“Possibly one of the best... no.. THEE best horror game I've ever played. Aside from Silent Hill of course. (No not 5, that's some stupid piece of crap America ruined. And yes I'm American.) Despite this not being a very gory game, this makes you piss your pants like a little girl if you aren't prepared. Some people think horror as blood and gore. Not me, it's about psychology, how it get's into your head and makes you paranoid. This game does that.. and more. Now their are some negatives. I will point those out.
Positives: Very original! Think about this. What's a way people have fought ghosts in the past? Rituals, vacuum cleaners, magic, a camera.... wait what? Yes, that is your weapon in this game. A camera. When I first came across this during the game, I had to say I thought it was a stupid idea. Little did I know it becomes a very important part of the fear factor in this game.
The game's atmosphere is another thing. Every place you look has a distinct feel, and every sound will make you nervously twitch. Was that the floorboards creaking just then? Because... You weren't walking. Stuff like this will get to you.
The enemies, greatly detailed and sometimes sickening to look at. But ghosts are dead people, what do you expect? They also say many things that make you just cringe away. A women with a broken neck approaches you pleading for you to help her. Of course, at the same time she's trying to kill you so that's the last thing you do. One of the enemies that is probably the creepiest thing I've ever seen was a child. Yes, a child. Think of the cutest little girl you've met, dressed in a little white kimono. Now imagine her laughing insanely. This is what you discover upon entering one room. No big deal, just weird. Lightning flashes, and suddenly your knee deep in dead bodies that have been severed, slashed, and ripped open. As the little girl starts to laugh even more insanely, blood starts to drench all over her. She then looks at you, holding a knife gleaming in the moonlight. Oh by the way, the door behind you is locked.
The puzzles. While not hard to figure out, they still will at least make you think. Sometimes the puzzles include documents you have found and read, with little clues hidden within the message. They are gratifying, but not controller tossed frustrating. Also, some puzzles aren't even required to be solved. They are more of the puzzles to the town you are in and the story behind it. You don't have to know anything to beat the game, but if the story didn't get you by the time you've gotten halfway through, then go back and play Halo.
Combat. Yes, the combat in this game is great. "But wait, you only have a camera. How is that combat?" Let me tell you. Have you ever seen a women who's legs and arms were broken, crawling at you by dragging her elbows along the floor with her dislocated head staring your way and creeping closer and closer? You'd want to stay away from that. Problem is, that's how the camera works. You have to be close, the better picture you take, the more damage it does. The concept of being forced to be near something that freaks you out is what makes a part of this game so scary. It goes into first person view when you do this as well, so you get a pretty clear look at what's trying to kill you.
Negatives: Ok, there were a couple things that did bug me.
Backtracking. Why does it seem every survival horror game makes you do this? It's like, mandatory or something. I got sick of that crap in Metroid, going back to the same place just to access one room. Fortunately, the backtracking leads to more story and other sections of the houses that were locked up, making it at least feeling like it was worth the time.
Camera View. Ok, it's not entirely bad to me. I've gotten used to the fixed camera angles growing up when Resident Evil was actually scary and Silent Hill was about story and not beating up monsters. But for others, the fixed camera views might be a turn off.
The Main Character. Why do I hate her? Well, for some reason, horror games always believe that women/girls should be stupid. Why, I don't know. But at least she doesn't break a heel on her shoe running away from the ghosts. But hey, she's at least got a good reason to try to figure all this stuff out, despite lack of common sense. And despite the lack of it, most things are revealed in the process of her being stupid.
Conclusion: This game... freaking.. ROCKS!! Silent Hill fan's and Resident Evil fans would love this game to death. And there's also a sequel Fatal Frame 3. It's pretty rare though, and it's for the PS2. Just buying the game used is $70! I hope to play it some day. OH! There's also Fatal Frame 4 for the Nintendo Wii! The controller being the camera is an awesome idea and- wait... it... wasn't shipped to America? Why? Oh because Nintendo believes the target gamer market isn't towards that kind of audience. Instead they want to make sure to get their money from Grandpa Joe a”
TheeonlySpongeman was the last to comment - over 3 years ago... show previous
(yep, I actually know what your talking about. Mother is the Japanese title for that game right?)”
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