With Friday the 13th this May appropriately came the release of Evil Dead: The Game, the first console video game entry in the Evil Dead franchise in 16 years. This marks the second big Sam Raimi project to release this month, after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which Raimi directed.
Of course, plenty of fans who enjoy Evil Dead: The Game don't have to stick to just it if they enjoy the multiplayer horror title. The game is ed by several great games which play similarly to it.
Friday the 13th: The Game
It's hard to believe that Sam Raimi was only 21 years old when which would jump the shark plenty of times in that run.
Still, the franchise has remained enough of a pop-culture touchstone that a Friday the 13th game was released in 2017. Focused on a multiplayer experience where one player is Jason and hunts other players, the adaptation of the classic horror movie will please Evil Dead game fans quite a bit.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Zombie games are one of the most common types of horror games out there, and both entries in the Dying Light series offer a multiplayer experience based around fighting those same creatures. The catch is that the zombie behavior changes depending on whether it's day or night.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human was only just released in 2022, and so when compared to the first game has much smoother performance and more longevity on its servers. Still, the first game also had its strengths; it's simply seven years older.
Back 4 Blood
The Back 4 Blood so compelling since it was made as a spiritual successor to that series in of gameplay.
Like Left 4 Dead, the game focuses on players surviving against waves of zombie-like creatures. In this game, however, other players have the chance to control the creatures, as opposed to having them be controlled simply by the AI, which helps Back 4 Blood stand out.
Evolve
Another game developed by Turtle Rock Studios, 2015's Evolve inspired Back 4 Blood in several ways, but most especially in the ability for one player to control the monster pursuing the other players. Evolve didn't invent the mechanic, but its appearance in Back 4 Blood after this speaks to influence.
Like Friday the 13th, although the game's dedicated servers have been shut down, the game is still available to play through peer-to-peer networking using Legacy Evolve. For those who love the genre, it's worth playing.
Killing Floor 2
Another older game, Killing Floor 2 released in 2016 and is better than the original video game, helped by the fact that the original Killing Floor was released seven years earlier, in 2009. The game can be played solo, but is more fun with others.
Allowing up to six players in a game, Killing Floor 2 is based around surviving waves of zombie-like creatures. Even though it's older, the game is still plenty of fun. In a fun connection, the game was also assisted by Evil Dead's developer, Saber Interactive.
Predator: Hunting Grounds
The Predator: Hunting Grounds, which features Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as Dutch Schafer.
Developed by IllFonic, the same creators of the Friday the 13th game, Hunting Grounds became the studio's follow-up attempt at adapting an '80s franchise into a multiplayer-based horror video game. One player gets to control the skilled Predator, while others try to survive against them.
Last Year
Originally released as Last Year: The Nightmare in 2018 before getting a re-launch a year later as Last Year: Afterdark, the game was released to capitalize on the enjoyment of multiplayer horror games, although only for Microsoft Windows.
The game allows the antagonist player to choose between one of four monster classes as they are tasked with chasing down the other players, who must complete tasks to escape. If it sounds familiar, you're not the only one to notice.
World War Z
As has already been seen, companies with previous experience in a genre tend to produce higher-quality work, and it's helpful that the World War Z video game was developed by Saber Interactive, the same studio which has made Evil Dead: The Game.
It's hard to believe the game was inspired by World War Z the movie only because it was released six years after the film did. Still, it managed to stand out and garner a loyal enough fanbase that it even received a Google Stadia release in April 2022.
Phasmophobia
Virtual-reality headsets provide a horror experience like no traditional console ever could since they put the player's eyes directly into the game. Phasmophobia is a unique blend of VR's strengths for horror with the multiplayer horror game which became so popular in the mid-to-late 2010s.
Instead of focusing on zombies or other kinds of monsters, Phasmophobia has the players act as ghost hunters who have to clear out a specified location. It's remained incredibly popular since its 2020 Early Access release, and with great reason. If you've got a headset and like the genre, check it out.
Dead by Daylight
No game, however, shares more similarities to Evil Dead: The Game than Ash as a licensed survivor character.
Dead by Daylight's enormous success inspired plenty of imitators, some great and others not as much. If there's one game to play like Evil Dead more than any other, though, it's this one.
