Horror games with proprietary mechanics

Key things

  • Video games allow unique experiences through inhabiting different characters and offer a different perspective.
  • Successful horror games often use a strange atmosphere to effectively create terror.
  • Some titles, e.g
    Beyond: Two Souls, Dishonored,
    and
    Inside
    allow players to own entities or items in the game.



One of the interesting things about video games is that they allow players to inhabit the bodies of other beings. This takes them through countless experiences with different characters and sees the world from a unique perspective.

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Some video games go a step further by allowing player-controlled characters to inhabit the bodies of entities or objects within the game itself. Horror gameswith a focus on supernatural and sci-fi themes, they are ripe for this kind of experience. With that in mind, here are some titles that allow players to use player characters to take over other entities in the game.


9 Beyond: Two Souls

A psychic bond with a powerful entity


Beyond: Two Souls

Systems

PC-1 PlayStation-1

Released
October 8, 2013

OpenCritic rating
Fair

Beyond: Two Souls is a sequel to Quantic Dream's epic adventure game Heavy rain. The title follows the protagonist Jodie, played by Elliot Page, who has a psychic connection with an entity named Aiden.

From a young age, Jodie is subjected to experiments that test her psychic abilities and even ends up working for the CIA. In one early stage, he can send Aiden to own a security guard that monitors the cameras, and even kill him if the player chooses to do so.

8 Dishonored

Help from outside

Dishonored he sees Corvo Attano, the bodyguard of the royal family of Dunwall, accused of murdering the queen and kidnapping her daughter Emily. This takes Corvo on a quest to get revenge on those who wronged him. On his way, he joins a resistance group that claims to be fighting the new totalitarian government of Dunwall. He also receives supernatural powers from an extra-dimensional being known as The Outsider.


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One of the abilities that Corvo can unlock is Possession. This allows him to first control smaller animals such as rats and eventually progress to controlling other humans. He can use this power to bypass guards or sneak into tight spaces and surprise his targets.

7 Inside

Mind control

Released
June 29, 2016

Developers
Play dead

OpenCritic rating
Mighty

Inside follows a young boy through a dark, dystopian, totalitarian city in a 2D puzzle-solving platformer. Employing a restrained use of color, this title creates a tense atmosphere with danger hinted around every corner. Many of the inhabitants were forcibly subjected to mind control, making them nothing more than puppets.


The boy will have to use a device placed on his head to manipulate these human drones to solve basic puzzles. These may include placing them on platforms or pushing boxes to allow access to elevated areas.

6 Siren

Zombie vision

Systems

PlayStation-1

Released
April 20, 2004

Developers
Japanese studio

Silent Hill fans should take note of this overlooked survival horror title. Set in the supernatural village of Hanuda, Siren follows several characters from different time periods as they explore this remote place and try to survive its zombified inhabitants.

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To do this, the characters use an ability known as “sightjacking”. This allows them to see through the eyes of their enemies, indicating their location and activity in the game world. Sightjacking is essential to avoid confrontations, as a single hit from an enemy can mean instant death.


5 Murdered: Soul Suspect

Solving his own murder

Released
June 3, 2014

Developers
Airtight games

OpenCritic rating
Weak

Murdered: Soul Suspect is an appropriately spooky story set in Salem, MA, known for the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Detective Ronan O'Connor, an ex-criminal, has just been murdered, and as a ghost, he must find his killer and uncover the perpetrator's motives in the process.

Being freshly dead, Ronan has new abilities that allow him to gather information and improve his detective skills. One such ability is jumping into the bodies of the living. This allows him to see through their eyes, listen to their conversations, and influence their behavior.


4 Midnight Ghost Hunt

Do not cross streams

Midnight Ghost Hunt

Systems

PC-1

Released
March 31, 2022

Developer
Vaulted Sky Games

OpenCritic rating
Strong

Midnight Ghost Hunt is what would happen if a hide and seek video game Prop Hunt merged with Ghostbusters. It is a 4v4 game where a team of ghost hunters must track down and destroy a team of ghosts in haunted locations.

Ghosts can possess multiple objects in the game world, allowing them to use their attributes to attack hunters – or at least scare them. Such “possessed” items include stone gargoyles that allow ghosts to glide briefly, or armor that can be used to strike enemies.

3 Stubbs Zombie V Rebel without Pulse

Using a Helping Hand


Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

Released
October 18, 2005

Developers
Wide load

OpenCritic rating
Weak

In a retro-futuristic city, a body in a nice brown suit and hat is disturbed by radioactive materials. Zombie rises from the grave and sees a woman on TV and immediately falls in love with her. To get to her, he will eat anyone and anything in his path.

Being a zombie has its perks. One is to detach the hand and control it remotely as if it were a Thing The Addams Family. Stubbs can then put his hand on the unsuspecting person's head. This acts as an antenna that allows him to control a person for a short period of time. Some enemies have weapons so they can be possessed and then used to slash enemies until they are destroyed themselves.

2 The holding experiment

Controlling The Controller Controlling The Controlled


Platforms

pc

Released

January 3, 2020

Developer

olinkalex

Genre

Psychological horror

An employee is on lockdown in a paranormal research lab while entities roam the corridors. Almost everyone is dead. As one of the few survivors who cannot leave the room he is trapped in, he must use test items in the lab to escape.

The holding experiment is promoted as a “second person” game. The character behind the computer is controlled from a first-person perspective. From there, test subjects are controlled using specialized masks and navigated through the corridors of the facility. They are monitored by security cameras that mimic the fixed camera angles of an earlier era Resident Evil games. Dangerous entities can attack at any time and even pass through the driver window.


1 Geist

A Ghost In The Shell

Platforms

Gamecube

Released

August 15, 2005

Developer

n-space

Genre

Action adventure, horror

Geist is a GameCube exclusive first-person adventure game published by Nintendo. It takes John Raimi's silent protagonist into the heart of the Volks Corporation. After one of his colleagues goes berserk and kills him, the attempt rips John's soul from his body. As a ghost, he must navigate the Volks Corporation to reclaim his body as well as discover the past of its leader and the young girl whose ghost wanders its corridors.


Most Geistova the game involves using John's powers of ghostly possession, which allows him to control people, animals, and other objects to solve puzzles. Living creatures can only be possessed if they are afraid, which makes them vulnerable enough for him to control, which adds an interesting wrinkle to the game.

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