Number Three

3. F.E.A.R. (PC, 2005)

I was apprehensive going into F.E.A.R. Part of it was I had little interest in another slick-looking shooter. Another part was that I had played Condemned: Criminal Origins already and knew that Monolith was behind this one as well. And sure enough, there are many similarities between the two games, as F.E.A.R. shares some of the dark, narrow tunnels and corridors that appear in Condemned. However, F.E.A.R.'s game play is far superior, and it is indeed an excellent shooter. But let's forget about the FPS side of F.E.A.R. and talk about its horror side. It's good. It's very good. Instead of shrieking aliens and zombies, F.E.A.R. relies almost entirely on a sustained atmosphere of suspense and psychological horror. From the moment the game begins with its bizarre opening cut-scenes, you're not really sure what is going on. And by the time you enter the first building and see shadowy figures lurking at the end of the halls, the fear factor is cranked up to 10 (or, if you're using the Spinal Tap scale, an 11). There's not a whole lot of originality here; for example, Alma, the scary ghost child, is a familiar convention from Japanese horror films like "Ringu" and "Ju-on." But Monolith does an admirable job of constructing a solid psychological horror narrative. There aren't many jump moments where monsters burst out of the shadows. Instead, F.E.A.R. hits you with a relentlessly spooky feeling that gets under your skin from the moment the game starts. I can see why horror director John Carpenter - who was asked by Monolith and VU Games to provide feedback on the game - says F.E.A.R. is the best horror game he's ever played.

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Number Two

2. Aliens vs. Predator 2 (PC, 2001)

I had been waiting quite some time for a modern game based on "Aliens" that deliver on the movie's enormous potential. It finally arrived with AVP 2. Unfortunately, only one third of the game is truly scary because AVP 2 is divided into three campaigns - marines, predators, and aliens - and each campaign tends to be a tightly wound but short experience. The marine campaign, however, packs in more jump-out-of-your-seat thrills than any other game I've played in the last five years. Essentially, the marine campaign is directly lifted from the storyline of "Aliens," which is a good thing. As a Colonial Marine nicknamed "Frosty," you're part of a rescue mission dispatched to a research facility on LV-1201. Sure enough, just like LV-426 in "Aliens," the facility is crawling with xenomorphs. Sure, there's a predator or two lurking around, killing xenomorphs and marines for sport. But the aliens are what drive the game, and Monolith gets them right: they burst out of air vents, floor panels, and every dark corner you can imagine. The creatures are just as terrifying, if not more, in AVP 2 as the movies. And any fan of the films will instantly recognize a number of the sequences in AVP 2, such as the second level "Collateral Damage" where Frosty must enter the research complex, which has been turned into a hive, to rescue another Marine. I was recoiling constantly and sweating like Patrick Ewing wearing a fur coat in a sauna. It was a tough decision to put this game at number two instead of the top spot, but the Marine campaign is the only frightening (and by far, the best) campaign and it's far too short. However, no other game I've ever played has delivered more jump-out-of-my-seat moments than AVP.

Number One

1. The Thing (PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, 2002)

Speaking of John Carpenter, "The Thing" is without a doubt one of the best and most frightening horror films ever made. So it didn't surprise me when Konami and VU Games got together to make a video game spinoff-sequel to cult classic. The game picks up where the movie left off; players assume the role of Captain Blake, head of a military rescue mission to Outpost #31 in Antarctica. When the rescue team lands, they soon discover that that not only are the chameleon-like alien creatures still lurking at the camp, but an insidious military conspiracy appears to be at work. The Thing successfully replicates (pun intended) the elements that made the movie so terrifying. For example, NPCs such as fellow team members can suddenly turn into Thing-infect creatures. In addition, the game's gimmicky "trust" and "fear" meters display if NPCs are on the verge of freaking out and turning on other team members, including Blake, assuming that they are infected. The graphics are above average and the game play has its flaws - controlling team members can be a clunky process, for example - but now-defunct developer Computer Artworks did an admirable job of re-creating the harsh claustrophobic environment of the remote Antarctica camps and building all-new caverns, tunnels and sinister settings for players to explore. The game also uses similar sound effects and music from the film to create an unsettling mood of paranoia and sustained frights. There are plenty of chilling sequences, from Blake exploring the doomed Norwegian camp from the movie to a rescue mission inside an underwater lab. Quite frankly, even the cut scenes are good. The replay value of the game isn't great, since the NPCs that become infected are scripted into the game. But The Thing is still full of enough twists, turns and tension coupled with terrifying settings to make even the most hardcore gamers jump.

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