PS2 Survival Horror Roundup & Help Needed

[Atreides]

Hey BG,

So recently I decided to go back and finally work on one of my favorite subgenres of video games. The PS2 era saw a huge number of survival horror titles, some of them great… and some of them awful. I won't go into too much detail on some of the big-name series but there are a lot of underappreciated gems out there. Also, what games am I missing? Are there any titles that I haven't completed that I really should?

Played:
http://i55.tinypic.com/2wfph0p.jpg

Clock Tower 3 - This is really my first experience with the whole "run-and-hide" style of survival horror, so it took a little getting used to but overall it was fun. There are some really tense moments when you're running from stalkers but the boss battles feel really out of place. I mean… enchanted bows shooting arrows of divine judgment? I guess I feel like given the rest of the story, the supernatural aspects seem a bit out of place but maybe someone who's played the other CT games could fill me in.

Cold Fear - The lack of the map makes this really annoying, but it's a solid little RE4 clone.

Fatal Frame III - I didn't really understand a lot of what was happening in this game, the multiple characters were handled MUCH better in FF4 and the game isn't anywhere near as scary as FF2. I still haven't played FF1 but unfortunately FF3 is currently my least favorite in the series, although I still enjoyed it.

Haunting Ground - What I'm currently playing, about 80% of the way through. This game is really phenomenal. The story is great and the stalkers are each creepier than the next, the bits of lore about alchemy and the way it's woven into the combat system really keep you hooked. I like having the option of actually fighting them and gaining gear to use as well.

Kuon - The controls for this are kinda terrible, but the setting is totally unique - an ancient japanese mansion with exorcism and magic spells, and the theme of silkworms and cursed mulberry trees. I would probably only recommend this for die-hard fans

Lifeline - A lot of people really hate this, but you can easily survive the game with minimal healing items with a decent USB mic as long as you remain calm and speak clearly and slowly when giving instructions. Still, if you get even a little flustered the game is totally unforgiving, but it's worth seeing as a tech demo (or an example of how not to make a game, if you hate it lol)

Obscure - Some interesting mechanics here that I guess were pretty innovative at the time, like the use of light to weaken enemies (although it's done a lot better in Alan Wake), item combination, and the use of a teammate with special skills. It's a decent effort but combat ultimately feels unbalanced, you'll either have tons of bullets or you'll have to heal after ever battle.

Silent Hill Origins - I'm pretty sure this is just a straight port of the PSP version, although I think it adds R2 and L2 functionality IIRC. Still, it falls into the same category as the rest of the Silent Hill games after 3: good but fails to live up to the original trilogy.

Not pictured:
Rule of Rose - If you can get past the early stages of the game (where you're armed with only a dessert fork) you really owe it to yourself to play this game, which eschews blood/gore and straight up scares for a constant sense of being unnerved and disturbed by the cruelty of children and the fucked-up goings-on at the orphanage. There's actually a really deep item hunting mechanic that can give you some weapons that make the game a lot easier, but the real stars are the incredibly evocative story and the soundtrack. This is the only game that's ever made me cry.

Echo Night: Beyond - I really hated this game but maybe I missed the point. The slow crawl through the space station (in a spacesuit) with no real enemies and an equally slow story really pained me to finish. I guess the plot twist was unexpected but yeah… I won't be playing this one again lol


That's about it for what I've played through already. I didn't mention the PS2 port of Alone in the Dark because I played it on PS3 and I don't think the other versions were worth a damn (I actually liked the PS3 version but anywho). Similarly, I guess you could include Silent Hill: Shattered Memories but I've already played it for Wii.


Now for my current backlog:

http://i54.tinypic.com/288mnb4.jpg

Not pictured:
X-Files: Resist or Serve
Siren
Suffering 1 and 2
Disaster Report

I'm kinda hesitant to include Disaster Report/Raw Danger, but I guess I could include them. I remember playing part of the X-Files game in the past, the concept was amazing (and they got David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson to voice their roles) but the controls and annoying combat kept me from getting too far.

I think I've also played the first Suffering and enjoyed it, but was the 2nd worth a damn?

-Out of the above games, what would people recommend I play next?

-Also, is there anything I'm missing? I'd love to mod my ps2 so I can play Siren 2 since I hear that's really amazing, so ps2 imports that have EU releases or english translations are fine too.

Feel free to discuss horror games for other systems in here too!

[Ksandra]

WRY NO RESIDENT EVIL?


For thee ones above, The Suffering games are a lot of fun so I'd do that next.

[6souls]

Code: VX

[Atreides]

I actually haven't played any RE games other than 4 and 5, so I was thinking of actually trying to get through 0-3 (0 and REmake on the Wii, 2 and 3 on PSN) before the HD versions of CV and 4 come out in september. It's probably worth waiting to play CV until we see if the HD version is better, ya?

[Ksandra]

I actually haven't played any RE games other than 4 and 5, so I was thinking of actually trying to get through 0-3 (0 and REmake on the Wii, 2 and 3 on PSN) before the HD versions of CV and 4 come out in september. It's probably worth waiting to play CV until we see if the HD version is better, ya?

I suppose.

I stand by my statement though, the suffering is a lot of fun.

[Atreides]

Yea I really liked the first Suffering from what I remember, although didn't they try to pull some ridiculous bullshit in the 2nd? I seem to remember reading an article about it and then not wanting to play it lol

[Kaisha]

I actually haven't played any RE games other than 4 and 5, so I was thinking of actually trying to get through 0-3 (0 and REmake on the Wii, 2 and 3 on PSN) before the HD versions of CV and 4 come out in september. It's probably worth waiting to play CV until we see if the HD version is better, ya?

