Today, improvements in game engines and console hardware have allowed developers to create more immersive, realistic, and ultimately more terrifying games than ever before. Sony's PlayStation 1 was released in 1994 and was the gaming industry's most popular console until the PlayStation 2 hit stores in 2000. Unsurprisingly, technological advancements in the gaming industry have meant that many of the PlayStation 1's classic games don't hold up today.
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Although some gameplay mechanics and visuals don't hold up, the games on this list still manage to provide unsettling experiences that make great use of the PlayStation 1's limited hardware to strike fear into the players.
Updated on July 23rd, 2021, by Jack Pursey: The horror genre is thriving today, with recent games like Resident Evil: Village and Returnal being among 2021's best releases so far. The genre is showing no signs of slowing down either, with highly anticipated titles like Back 4 Blood and Dying Light 2 set to release this year. The future of the horror genre looks bright, but there's still plenty of value to be found in old-school horror games from years past. The PlayStation 1 has numerous games that still manage to be frightening today, so we've expanded this list by a further five entries to highlight a few more unsettling releases.
15 Nightmare Creatures
• Initial Release Date: September 30, 1997
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, Mobile
Nightmare Creatures features elements of gothic horror and takes players back to London in 1666, a very apt choice of year as a devil-worshipping cult are trying to take over the city.
Nightmare Creatures is a great example of how much talented developers can do with restricted hardware, as Kalisto Entertainment were able to create an incredibly atmospheric experience despite the PlayStation 1's limitations. The game was published by Activision, who were replaced with Konami in Nightmare Creatures II.
14 Hellnight
• Initial Release Date: June 11, 1998
• Available Platforms: PlayStation
Hellnight certainly deserves recognition for being one of the PlayStation 1's scariest games, though unfortunately, its quality doesn't quite stack up. The game was released in Japan and Europe in 1998 and 1999 respectively but didn't release elsewhere, contributing to a lackluster commercial performance.
Despite its poor critical and commercial reception, Hellnight does succeed in providing an unsettling experience. So it's still worth checking out for fans of the horror genre.
13 Galerians
• Initial Release Date: August 26, 1999
• Available Platforms: PlayStation
Galerians differentiates itself from most horror games which tend to feature fairly mundane and nondescript leading characters, with the more charismatic and interesting roles going to allies and enemies.
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Galerians' protagonist begins the game with amnesia and soon discovers that he has psychokinetic powers; if that wasn't enough, Rion then discovers that he is the last hope to save humanity from the Galerians, a race of genetically enhanced humans. As for the gameplay, Galerians is one of many horror games from the late 90s to take inspiration from Resident Evil, fit with fixed camera angles and tank controls.
12 Echo Night
• Initial Release Date: August 13, 1998
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, PlayStation Network
1998's Echo Night was developed by FromSoftware, who were a little-known studio at the time, but are now one of the gaming industry's most esteemed teams thanks to games like Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and the Dark Souls trilogy. The game puts players in a first-person perspective, which was rare for horror games at the time, and tasks them players with investigating the disappearance of a ship.
Echo Night received a sequel in 1999 titled Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares, though unfortunately for western gamers, it was only released in Japan.
11 Resident Evil
• Initial Release Date: March 22, 1996
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, Windows, Sega Saturn, Nintendo DS
It's not too much of a stretch to say that if Resident Evil never released, then most of the games on this list wouldn't have either. The game didn't just spawn one of the gaming industry's most iconic franchises; it was also a pioneer of the survival horror genre as a whole.
Many other horror games have improved upon the gameplay mechanics that Resident Evil innovated, consequently making it rough in spots to revisit. Still, the game offers a great trip down memory lane and the iconic sight of the first zombie will still send shivers down the spine.
10 OverBlood
• Initial Release Date: August 2, 1996
• Available Platforms: PlayStation
Published outside of Japan by industry giants Electronic Arts, OverBlood is a science fiction horror game that is remembered today for its being the first survival horror title to use a fully three-dimensional virtual environment.
Along with the environmental innovations, OverBlood was unique for its time for blending fighting and puzzle mechanics, as well as allowing players to seamlessly switch between third and first-person perspectives. A sequel, OverBlood 2, was released in 1998 to a lackluster reception.
9 D
• Initial Release Date: April 1995
• Available Platforms: 3DO, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, MS-DOS
Released in 1995, D is an interactive movie that puts players in the shoes of famous digital actress Laura Harris, who is tasked with investigating a hospital that her father has locked himself inside after a killing spree; it soon becomes clear that things aren't as they seem though, as the hospital transforms into an eery castle once Laura arrives.
Befitting of the interactive movie genre, players cannot save the game and must complete it within two hours. D was reviewed by GameSpot in 2000, who gave the game a score of 5.7. The reviewer, Hugo Foster, praised the game's visuals and creepy atmosphere but criticized its tedious puzzles.
