Video games have various established genres and styles, ranging from shooters to roleplay, or even dating simulators. One of the most popular being horror, which has been etched into the history of games, with popular franchises like "Resident Evil" or "Five Nights at Freddy's." Here are some of the most popular indie horror games based on true historical events and figures.
"Fallout: New Vegas"
"Fallout: New Vegas" is an action packed roleplay game that mixes fantasy worlds with a hit of nuclear apocalyptic elements. Throughout the game, players can switch their characters, meet new NPCs, partake in quests and build up a decent inventory of materials and weaponry. Specifically in New Vegas, the scene is set in Fabulous Las Vegas overwhelmed by a nuclear outbreak. In early 1918, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel had a mobster come up after he moved to the Silver State from his home of New York City. Around this time, he played a large role in the upbringing and popularity of the Las Vegas strip. Not to mention his presence in the gang and mafia industry of his time.
Art Credit: IGDB Press Kit
"Trenches"
"Trenches" is a war based horror survival game with the simple mission of escaping the trenches, getting away from the enemy line, and surviving the war long enough to make it back home. Set in 1917, PTSD hallucination based creatures are the main antagonist of the game, attempting to attack the player when the enemy soldier isn't. Players are able to perform as a German soldier, Igor who crossed the enemy line during his serve on the front lines. Game dev and creator Steelkrill Studio used elements of first world war tactics and implemented research based on history’s largest conflict before World War Two.
Art Credit: IGDB Press Kit
"Kholat"
In 1959, Igor Dyatlov and eight other Ural Polytechnic Institute student skiers disappeared while visiting the Kyolat Syakhi Mountains in Russia. The students were missing for months before the investigation was launched, ultimately their remains and mutilated bodies in a strange fashion were found only a day after the investigation began. The survival based horror game called "Kholat" was released in 2015, specializing in the adventure style game shown in first person. Players are hikers in the Russian mountains, running from shadow like humanoid creatures after finding themselves lost during a skiing expedition. Game developer Lukasz Kubiak mentioned in an interview, “While searching for inspiration, we reached out to multiple sources, myths, and Polish legends. In the end, however, the Dyatlov Pass Incident story was the one that instantly made us shiver.” Kubiak later mentions how the theories of the Incident such as military weaponry testing and a true crime murder case fueled his inspiration for executing the creation of "Kholat."
Art Credit: IGBD Press Kit
"Outlast Two"
Developed by Red Barrels in 2017, Outlast Two utilizes elements of extremism in religion while inspired by the story of a real event that occurred over 45 years ago. The Jonestown Massacre was a large scale mass suicide of 918 people, carried out by cult leader Jim Jones and his followers in Jonestown Guyana, early November 1978. With the population being just over 900, Jonestown was one of American history’s largest deliberate mass murder before the events of September 11, 2001. "Outlast Two" begins with a news reporter and his wife in a helicopter, traveling to a specific location to conduct their research and interviews. Before arrival, the copter crashes and the protagonist wakes up alone. Players go about the game looking for the reporter’s wife, running into supernatural creatures and crazed occultists all while realizing the location they have gone to research was none other than an abandoned cult settlement. In the game it is referred to as The Testament of New Ezekiel, where in history the Jonestown cult was The Peoples Temple.
Art Credit: IGBD Press Kit
"Chernobylite"
Developed by The Farm 51, "Chernobylite’s" map was generated by three dimesional scans and a realistic scale modeling of the Chernobyl exclusion zones in Ukraine. Players portray a Ukrainian physicist, Igor Khymynuk, who worked, tested, and experimented with Chernobyl’s nuclear power, now fighting to survive the radiation and mutated monsters after the explosion devastated the plant and world around him. In 1986 a large scale disaster struck near the city of Pripyat, Soviet Union after the No. Four reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant caught on fire and exploded during a malfunction. This event led to 100 direct contact deaths and poisoned the areas around the site for decades after. Even today, exclusion zones of the Plant are still closed off to the public due to radiation.
Art Image: IGBD Press Kit
Credits:
Created with an image by PANDA - "Joystick on a white wooden background."