They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Maybe this is true, but are poor imitations really so impressive or worthy of gratitude from the originator? Take the Resident Evil franchise, for example. After the debut entry's release in 1996, a whole slew of titles took inspiration from it and crafted titles with a similar gameplay style and tone; survival horror mostly utilizing 3D characters against 2D backdrops.

Related: 10 Ways Leon Kennedy Changes Throughout The Resident Evil Franchise

There's nothing wrong with borrowing this format, but many games did it badly and were immediately forgotten. It might be fun to go back to some of these titles as a curiosity, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anything as good as Resident Evil.

10 OverBlood

PlayStation OverBlood Generator
OverBlood Generator

OverBlood received time in the Internet spotlight for the comedic antics over at Game Informer magazine when its staff braved through this entire game's campaign for a segment known as Super Replay.

Switching between characters is essential to solving certain puzzles, which can be seen as a predecessor to Resident Evil 0's mechanics. Interestingly, OverBlood utilized 3D environments, which was pretty bold for the genre in 1997. Unfortunately, this was not enough to save it from bad reviews. However, the game still received a sequel just a year later.

9 Evil Dead: Hail To The King

Evil dead hail to the king
Evil dead hail to the king

Saber Interactive's upcoming Evil Dead game looks extremely promising, especially coming off the studio's impressive work on World War Z. This is far from the first game in the franchise, however.

Related: 10 Horror Movies You Didn't Know Were Made Into Games

Evil Dead: Hail to the King from 2000 takes place after the third film in the franchise. The gameplay is extremely similar to Resident Evil with players having to contend with limited resources.

8 Countdown: Vampires

PlayStation Countdown Vampires Office
Countdown Vampires Office

Apparently, developer K2 LLC thought they could add some originality into the formula by making vampires the enemies instead of zombies. To be fair, there are some interesting elements in Countdown: Vampires, such as using non-lethal weaponry to incapacitate enemies before reverting them back to a human form.

The only problem is the game just does not play well, and original ideas mean squat if they are executed poorly. The game comes on two PS1 discs, mostly due to the long FMV cutscenes.

7 Galerians

PlayStation Galerians Inventory
Galerians Inventory

In Galerians you play as somebody with special powers trying to escape from regular humans, kind of turning the expected formula on its head. As such, you attack mostly with your abilities rather than guns.

This is one of the better-received games on the list. It is even fairly tolerable to play today, thanks to its shorter length and more novel gameplay mechanics. It received a sequel and an animated film based on the first game.

6 Martian Gothic: Unification

One of the main characters entering through a door inside the Vita-01 Base in Martian Gothic.

Martian Gothic is an admittedly cool title, though the subtitle Unification kind of makes it more generic. This game's voice acting is so poor, it makes the early Resident Evil games sound like The Last of Us.

Having released on the PS1 in the US only in 2001, most had already moved on to the PS2 by then. Like OverBlood, there are also three separate playable characters in Martian Gothic. It is typically best to skip this one and play Silent Hill 2 if you want a great survival horror game from 2001.

5 Shadows Of The Damned

shadows of the damned
shadows of the damned

This is not so much a Resident Evil clone as it is a Resident Evil 4 clone. It is also one of the better games to take a page from Capcom's franchise, having been produced by Shinji Mikami and being partly written by SUDA51.

The two game designers said they were ultimately disappointed with Shadows of the Damned. Despite this, reviews were generally kind, and any fan of either SUDA51 or Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami would definitely have a good time playing this.

4 Deep Fear

Sega Saturn Deep Fear Firing At Monster

Some of the games on this list never even came out in the United States, such as Deep Fear. It makes sense, though, considering it came out exclusively on the Sega Saturn in 1998 when the system was already obsolete. The game takes place in an underwater research facility.

Instead of ammo, players have to manage the amount of oxygen available in the air, though it can be replenished periodically. The game reviewed well and is obscure mostly because of its platform and late release date.

3 Blair Witch Trilogy

blair witch volume 1
blair witch volume 1

The Blair Witch Project was an indescribable phenomenon upon release. As with most popular properties, the film received video game adaptations. Unlike other films, these games are not retellings of the plot, but a trilogy of titles that expand upon the lore.

Related: 10 Gaming Trilogies That Deserve A Remake

The attempt to expand the franchise through gaming has to be respected, especially considering the time these titles were made. However, they all received average reviews at best.

2 Men In Black: The Game

men in black the video game
men in black the video game

It is truly unexpected to see an adaption of a science fiction comedy go the Resident Evil clone route, but that is exactly what this Men In Black game did. It was a bad decision, though.

The game plays poorly, is extremely obtuse, and the graphics are simply atrocious. Even by the low standards of video game versions of movies in the late '90s, Men In Black: The Game falls short.

1 The X-Files: Resist Or Serve

X-files resist or serve
X-files resist or serve

While other X-Files games on the PS1 are more traditional point-and-click adventure games utilizing FMV cutscenes, this PS2 game is heavily influenced by the Resident Evil series. Unfortunately, it eschews tank controls.

While this seems like a good idea, it makes movement more confusing as you find your character immediately turning once the camera angle changes, which is quite disorienting. Turns out, tank controls are the best way to play survival horror games with fixed camera angles. Other than that, The X-Files: Resist Or Serve is best played only by hardcore fans of the show.

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