Summary
Horror movies and horror games are tied to rental culture from the 80s, 90s, and onward. Rentinga bunch of scary moviesand gathering a group of friends or relatives to have a scary movie marathon was a high point in pop culture. While the gathering of friends aspect wasn’t part of horror game rentals, it was fun to rent a horror game for a weekend and then beat it in a single sitting, to replay it a few more times to see extras.
Horror games are typically short because it is presumably harder to keep up the scares for a longer period. So, let’s highlight some of the shortest horror video games that are fun to beat in a single sitting or day, specifically on the PS2.
This is the last entry in the series, not counting ports or remasters, and it was also a big departure. This series was known for starring young schoolgirls running froma serial killerknown as The Scissorman without a way to fight back, but that was not the case in this entry.
InClock Tower 3, players got to freely control the heroine, Alyssa, who belonged to a gifted family of paranormal investigators. Alyssa still couldn’t freely vanquish her pursuing killers, but she could stop them briefly with items like holy water, which could be refilled at save points. Boss battles had more interactivity, too, but the best reason to play the game today is the silly but well-acted story for a PS2 game.
Cold Fearis one of the rare horror games that Ubisoft published. It takes place on a boat wherein an agent, Tom, is investigating a Russian vessel, wherein he finds the crew taken over by parasitic monsters.
It’s a standard third-person setup, but the weather and water effects on the boat were outstanding for a PS2 game, and it’s one of the more unique settings for a horror game. While it cannot be played on modern consoles, it can be played on Steam and even works on the Steam Deck.
Exterminationis set in Antarctica and can best be described asaMetal Geargame, but a horror game. A secret team is sent in to investigate a lab that went offline, only to find the researchers transformed into monsters. This extraction team is armed to the teeth, so ammo is never really a problem.
Also, to keep things light, players only get one weapon, a rifle, but they can upgrade it over time with different parts to alter its powers, like adding grenades or fire to the mix. To balance the ammo situation, monsters are fast, and health supplies are very limited, meaning players have to be extra careful. For those who prefer more action in their horror games,Exterminationis well worth it.
Michigan: Report from Hellfits right in with the rest of Grasshopper Manufacture’s games, as it wasproduced by Suda51. That is to say, the gameplay was experimental and also very weird. It was only released in Japan and Europe, so most North Americans have probably never heard of it. Players assumed the role of a cameraman who was investigating monster breakouts all over the city with a crew.
By pointing the camera at objects, the crew would investigate or, in some instances, shoot at monsters. There was not much combat in the game, as it can be described as a passive experience overall, butMichigan: Report from Hellcertainly is unforgettable, with some of the death scenes and dialogue standing out in particular.
ObsCurewas capitalizing on the horror trends of the late 90s and early 2000s by setting it in modern high schools. Fans can think of the game likeFinal DestinationorThe Facultyin terms of its visual style and tone.
Five students are trapped in their school, fighting monsters and investigating its mysteries. Players can choose any of the two five characters to play with and swap between them on the fly. They have certain skills, like lock picking, and they can die, altering the story, which makesObsCureboth short and replayable.
Onimusha: Warlordswas a surprisingly short game when it was released on the PS2. Fans may have been surprised when the remaster came out in 2019 in North America that it was so much shorter than perhaps their memories recalled, but thankfully,Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destinyis longer, almost doubled, and the seriesonly got longer from here.
Shortness aside,Onimusha: Warlordsis a good proof of concept that showed theResident Evilformula could work with samurai. It had memorable bosses, cool weapons, and didn’t overstay its welcome.
Resident Evil: Dead Aimis a forgotten entry in the series starring a newcomer, Bruce McGivern, who wassent to investigate Umbrellaon a cruise. It’s a light gun, but instead of being on-rails, players could move Bruce around freely, and then they switched to a first-person camera while shooting.
While it doesn’t hold a candle to the best entry on PS2,Resident Evil 4, it is a good breezy afternoon’s worth of fun. It’s not even the shortest game, asResident Evil: Survivor 2 - Code: Veronica, another light gun experience, can be beaten in about an hour.
Silent Hill: Origins, as the name suggests, was a prequel that was released first for the PSP. It made sense to make it shorter because it was built for a handheld, which then got a small upgrade for its PS2 version.
Instead of focusing on a charactergoing to Silent Hillfor a specific reason, Travis Grady was a trucker who stopped at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was more combat-focused and didn’t have as many challenging puzzles, but that didn’t make it a lesser experience, as it was still quite creepy.
