Summary
Thanks toResident Evildebuting on the PS1 in 1996,the horror genreboomed afterward. That series got plenty of sequels, and many copycats joined in for the ride. In the 2000s, Capcom even tried to make another hit withHaunted Groundon the PS2. It went nowhere, as did another obscure non-Capcom PS2 horror game,Rule of Rose.
They may not have received sequels but these other horror franchises did in the 2000s, yet those sequels stopped before they could get anywhere beyond 2009 though. Some even remain trapped on their older consoles, while others were at least lucky enough to get ported or remastered beyond this era. Remasters aren’t new games though, so let’s look back in time at some horror game history.
Condemned: Criminal Originsis the first game in the series, which was released in 2005. It took a while, but it eventually got a sequel,Condemned 2: Bloodshot, in 2008. This was the beginning of the HD era between the PS3 and Xbox 360, when a lot of games were becoming darker in tone.
TheCondemnedgames were quite visceral, with a lot of brutal melee action almost like a combination ofSilent Hilland an old-school brawler likeStreets of Rage. Despite the good reviews, there was never a third game in the series or enhanced collection, even though fans still remember these games fondly.
Dino CrisiswasResident Evilwith dinosaurs, and it wasmade by Capcomtoo, so it wasn’t a ripoff from some other company. A group of soldiers are sent to investigate an island facility, and their investigation leads them to dinosaurs running amok. This game was released on the PS1 in 1999, and it got a PS1 sequel soon after.
Then the series split betweenDino Stalkeron the PS2 andDino Crisis 3on the original Xbox.Dino Stalkerwas a time-traveling on-rails shooter, whileDino Crisis 3was set in the future of space. Both were bold moves for the series, and Capcom never went back to the well to make a fifth game, unless fans want to countExoprimalas a spiritual successor.
Left 4 Deadwas amultiplayer-based zombie shooterfrom the infamous developer Valve. It was released in 2008. The first game was a hit among the Xbox 360 and PC crowd, so much so that it got a sequel in 2009, not to mention content updates for both games over the years.
As far as new games though, there were only ever twoLeft 4 Deadtitles. Rumors about a third game floated around forever (not unlike some other Valve IPs), but it never came to pass. However, Turtle Rock Studios, formed by former Valve developers, went on to make the somewhat recent spiritual successorBack 4 Blood,which was also a multiplayer-focused zombie shooter.
To lay the pun on thick,ObsCureis a fairly obscure game in the horror genre. It was released first in 2004 in Australia, followed by PAL regions, and then eventually North America got it in 2005 for platforms like the PS2. It was like a video game version of the horror movieThe Faculty,as it focused on teens trapped in a demonic form of their high school.
It did get a remaster in 2014, but other than that, there was only one sequel in 2007,ObsCure 2. When it was released in North America a year later, it was calledObscure: The Aftermath. For such an obscure game, it had some forward-thinking ideas for thehorror genre, like two-player co-op.
Onimusha: Warlordsis another horror spinoff made by Capcom. Instead of zombies, its players fight demons in feudal Japan. It launched on the PS2 in 2001, and between that year and 2006, it received a good crop of sequels and spinoffs. There was even a fighting game in the style ofSuper Smash Bros.calledOnimusha Blade Warriors.
The last game though, discounting the fairly basic remaster of the first game released in 2019 in North America, wasOnimusha: Dawn of Dreamsin 2006. It was made for the PS2, and that spelled the end of thesamurai demon-slaying era. Technically there was anOnimushabrowser game released in 2012 in Japan, but it wasn’t a big experience compared to the dedicated console and portable games of the series' past.
The last Capcom horror game of note here isResident Evil Outbreak. It was a spinoff for the PS2 set roughly around the same time asResident Evil 2. Players could become one of several NPCs locatedaround Raccoon Cityto try and escape the zombie outbreak. It was released in 2004 in North America, which was a year after its release in Japan.
There was a sequel that continued the adventure,Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2, in 2005, which was also a year after the Japan release. It seemed like Capcom had an idea to make a third entry, but it never came to be, and there has never quite been another spinoff like these two entries that wasn’t just a match-based multiplayer game. It would be interesting to see normal citizens fight back once again now that the online infrastructure of modern gaming consoles is improved.
Sirenalso followed NPCs as heroes, all trying tosurvive in Japanafter a ghostly outbreak.Sirencame out in Japan first in 2003 on the PS2, followed by North America in 2004. It was an internal Sony project to try and chase the horror highs of franchises likeResident EvilandSilent Hill.
There was a sequel,Forbidden Siren 2,in 2006, but it did not release in North America. It did come to Australia and Europe though, so there is an English version out there. The third and last entry,Siren: Blood Curse, was an episodic game released digitally for the PS3 in 2008, but it was essentially just a remake of the first game. Then things ended, and the series hasn’t been seen since.
The Sufferingoperates in the same realm as theCondemnedseries, meaning that it was a brutal take on the horror genre. The game starreda prisoner getting out of his jail cellonly to find himself in a prison filled with monsters. It was released on a cavalcade of platforms like the PS2 in 2004.
The Sufferinggot a sequel a year later,The Suffering: Ties That Bind, also on a plethora of gaming platforms. It never got a remaster or remake, and it seems largely forgotten by the larger games industry despite both titles getting fairly positive reviews from critics.
