The first thing you soon realize when talking about the best PS2 horror games is that as a whole, the PS2 might just be the best console the genre ever saw. From amazing sequels in franchises like Clock Tower and Silent Hill, to truly unique releases like Cold Fear and ObsCure, the PS2 saw some of the most pivotal and enduringly popular horror games ever made.
10. The Thing
Developer: Computer Artworks
Publishers: Black Label Games, Konami
Licensed games are a very mixed bag, so it’s easy to be taken aback by just how good the 2002 squad-based third-person shooter The Thing really is. In the first place, the game offers a surprisingly good sequel plot to John Carpenter’s perfect 1982 sci-fi alien horror classic. It’s a fun story that connects nicely to the film, and even includes some fun bits like a cameo by Carpenter himself.
Players assume the role of U.S. Army Special Forces Captain Blake, part of the investigation into the U.S. and Norwegian camps from the first film. The investigation goes great in the sense that everything goes to shit pretty quickly, and the game becomes a blend of solid third-person shooter mechanics and a dread-soaked atmosphere of uncertainty as to who is infected.
Fleshing out the story of The Thing is a blast, various puns intended. The gameplay offers frenetic action, pretty good puzzles, and ongoing team management challenges that adds another satisfying layer to what might just be the best video game sequel to a movie ever made. We’re looking forward to the remaster due later this year.
9. ObsCure
Developer: Hydravision Entertainment
Publisher: DreamCatcher Interactive
ObsCure used the powerful PS2 to visit a movie genre that needed more video game representation, taking the well-known story of dropping high school kids into a waking nightmare and turning it into an immersive, creepy PlayStation 2 experience.
ObsCure has you playing as any one of five students investigating some supernatural happenings in their school, controlling one at a time with the others controlled by either the computer or another player. This dynamic creates some unique opportunities in surviving the increasingly sinister forces that seem to be fixated on your poor school.
The co-op element for ObsCure works really well here, even if you’ve only got the computer to play with you. ObsCure makes it easy to stay connected to one another, and also keeps you in situations in which working together simultaneously is very important. It’s not simplistic by any means, and you really have to admire what the developers were going for here.
ObsCure transports you to its supernatural teenage horror landscape very effectively, with little touches like being able to combine a flashlight with a weapon and each character having a special ability making the game an entertaining release that unfortunately has come to live up to its name as time has passed.
8. Clock Tower 3
Developers: Capcom, Sunsoft
Publisher: Capcom
Really, in every possible way, Clock Tower 3 aspired to tell a much bigger and more ambitious story than previous point-and-click installments, and the more demanding gameplay reflected that. Players assume the role of a 15-year-old girl named Alyssa, and it’s her unique abilities that will help you survive a plethora of monsters, some very spooky destinations, and the game’s inclusion of time travel.
A rarity in survival horror, the time travel aspect of Clock Tower III has players dealing with a lot more than just recurring series antagonist Scissorman. Moving across different eras and times, which the game effectively creates no matter where you are, you’ll be facing a range of creatures in the pursuit of the game’s larger plot of understanding what the hell is going on with Alyssa in the first place.
Clock Tower 3 focuses on searching for specific items and solving puzzles to unlock new areas across the 1940s and 1960s. You’ll rarely have a weapon at your disposal, with the emphasis here on hiding and avoiding whatever’s after you. As you’ll find once you start playing Clock Tower 3, a lot is after you, creating a relentlessly tense atmosphere and a great time for PS2 horror fans.
7. Haunting Ground
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
A spiritual sequel to Clock Tower III with numerous thematic and gameplay similarities, Haunting Ground reminds you that Capcom didn’t just rest on Resident Evil during the sixth generation.
Waking up in the dungeon of a castle after a car accident, like you do, Haunting Ground thrusts young Fiona into strange and frightening circumstances. With your new canine best friend and very good boy named Hewie, you’ll begin exploring your surroundings without any sense of what’s even going on. Haunting Ground starts off strong in its storytelling and mystery-building, and as you make your way through this challenging survival horror title, you’ll find that those qualities are consistent from start to finish.
Haunting Ground has rich gothic horror to enjoy in its castle backdrop, and the inclusion of a doggo for your survival isn’t nearly as frustrating as you might guess. Just keep in mind that it’s integral to the gameplay, with the need to build on a relationship with the dog. Players also manage features like a “panic mode,” in which the game takes full control as you completely lose your shit. There’s a lot to make Haunting Ground special, beyond its immersive charm.
6. Cold Fear
Developer: Darkworks
Publisher: Ubisoft
Alien parasites and shady government dealings. A tale as old as time. Throw in the Russian mob for added fun, and you’ve got the relatively forgotten Cold Fear.
Receiving mixed reviews and bombing commercially, Cold Fear is another PS2 survival horror title that deserves a closer look in modern times. You’ll find one of the console’s most graphically impressive games in the genre, along with good gameplay and a great, appropriately unsettling narrative. Some of these story beats may sound familiar to you, but more often than not, Cold Fear finds its own way to feel like an original approach.
The game’s setting aboard a Russian whaling ship creates some interesting and very distinctive threats, with the ship itself often becoming as adversarial as the zombies encountered by our U.S Coast Guard protagonist Tom Hansen. An unexpected shift can cause you to lose aim, and in some cases, Cold Fear will send you right over the railing and into the ocean. As long as the game’s resistance gauge is full, with the gauge decreasing after certain activities like running, you’ll be okay.
Cold Fear does an excellent job of incorporating these challenges without turning the game into an exercise in maddening frustration. All of this builds on a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere that makes this third-person shooter difficult to put down.
