Best Horror Games Only Available On The PS2

Summary

• PS2 had great horror games, many of which are still exclusive to the system.
• Games like Resident Evil Outbreak and Dino Stalker focus on unique horror gameplay elements.
• Extermination and X-Files: Resist Or Serve use classic horror tropes to create chilling experiences.

If graphics are all that matter, then why are some of the best horror games ever made several decades old? The PS2 in particular had a fantastic library of games to make players jump, wince, and contemplate their sanity. While remasters and re-releases are more common than ever, plenty of games from that era are still stuck on Sony’s legendary system.

Some of the games below even come from well-known series, but for one reason or another they have yet to escape the confines of the PS2. Game preservation is important, so hopefully these titles will make it to a place where they can be enjoyed by more gamers who might not have even been born yet during the PS2’s heyday.

7 Resident Evil Outbreak

Resident Evil, But Online

The PlayStation 2 was not the first system with online functionality, but it innovated in the online gaming space with several titles. Resident Evil Outbreakwas the first multiplayer outing for the legendary survival horror series.

The game takes the classic survival-horror formula and lets players tackle levels together. It lacks voice chat, but there are a ways to communicate with other players in-game.

The servers have long since shut down, so anybody playing it today has to rely on the AI to guide the other characters through the level. It still works playing solo, but the computer-controlled characters are a little frustrating.

6 Dino Stalker

A Secret Dino 2 Crisis Sequel

• Release Date: September 17, 2002
• Developer: TOSE
• Publisher: Capcom

Dino Stalker is a light-gun game where players take on the prehistoric animals on a mysterious island. It is one of the more action-focused games, but the dinosaurs attacking the player still provide plenty of jump scares.

The story involves a fighter pilot who is transported through time to the game’s island setting just as he is about to be killed in action. Shortly into the journey, the plot is revealed to be a secret sequel to Dino Crisis 2, featuring two characters from that classic PS1 horror game. The standard light-gun action still holds up, but the movement is clunky using a light-gun peripheral.

5 Extermination

Terror In The Arctic

Plenty of horror stories take place in the arctic. The setting prevents the heroes from easily leaving and it also makes sure help arrives late. Extermination also takes advantage of the brutal cold to tell its story.

It sticks closely to Resident Evil’s survival-horror tropes but adds an infection meter that, when full, affects the player’s max health and leaves them more vulnerable to other environmental hazards.

Interestingly enough, the North American and European releases have different voice over tracks and the main character has a different design. Hidetaka Suehiro, who would go on to Deadly Premonition, its sequel, and The Good Life, also worked on Extermination.

4 X-Files: Resist Or Serve

X-Files Meets Resident Evil

• Release Date: March 16, 2004
• Developer: Black Ops Entertainment
• Publisher: Vivendi Universal Entertainment

The X-Files somehow managed to scare viewers while sticking to the content restrictions of 1990s television. Such an iconic horror show deserves its own horror video game. Resist or Serve was not the first game based on the legenary series, but it was the first one for the PS2. Like a lot of horror games, the Resident Evil influence is obvious.

The game goes beyond feeling like a simple cash in. Its story, which takes place during the show’s seventh season, even references other episodes, something only fans would notice. For players that were both horror fans and fans of the X-Files, this game was certainly a treat.

The game has players pick between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully at the beginning of the campaign. The decision effects certain aspects of the gameplay.

3 Fatal Frame III: The Tormented

Beat Ghosts With The Snap Of A Photo

• Release Date: November 8, 2005
• Developer: Tecmo
• Publisher: Tecmo, Take-Two Interactive

Some might consider the camera to be a weapon in the sense that it helps reveal truths that can win information battles. Fatal Frame means it literally. In this survival-horror series, players caputre ghosts on camera to damage them. The various qualities of the photos determine how much damage is done.

Though the movement mimics the traditional survival-horror mobility, taking pictures adopts the first-person view. Fatal Frame 3 splits its game between the real world and a dream world. The fact it is not real in the game does not make the horror any less intense.

2 Siren

Intense Horror With Stealth Gameplay

Horror games commonly encourage running from threats rather than taking them on in a direct confontation. Siren goes a step further and suggests not getting spotted by them in the first place.

The game takes place in a fictional Japanese village that has been grotesquely transformed after a disaster that was previously thought to be a simple earthquake. The truth as to why the transformation happened and why many of the townspeople have turned into monsters becomes clear as the story unravels.

Siren’s stealth gameplay is brutally difficult, bordering on unfair. It is worth it for the story, however, and one might suggest playing with a guide to make the experience more tolerable.

Siren
was remade for the PS3 in 2008 with updated gameplay and a significanlty fleshed-out narrative. The differences are enough to make them two distinct experiences.

1 Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2

The Sequel Whose Servers Only Lasted Two Years

• Release Date: April 26, 2005
• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom

Resident Evil spin-offs tend to come in twos. Umbrella Chronicles, Survivor, and Revelations all got sequels but never a third entry. Outbreak is the same case. Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2 does not change a lot about the online multiplayer adaptation of Resident Evil.

There are some notable differences, however, like each character starting out with different items to make choosing which one to play as a more important decision. A harder difficulty mode is also included. Unfortunately, servers closed in 2007, just two years after the game’s original release.