It’s that time of year again! The temperature is cooling down, the leaves are changing color, and every food and drink seemingly has a pumpkin spice variation. With Autumn now here, many will be looking ahead to Halloween. Thinking about which costume to wear, how much candy they’re going to eat, and which horror movie or game they’re going to attempt to sit through.
Many video game developers also get into the Halloween spirit by adding new content to strike fear into the hearts of players everywhere. Games and series that aren’t normally seen as horror become littered with zombies and vampires. It’s become a growing tradition for developers to release horror-themed DLC around this time of year. While the results may not always constitute as scary, they often share elements that honor the horror genre.
10 Assassin’s Creed Tasks Players To Assassinate A Curse
In 2017, Ubisoft sought to reinvent the Assassin’s Creed series with the release of Assassin’s Creed Origins. Ubisoft lifted many of the traditional restraints and gave players wide-open freedom taking place on maps larger than ever before. The response to this change of approach was wildly positive. Ubisoft has since carried this new formula over to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
In 2018, Ubisoft released “The Curse of the Pharaoh” expansion for Assassin’s Creed Origins. In the expansion, Bayek travels to the city of Thebes. There he finds himself faced with supernatural enemies. Needing to put an end to the Pharaoh’s curse, Bayek seeks to find and return an ancient relic stolen from its tomb.
9 The Horror Of WWE 2K20 Didn’t End With Its Technical Issues
For over 30 years, WWE has been the subject of many popular games based on its sports entertainment brand of professional wrestling. In 2013, Take-Two Interactive acquired the rights to develop WWE after the previous publisher, THQ, shut down. It’s been a bumpy road as of late with the highly criticized WWE 2K20, and the cancellation of WWE 2K21. The series will make its return in 2022 with WWE 2K22.
The most recent release, WWE 2K20, included a surprising horror-themed DLC titled “Bump in the Night.” The DLC features a series of existing superstars with a horror-themed twist as well as arenas, creation parts, and missions.
8 Batman: Arkham Knight Once Again Puts Players In a Nightmare
The Batman Arkham series is often cited as some of the greatest superhero video games ever created. The games would go on to create a renewed interest in the superhero gaming genre, with many players hoping to see their favorite heroes get “the Arkham treatment.” One such series that has gained comparison to the Arkham series is the critically acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man series by Insomniac Games.
In Batman: Arkham Asylum, there were sequences that take place in the form of a nightmare where Batman has to fend off a large Scarecrow. This would go on to inspire the “Scarecrow Nightmare” DLC for Batman: Arkham Knight where Batman has to once again defeat Scarecrow multiple times to finally eliminate him and his dreaded fear toxins.
7 Players Help A Weirdly Familiar Dr. Ned In Borderlands
With its colorful aesthetic and hilarious brand of comedy, the Borderlands series has built up a large following since the original game was released in 2009. The open-world looter shooter has spawn sequels, a pre-sequel, spinoffs, and an upcoming live-action movie starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black.
In 2009, Borderlands released its first DLC titled, “The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned.” In the DLC, players will have to work with Dr. Ned to cure the island’s inhabitants of the zombie plague, of Dr. Ned’s own doing. Borderlands 2 would also release a horror-themed DLC titled “TK Baha’s Bloody Harvest” in 2013.
6 Overcooked 2 Has You Cooking Past Expiration Date
Since its debut in 2016, the Overcooked series has delighted players with its fun and zany take on a cooking simulation. Whether playing alone or with others, Overcooked is sure to provide entertainment and laughs.
In 2019’s “Night of the Hangry Horde” DLC for Overcooked 2, players are tasked to prepare new recipes in a horror-themed environment. Players can dress up as a ghost, a werewolf, or a vampire to complete the horror theme. If that’s not enough, players can also fend off the hordes of the “unbread” in the game’s horde mode.
5 Fallout: New Vegas Has Players Losing Their Heads
In 2010, Obsidian Entertainment took the formula that provided Bethesda success with Fallout 3 and brought it west in Fallout: New Vegas. While some struggled to get past the many glitches and bugs, there is no shortage of Fallout fans who believe it’s the best in the entire series.
The first DLC for the game, “Dead Money,” brings players to the Sierra Madre. Equipped with an explosive collar, players will have to work with other prisoners to help Father Elijah discover a secret vault stashed in the Sierra Madre, and ultimately escape with their heads intact.
4 It’s Going To Take A Lot More Than A Screwdriver To Escape In The Escapists 2
The Escapists is a top-down strategy series tasks players to plan a means to escape from a series of prisons. They can form allies, level up skills, and acquire materials as they go through a typical daily routine within the walls of each respective prison. Once the player feels ready, they can execute their plan to escape.
In The Escapists 2, players can purchase the “Wicked Ward” expansion, which adds a zombie twist to the strategy series. The Escapists series also has a standalone spin-off based on the zombie apocalypse comic series The Walking Dead in The Escapists: The Walking Dead, which does indeed include a map based on the prison arc of the story.
3 Sleeping Dogs Has Players Pursue A Smiley Cat
Sleeping Dogs surprised many when it was released in 2012. While many initially dismissed it as just another Grand Theft Auto knock-off, the game engrossed players with a fantastic story and fun gameplay. The game often gets brought up as one of the more underrated and underappreciated games of all time.
Shortly after release, Sleeping Dogs introduced the “Nightmare in North Point” expansion. In the expansion, the Ghost of Smiley Cat abducts Wei Shen’s girlfriend. To save her, and Hong Kong, Shen journeys to learn ancient Chinese magic to put a stop to Smiley Cat and their army of ghosts.
2 Mortal Kombat Brings Together Horror Icons
Depending on your definition, Mortal Kombat may already qualify as a horror series. The fighting game series set in a fantasy universe has been known to include elements of the horror genre such as blood and gore. Narratively, however, the series leans much more heavily into fantasy and action elements.
Taking the idea of horror-themed DLC literally, Mortal Kombat (2011) introduced Freddy Krueger as a DLC fighter. Mortal Kombat X would continue this trend of including DLC fighters based on horror movie icons with Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, Alien, and Predator.
1 Undead Nightmare Might Be The Best DLC Of Them All
Quite possibly the poster child of horror-themed DLC comes in the form of Red Dead Redemption’s “Undead Nightmare.” Released a few months after Red Dead Redemption in 2010, “Undead Nightmare” tells a standalone story set independently from the Red Dead universe. John Marston wakes to find his friend, Uncle, has become zombified. After Uncle infects John’s wife and son, John sets off on a journey to uncover the secrets of this new zombie infestation and find a cure to save his family.
The expansion received critical acclaim and is often cited as one of the best expansions/DLCs ever created. It’s easy to see why fans badly wanted a sequel to go along with Red Dead Redemption II. While it looks like that may never happen, Red Dead Redemption II does have some nods to the expansion.
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