Interactive horror movies are at their peak, and you should give them a try

A long time ago, at the beginning of the CD era, we witnessed the beginnings of interactive movies. These experiences have let us “play movies,” as we were making important decisions that made the difference between life and death. The most famous example of such a game was Night Trap, which was the reason why video games have to be age-rated today. These interactive movies were inovative but also flawed. The problem wasn’t the quality of the video (which was mostly awful because of the huge compression rate), but the limited gameplay. Gamers were making only crucial decisions, as most of the action was beyond their control. Plus, you could often finish these experiences in only a couple of hours. No wonder that this genre was dead for almost 15 years before it was resurrected, better than ever.

While interactive movies were back with thriller and action experiences such are Heavy Rain or Indigo Prophecy a bit earlier, authentic horror experience was back in 2015 with the release of Until Dawn. This game was mainly an old school teen slasher where a group of friends is isolated in a cabin far away from civilization. As strange things begin to happen, what they realize is that they must survive the night. Here you are playing as eight characters that pretty much fit all tropes of teen slashers, but there is a crucial difference – you are in control! If you were ever enraged watching people die stupidly in slashers, here you are making the decisions. You can stay and fight if you want to, and you don’t need to go into that dark corner of the house all alone. Of course, this is still an interactive movie, meaning that the story is always leading you. The difference is that your choice is changing the script, and there are different ways to finish the game. It’s entirely possible to reach the end with everyone alive or to fail and have no survivors. The element of surprise is still there, as sometimes these Adult Games don’t offer obvious choices. Something that may look right may turn out to be fatal for your character.

While we are still talking about Until Dawn, which is considered the best interactive horror movie available, that is the formula used in other releases. In 2019 we could experience Man of Medan, which is only the first part of eight planned installments of The Dark Picture Anthology. The principle is still the same, as your goal is to save as many people as possible while they somehow end on the legendary ghost ship Ourang Medan. While the story here is not as good, it’s still a fun experience that supports cooperative play, both online and offline. Even if you are not a huge gamer, these games are easy to get into and fun as Free Adult Games. That’s why you should give them a try.