Horror games with possession mechanics

Key conclusions

• Video games allow you to have unique experiences through the use of different characters, offering a different perspective.
• Successful horror games often use an eerie atmosphere to effectively generate terror.
• Some names like
  Beyond: Two Souls, Dishonored,
  and
  Inside
  allow gamers to possess entities or objects in the game.

One of the cool things about video games is that they allow players to inhabit the bodies of other creatures. This gives them a variety of experiences with different characters, seeing the world from a unique perspective.

Some video games take this even further by allowing player-controlled characters to inhabit the bodies of entities or objects within the game itself. Horror gameswith their emphasis on the supernatural and science fiction themes, are ripe for this kind of experience. With that in mind, here are some titles that allow gamers to use player characters to take over other entities in the game.

9 Beyond: Two Souls

Psychic connection with a powerful entity

Beyond: Two Souls is the sequel to Quantic Dream's narrative adventure game Heavy rain. This title follows the main character Jody, played by Elliott Page, who has a psychic connection with an entity named Aiden.

From a young age, Jodi is subjected to experiments that test her psychic abilities, and she even ends up working for the CIA. In one of the early stages, she can send Aiden to take over the guard watching the cameras and even kill him if the player so chooses.

8 Disgraced

Help from outside

Disgraced sees Corvus Athan, Dunwall's royal bodyguard, accused of murdering the queen and kidnapping her daughter Emily. This sets Corvus on a quest for revenge against those who wronged him. During his journey, he joins a resistance group that claims to be fighting Dunwall's new totalitarian rule. He also gains supernatural powers from an extra-dimensional being known as the Outsider.

One of the abilities that Corvo can unlock is Possession. This allows him to first control smaller animals such as rats and eventually progress to controlling other humans. He can use this power to bypass guards or sneak into tight spaces, surprising his targets.

7 Inside

Mind control

Inside follows a young boy through a dark, dystopian, totalitarian city in a 2D puzzle platformer. This title, with its subdued use of color, creates a tense atmosphere with danger around every corner. Many of the residents were forcibly mind-controlled, making them little more than puppets.

The boy will need to use a device placed on his head to manipulate these human drones to solve basic puzzles. These may include placing them on platforms or pushing crates to gain access to high places.

6 Siren

Zombie vision

Silent Hill fans should pay attention to this forgotten survival horror film. Located in the supernatural village of Hanuda, Siren follow several characters from different time periods as they explore this remote place and try to survive its zombified inhabitants.

To do this, the characters use an ability known as “stealing glance”. This allows them to see through the eyes of their enemies, showing their location and activity in the game world. Getting out is important in order to avoid a confrontation, as one hit from an enemy can mean instant death.

5 Killed: Suspect's soul

The decision to kill yourself

Killed: Suspect's soul is an appropriately gruesome story set in Salem, Massachusetts, known for the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Detective Ronan O'Connor, an ex-criminal, has just been murdered, and as a ghost, he must find his killer, uncovering the criminal's motives in the process.

Having just died, Ronan has new abilities that allow him to dig up information, improving his detective skills. One such ability is to jump into the bodies of the living. This allows him to see through their eyes, listen to their conversations, and influence their behavior.

4 Midnight Ghost Hunt

Do not cross streams

Midnight Ghost Hunt this is what happens when a hide and seek video game Hunting for props merged with Ghostbusters. This is a 4v4 game where a team of ghost hunters must hunt down and destroy a team of ghosts in spooky locations.

Ghosts can possess several objects in the game world, allowing them to use their attributes to attack hunters – or at least scare them. Items that can be possessed include stone gargoyles that allow ghosts to glide briefly, or armor that can be used to strike enemies.

3 Zombie Stubbs in the movie Rebel Without a Pulse.

Using a helping hand

In a retro-futuristic city, a body in a nice brown suit and hat is disturbed by radioactive materials. Rising from the grave, the zombie sees a woman on TV and instantly falls in love with her. To get there, he will eat everyone and everything in his path.

Being a zombie has its perks. One is to detach the arm and remotely control it as if it were a thing The Addams Family. Stubbs can then get his hand on the unsuspecting person's head. This acts as an antenna, allowing him to control a person for a short period of time. Some enemies have weapons, so you can wield them and then use them to destroy enemies until they are destroyed themselves.

2 Possession experiment

Controlling The Controller Controlling The Controlled

The employee is in a paranormal research lab and is on lockdown, with entities roaming the hallways. Almost all died. As one of the last survivors, he can't leave the room he's trapped in and must use the lab test subjects to escape.

Possession experiment advertises itself as a second-person game. The character on the computer is controlled from the first person. From there, the subjects are controlled using specialized masks and move through the halls of the institution. They are watched by security cameras that simulate fixed camera angles Resident Evil games. Dangerous entities can attack at any time and will even pass by the controller window.

1 Geist

Ghost in the armour

Geist is a GameCube exclusive first-person adventure game published by Nintendo. It takes John Raimi's silent hero into the heart of the Volks Corporation. After one of his fellow soldiers goes berserk and kills him, the experiment rips John's soul from his body. As a spirit, he must navigate the Volks Corporation to restore his body, as well as learn about the past of both its leader and the young girl whose spirit roams the halls.

The main mass Geist gameplay involves using John's ghostly powers, allowing him to control people, animals, and other objects to solve puzzles. Living creatures can only be mastered when they are frightened, making them vulnerable enough for him to control, which adds an interesting wrinkle to the gameplay.