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Have you ever played a game you wanted to love, but the game doesn't love you back?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: May 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

A lot of Survival Horror games get a bad rep. for possessing painfully clunky controls and too much back-tracking, but they all seem to be directed at the wrong games and never at the right game. The right game to blame for the worse controls known to man in Survival Horror gaming goes to one game and if not just this one, then the rest of the franchise that spawned from it: FATAL FRAME.

Tecmo had a lot of unique ideas going through their heads for this game, but apparently the one thing they weren't thinking of was the one aspect that would've made this game worth the constant praise it gets.

Does this make any sense? You're playing the entire game as a nineteen year old girl who walks and runs slower than a drunk elephant. Plus, the controls are permanently in 2D meaning that up will force your character to do a 180 and walk in the direction you point her in. Fine in theory, but you have to realize that using 2D controls in a 3D game based entirely off of exploration and using set camera angles that change every time you move to a different room or fight ghosts is not a good idea.

What's worse is that enemies you face in this game move so fast and use up 99%.8 percent of the terrain to their advantage that it's next to impossible to try and hurt them without taking any damage in return. The ghosts are also so vocal and whiny that their dialogue literally murders any atmosphere they had. It's like the game developers were trying to piss you off rather than scare you.

The game is very innovative and unique what with using a camera as a weapon and fighting ghosts as your main enemy, but facing such unfair, questionably malevolent enemies with such unfair controls is about as fun and scary as being chased by a shag carpet in tennis shoes.

It's Frightening!! How Bad This Game Is, that is...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 20
Date: March 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Ok, let me start by saying that this game looks good. The ghosts and the mansion look very creepy. Reminding me of Silent Hill 2 (which I liked). They definetly achieve making you a little jumpy and just pretty much designing a scary atmosphere. So kudos to them for that. (Hence my 2 stars)

The gameplay however is terrible. The character's movement is slow and annoying. And her weapon...an antique camera!! Who is the genius that came up with this one. Not only is it a bad idea but they don't even pull it off. Making it very hard to fight ghosts and needlessly tedious.

Overall, I give this game 2 stars for the graphics and for the spooky environment. But the gameplay and overall game get zip. If you're really that interested in the idea of this game, then rent it. Don't buy it or you will regret it.

Overall, an awful game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: June 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a huge fan of survival horror games and this game is just bad. The graphics are quite good and the level designs are very atmospheric but the positive elements stop right there. The gameplay is awful. The character is very slow and your only weapon is a camera, which is not a "unique twist", it is an idiotic idea. It is beyond me how so many people are calling this the scariest game ever. I did not find this game to be even remotely scary. The ghosts are nothing more than annoying. Also, there are way too many of them. I could not finish the game because I ran out of film from being attacked by the same ghost, spouting the same cliched B Movie dialogue every five minutes, which is fine because I was seriously considering just not playing anymore anyway.

no horror here

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: August 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

for some reason i just didn't feel the suspense this game was trying to convey - the sound and graphics are great - the story line is pretty interesting also - it just couldn't hook me - maybe it's the fact that a camera is your weapon - so you have to go to a static first person perspective to fight - and switch back and forth to evade and attack -- i would definitely rent this one first -

Chilling and fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is pretty scary but after reading some of the reviews here, I think some people might be over doing it. I heard some guy even say that the game was so intense and scary that there was a feeling of depression afterwards. Another guy said that even as he wrote his review he was looking over his shoulder. I don't know what game those guys played or what their on, but be assured that's taking it a bit too far.

This game like most other Survival horror's outside of Resident Evil and Silent Hill attempt to make a formula that would combine the best of both of those great franchises. This game doesn't quite have as many jump scares as Resident Evil, instead it also has some kind of meter that brightens up in orange to warn you that there is a ghost nearby and the closer the ghost gets the brighter the orange light. No surprise this is almost a direct [copy] of Silent Hill.

Overall, the game isn't quite as scary as most Resident Evil's as few of the jump scares come as sudden and as sharp as they do in Resident Evil. The game also falls short in my opinion of being as disturbing as Silent Hill, the characters are surprisingly cartoonish looking for a survival horror. The game has no blood and sometimes when your fighting ghosts the background music will break into funky Japanese pop or something. Ghosts will also say cheesy lines like, "My eyes, my eyes, there's no one here". To some all that might actually be pretty disturbing, who knows.

