The original Faith (opens in new tab) is one of the best horror games of recent years: a retro-styled, top-down adventure set in a creepy old house in the woods. Playing as a priest armed only with a crucifix, you had to banish several well-hidden spooks from the property, holding the cross up before you to repel the spirits, and keep them from tearing you apart. That same basic premise holds true for its recently released sequel, Faith: Chapter II (opens in new tab), but, as with the original, there are plenty of genuinely frightening surprises along the way.
While Chapter II isn't quite free—it's pretty damned close, setting you back only $1—developer Airdorf has released a free 'demo' that's really a standalone prologue to the second game. Swapping a spooky old house for a spooky old church, it nonetheless involves plenty of tense investigation, and moments of sheer panic after a creature suddenly emerges from the darkness to do you in.
Even more so then the first game, the pixel art in Faith II is excellently judged, evoking the technology of the early '80s, while at the same time stepping beyond it for memorable sequences including the game's surprisingly violent death animations. The only real sore spot, for me at least, is that some of those deaths can feel quite unfair, leading to plenty of restarts from the game's sparingly sprinkled checkpoints.
Despite that little wrinkle, Faith II is definitely worth a play. You can grab the free prologue on itch.io here (opens in new tab), while the main course can be had from the same page for only a dollar.
For great free experiences, check out our roundup of the best free PC games (opens in new tab).
