Best Multiplayer Horror Games for your Halloween Party
Let’s kick off Halloween right with the 5 best multiplayer horror games for your party.
Do you want a quick blast before going out and scaring kids, or are you planning a full horror-filled night of retro gaming? Hopefully you might find something here you haven’t considered previously.
Join the party in the video below but be sure to skip down to see the list of games with a few decent (or perhaps, ghastly?) recommendations.
Zombies ate my Neighbors (and Ghoul Patrol)
Zombies ate my neighbors is a classic game for any Halloween party. The gameplay is fast, run-and-gun with a great multi-player focus but I really felt like the humour and the cliche, B-Grade movie Horror themes help the game stand out among Horror fans. The overall feel is very campy but don’t be deceived, Zombies ate my Neighbors is a really hard game but I has a blast reaching (or using cheats to get to) each new area. Shopping Malls, Suburbia, Egyptian Pyramids, Mining towns even a classic Haunted House. Zombies ate my Neighbors is awesomely self-aware and really aligned itself with the campy horror TV-specials that rule the television during October.
Ghoul Patrol is something of an unofficial sequel. Developed using the same engine, it was originally intended to be a stand-alone game but palmed off to a smaller third-party developer to be made into a sequel JVC could distribute.
In essence, it’s got some very charming graphics, some good new locations and even a few more mechanics (like jumping), but a lot of the original imagination is gone. The levels have wider themes, like, ancient Japan, Medieval or Pirates instead of being based on classic Horror premises so even though we get a lot of new enemies, they’re not very imaginative compared to the original game.
Ghoul Patrol was a lot of fun to play and there’s definitely a few new concepts, like Boss fights, but I like to consider the game more of an expansion to the original. There’s a few small changes and different content, it’s a fun game but it doesn’t quite live up to the original. As an alternative for the Sega Saturn and the PS1, you may want to check out Herc’s Adventure, also designed by Michael Ebert who designed Zombies ate my Neighbors (and started work on Ghoul Patrol).
House of the Dead
I NEEDED a classic shooter in my Halloween review. House of the Dead is on the ugly side of classic, but there’s one awesome reason you may want to check out the original on the Sega Saturn… The Sega Saturn Stunner/Light Gun. The game hasn’t aged well and the Saturn port has its own issues. Poor frame rates, blocky graphics and larger textures. But you’re still blasting the undead apart in an old mansion, there’s no real way to have a bad time.
The great thing about House of the Dead is that it’s short. It’s a short, intense arcade blast. Things get crazy and then it’s over. You don’t need to dwell on House of the Dead too much so play it and move on.
For a slightly more accessible zombie blasting session, you may want to check out House of the Dead 2 & 3 compilation on the Wii or skip straight into number 4 for the modern systems. I still found it a little exciting to head back to the very beginning of the series and see how the zombie outbreak got its start.
Alternatives: Crypt Killer is another first person shooter in the same vein as House of the Dead available on both the Sega Saturn and the Sony Playstation from Konami.
Instead of the zombies, mutants and ‘creations’ from the House of the Dead franchise, Crypt Killer is a little more exotic in its locations and enemies. Mummies, skeletons, green lizard men and all manner of monsters and beasts, Crypt Killer has plenty of issues but these kind of lightgun games are just a real blast to bust out for that 90’s arcade charm.
You might also get a kick out of the earlier FMV shooters like Corpse Killer. Before you could move through a 3D environment like in House of the Dead, gamers were scrolling sideways taking out the bad guys. It’s got a primitive feel but it’s cool seeing how far a genre can come in a few years. Corpse Killer wasn’t a blockbuster title but with bonus missions for health and ammo, plenty of extra content filling in the story and some of the best *ahem* FMV sequences available. It’s worth looking into it… Briefly.
Zombie Revenge
I reviewed Zombie Revenge in 2014 and had a blast with the game. Although for most people, 3D beat ‘em ups are a tired genre that are awkward to play, I’ve always enjoyed them. What sets Zombie Revenge apart was that it’s set in the same universe as House of the Dead (with a trip back to Curien Mansion).
There’s a lot of different weapons available, special moves for each of the characters and firearms are incorporated really well with a charging mechanic.
Outside the Arcade mode, there’s a Dreamcast mode where you can collect items for the VMU Mini-Games, a Versus mode where you can fight a friend and a Boss-Rush mode.
For anyone who digs the VMU Mini Games, Zombie revenge came with a Tamagotchi style mode where you could train a character for use in versus mode. We got two built in mini-games, Zombie Fishing and Doubt. Both offer ways to improve your character (Zombie Fishing is a bit of a favourite), but it’s cool seeing the VMU getting some love and an Arcade – Dreamcast port with so many features included.
