Editorials
What Were Your Favorite PS2 Horror Games?
A few days ago, Square Enix turned off the online servers for Final Fantasy XI, effectively ending the fading life of the console, which sold a monstrous 155 million units during its run. Released in 2000, the unit became a staple in many households, often recognized as the best DVD player ever released as well as one of the most resilient gaming consoles next to the Nintendo 64. According to Wiki, nearly 3,900 games were created for the console, ranging from puzzles to adventure, action to horror, children’s to mature, and everything in between. I’m sure arguments could be made that the console was a revolutionary release, one that changed the face of video gaming forever, although it owed much of its fame and fortune to the Playstation 1, which sold over 100 million units.
My Playstation 2 was a first generation unit and I was one of the lucky few that got the console the day it came out. Since then, I owned and played games from a wide variety of genres but I always fell back upon the survival horror and creepy titles. And with the news of the past week, I felt a sudden nostalgia towards the console and wanted to give it some love. That’s why this discussion post is geared towards that lovely little black box.
As I stated above, I played a lot of horror games on the PS2 and I want to tell you about a few of them. Then, I want you to tell me your own favorites in the comments below! Let’s do this!
Fatal Frame
Let’s kick things off with what many consider to be one of the most terrifying and scariest games of all time: Fatal Frame. I remember buying this game at Gamestop because it was only $20. I’d heard rumors of it being something really haunting but I had no idea what I was in store for. I stayed at my friend’s place that night because we both wanted to test it out and we ended up being too scared to go to sleep.
The setting is fantastic, the mechanics are wonderful at making you feel damn near helpless, and the music is spine-tingling.
The Suffering
Many times while playing a horror game, I found myself thinking, “If only I could just beat the everliving shit out of these monsters, I’d be alright.” Enter The Suffering, a game where you could basically do just that.
This game never really scared me but I can’t deny the horrific nature of its foundation. An ex-con trying to escape a prison that’s filled with monstrosities? Absolutely perfect!
Manhunt
Leave it to Rockstar to take the controversy of the Grand Theft Auto games and create something so much more violent and brutal that people kinda stopped caring about the fact that you could shoot prostitutes after banging them in some random back alley.
Manhunt was so controversial that it was banned from several countries and it was the subject of news headlines for a while. And you know what? I can totally understand why people were talking about it. It’s a fucking gruesome game! The executions are horrific, the gore intense (for the time), and the premise rather unpleasant, to put it mildly. If you haven’t played this game, watch some longplays on YouTube and you’ll see what all the fuss was about.
Siren
I bought Siren at my local Hollywood Video for $9.99 during a holiday sale and it was one of the best things I could’ve done. Many claim that it’s the hybrid between Silent Hill and, strangely enough, Metal Gear Solid, particularly the stealth elements of the latter. And while the game is not without its flaws (trust me, there are several), it has an amazing atmosphere and it really takes the J-horror craze of the time and puts it into video game form. If you can track down a copy, do it. It’s 100% worth your time.
Silent Hill 2
Did you really think I could make this list and not have Silent Hill 2 on here? Considered to be not only one of the best horror games of the Playstation 2, considered to be not only the best of the Silent Hill franchise (this can be argued by some), Silent Hill 2 is often considered to be one of the best horror games in the history of video games.
And while the game sports a stunning soundtrack (thanks Akira Yamaoka!), horrific monster designs (Pyramid Head is now one of the most iconic video game characters ever released), and a stunning atmosphere that exudes terror, it’s most known for having a brilliant storyline that actually affects players as they learn the truth of James Sunderland and his wife Mary.
I remember seeing the game’s trailer and being absolutely blown away. I knew that not only did I need to own the game, I needed to own the soundtrack as well. And when I bought the game, I played it from beginning to end in one sitting only to stop and start it all over again. It got to the point where I was able to beat the game without saving once and complete it in around two hours. Yeah, I was that obsessed with it.
This game is not just a classic, it’s a piece of video game history.
In a recent interview, filmmaker Christopher Nolan explained that he’s always been interested in directing a bona fide horror movie, with the award-winning director going so far as to praise genre creators for their continued risk-taking on the big screen.
If you’ve seen Nolan’s recently released The Odyssey, you’re likely aware that a scary movie helmed by the legendary director could be a very good idea.
After all, Nolan insisted on making use of old-fashioned movie magic and in-camera practical effects when shooting his adaptation of Homer’s epic. This retro approach made Odysseus’ encounters with mythological beings such as the giant cyclops that much more terrifying. By now, fans are undoubtedly aware that the massive creature was partially brought to life by an enormous puppet enhanced with near-invisible CGI, but there were also plenty of forced perspective shots where actor Bill Irwin actually chomped on disturbingly realistic replicas of Ithican soldiers.
As you can see in the below behind-the-scenes test footage shared by the Los Angeles-based Hamer FX, Irwin was given an assortment of latex dolls filled with fake blood and breakable skeletons that he could tear apart on camera. The darkness of Polyphemus’ cave covers up most of the gore in the finished film, but the moment remains a terrifying highlight in a movie that has a lot to say about the horrors of war.
Nolan actually requested these tiny edible soldiers for the flick because his vision for the iconic cyclops encounter was partially inspired by Francisco Goya’s disturbing mural of Saturn Devouring His Son. This mysterious piece is actually one of the artist’s infamous “Black Paintings,” which were found painted directly onto the walls of his old house near Madrid before a French baron ordered that the collection be transferred to canvas and assigned names for public viewing.
Details like these are what make me think that Nolan could pull off a genuinely scary horror picture if he came across the right idea. That being said, between the Fear Gas sequences in Batman Begins and Circe using body horror magic to transform men into pigs in The Odyssey, one might argue that he’s been preparing for such a task throughout his entire career.
The Odyssey is currently playing in theaters everywhere, though it’s definitely worth seeking out an IMAX screening if you can find one near you.
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