Games
‘Hooked on You’ Review: Is it Enough to Get You Hooked?
Hooked on You, the Dead by Daylight dating simulator, lets you get to know some of the killers a little better (and in some cases, a lot better). This game has many things I love about dating sims: a cute anime-inspired art style, quirky and risqué dialogue, and characters with interesting backstories. However, I think it falls a little flat as a standalone game as opposed to a companion to DBD.
The game starts when you wake up on an island without your memories. You are talked to by a mysterious narrator. Then the even more mysterious Ocean (referred to as the narrator of the narrator) before you see the group of sexy killers playing beach volleyball and thus begin your interactions with them. After that, it plays like a traditional dating sim. Your dialogue options affect the outcome of your interactions, and you can tailor your choices to whomever you decide to romance that playthrough. There’s also a recurring reflex-based minigame that I found pretty tricky.
The characters are fun, and Hooked on You gives you a little look into their lore. Releasing a dating sim for horror game characters is a unique way to get to know the killers. Each character has their own archetype: Huntress is the strong cute girl, Trapper is the obnoxious meathead rich boy, Spirit is the book-loving goth girl, and Wraith (my favorite) is the quiet soft boy. Each character is memorable and makes the game worth replaying. You’ll have to click through a lot of repeated dialogue to get to the new gameplay. It’s unfortunate because you can only unlock some routes after romancing and rejecting all four characters, so if you want to collect all the endings, you have to play through the game at least four times.
Furthermore, this game did what I think the developers intended: it got me interested in Dead By Daylight lore. I watched character backstory videos on YouTube to try and anticipate what my killer of choice would like. Depending on which character you choose, they will also tell you an abbreviated version of their backstory, which you get the opportunity to ask them more about later. One way the developers could improve the game is by releasing free updates with more characters. I know we’d all like to see Trickster as a romanceable option!
Unless you’re a huge DBD fan, other horror sims offer more content for a similar price. My recommendations are Monster Prom, and Sucker for Love. Monster Prom offers more scenarios and characters to choose from, and Sucker for Love has more engaging gameplay with more compelling options based on your choices. Overall, Hooked on You is cute, and I liked it, but there are better games out there.
Just a few days ago, the highly anticipated Saw: Genesis made a reveal that I don’t think anyone was prepared for: it will be a post-WW1 asymm. Much of that is confounding and beyond frustrating. While that news fell flat for many fans who have been waiting for a single-player Saw game in the style of its aught predecessors, we do have a light at the end of the tunnel. Though that light exists in a different tunnel. Following in the footsteps of games like Evil Dead: The Game, Halloween: The Game will contain more than its asymmetrical multiplayer.
The upcoming Halloween: The Game, developed and published by IllFonic and co-published by Gun Interactive, will drop players into Haddonfield for a six-chapter single-player story mode. Full of cinematic cut scenes with a [hopefully] fully realized story, the single player mode will offer players more than just an exciting story that builds on the Haddonfield we came to know and love from the original film. Players will fully inhabit The Shape as you slash and crash your way through Haddonfield, with story beats narrated by Dr. Loomis.
Play as Michael Myers in a Sandbox Horror Experience
Halloween: The Game‘s story mode takes a sandbox approach to its gameplay. Players can tinker with multiple ways to find, stalk, and kill victims. Whether you decide to silently stalk your victims to dispatch them one by one, or toying with them until you take them out with raw disregard…the choice is yours! Terrorizing the denizens of Haddonfield isn’t the only thing Story Mode will have to offer.
Each chapter will contain secondary challenges and collectibles (and hopefully a few trophies for those plat hunters like myself). Collectibles and successful challenge completions will result in new executions, scenarios, and lore, as well as unlocking exclusive story mode collectibles for multiplayer.
Halloween: The Game Release Date, Editions, and Platforms
Halloween: The Game is available now for digital pre-order. Set at $39.99 for the Standard Edition and $59.99 for the Deluxe Edition (which includes an exclusive Michael Myers skin, 2 exclusive civilians, and more), this game is set to slash its way onto PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on September 8, 2026.
Do you plan on taking a trip to Haddonfield, or does a six-chapter story mode not make up for the game’s asymm focus? If you’re on the fence, would a declaration that servers would be online for at least a year or two push you one way or another? I know it would for me.
Sex, bloody torture, gore, cosmic terror, and whole lot of BDSM demons. The iconic Hellraiser franchise, known for its queer subtext and dark fantasy-terror, is fucking back…but maybe not the way you might expect. Saber Interactive, the company behind Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has unleashed the iconic franchise into the video game world with one terrifying trailer. This is Hellraiser: Revival.
The official blurb of the game introduces the story. Protagonist Aidan, who’s Girlfriend is taken into Hell after the Genesis Configuration (a puzzle box seemingly quite similar to the iconic Lament Configuration). He must use and unlock the secrets of the configuration to battle countless demons, Pinhead worshippers, and the Cenobites themselves to save her.
That’s not all for the story, though. Living legend Clive Barker, creator of The Hellbound Heart, and Director of the original film, reportedly helped on the story of the game, returning to the iconic franchise he created decades ago. He is quoted as saying, “Working on the first true Hellraiser game has been a venture deep into the recesses of my darkest imaginings.” With this in mind, one can it expect it to stay true to the roots of the series.
Graphic both in sex and violence, the trailer promises the look and feel of the classic film. It filled to the brim with cenobites, horrendous torture methods, and some deviously designed demons. The color palette is drenched in dark shadows and a menacing Hellscape.
