After years of ardent anticipation from gamers across the globe, Cyberpunk 2077 was released to relative disappointment among experts and casual players alike. Although the story and gameplay have been praised for their excellence, the game has been criticized for being too buggy and glitchy for such an expensive high-profile new release.
As for horror gamers who enjoy Cyberpunk 2077's atmosphere and iconography, the game joins a long line of sci-fi/horror games that rely on the futuristic themes and visual tableau of the cyberpunk genre. For those who love horror and cyberpunk, here are some excellent games.
10 Outlast 2 (2017)
Outlast 2 is another game that fuses the hyper-violence and unsettling environment of a horror game with the futuristic cyberpunk themes. The story concerns Blake and Lynn Langermann, a married couple roving the Arizona desert in search of a pregnant woman's murderer.
After being separated, Blake and Lynn run into Sullivan Knoth, a cult-like figure who created a world called Temple Gate and awaits the end-times. The first-person psychological survivor horror game will be followed by a sequel in 2021 called The Outlast Trails.
9 Protocol (2015)
Although Protocol hews more toward the cyberpunk side, the psychological horror game induces combined with its moderate gore and unnerving atmosphere make it a must-play for fans of twisted extraterrestrial terror.
The first-person, quasi-walking simulator game allows a player to follow the strict "protocol" of making the first contact with a mysterious alien race that was gunned-down in the Arctic.
8 Shadowrun (1993-2015)
Shadowrun is a series of eight video games released from 1993 to 2015, all of which meld the cyberpunk tropes and tenets with those of science fiction, fantasy crime, detective investigation, and abject horror.
In Shadowrun Returns (2013), humans, elves, orcs, trolls, and dwarves are among the character races to choose from. In Shadowrun: Hong Kong (2015), the story is set in the year 2056 where a twisted demonic entity named Qian Ya: The Queen of A Thousand Teeth strives for world domination. Cyberpunk and horror at its finest.
7 Bad Dream: Fever (2018)
Cyberpunk horror-gamers are sure to lose sleep over Bad Dream: Fever, a strange and disquieting dystopian psychological thriller outing set in a future in which the world has been desaturated of its natural colors. The violent and gory point-and-click game is available on PC and Nintendo Switch.
Left to wander a dusty landscape in the wake of a mysterious plague, the desolate environment fuses the past and future into one indiscernible atmosphere.
6 Galerians (1999-2002)
For a twisted throwback cyberpunk horror game, look no further than Galerians and its sequel, Galerians: Ash. The former was released via Playstation in 1999 and the latter on PS2 in 2002.
Galerians traces Rion, a boy who awakes with amnesia and in the search for his identity learns he is humanity's only hope for survival. Rion must defeat Galerians, an army of technologically-enhanced humans. In terms of gameplay, Galerians is akin to the cyberpunk version of Resident Evil.
5 System Shock 2 (1999)
Although it's two decades old, System Shock 2 is a first-person role-playing game sure to appeal to fans of both horror and cyberpunk genres. Set on a spaceship in the year 2114, the goal of the player is to quell the spread of a deadly genetic infection that has ravaged the ship.
With the ability to hack into technologies and harness psionic abilities, the game leads to the terrifying discovery of egg-pods belonging to The Many, a parasitic race of hive-minded alien worms intent on taking over the world.
4 Get Even (2017)
Get Even is a dark and twisted horror game that combines the best elements of cyberpunk lore with atmospheric dread. The story revolves around Cole Black, a man who awakes in an old condemned hospital with only one memory: he must rescue a teenage girl with a bomb attached to her body.
With a cryptic piece of technology plugged into his head, Cole traverses time and space and explores a frightening landscape as he tries to remember his past.
3 Transient (2020)
Billed as "H.P. Lovecraft Meets Cyberpunk," Transient is a top-three destination for fans of both gaming subgenres. Released near Halloween 2020, the new game is available on PS4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.
Made by the creators of Conarium and Darkness Within, Transient is set in a dystopic future world enclosed by the Doomed City of Providence. Notorious hacker Randolph Carter becomes humanity's last hope as he uncovers a mortifying conspiracy of intense cosmic mystery.
2 Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story (2020)
Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is set in Neo Honk Kong in the year 2083. The horrific survival game mixes Chinese history and lore with the themes and imagery of the cyberpunk genre.
Players assume the role of Mei-Lin Mak, a Chinese heroine takes with investigating a haunted apartment complex and learning the history of the 14 lost souls present within its walls. With cybernetic eye-implants that allows for intense zooming, Mei-Lin must overcome a series of puzzles in order to survive.
1 Observer (2017)
Without question, Observer is the number one horror game to play among fans of the cyberpunk genre. Set in 2084 Krakow, the first-person psychological horror story concerns Daniel Lazarski, a Polish detective who uses a gadget called the Dream Eater to hack into people's brain implants.
Equipped with all sorts of futuristic devices such as Bio Vision, Electromagnetic Vision, and Nanophage Cards, Lazarski interacts with and interrogates several creepy characters en route to finding the cause of a cryptic digital plague that threatens Earth's population. With voice-over narration by the late great Rutger Hauer, playing Observer is an absolute must.
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January 31, 2021 at 06:30AM
