Published Oct 19, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT
Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He’s been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He’s played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he’s worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more.
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Backrooms and Resident Evil have collided in a brand-new horror game with 9/10 reviews from players, and it’s already scaring players with its fine mix of pixel art gameplay and live-action cutscenes. The horror genre has been in a great place in 2026, with the release of some pretty remarkable movies and other sources of media. The recently released Resident Evil, directed by Zach Cregger, is already considered the best live-action Resident Evil movie ever, even if it steps away from traditional heroes in the franchise, like Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, and Ada Wong.
Meanwhile, other fairly new franchises have been stirring up the scene. Take Curry Baker’s Obsession, for example. The movie was met with a phenomenal amount of positive response, changing how viewers experience horror. Obsession was even praised by Stephen King, widely regarded as the king of horror. Another big horror hit this year was Backrooms. The movie tells a creepy story within a liminal space. That particular type of liminal-based horror has been going on for a while, and it’s a hit with gamers.
While this isn’t exactly a liminal-space horror game, there are similarities between Backrooms and a new horror game that has just arrived. A brand-new 9/10 game on Steam called Tenebris Somnia has been released by developer Andrés Borghi and Saibot Studios, and published by New Blood Interactive. Tenebris Somnia is a 2D retro survival horror adventure game, not too unlike the older, classic Silent Hill and Resident Evil games, but with 16-bit graphics.
In Tenebris Somnia, you’ll control a character who is exploring a pretty freaky location that mostly looks like a house and, at other times, it doesn’t. Within this location, you’ll be trying to solve puzzles to get to the truth behind your torments, all while surviving and fighting some horrifying creatures. This new survival horror game on Steam does seem to take its lessons from some of the best franchises around, like Resident Evil, but there is one massive twist to its formula that makes it stand out.
The thing with Tenebris Somnia is that it features live-action cutscenes “created by an award-winning film crew from Argentina.” That shows in the quality of the cutscenes, as well as the production value behind them. There are elements of these cutscenes that are reminiscent of Backrooms, such as the monsters and the shots. The monsters you see in pixel art during the game are also recreated for the cutscenes, and they look absolutely terrifying.
Tenebris Somnia was released on October 16, and it’s already conquered the hearts and minds of those who played it. In the review section on Steam, players praise the game. User Akemy mentions that “Tenebris Somnia EXCELS at everything it does,” praising its “simple yet great gameplay” that feels reminiscent of classics. So far, with nearly 500 reviews at the time of writing, Tenebris Somnia retains a 93% Positive review status on Steam.
This is a testament to just how great the game seems to be. The way the pixel art scenes are translated into live-action cutscenes seems to have struck a chord with players, and, honestly, it’s what caught my attention. While Tenebris Somnia may dialogue with fans of Backrooms and Resident Evil, it’s certainly a game of its own with its own DNA.
Survival Horror
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
Andrés Borghi, Saibot Studios
New Blood Interactive
Number of Players
Steam Deck Compatibility
PC Release Date