We’re listing the ten Games of the Decade. These are the ten PlayStation titles released over the past ten years that we believe have left a historic mark on the industry. Whether it’s Destiny's impact on the Games as a Service space or Journey’s innovative approach to online connectivity, these are the releases that the industry will be referencing well into 2020 and beyond.
It was just a demo – but it was probably the greatest demo of all time. We remember the announcement of the fictional 7780s Studio’s PT fondly – it was sandwiched between a couple of forgettable games at one of PlayStation’s annual Gamescom press conferences. At the time, we shrugged it aside; indie developers had already ushered a survival horror renaissance with the likes of Outlast, and we assumed it was just another one of those.
In a way, it was, but this downloadable demo harboured a bigger secret: Silent Hills. There was euphoria that night, as people completed the demo and got their first glimpse of Norman Reedus in the starring role. Hideo Kojima, a veteran at breaking the fourth wall, was at his cunning best that evening – and news that he was collaborating with famed director Guillermo Del Toro on a reboot of one of PlayStation’s scariest properties was merely the viscera on the blood-soaked cake.
A very messy spat between the auteur and publisher Konami killed any hopes of reboot ever seeing the bright light of day, but even now it’s a project that’s firmly in the public eye. That’s because PT – or Playable Teaser, as it would later become known – is arguably the greatest example of survival horror the industry has ever seen. Set in an endlessly looping corridor, the interactive short proves the adage that less is more, contorting its play space to dramatic effect.
As a game, the demo subscribes more to the Gone Home school of design, with very little for you to do beyond observing the environment. But the puzzles are clever, and the atmosphere invoked is intense from start-to-finish. Kojima and his team eke more life out of a single hallway than most AAA titles manage in an entire open world, and each element of the experience – from the art to the audio design to the sinister sway of the camera – contribute confidently to that.
In a world after PT, survival horror will never be the same. There are already several titles that have taken inspiration from the release; Layers of Fear, the sadistic stroll through the demented mind of an obsessive artist, owes its entire existence to the demo – leveraging perspective to twist each scene in the exact same way as the Silent Hills sampler. It’s become the contemporary Super Mario Bros 1-1, being recreated in practically every creation suite, including Media Molecule’s Dreams.
And there are still stories today about what could have been; talk of waivers as Kojima and his crew planned to invade on the personal lives of players with their hotly anticipated reboot. The auteur would later reunite with Reedus and Del Toro for Death Stranding, released earlier this year. And there’s talk of return to horror on the cards. But it’s hard to imagine anything hitting quite like PT did – it was a perfect storm of pure terror, and a nightmarish interpretation of what a horror game can be.
Do you agree that PT has left an indelible legacy on the survival horror space? Are you still holding out hope for the return of Silent Hills one day? Scream where everyone can hear you in the comments section below.
Comments 48
I get the argument for its influence but...one of the games of the decade? I don't know. This is a weird inclusion.
@NoxAeturnus that game has always been overstated and overrated. No one even cared for it before the gaming world made it a thing by not making it a thing.
Great article
P.T. Is important to me not only cause I got to see how amazing it was long after it was too late to play it, but P.T. Finally got me out of that comfort zone with horror now I love the genre!
P.T. Is also one of many games that personally inspired me to want to be a game designer so i owe that aspiration to P.T. As well.
@AhmadSumadi huh? It was popular immediately. Still, not sure it should make this list. Despite being remade various times it doesn’t seem to have kickstarted a new wave of awesome horror games or anything. At least not yet. I dunno, respect to PT, but an odd pick.
5 days into this thing and I still think people don't quite understand the concept of this series of articles. It's not saying it's the best game of the decade, it's just talking about the impact it made.
PT absolutely deserves a shout out even though it was just a free demo.
@NoxAeturnus I agree it wasn't even a game in the sense for a game of the decade list. It was never realeased and it went even a full fledge game. That would be like putting a concept car on the Great Cars of the Decade list.
@get2sammyb Perhaps call the list best Gaming Ideas of the Decade
Sorry PushSquare, you just lost all credibility.
@Miiamoto
Actually, no, they did not. PT defined the PS4 generation by going above and beyond. I have it nestled in my library like a coveted gem. If you don't have it, you never will. The E3 drop (EDIT: Gamescon?) was brilliant, and stood for the greatness that was yet to come. No other console has anything that can come close in comparison. It really was that profound.
