Survival horror Zombie PS1 horror Puppet Combo

Night At the Gates of Hell

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Headshots only: escape a seaside city overrun by Italian-style zombies.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (90% of 818 reviews); 4.51 of 5 stars from 468 ratings on the PlayStation Store; 9 of 10 from Rely on Horror
Length: about 3 to 6 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse or a controller; full controller support on Steam.
Made by: Black Eyed Priest, Henry Hoare
Released: 2022

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

No. 25 of the apocalypse horror games · No. 10 of the boat and ship horror games · No. 16 of the ocean horror games

Get it on Steam itch.io PlayStation Store (PS4, PS5)Xbox Nintendo eShop

What frightens A zombie outbreak overruns a seaside city and you, a grieving widower, fight through slow, rotting zombies that only fall to a shot in the head, collecting weapons and solving puzzles to get out, all in gory PS1-style 3D.
Content: gore, decapitation, nudity, sexual themes, strong language, jumpscares.

Night At the Gates of Hell is a first-person survival horror game with PS1-style graphics, made as a tribute to the Italian zombie films of Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei. You play David, a widower who must fight his way out of a city overrun by the dead; only a shot to the head puts a zombie down.

About Night At the Gates of Hell

Night At the Gates of Hell is a first-person zombie game by Black Eyed Priest (Jordan King) and Henry Hoare, the makers of Bloodwash. Torture Star Video released it on Steam on 14 September 2022. Puppet Combo brought it to PS4 and PS5 on 8 September 2023 and to Xbox One and Series X|S on 8 December 2023, and it is also sold on itch.io and the Nintendo eShop. It is voiced in English, with on-screen text in English, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish on PlayStation.

You play David, a quiet man whose wife has recently died and who lives alone in a seaside apartment. When a zombie outbreak tears through his city, he gathers a few weapons, meets other survivors and heads for the coast, where they plan to sail away. The story runs over seven chapters, and you move through each by finding keys and other items that open the way on, collecting ammunition as you go.

The maker took early Resident Evil as a model but moved it to first person. The zombies are slow rather than fast hordes, and they only die from a headshot, which is hard to land without fixed aiming. You cannot pick things up or use objects with a weapon out, a zombie can kill you in one hit, and some burst out with little warning. Defensive knives, as in the Resident Evil remakes, let David stab a zombie that gets too close. The store promises 85 different zombie models.

The look and tone come from the Italian zombie films of Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei: rotting flesh, gushing blood, neon light, a 1970s disco soundtrack and full voice acting, with an optional VHS filter. Reviewers found it longer and more combat-heavy than Bloodwash; one counted about three hours, another four to six. Finishing it unlocks two extras: The Booty Creek Cheek Freak, a comic chase through a maze, and Evil In The House of Dr. Fleshenstein, a survival mode in a house full of zombies.

It is gory and campy, with nudity and sexual content from the first scene, so it suits players who like grindhouse horror and retro low-poly games more than those looking for quiet dread.

How to play Night At the Gates of Hell

Buy it on Steam or itch.io for Windows, or on the PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo stores.
Leave David's apartment and search each area for keys, items and ammunition.
Aim for the head: zombies only go down from a headshot.
Put your weapon away to pick up items or use doors and objects.
Use the keys and items you find to open the next area, and keep going through the seven chapters to the coast.

Screenshots

A green-lit tiled room where the player aims a shotgun at a bloody, armless zombie standing in dark slime

David's low-poly apartment living room with striped wallpaper, a flesh-textured sofa, a rotary phone and a kitchen beyond

A pale zombie in a bloodied white top reaches toward the player in a room with blue curtains and floral wallpaper, a knife blade at the edge

Low-poly survivors in a rusty room: a smiling bearded man in a pastel sweater, a woman holding a bowl and a limp figure on the floor

A grinning woman in a floral dress holds a wooden crucifix above her head in a dim, rusty corridor

A bloodied low-poly zombie with gore over one eye stands close in a grimy corridor with a red-lit door far behind

A bloody figure in a blue gown holds up an axe in a dim checkered hallway beside a white dresser

Tips

Line up your shot before you fire; a body shot does not stop a zombie.
The zombies are slow, so backing away to get a clean headshot is often better than shooting in a panic.
Keep a stock of defensive knives: a zombie can kill you in one hit, and a knife stabs one that gets too close.
Holster your gun only when the room is clear, since you cannot interact with anything while it is out.

Questions

Is Night At the Gates of Hell on consoles?

Yes. It is sold on the PlayStation Store for PS4 and PS5, on the Xbox store for Xbox One and Series X|S, and on the Nintendo eShop for Switch.

How long is Night At the Gates of Hell?

The main game has seven chapters. Reviewers took about three hours and four to six hours, depending on how long the search for items takes. Two bonus games unlock after the ending.

Who made Night At the Gates of Hell?

Black Eyed Priest (Jordan King) and Henry Hoare, who also made Bloodwash.

What inspired Night At the Gates of Hell?

The Italian zombie films of Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei, and the early Resident Evil games.