#MacabroGamers What Awaits in the Shadows: Games That Will Terrify Your Console in 2017.

By: Mario Ayanami.

Throughout 2016, we had a wide variety of releases on consoles and handhelds. Between popular apps like Pokémon Go, online phenomena like Overwatch, or unprecedented experiences in Uncharted 4, there was one genre that got a bit lost this year… of course, I'm talking about horror. There were few releases worth mentioning, like Layers of Fear or Dead Rising 4, partly due to the decision by various developers who opted to delay some highly anticipated titles like the ones we'll discuss below. Here are four games that promise to fill your entire being with dread the moment you pick up the controller.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc_2NOLQNIg (abre en nueva pestaña)

A project that has been in the works since 2015 is the independent game What Remains of Edith Finch, exclusive to PS4. In this first-person adventure, you take control of Edith, who must investigate why she is the last living member of her family. Through various missions, you'll learn how each of them died inexplicably, from the early twentieth century to the present day. It's expected to finally arrive in spring and will be the first video game distributed by film studio Annapurna, Oscar nominees for Zero Dark Thirty and Her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Sw3C8iJiU (abre en nueva pestaña)

If you grew up in the NES generation, you'll remember that in 1989 a wretched cartridge inspired by the Friday the 13th films came out. The gameplay and overall design were a textbook example of how not to make a game (we'll surely talk about it later). However, this old wound is looking to redeem itself thanks to studios Gun Media and Ill Fonic, who launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce a new title starring Jason Vorhees. Friday will be an open world for up to nine players, where eight will control different camp counselors at Crystal Lake… and the remaining player will be the killer, hunting each one of them down. For all the fans, Kane Hodder, the actor who played the masked killer in the saga's last four films, will reprise the role through motion capture. As for the design, it will have the support of the legendary Tom Savini to stay as faithful as possible. According to its creators, it will be released in two parts: the multiplayer mode will arrive on PS4, PC, and Xbox One early in the year, while the single-player campaign won't come until summer. Don't you just hate this new trend of selling everything separately?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTXbOh8urp4 (abre en nueva pestaña)

The scariest game of recent years was Outlast, with its story about a reporter infiltrating an insane asylum where patients were subjected to sinister experiments. Now its sequel has more surprises in store, putting us in the shoes of journalist Blake Langermann, who travels with his wife Lynn to a remote region of the Sonoran Desert. Unfortunately, they end up stranded in a town cut off from all society, where the residents practice a cult and believe the end of times is near. Will they manage to escape before becoming sacrificial victims? Still without a release date, it's expected to arrive on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in the first months of 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx_jzKP51U4 (abre en nueva pestaña)

Finally, we have another completely new offering in We Happy Few. Inspired by the dystopian nightmare of Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, we'll travel to the fictional city of Wellington Wells, England, in the mid-1960s. In an alternate outcome of World War II, the townspeople became aware of atrocities they had committed. To forget them, they're put on a drug called "Joy," a hallucinogen capable of inducing an enormous dose of happiness but which makes them easy to control. Your character will refuse to take the substance, since he intends to resolve pending personal issues. Once exiled, he'll cross paths with a group seeking to bring down society. Another project that succeeded through crowdfunding and found a home at Microsoft, the company that will distribute the game exclusively for Xbox One and PC sometime next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viyqPAziAaw (abre en nueva pestaña)

Other titles, like Resident Evil 7, will try to completely renew the franchise with a style leaning toward psychological horror and the option to use Virtual Reality. All in all, 2017 has plenty of fresh offerings to keep us on the edge of our seats. That's all for now, we'll catch up in January, and remember to have a macabre new year in the company of your favorite console.