Survival horror games have rightly found a home on the Nvidia Shield TV, offering a terrifying gaming experience in your front room (or wherever you roam with the Nvidia Shield Tablet). So we’ve rounded up the scariest games you can play on the Shield TV right now, preferably in the dead of night with the lights turned out.
As lifelong horror fans, one of our favourite hobbies involves gathering a hamper of beer and snacks and settling into the Recombu sofa late at night, ready for an intense horror gaming session. You just can’t beat creeping down a darkened corridor, only to soil yourself as a deformed creature with knives for limbs leaps out of an air vent and spears your head.
Thankfully you don’t need to splash out hundreds of pounds on the latest PS4 or Xbox One S to terrify yourself and your friends. Nvidia’s Shield TV costs under £200 here in the UK and already offers a strong selection of horror games. Some of these can be bagged for a few quid on the Android TV platform, while others can be found on Nvidia’s own GeForce Now service. And as the Shield TV comes with a games controller packaged, you’re immediately ready to get stuck into any of these horror titles.
Don’t forget to check out our round-up of the best games for Nvidia Shield, for our pick of the greatest titles you can play on the Shield TV and Shield Tablet right now. And if you want some terrifying titles to play on the move, try our other round ups:
Best Shield TV horror games: Outlast 2
If you’re a horror fan and you haven’t heard of Outlast, then something somewhere has gone badly wrong. The original title is one of the most terrifying experiences ever to hit our screens and the sequel is finally out, just in time for Halloween 2017.
Like the first game, Outlast 2 casts you as an average joe: an investigative journalist and cameraman who stumbles across a twisted town hidden away in the Arizona desert. Unfortunately this place is home to a murderous cult, who’d like nothing more than to string your guts up like bunting. All you have to hand is your trusty camcorder, which alllows you to see in the dark – not that you’ll want to.
You can grab Outlast 2 now on GeForce Now, along with the original game.
Best Shield TV horror games: Bioshock Remastered
This action RPG is getting on a bit, yet still packs a claustrophobic, suffocating atmosphere that’ll have you gasping for air. At the beginning of the game you unwittingly enter the supposedly perfect city of Rapture, which is hidden away deep underwater. As you might expect, it soon becomes clear that something has gone terribly wrong. The residents are all insane, and you have no choice but to tear your way through them with an arsenal of weapons and your newly acquired plasmid powers.
The gripping story and creepy vibes make Bioshock well worth returning to for an action-oriented horror fix.
Best Shield TV horror games: Doom 3
Another oldie-but-goodie is iD Software’s Doom 3. Although it wasn’t as well received as the first two Doom games, this fully 3D title still has the power to ruin your underwear even in 2017.
The story is an ever-so-slightly fleshed out version of the original Doom’s plot, involving a mars military base accidentally (ahem) opening a portal to hell. Before you can say ‘oh dear’, hordes of slavering demons have invaded the compound and get to work redecorating with blood and brain matter.
Expect a bunch of sphincter-clenching set pieces and plenty of wandering around in the dark with the sounds of approaching gribblies ringing in your ears. Some of the reimagined beasties are truly horrifying and the weapons are as satisfying as ever. Plus you now have to deal with fresh troubles, such as running out of oxygen in the cold vacuum of space.
Even though Dead Space may have done it better soon after, Doom 3 is still as gripping and intense as ever – although the enemies spawning behind you trick gets old almost immediately.
Best Shield TV horror games: SOMA
If you’ve played Amnesia: The Dark Descent, you’ll already know how terrifying SOMA can be. Frictional Games are the masters of horror gaming right now and this latest effort will have you leaping out of the sofa in fright.
Claustrophobic gamers will likely balk at the underwater facility setting, which has you trapped under a massive body of water when things start to go hideously wrong. As with previous titles, you can’t face your enemies with massive chainsaws or miniguns. Rather, you have to outsmart – or leg it away from – your foes.
On the ‘spare change of underwear’ scale, we rank SOMA a hearty eight or nine. As in, that’s how many fresh pairs you’ll blast your way through before the ordeal is over.
Best Shield TV horror games: The Guest
This sinister horror-themed adventure has you exploring a run-down old hotel in a bid to escape the clutches of a mysterious captor. The plot slowly unfurls, bringing a heightened sense of dread, while bizarre hallucinations and other inexplicable events make you wonder: are you entirely sane?
The Guest is a sadly overlooked gem that can be picked up for not much cash on GeForce Now. Adventure game fans will enjoy the exploration and puzzle elements, which are well integrated into the gameplay and story. And fans of horror will certainly approve of the spooky and sinister set-pieces, which pop up at regular intervals to either unnerve you or freak you out completely.
Best Shield TV horror games: Layers of Fear
One of our favourite horror games of recent times is the memorable and terrifying Layers of Fear. This incredibly intense and atmospheric game may not bombard you with enemies or indeed feature any kind of combat at all. Yet even with all threat removed, the haunting experience Layers of Fear offers will constantly shred your nerves and stay with you long after you hit the credits.
We won’t spoil anything here, but the game’s plot focuses on a dishevelled artist who roams the empty halls of his manor house. You piece together his story via notes and cutscenes, and before long it’s clear that his mind is a very dark place indeed.
Check out our full Layers of Fear Solitude review for an idea of what to expect.
Best Shield TV horror games: Resident Evil Revelations
We’re big fans of the original Resident Evil games, which for all their schlock and godawful dialogue were still terrifying enough to ruin many a good pair of boxer shorts. After a serious dip in scares (not to mention overall quality) with the fifth and sixth entries, Res Evil is back on track with number seven in the series. Plus, the Revelations spin-off games kept that old-school terror alive and well while the main series was floundering.
Some of the original Resi cast make a welcome return for Revelations, including fan favourite Barry Burton. And if you enjoy blasting through horror games with a pal, the good news is that Revelations 2 can be played co-op. The combat is as frantic as ever, with more of an emphasis on melee weapons for up-close nasty battles. You even get some (frustration-free) stealth sections thrown in too.
Best Shield TV horror games: The Park
Similar in gameplay to Layers of Fear, The Park has you exploring a desolate theme park late at night. Of course, this isn’t a case of boozy teenage after hours high-jinks. Rather, your haunting stroll through the broken-down rides and forgotten pathways has a much more sinister purpose.
The Park has a fair share of flaws, including a lack of direction at times. However, some of the more creepy moments will again stay with you after it’s all over and the terror really ramps up towards the end. Definitely play in the dark, with the volume bumped all the way up.
Best Shield TV horror games: Dead Island
Don’t expect sophisticated gameplay from Dead Island. This first person action game basically has you running around a popular holiday destination, clubbing zombies to death with whatever weapons you can find. It’s schlocky nonsense but it’s pretty good fun too, for all of its faults. And while you might not exactly be shaking with fear, you’ll be absolutely soaked with blood and gore by the game’s end.
Best Shield TV horror games: Dead Island Riptide
Riptide is the follow-up to the original Dead Island, so if you can’t get enough of tearing through hordes of the undead, this should help keep your bloodlust up. Again, it’s a straightforward and rather forgettable action game, but filled with enough gore and jump scares to make it a worthy horror title.
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