News
Which Horror Games Lived Up to the Hype?
Welcome to 2016; I’m glad you could make it.
With each new year comes fresh expectations. New games will release, more will be announced, and if we’re lucky, we may finally hear from a few of our old favorites, like Dead Space, Alan Wake and Condemned.
All this talk about what we’re anticipating this year got me thinking about the impact that hype can have – and often does have — on some games. Hype isn’t a bad thing, most of the time. So in the interest of starting 2016 on a positive note, I’d love it if you could tell me:
Which horror games actually surpassed your expectations?
I hope you won’t mind if I go first. Until Dawn, I choose you.
This game was so much better than it had any right to be. Prior to its release, Supermassive Games had spent much of their seven years of existence working on the LittleBigPlanet franchise. They weren’t exactly known for delivering nail-biting gaming experiences.
That made the surprise success of this acclaimed supernatural thriller all the sweeter, as it proved there’s an audience for stab ‘em ups outside of film. And the timing couldn’t be better, as we prepare for the long-awaited return of Friday the 13th, as well as the arrival of its competitor, Last Year.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
You must be logged in to post a comment.