Summary
The horror game genre has made leaps and bounds from being able to scare players with a handful of pixels all the way to being capable of telling immersive, multiple-choice stories where players are able to decide who lives and who dies.
The cinematic nature of many modern horror games wouldn’t be possible without the incredible advancements in storytelling and scares that came during the era of the PlayStation 2. Many of horror’s most legendary franchises established themselves during this time, and other since-forgotten individual pieces of genius helped advance gameplay, stories, and the very nature of fear in video games.
A game that is technically a spin-off from the mainResident Evilseries, but is a major piece of the beloved survival horror franchise.Resident Evil CODE: Veronicafocuses on the Redfield siblings, Claire and Chris, as they attempt to find their way back to each other while dealing with a new T-Virus outbreak and the machinations of Albert Wesker.
CODE: Veronicawas originally designed as the proper sequel toResident Evil 2, but ended up being a spin-off to the franchise instead. The gameplay and exciting story progressed the world of theResident Evilseries and provided a huge success, which has continued to this day as bothCODE: VeronicaandResident Evil 0, another spin-off,are expected to get remakes soon.
Another famed PlayStation 2 game that has recently had a remake,Silent Hill 2, focuses on a widower traveling to the eponymous town to search for his dead wife, after receiving a mysterious letter that was supposedly from her.An instant classicthat has remained high among the greatest horror games of all time.Silent Hill 2is a phenomenal and terrifying experience that holds up today.
With a fascinating and darkly psychological story much less commonly seen in the horror genre in the PS2 era,Silent Hill 2left a mark on many horror fans. Between remakes, films, and more, the franchise has managed to live on long past the PlayStation 2 with whichSilent Hillfans first experienced the journey of James.
There shouldn’t have been much chance of a video game based on an 80s horror movie working so well in 2002. YetThe Thing, a third-person shooter survival horror which acted as a sequel to the John Carpenter horror movie of the same namewas a big commercial success for the PS2.
Instead of focusing on any of the film’s characters, The Thing was set from the perspective of a special forces soldier who was sent to uncover what happened to the research team from the movie. This fascinating game was a terrifying, claustrophobic shooter and a horror game through and through. The success may also have helped promote the idea of other horror movies translating into the gaming industry.
The success of theSilent Hillfranchise was rampant in the PS2 era more than at any other time before or since.Silent Hill 2was a massive success and quickly led to a sequel in the third entry, which boldly continued on as a direct sequel to the first game in the franchise over the recently beloved second.
Originally planned as a rail shooter because of the slow sales start thatSilent Hill 2suffered in Japan,Silent Hill 3focuses on Heather Mason, who grew up with first-entry protagonist Harry Mason after the events of the first game. Now a teenager, Heather falls into the Otherworld while in a shopping mall and suffers horrific events. The unusual idea of having a teenager as the protagonist of a horror game added to the fear of this entry, making for a fantastic addition to the series which challenges fans for the bestSilent Hillgame to date.
A fascinating idea and a game that has been forgotten far more than it deserves over the last twenty years,The Suffering, was about a prisoner on death row who was forced to deal with supernatural threats attacking the prison following an earthquake.
With multiple endings, a slowly uncovering story as the main character remembers more about the crimes he supposedly committed and his family, and an excellent blending of horror with action sequences,The Sufferingis a memorable, high-tension experience that deserves to be revisited today.
32005 – Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented
Metacritic Score: 78
TheFatal Framefranchise isanother excellent series of horror gamesthat haven’t stayed as relevant today as it was in the PlayStation 2 era. In 2005,Fatal Frame 3: The Tormentedwas released, bringing together three characters who had each lost someone, and placing them in the infamous Manor of Sleep from the previous games.
Fatal Frame 3focuses on the fighting of various ghosts throughout the Manor of Sleep, as players control one of the three characters on their way to the heart of the haunted location, which takes place entirely in their dreams. The blend between these terrifying sequences and other sections of the game set in the real world, while the characters were awake, was a huge part of the attraction of this entry, which helped make it one of the most memorable in the franchise and the history of the PlayStation 2.
While 2006 generally wasn’t considered a strong year for horror games,Rule of Rosewas a backend PS2 survival horror game which was set in England in the 1930s, where a young woman becomes caught in a parallel world where young girls have taken over society with a terrifying and strange hierarchy structure.
Rule of Rosewas not beloved at the time, but it is a fascinating example of a horror game at a time when there weren’t many popular ones being released,and it could be worth revisitingeven just for the fascinating gameplay and the story which boldly stepped in a direction completely different from what horror fans were used to seeing at the time.
At the very end of the PlayStation 2’s life, a newSilent Hillgame was released that explored the time before the first entry in the franchise. Following a trucker who unlocks childhood memories while exploring the town ofSilent Hill, following saving a girl from a house fire,Silent Hill: Originsis a fascinating look at the town before any of the main entries in the franchise.
Originshad much of the same gameplay mechanics that players were used to and loved about the series. The story is filled with fascinating revelations and unfolding pieces of the past that players love, and as such,Originsmanaged to go on tobecome another beloved entry in the franchiseas it began to move on from the PlayStation 2 era.