The only thing I got from PT was stained pants.
This game is one of the reasons I'm keeping my PS4. Absolutely terrible how Konami has treated this important and influential piece of software.
Did anyone play Resident Evil 7? Try telling me that wasn't influenced in anyway by PT. PT is an incredible experience that no horror game has ever really come close to. Others just use jumpscares and set pieces but PT actually gets under your skin. It's easily the most talked about horror game of the last decade.
P.T. is legendary. Absolutely deserves a spot in these articles.
Still hoping for a Silent Hill Remake/Reboot.... which isn't a pachinko machine.
@lacerz A game that never existed has no place on a game of the decade article. The fact that you feel special because you have a rare download installed speaks to what's really going on here - hype, and bandwagon jumping based on an (admittedly promising) demo of a game now lost forever.
Game of the decade? It's not even a game.
@AdamNovice https://www.usgamer.net/amp/resident-evil-7-isnt-inspired-by-pt
(Really, to me it seems that as cool as PT was as a short experience, and the controversy surrounding it plus its eventual removal from the store helped shine a light on it, it’s ultimately only really inspired people to remake it. So far at least.)
It’s kind of mean. Making one of your games of the decade a game that has been delisted. So that as I haven’t played it I will never be able to acquire it.
Its the greatest piece of gaming ever made. Im beyond crushed that i lost it when my day 1 ps4 died recently. I would literally pay like $200 just to have it back on my new ps4pro.
I haven't really heard of the game, well I might have heard but never really cared for it like 90% of the gaming population so... I don't think it should make the list. It would be sad if this made the list and DISHONORED 1/2 doesn't make it.
@Gmork___
If it's attached to your library, there are ways of getting it back...
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-04-18-theres-a-slightly-fiddly-way-to-re-download-p-t
This method worked for me when I upgraded to a Pro, but that was years ago.
@Miiamoto
You obviously never experienced it.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-15-p-t-is-more-than-a-teaser-its-a-great-game-in-its-own-right-version-2
@TheArt Given these articles are about hugely important and influential games this decade, I doubt the Dishonored games will make it. I enjoyed them but they’re basically just a reboot of Thief except better than the reboot of Thief. Not exactly genre-defining.
Game of the Decade: PT.
"Cool, i'll have to try it".
"You can't".
"Why not?"
"Because it's no longer available".
"Why, what happened?"
"It was just a concept demo and was removed from the store before being released".
"So it wasn't an actual game, just a demo?"
"Um, yeah."
"OK, might as well put the Zelda HD Tech Demo from E3 2011 on the list as well. It was only a demo, and not a game, and not even on the PlayStation. Who cares right?"
Alright pushsquare.... I agree with you guys 90% of the time. But between this article and yesterdays list of resident evil games ranked, I'm concerned you guys have taken up a serious drug problem.... It's the only thing that can explain this nonsense! Merry Christmas to all!
@nessisonett Yep they borrowed from Bioshock as well. Difference is, Dishonored took it a whole nother level in the way of the multiple ways you can play and the significance of the powers, so much so you could call it genre-REdefining cause I feel a lot of devs would struggle to replicate. It was easy for Dishonored to borrow from Thief or Bioshock but it would be hard for others to follow Dishonored the way I see it.
I will never unload my launch ps4 because of this. Ever. And when its the only one left I'll be rich i tell ya! Riiiiich!
@TheArt. I agree with you.dishonored is one of my favorite franchises ever.the games are excellent.word up son
@NYJetsfan123. 😄 hahaha i agree with you word up son
Still have P.T. on my original PS4’s hard drive and i will never delete it. It’s a special experience for sure. I’m just happy Kojima has gone on record saying for his next game he wants to attempt making the scariest game of all time. After experiencing what he made in P.T., I believe he can do it.
@MattyHammo If Scalebound doesn't make this list I will lose my ****.
I agree the demo was good but there's no way a demo should be on a top ten games of the decade, what's next Anthem and Fallout 76 as they show how not to do a game in this decade
Dude, I’m sorry but you called a removed demo a game of the decade. You listed one indie that took some inspiration as proof. This needs a retraction, it really does. It’s not even a real game.
@Tasuki For real though. We’re reaching that point here.
