Not the scariest, but certainly the best.
Gameplay: Wow... just wow. This is by and far the best gameplay of any Resident Evil game so far. The only downside is they pretty much kill all the horror aspects of the game. The biggest change from the others in the series, is well... the basic gameplay in general. For 4, Capcom decided to go with something different and they totally scratched the fixed camera angles (THANK GOD!!!) for an over the shoulder, 3rd Person viewpoint. This adds a lot more to the actual action aspect of Resident Evil. The game, unlike the others, is much more focused on fighting than running away and conserving ammo. This is shown by how the enemies will often times drop ammo. You still will need to be careful but not nearly as much. Also, they added a new melee attack system into the game where you can hit X when an enemy is stunned to knock him/her over and sometimes kill them. This makes the game more intense and you are always working since if you wait, you will lose the opporotunity. To enforce the constant feeling of action, they added parts of cutscenes where you will have to press a certain button fast enough to keep Leon alive. These can come at any time so you will have to always be on your feet. The story, is another small drawback to the game. They bring back one of the corniest storylines probably ever invented. You are sent to Europe to save, who woulda guessed, the presidents daughter. Wow... thats creative. And by the end of the game, you will be very tempted to just kill her yourself. Her A.I. is god awful and she's just overall, *censored* not a fun person to be around *end censor* :P. Overall though, you will love the gameplay and will most likely play it through several times. It's a little short, but it has enough replay value that you won't be dissapointed.
Graphics: The graphics are... beautiful in a horribly morbid kind of way. Everything looks beautifully realistic, but you can't really describe people with pitchforks through their face as beautiful.
Sounds: The voiceovers are very good and fit the characters perfectly. Leon sounds like an experienced fighter and the presidents daughter sounds like a *censored* annoying person *end censor*. The noises that the enemies make are really cool in a creepy sort of way too. You won't be dissapointed.
Value: The PS2 version of the game is stock full of bonus's after you finish the game. They have the mercenaries mini-game which is basically a stay alive as long as you can while killing as many people as possible game. Then theres two mini-games with Ada Wong which explain her side of the story. Her main game, Seperate Ways, which is a PS2 exclusive, has 6 missions and gives a lot of insight into Umbrella's role in this whole disaster and also gives a slight preview into the plot of the upcoming resident evil 5.
Overall, this game is worth buying, maybe not for all ages, but you won't be dissapointed with this one.