. This aspect is very cool because you can’t just run and survive, you have to think. You explore locations based on famous sites such as Camp Crystal Lake. It will also let you switch sides and be the bad guy, taking control of the Jason-lookalike, or one of the other four baddies if you choose.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPhDWWGbaNU&w=560&h=315]

Friday the 13th: Bloodbath

Release Date: TBD

This game is lowest on my radar, as it is so far in the future, but it may be a pretty good game. Bloodbath is loosely based on a comic book that came out in 2005. It is being developed by Havoc Games and Unleaded Games, and will be episodic much like Telltale’s Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us. Apparently it will tell us what happened to Jason after his vacay to Manhattan, and how he returned to Camp Crystal Lake. It appears it will only be about 4 “episodes” in length, and to be honest, my interest in this is pretty low, but since it has F13 on it, I’ll keep an eye out.

So that’s it! Four upcoming 80s-style, campy, slasher, horror games! This is making me want to have a Friday the 13th marathon now.

Stay scared,
Dark Princess