You could say that this decision is PT. Pretty terrible.
@Jaz007 it’s certainly debatable whether P.T. Deserves inclusion on this list, but Layers of Fear is far from the only game influenced by it.
Resident Evil 7 switched to the first person perspective, and it’s hard to deny P.T. as an influence in its development. That is a franchise much bigger than an indie such as Layers of Fear.
Amnesia: Dark Descent says "Hi" since 2010.
The hype for this was blown out of all proportion by the cancellation and de-listing. It was a good demo, but my god, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
@DeepSpace5D https://www.usgamer.net/amp/resident-evil-7-isnt-inspired-by-pt
Isn't it amazing that Konami hasn't started selling this more recently as it's own game?
I would imagine that they do own it now...
PT is amazing
Some interesting comments in here. Like I said in the article, PT has been massively influential; games like Layers of Fear simply cease to exist without it, while it’s been remade dozens upon dozens of times.
It’s absolutely one of the most important games of the past ten years. 🤷🏻♀️
@kyleforrester87 I shouldn’t have worded it to sound as if RE7 was switched to first-person directly as a result of P.T.
But it was in development for around 3 years after the release of P.T., and I still believe was influenced by it. I think of inspiration and influence as two different things, influence being more goal-oriented.
For instance, RE7 came out with a demo after it was announced that was not a part of the final game, just like P.T. was supposed to be. The demo also featured cryptic and obscure puzzles that had the community trying to figure them out for weeks, just like the demo of P.T. had.
@DeepSpace5D but other than the first person view, which was already locked in before the PT demo dropped, the finished Resi 7 doesn’t really have much in common with PT. It has tense sections with a few jump scares which Resi has always been known for. Other than that it seems to take more inspiration from the earlier instalments of it’s own franchise than anything else.
I could agree that the demo took more inspiration from PT than the finished product did to be fair. The demo was actually quite different to the finished product, to the extent I wasn’t sure i would enjoy the main game because I disliked the demo. It was a smart move though, as it drummed up interest without the massive marketing budget they ploughed into 6. Ultimately it’s hard to draw any huge comparisons because PT is just a tiny experience with a jump scare at the end 🤷♂️
PT was a big deal, but you just don’t see parts of it in many other games in the way you do with others on this list, like Destiny, Fortnite and Minecraft. I don’t disagree that it shouldn’t be on the list because it was only a demo, I just don’t think it’s had a big impact on where games are now.
@kyleforrester87 No arguments there, RE7 felt very much like an older entry, just in the first-person perspective.
A slightly different area of discussion, but on the topic of whether or not it was influential, I think the mere fact that the RE7 developers had to clarify and separate themselves from P.T. shows the impact it had in gaming.
I don’t think P.T. had an impact on many games in the industry, certainly not on the level of Destiny or Minecraft like you said. Just first-person horror games, which is a not a large number of titles but more than just Layers of Fear. You can see clear P.T. Influences in games like Visage and Allison Road.
But you’re right, ultimately P.T. was just a demo and could have been completely different to the finished Silent Hills, as the RE7 demo was to RE7.
@get2sammyb It’s been remade sure, but we need more evidence than Layers of Fear. They’re pretty good from what I understand, but they hardly rocked the worked and are two indie games in the same series. Given that PT released towards the beginning of the generation, it’s influence should be easier to show and prove if it deserves a spot here.
I’d never heard of PT, so just watched a walkthrough. Um, I don’t get it. It’s stunning looking, but you basically walk around a looping corridor with babies crying in the background. Yawn
@Bondi_Surfer Exactly. What the heck? Why internet does so much buzz for this demo?? I don't understand. It is even playable for PC. It's not so super rare gem like some comment. Grow up guys!
https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-now-play-silent-hills-pt-teaser-on-pc-thanks-to-fan-remakes/
@nkarafo It's Kojima worship plain and simple.
Game of the decade?? No. The clue is even in the award name. It's clearly not a game, so why have it on this list? Demo of the decade? Sure, why not.
For a game of the decade I'd expect complete & released titles that I could pay for and there's thousands to choose.
Its articles like this that have made me really disillusioned with this site, its become something that resembles a few mates trying to blog & I don't really trust the reviews anymore either.
@Gmork___ I REDOWNLOADED PT TODAAAAYYY!!!!! GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!
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