# Halloween: The Game review deep dive

**September 8, 2026 · Perthro**

Halloween: The Game is out today, and the Halloween: The Game reviews, most of which landed on September 3, tell a very consistent story. Critics say being stalked by Michael Myers through Haddonfield is genuinely scary, and playing as Michael is a blast. They also say the game around those moments is janky, from odd AI to bugs to stiff animation. How much that jank bothers each reviewer is what separates an 8 from a 3.

The quick version: 71 on Metacritic for PC, lower on consoles, with most reviews landing in the mixed range. It's a good time with friends if you can laugh off rough edges.

## Halloween: The Game review scores: 71 on Metacritic

Halloween: The Game is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game from IllFonic, the studio behind Friday the 13th: The Game, published by IllFonic with Gun Interactive. It launches today, September 8, 2026, on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S, and costs $39.99 on Steam.

Metacritic lists it at 71 on PC from 10 critics, 65 on PS5 from 14 and 60 on Xbox Series X from 4. Across platforms only about a third of reviews count as positive, with most in the mixed band. OpenCritic lists it at 64 with a "Weak" rating, and only about a quarter of critics recommend it.

It's based on John Carpenter's 1978 film. In multiplayer, one player is Michael Myers and four play civilians trying to survive the night in Haddonfield. Civilians can warn townsfolk in their houses and tell them to hide, follow you or call the police, while Michael stalks victims to unlock more ways to kill them. A single-player campaign from Michael's side teaches the systems.

- **GameSpot:** 8/10
- **PSX Brasil:** 80
- **Niche Gamer:** 8/10
- **TheGamer:** 4/5
- **Gamer Social Club:** 7.5/10
- **PlayStation Universe:** 75
- **Shacknews:** 7/10
- **Noisy Pixel:** 70
- **GameSpew:** 7/10
- **GamingBolt:** 6/10
- **WayTooManyGames:** 6/10
- **Gamekult:** 40
- **Console Creatures:** 3/10

![Halloween: The Game screenshot: a civilian crossing a rainy Haddonfield street at night](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/15fd4e17e88abd34.jpg)

### What critics love about Halloween: The Game

It's scary, and the atmosphere is right. Shacknews' Donovan Erskine (7/10) says it "perfectly captures the vibe of the original Halloween movie," John Carpenter's score included, and describes his heart racing whenever he spotted Michael nearby. TheGamer's Allyson Cochran (4/5) was "surprised by how often Halloween managed to make Michael get a jump out of me from seemingly nowhere." Even WayTooManyGames, at 6/10, praises streets that "seem eerily quiet" while a killer stalks in the shadows.

Playing as Michael is the other highlight. Erskine "loved slowly walking down the street towards civilians," and PlayStation Universe (75) calls the Michael side "vicious murder and stalking." GameSpot (8/10) says games like this can "achieve both a distinct gameplay loop and capture the tone of their source material," and that's the core of its praise.

Haddonfield itself gets credit too. TheGamer calls the town gorgeous and says its maps feel like "a real town without feeling like a wilderness of identical suburban houses." PSX Brasil (80) says the game "manages to create its own identity, something that other similar games have failed" to do.

### Where Halloween reviews split: fun and scary vs janky

Almost every review mentions jank. The question is whether it breaks the game. At the top of the chart, it's a footnote. Shacknews sums it up: "It's got some janky animations and can be a bit overfamiliar at times, but it's still a good one." TheGamer notes that "NPCs can behave strangely" and that police sometimes appear where you can't interact with them, but still gives it 4/5. TheGamer and Shacknews both describe the townsfolk as goofy, pacing awkwardly and barking silly lines, which they read as a nod to clueless slasher-movie extras.

Lower down, the same issues become the review. GamingBolt (6/10) found the "NPC AI is a bit of a letdown" and reported characters teleporting across long distances and Michael getting stuck in the scenery often enough "that these issues cannot be dismissed as minor." WayTooManyGames describes stuttering even in single-player, NPCs appearing on car roofs, Michael's hands clipping through victims in executions, and long matchmaking waits.

![Halloween: The Game screenshot: Michael Myers closing in on a survivor at night](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/b0807f11308842b8.jpg)

At the bottom, it's a dealbreaker. Console Creatures (3/10) reports crashes and clipping through walls, calls the controls "clunky and slow," and says the game "feels rushed and unfinished," with a single-player mode that plays like "a glorified extended tutorial." French outlet Gamekult (40) criticises its technical polish. GamingBolt also found that the loop as Michael gets repetitive quickly.

There's a second, quieter split about novelty. Shacknews says it plays close to the asymmetrical horror games before it, and Console Creatures argues IllFonic failed to move past Friday the 13th: The Game. Fans of that game may see that as a plus.

> "I could feel my heartbeat racing when I spotted Michael and realized he was nearby." Donovan Erskine, Shacknews

> 💡 Nearly every review agrees the scares work. If you can laugh at a townsperson standing on a car roof, you'll probably land closer to the 8s than the 3s.

## Should you play Halloween: The Game?

Yes, if you have a group of friends and love the film. The one-versus-four setup is where critics had the most fun, especially as Michael, even if GamingBolt found his side repetitive. If you've played asymmetrical horror before, this is familiar ground with better atmosphere and a license that fits.

Wait, if you're mostly playing solo or you're sensitive to bugs. The single-player campaign is the weakest part in several reviews, and bug reports turn up even in the positive reviews. PC has the highest Metacritic score of the three versions, and Xbox the lowest.

It's also a very October game arriving in early September, part of the pile-up we covered in [why so many big games release in the fall](/blog/2026-09-07-why-big-games-release-in-the-fall). If you want a scare with less friction, small horror games are still [the internet's campfire](/blog/2026-08-05-small-horror-games-internet-campfire), and if you'd rather have a long single-player story this month, [The Blood of Dawnwalker](/blog/2026-09-04-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-deep-dive) reviewed much better.

Multiplayer horror nights are the kind of thing that's fun to look back on, so jot down the good matches. You can log it and rate it with friends in [Perthro](https://apps.apple.com/app/perthro/id6764673686) and see who else in your group is playing.

### Sources

- [Metacritic: Halloween: The Game](https://www.metacritic.com/game/halloween-the-game/)
- [OpenCritic: Halloween](https://opencritic.com/game/19374/halloween)
- [GameSpot: Halloween: The Game review](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/halloween-the-game-review/)
- [Shacknews: Halloween: The Game review](https://www.shacknews.com/article/150591/halloween-the-game-review-score)
- [TheGamer: Halloween: The Game review](https://www.thegamer.com/halloween-the-game-review-michael-myers-haddonfield/)
- [GamingBolt: Halloween: The Game review](https://gamingbolt.com/halloween-the-game-review-a-mixed-bag-of-candy)
- [WayTooManyGames: Halloween: The Game review](https://waytoomany.games/2026/09/03/review-halloween-the-game/)
- [Console Creatures: Halloween review](https://www.consolecreatures.com/halloween-review/)
- [Steam: Halloween: The Game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3219630/)
- [Wikipedia: Halloween: The Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween:_The_Game)