8 Clock Tower
• Initial Release Date: December 13, 1996
• Available Platforms: PlayStation
Clock Tower (1996) was developed by Human Entertainment and is a point-and-click survival horror game; it is the sequel to a Japanese exclusive that was also titled Clock Tower (1995).
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The point-and-click game raises the stakes from most others in the genre by having players be hunted down by the game's terrifying antagonist Scissorman. Scissorman is undoubtedly one the gaming industry's scariest most intimidating villains of all time and is likely the key reason as to why X-Play listed Clock Tower as the eighth scariest game of all time in 2006.
7 Parasite Eve
• Initial Release Date: March 29, 1998
• Available Platforms: PlayStation
One of the better-known names on this list, Parasite Eve was developed by Square (who merged with Enix in 2003 to create Square Enix) and was released in 1998. The action role-playing game is based on the horror book of the same name, which also inspired a 1997 film.
The game's horror themes, fixed perspective, and the story that is centered around police, unsurprisingly caused the game to be frequently compared, sometimes unfairly, to the revolutionary Resident Evil. Despite having to deal with comparisons to the iconic Resident Evil, Parasite Eve was well-received by fans and critics, exemplified by its 81 Metascore and 9.0 User Score, which is one of the highest user scores on the entire site.
6 Koudelka
• Initial Release Date: December 16, 1999
• Available Platforms: PlayStation
Developed by Sacnoth, Koudelka is a Japanese role-playing game from the Shadows Hearts series. The game is set in the Great British country Wales and finds a nice blend of puzzle-solving and turn-based combat.
Like many games on this list, Koudelka draws inspiration from Capcom's Resident Evil series through its fixed camera angles, pre-rendered backgrounds, and exploration-heavy gameplay.
5 Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare
• Initial Release Date: May 18, 2001
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Windows, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2
Also known as Alone in the Dark 4, Infogrames' PlayStation 1 classic Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare was developed by Darkworks and was initially released in 2001. Releasing on the PlayStation 1 over a year after the release of the PlayStation 2 understandably hurt initial sales, though they soon picked up when the game came to PC and the second generation of Sony console a short while later.
Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare was released on Steam in 2013, though the lackluster port earned the game an All Reviews rating of Mixed.
4 Dino Crisis
• Initial Release Date: July 1, 1999
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, Dreamcast, Windows
The first entry into the series of the same name, Dino Crisis was released in 1999 by the era's horror specialist, Capcom.
The game has numerous similarities to the Japanese company's early Resident Evil titles, such as the save room mechanic, camera perspective, and influx of puzzles. Dino Crisis earns the accolade of being the series' most frightening game, though Dino Crisis 2 is widely recognized as the series' most critically acclaimed title, exemplified by its 86 Metascore.
3 Silent Hill
• Initial Release Date: February 23, 1999
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, Game Boy Advance
Of all the Resident Evil-inspired horror games that were released on the PlayStation 1, few would disagree that Konami's Silent Hill is the best. Much like the aforementioned Dino Crisis 2, the game received an 86 score on the review aggregator Metacritic; this score was largely impacted by PlayStation Magazine, who gave the game a perfect score of 10/10.
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Konami's Silent Hill was a pioneer of the implementation of intricate storytelling in video games. The game's narrative features five different endings, including one secret ending where the game's protagonist, Harry Mason, is abducted by aliens.
2 Nightmare Creatures II
• Initial Release Date: May 23, 2000
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, Dreamcast
Nightmare Creatures II was developed by Kalisto Entertainment and released in May 2000 making it one of the PlayStation 1's final major releases not to appear on the PlayStation 2. Indicative of the game releasing so late in the PlayStation 1's lifecycle, it has some of the most unsettlingly realistic visuals on the console.
Konami's Nightmare Creatures II is far from being this list's most critically acclaimed entry, exemplified by its GameRanking's scores of 49 and 64 across its two releases; though it does have a strong argument for being the scariest entry to play today with its adrenaline-pumping action-gameplay.
1 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
• Initial Release Date: September 22, 1999
• Available Platforms: PlayStation, Windows, Dreamcast, GameCube
There's a reason why Capcom's Resident Evil series has been mention so frequently throughout this list; the series' initial 1996 game is one of, if not the most influential survival horror game of all time.
The series' third installment, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, released in September 1999 and cranked the fear factor up a notch, predominantly due to the inclusion of Nemesis. Nemesis frequently appears in lists of gaming's most terrifying villains, with Red Bull and WGAC being just two of many publications to include the pursuing foe. Following the success of the 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 3 was given the same treatment in 2020, though it failed to garner the same critical acclaim as the 2019 game.