Games can educate us, entertain us, and enlighten us in many ways. They are also often more capable than any poorly written Hollywood blockbuster in scaring the s*** out of us and these terrifying tales are a testament to the medium’s interactive experience. So, in honor of this most horrific of holidays, we here at EGM have compiled a list of our top five games, in no particular order, that have probably collectively taken a couple of years off our lives and forced us to change our pants on several occasions. READ MORE

All this week, EGMNOW takes a look at our picks for the five most influential Japanese videogames ever released. READ MORE

Pyre Night in New Marais brings out all the weirdos: party girls wearing masks and horns, goths trying to get their cool drunk on, and vampires wanting to resurrect some seriously evil vamp queen named Bloody Mary. Can Cole quench her blood lust in this standalone side story? READ MORE

Back in 2009, an arcade classic was in desperate need of a makeover—and, of all places, it came from the Wii, surprisingly enough. The House of the Dead: Overkill served as a prequel for the immensely popular lightgun House of the Dead games and explained, sort of, both the origins of Agent G (the series’ main protagonist) and the zombie-causing formula he’s fought for 15 years—all wrapped in a ’70s B-movie setting with over-the-top voice acting, tons of sex and swearing, and cheesy moments galore. Looking to capitalize on that surprising success, Sega’s ported the game over to the PS3 with some upgrades in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle with a new audience. READ MORE

The Cursed Crusade revolves around the idea that those who commit heinous crimes against their fellow men—whether in the name of God or not—see their bloodline marked for generations, and that their descent to hell is guaranteed. I think this game may suffer from the fate it laid out for several of its in-game characters. READ MORE

When Kinect launched last year, several titles showed off the possibility of the peripheral, but few had the lasting appeal of Kinect Sports. Fun when played individually—but truly appreciated with a group of friends—the game made a clear, lasting impression on the casual market. Now, Microsoft looks to see if they can reel in soccer moms again with Kinect Sports: Season Two. American football, baseball, golf, darts, tennis, and skiing are all featured in this newest iteration—and if you thought you broke a sweat before, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. READ MORE

The MotionSports series is Ubisoft’s attempt to give gamers a more realistic alternative to the Kinect Sports offerings while also providing a variety of different sports. Since Kinect Sports took a cue from several of the original MotionSports games and added football and skiing to their gamut of minigames this year, MotionSports decided to go a step further with Adrenaline and focus on extreme sports: mountain-climbing, kite-surfing, wingsuit-gliding, mountain-biking, kayaking, and the return of skiing. But could they fix their own flaws from their first go around? READ MORE

In the latest installment of our series of EGMNOW-exclusive webcomics, we talk to Gears of War's Augustus "Cole Train" Cole about his ambitious spirit. READ MORE

There are a lot of games out there that take themselves too seriously. Everything is about saving the world from this or protecting people from that. Rarely do you get a game like Saints Row: The Third that just doesn’t give a crap about any of that and whose main purpose is to just give the gamer as many tools as possible to blow stuff up. It was for this reason that I was drooling like Homer Simpson over barbecue for the chance to go hands on with this game and it looks to deliver in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine. READ MORE

EGM's own Brandon Justice had a chance to catch up with NFL Blitz's Art Director, Tony Stanley, about what they did to insure that the new Blitz still had that old-school arcade feel to it. READ MORE

Comic book fans are easily some of the most rabid fans out there. Maybe it’s because of the history, maybe it’s the appeal of the characters, maybe it’s because of a lack of social skills developed in their mom’s basement, but whatever the reason, whenever something features comic book characters, the fans tear it apart. Well, good luck finding fault with this one. And trust me, being a fan myself, I tried. Check out our full review of Batman: Arkham City here! READ MORE

NFL Blitz is back after a long hibernation and looks to bring back old-school arcade fun with a new school look and feel. EGM had a chance to get its hands exclusively on the reveal trailer for this game from EA Sports, which you can watch here! READ MORE

The new NFL Blitz looks to return the franchise to its arcade roots—and, from what we saw, it looks like this was an easy touchdown all the way for EA. READ MORE

Wanna get an early gander at all the trophy-based objective in Sony's upcoming online crime thriller, Payday: The Heist? Take a look inside for the full list! READ MORE

The war between the assassins and the Templars is one that has raged for ages and the adventures we’ve seen with Altair, Ezio, and briefly with Desmond are all but small chapters in this war that started eons ago. Now, we approach the end of Ezio’s involvement, but first we will learn just how vital his life is to the Assassin’s Order and how he serves as the lynchpin for his bloodline between Altair and Desmond. Soon, all will be revealed. Some of it in our hands-on preview, which you can check out here! READ MORE

Real-world racing games typically come in two flavors: simulations that authentically recreate the driving experience, and arcade-style speedsters with simpler controls and more forgiving physics. Where does Forza Motorsport 4 fall? Check out our review to find out. READ MORE

In the first of our new series of EGMNOW-exclusive webcomics, Gears of War frontman Marcus Fenix has a little tip he'd like to share with fans of his franchise. READ MORE

When a zombie outbreak hit Fortune City, the quiet, stoic Chuck Greene saved the day. But he was no Frank West—the photojournalist extraordinaire who saved the Willamette Parkview Mall in the original Dead Rising. Greene didn’t tote around the swagger, charisma, or camera we know and love from the original zombie bloodfest back in ’06. So now that the spotlight is back on Frank West, how does he hold up all this time later in Dead Rising 2: Off the Record? READ MORE

My tastes may trend toward anime-infused RPGs, but whether it's the space duels in Star Fox on the N64, the legendary humans-vs.-Kilrathi matchups in Wing Commander on the PC, or the cartoony jet action of Airforce Delta Strike on the PS2, I’ve always loved a good dogfight. And I’ve certainly enjoyed the Ace Combat series in the past—Namco Bandai’s formerly distinctively Japanese dogfighter that’s now taking a more realistic, Western-inspired bent along the lines of Call of Duty. So, how does this new Ace Combat stack up? READ MORE

At Tokyo Game Show 2011, I had the chance to sit down with Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter X Tekken producer Yoshinori Ono, a man who has (probably unwillingly) found himself smack in the middle of the fan community’s opinions on all things Poison. READ MORE