Vampire Hunter / Nightstalkers
Capcom’s premiere Horror-themed fighting game. I first discovered a lot of the characters featured in these games from their appearances in the Marvel vs Capcom titles. I don’t remember the Darkstalkers series making a big splash but it was awesome coming back to a game dedicated to letting these weird freaks, monsters and witches battle it out within that consistent horror-theme.
This installment feels like it’s nailed a great balance between that campy horror I love so much with a bit of humour. One example is the Frankenstein monster and his stage.
He fights with electric charged kicks, punches and butt-thrusts. He also has a great, cartoony animation when he’s hit and his eyes extend out of his. Throughout Frankenstein’s lab, there’s the machine that brought the Frankenstein Monster to life as well as the corpse of the Doctor crumpled in a chair, continually being zapped by electricity. Once a winner is declared, the ghost of Frankenstein appears at the top of the stage and drops confetti. There’s plenty of other quirks, fighters with their own unique moves and background details to explore but this is one fighter I seriously recommend checking out.
Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers Revenge is the second game in the series, released in the arcades in 1995 (and making it home consoles in 1996). The series English name ‘Darkstalkers’ was changed for this title due to agreements with Sony so English releases were titled Night Warriors. Darkstalkers Revenge is the only game in the series that uses Night Warriors as an alternative name.
As a possible recommendation, Vampire Saviour: The Lord of the Vampire (Darkstalkers 3) was also available on the Sega Saturn with a few extra characters and all new stages. In my opinion, it felt a lot darker and less humorous but the additional characters are well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series.
Additionally, I mentioned these Darkstalkers characters show up in a lot of games. Another fighter I really enjoyed on both the Sega Saturn and Playstation was Pocket Fighters, again by Capcom. All the characters are represented as these cute little ‘chibi’ characters with silly moves and combos. If you want something different, I can really recommend checking this one out for a laugh.
Moving away from Capcom, a developer called Scarab had two more monster themed fighters. Battle Monsters on the Sega Saturn used digitized actors and claymation (like a mix between Primal Rage and Mortal Kombat) complete with a zany camera. It’s not the best combination of elements but it’s certainly interesting to look at. They went to developed a sequel called Killing Zone for the PS1 using 3D textures and stages. While technically a much more modern approach, I find it looks a little bland by contrast (and the fighting/framerates feel more sluggish as well).
Night Slashers X
Finding a home-released side-scrolling beat ‘em up with a Horror theme is nigh impossible… Which I find crazy! The idea of beating the limbs off the undead is awesome and there’s a few games, mostly in the arcades, that let you indulge in some good zombie pummeling. Data East released their original Night Slashers game in 1993 that brought plenty of gore, some interesting bonus stages (like zombie bowling) and a lot of very campy, horror fun to beat ‘em ups.
For this review, I looked at Night Slashers X, basically, the original Night Slashers remade and updated using the Beats of Rage engine. It’s an interesting way to ‘update’ an old Beat ‘em Up and more accessible to a broader range of PC users.
There’s more characters and enemies, I’m not sure of all the differences between each version, but Night Slashers X is easily one of the more consistent BOR releases available (and you download it for free over here). Nothing really sticks out too badly, like it doesn’t belong there, and a lot of the cool moments from the original game still happen, like the van that runs over the gate with a bunch of zombies getting caught underneath before our heroes infiltrate the morgue/scientist laboratory.
Some alternatives might be SNK’s Mutation Nation on the Neo Geo. Plenty of monsters and mutants to fight through. In all honesty, the campy horror made Night Slashers really stand out but SNK have developed some pretty solid Beat ‘em Ups and Mutation Nation was at least available on home systems (as well as the Neo Geo X).
I’d also recommend checking out Splatterhouse. An awesome arcade style side-scrolling beat ‘em up game. All 3 of the original Splatterhouse games are available on the PS3 release of the game (which I reviewed back in 2014), it’s the easiest way to check them out all out at once. The series is strictly 1-player (so doesn’t meet my criteria for a Halloween Party), but it’s got an awesome amount of gore, interesting enemies and weapons.
The third game broke away from the first 2 by making it feel more like Final Fight or Streets of Rage, fighting through room by room to save your loved one.
Want some more Horror?
The House of the Dead had their very own toyline! You can see Johnny reviewed over here. I’ve also been hard at work with the Mighty Max Horror Head Marathon (10 Horror Head reviews in one month) that you can check out over here.
