Resident Evil 4

We don’t know what’s scarier: hordes of crazed villagers who’ll happily tear you limb from limb or the fact that their preferred haunting ground is a GameCube exclusive. Either way, be afraid. The intelligent, fast-moving fiends who stalk special agent Leon Kennedy will almost make you yearn for the embrace of old-fashioned brain-hungry cadavers. Tiptoe past traps and kick down doors with new action button options, and dodge chain-saw-wielding yokels while sneaking around creepy communes and photorealistic forests. A fresh over-the-shoulder camera perspective aids your aim, though a familiar stutter-prone approach to turning frequently results in accidental death or decapitation. Set six years after the hair-raising Resident Evil 2, it’s light years ahead technologically. This is the freakiest European vacation since Chevy Chase took his brood overseas.