5. Rule of Rose
Developer: Punchline
Publisher: Atlus
Set in England in the 30s, players in Rule of Rose control a young girl named Jennifer, who finds herself in the presence of a deeply frightening class hierarchy known as the Red Crayon Aristocrats. A psychological horror story with deep roots in the inherent terror of childhood itself, Rule of Rose grabs you early with something you really can’t find anywhere else in this particular form.
While the plot and larger mysteries of Rule of Rose are quite frankly fantastic, the actual playing of the game itself also holds up nicely. The game plays like something of an interactive movie, as Jennifer explores her surroundings, solves puzzles, performs a variety of tasks, and tries to survive increasingly fraught encounters with monsters and other creatures. Rule of Rose is also another survival horror game that ties your success to a dog, with a rescue named Brown becoming essential to finding the items that move you to the next point in the game.
Rule of Rose has an incredible studio-musician-backed soundtrack, characters we can get behind, and some of the most unsettling graphics on the console. It’s well worth your time in any era of gaming. Just remember that a physical copy of Rule of Rose is going to cost, well, a lot.
4. Siren
Developer: Sony
Publisher: Sony
With a decidedly original approach to gameplay, and under the direction of Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, Siren should be regarded in the same breath as any other contender for the best PS2 horror games of all time.
Anchored by a series of interconnected time periods, characters, and storylines, Siren tried a bold concept known as sightjacking to give players the ability to see the world through the eyes of vicious zombie-like creatures known as the Shibito. This mechanic is intriguing and almost consistently a blast to play around with, becoming increasingly important in a game that has plenty of action to go along with a relentless desire for self-preservation. For example, you can’t kill the Shibito. You can merely slow them down, and your best bet more often than not is to use their perception, find the items that are crucial to the narrative, and move on. Avoidance is generally your best strategy.
Siren keeps you absorbed in the mystery of why the small town of Hanuda seems to be so utterly cursed. As you learn more, the horror genuinely builds, and there are some moments throughout this stealth survival horror gem that will be tough to shake off.
3. Fatal Frame III: The Tormented
Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Fatal Frame had a pair of absolutely brilliant PS2 horror releases, with Fatal Frame III: The Tormented getting an edge for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is the fact that The Tormented has some of the most brutal death scenes in the genre up to this point. With empathizing characters and a strong story, these deaths have some serious weight behind them.
But death and mayhem are not the only reasons why Fatal Frame III: The Tormented is such a visceral experience. Three characters find themselves drawn to a surreal place known as the Manor of Sleep. Having different strengths and weaknesses among these protagonists certainly goes a long way towards keeping the game from getting dull.
Combat comes down to using a device known as the Camera Obscura, and Fatal Frame III: The Tormented has a variety of different scenarios in which you will have to use the camera to not only help spirits but prevent yourself from becoming one. Damage is determined by factors like the distance and your film type, and successful encounters can give you the chance later on to upgrade your device.
With a lot of the game focusing on dreams, playing Fatal Frame III: The Tormented can sometimes feel like the great Nightmare on Elm Street game we never got to enjoy. Even experienced survival horror fans will find all of this creepy and intense.
2. Resident Evil 4
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
The remake of Resident Evil 4 is pretty spectacular, but if you find yourself nostalgic for the original, you’ll find that Resident Evil in any form deserves its place as one of the best survival horror games of all time.
As protagonist Leon Kennedy, players find themselves on a rescue mission for the U.S. President’s daughter Ashley. The hunt begins in a rural village in Spain, where the efforts of a mysterious cult have created a landscape overrun with parasite-infested farmers and monsters that truly belong in the RE universe.
There’s a genuine spookiness to the game, even as the gameplay focuses more and more intently on killing just about everything you meet. Even with a greater focus on combat, the game still feels right at home in the Resident Evil universe, with the same intense feeling that you are completely out of your depth against things you can barely comprehend. Protecting Ashley naturally becomes a big part of the game later on, and even these moments retain an intense sense of fun that still gives you the thrill of having to seriously fight for your survival.
Resident Evil 4 successfully tried new things by focusing more on action, but you also get to enjoy the best elements of Resident Evil game turned up to 11. The game is an impressive compromise of wanting to mix things up, while also keeping in mind why this series has been consistently popular for nearly 30 years. Resident Evil would stray a little too far from its origins later on, but here with the fourth game we have the best of all worlds.
1. Silent Hill 2
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Two things we learn early on in the masterpiece Silent Hill 2: James Sunderland just wants to find his wife, and James is absolutely not a narrator we should be trusting. There’s a potent, almost sadistic sense of uncertainty and fear that dominates this game from the moment you start playing it. It feels like a Silent Hill sequel right from the start, but as this incredible survival horror classic shows, everything we loved about the first game has been taken to some of the darkest depths the PS2 would ever see.
Silent Hill 2 puts its attention towards exploration, finding essential items to move along in the game, and occasionally solving a puzzle. Oh, and once in a while, you’ll need to survive an encounter with some minor threat named Pyramid Head. He’s actually a really nice guy. Shouldn’t be too much trouble.
What makes Silent Hill 2 so absolutely astonishing as a playing experience is how much dread it builds and manifests within you. Every good survival horror game gives you some anxiety to carry from one room to the next. Silent Hill 2 can sometimes make you feel as though you are actually putting yourself in peril by continuing on. Something about James’ hellish journey, which explores such themes as grief and redemption, has the ability to feel like its getting into your bones.
A masterclass in atmosphere and pacing, Silent Hill 2 is still one of the very best survival horror games ever made. It was a near-impossible act for future games to follow, and even the upcoming remake gives you the sense that it just might not have the same punch the PS2 original did. It’s a game that will either turn you off the genre for life, or it’ll make you a devoted fan of this franchise and anything else horror has to offer in video games.
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