Sci-fi and space horror Horror shooters and action horror 2D horror

Outpost:Haven

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Answer a distress call from a space station where the owl men are hungry.

Platforms: Browser
Price: Free
Rated: 4.42 out of 5 from 739 votes on Newgrounds, with about 515,000 views; front-paged and Daily 2nd Place in December 2011
Players: 1
Controls: Played in the browser; the game's own tips section explains the keys, which the maker's notes do not list
Made by: Squize and luxregina
Released: 2011

What frightens In the maker's words, 'The owl men are here, and they're so very hungry': a distress call sends you and a crewmate into a space station with a suspected radiation leak, where aliens hide in the dark and come screeching out of vents and shadows, with one level seen only through night vision.
Content: jumpscares, violence.

Outpost:Haven is a free top-down sci-fi horror shooter by Squize and luxregina, played in the browser on Newgrounds. A distress call wakes you from cryo-sleep to check a suspected radiation leak on a nearby space station, and the station is full of aliens that come out of the dark.

About Outpost:Haven

Outpost:Haven is a Flash game programmed by Squize with art by luxregina, released on Newgrounds at the end of December 2011, where it was front-paged and took Daily 2nd Place. It still plays there in the browser through Newgrounds' Flash player.

A distress call wakes you and your crewmate from C-Sleep: a suspected radiation leak at the nearby Outpost space station needs a look. The maker promises a quick jump in, jump out job, and quotes the station's former head of security: the owl men are here, and they're so very hungry.

You play it from above, walking a marine through the station's corridors, offices and industrial decks and shooting the aliens that come at you. Between fights you hack terminals and turrets, open mag-locks, collect cards, buy weapons and upgrades, and run when the explosives go off. The story mode has seven levels, and a Swarm mode sets you against waves. Players compare it to Alien, Aliens and Dead Space, and remember aliens that hide in the darkness, creatures that burst out of vents in the floor, and a level played through night vision.

It suits players who want their horror with a gun in hand, in the line of Alien Breed and Doom 3, and something free that runs in a browser tab. The pace is slow on purpose; several players say the slow walk adds to the tension.

How to play Outpost:Haven

Open the game's Newgrounds page and press play on the game.
Wait for it to load and click to continue past the loading screen.
Start the story mode; the console intro can be skipped by clicking.
Move through the corridors from above and shoot the aliens that come at you.
Hack terminals, open locks and collect cards to get through each level, and spend what you earn on weapons and upgrades.

Tips

Play with the sound up: players say the aliens are heard screeching before they reach you.
Read the game's tips section before the first level; players say it helped them.
You have three lives per level before you must restart it, so do not take risks near the end of a level.
Watch the floor vents: smaller aliens break through them.