If you're going to play some horror GameCube games, may as well add Eternal Darkness to that list.

[Atreides]

I've played Eternal Darkness, just a long time ago. I didn't list other SH games from the other 2 consoles in the PS2 era because there just aren't that many. Besides Eternal Darkness on GC there's just the Resident Evil games.

And on Xbox I guess there's just that Dino Crisis game... which was set in space. Anyone ever play that one? lol

[Kerberoz]

Any game that gives you a rocket launcher is not survival horror.

Also, for PC: Amnesia: the Dark Descent, Penumbra series.

[Gokulo]

I'd still play Fatal Frame 1 even if FF3 left you feeling so-so (I too had some problems with it, took me like 3 attempts at starting the game to finally finish it) because 1 is pretty good. I had a friend that was totally nuts over and in love with Siren, but I personally never had the patience for that game XD Couldn't get past even the first section.

[knight_kirby]

Clock Tower kind of stopped being Clock Tower after 2 (or Ghost Head in Japan). Granted, the running and hiding is still there but introducing combat into the game kind of took something away. The first 2 games in the series was a point and click game about looking for stuff, hiding/running, and puzzle solving. There are Supernatural aspects in all of them but CT3 took that to an absurd level.

As for Fatal Frame, I liked the first one a lot more than the third. FF3 had way too much going on and at the time I couldn't be bothered to remember what happened in the first 2 games to make sense out of the 3rd.
Also felt combat was more fast paced in FF1 though not as deep as the sequels.

[Bweigelt]

The Thing was a pretty good survival horror game for PS2. It's a sequel to the John Carpenter movie and had some really interesting mechanics to it, as well as a decent enough story. It might be kind of hard to find though.

[Atreides]

Clock Tower kind of stopped being Clock Tower after 2 (or Ghost Head in Japan). Granted, the running and hiding is still there but introducing combat into the game kind of took something away. The first 2 games in the series was a point and click game about looking for stuff, hiding/running, and puzzle solving. There are Supernatural aspects in all of them but CT3 took that to an absurd level.

As for Fatal Frame, I liked the first one a lot more than the third. FF3 had way too much going on and at the time I couldn't be bothered to remember what happened in the first 2 games to make sense out of the 3rd.
Also felt combat was more fast paced in FF1 though not as deep as the sequels.

Yeah that was my main problem with CT3, it was just a little weird how you had no weapons save 3-5 splashes of holy water until you got to a boss fight, then you have some super powerful enchanted archery equipment lol.

Anyway a lot of people consider Haunting Ground to be the 4th Clock Tower game since it's made by Capcom and there are a lot of similarities (the save points are
big clocks!) and if you're a CT fan I'd definitely recommend it. It's a huge leap over CT3 and really well done.

I'd still play Fatal Frame 1 even if FF3 left you feeling so-so (I too had some problems with it, took me like 3 attempts at starting the game to finally finish it) because 1 is pretty good. I had a friend that was totally nuts over and in love with Siren, but I personally never had the patience for that game XD Couldn't get past even the first section.

That's what happened to me with Siren as well... it was just way too difficult. Supposedly the PS3 siren game is a remake of the PS2 game so maybe I'll just play that instead, at some point.

I guess I'll give FF1 a shot if you're both saying it's worth playing.

[Hiryo]

You already played Rule of Rose, right? I don't remember if it was you or someone else on BG that played it recently.

[Atreides]

Yea I mentioned it above but didn't include it in the image (because it was hard enough to track down a copy at gamestop, let alone with the original box/instructions lol), I beat it pretty recently. It's actually one of the best SH games I've played on PS2, even though it's totally unlike most other horror games, the game is so compelling that it's easy to get past the annoying combat once the story gets its hooks in you.

[Kyo]

Spoiler: show

Survive my dick faggot.

[Atreides]

to give you an idea of how good the Rule of Rose soundtrack is:



The opening clip is pretty great too, both the song and the weird shit that happens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okABK7DS2aY

[Dominico]

I actually haven't played any RE games other than 4 and 5, so I was thinking of actually trying to get through 0-3 (0 and REmake on the Wii, 2 and 3 on PSN) before the HD versions of CV and 4 come out in september. It's probably worth waiting to play CV until we see if the HD version is better, ya?

WARNING: You may hate the originals due to the horrendous tank controls. I tried multiple times to get into the original trilogy after having only played 4 and 5, but I just couldn't do it. Some people loved the control scheme (God knows why), but it made the games unplayable for me.

[MoogleAura]

I'm guilty of buying X-Files: Resist or Serve. I'm pretty sure it had all the cast from the show lend their voices too. I remember Mulder, Scully & Krycek. Not sure if Cancer Man was in there too. I honestly can't remember what it was about but it had the black oil alien things and the shape shifter bounty hunters too. Wasn't an amazing game though unfortunately. :/

[Atreides]

WARNING: You may hate the originals due to the horrendous tank controls. I tried multiple times to get into the original trilogy after having only played 4 and 5, but I just couldn't do it. Some people loved the control scheme (God knows why), but it made the games unplayable for me.

Well I don't mind tank controls really, since I've played Silent Hill 1-3. I just wrapped up Haunting Ground (I'm really surprised how much I liked it) so hopefully I can get into RE1 (or should I play 0 first?)