Overall this is still a refreshing and scary game and it's probably my favorite survival horror only behind Silent Hill. Resident Evil is great, the formula still creates your basic scare but the plotline and characters need a reality check.

not for everybody

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: November 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I guess I gonna get a lot of negative votes for this review.But I feel like I need to put my thoughts about this game in here.
So many people are calling Fatal frame games scary!Personally I saw nothing terribly scary, only the constantly dark boring environment and a bunch of ghosts.I am not going to compare this game to the other horrors, since that would mean I am "promoting" another title, which I dont want to do.Everybody has different tastes and different views on things.
I am a big survival horror fan ,so I was determined to get all of games of that type, luckily I didnt buy all of FF, since unfortunately they all look just the same...The first ten minutes of playing I was excited by everything - the first ghost, the athmosphere, the animations.But the more I wandered in the house the faster my excitement wore off.Also, when I tried to play part 3, I was disappointed by how familiar it looked with the first part!Everything looked just the same, still some dark boring house, those ghosts..only the main character was different.
I never finished any of these games.I just couldnt play anymore, this is how they bored me.I guess its just not my type of horror, since I dont share the "japanese" view on horror movies and such.Personally for me, FF lacked action, interaction and some differences in surroundings for a change...
Overall I rate this game 3 stars, for innovative idea with ghosts and photocameras, for the graphics and for the story.

Have your controller in one hand and a rosary in the other!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: October 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I just rented this game and beat it in almost 3 nights of intense, constant playing. It's definitely the freakiest game I've ever seen and blows all other survival horror games (even RE, my personal favorite) out of the water. The only down side to an experience this intense is it's almost so evil that it really is "traumatic" to play. After you've "survived" it once and unraveled the mystery, you definitely feel an eminent sense of dread even entertaining the notion of playing the game again.

Bottom line: I think the comment I made to my roommate who was watching me play the game the whole week sums it up the best: "I'd buy this game if I wasn't so afraid the box would try and kill me in my sleep!"

A Terrifying Supernatural Thriller

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After renting this game at the video store i am definetly going to purchase it! The story is very interesting and it's based on a true story. A japanese reporter goes to the (haunted) mansion where his mentor had disappeared, apparantly the same fate falls upon him. Two weeks later his sister, Miku decides to search for him at the mansion encountering all sorts of supernatural occurences, namely ghosts. The atmosphere of suspense and dread is very well executed. The story is packed with "jump out of your seat" moments. The gamplay is fairly simple you are armed with a camera that you use to capture the evil spirts that are trying to kill you. The controls aren't as akward as Resident Evil it's easier to put some distance to deal with your enemies,while in RE trying to escape an ambush is like steering a truck. The camera as a weapon i have mixed feelings about it. Sometimes it almost gives you a detachment to what is occuring and sometimes the enemies are to close to be used properly. Overall it's a very well executed thriller, here's hoping for a sequel.EP

Why go to a scary movie...play it!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game has stunning graphics, a bit dark, but that adds to the overall mood of this game.Character control is slow and can be cumbersom, but as you play it will become easier. This game was designed to scare you, and with the lights turned down and the surround sound up, it will scare you. The camera you use throughout the game as a weapon is unique, and gives this game a fresh feel over current games. This may not be a game you want to play over-and-over, but it will hold your attention to the bitter end. You will get the satisfaction of money well spent on this must-have-game of 2002.

Totally fun and Totally freaky

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Be prepared: Start out at night or early A.M.. (It's a kick to play after Midnight) Turn out all the lights. Spread out your favorite comfortable blanket or pillow on the floor (yes the floor). Take your late night goodies with you; you've got your soda and your snacks right beside you. Shut the ringer of your phone off (just incase your best friend tries to call you at a crucial moment), shut the door, and if you are really daring and really brave...plug in the headphones into your speaker jack. Then be prepared for a spooky and scary game. Oh yeah!!-And don't forget to lock the pets safety away. A brush of a tail here or a sudden bark there and you might end up taking flight while playing this game, especially in the dark, in the night, when ghosts can haunt you.

Junsei Takamine and his research team have an interest in a big scary mansion in Japan where dozens of years ago a family was slaughtered and people have disappeared and there are rumors about secret CULT rituals. Takamine wants to write a new book on this Himura Mansion and unlock some of the secrets of the old run-down mansion in which no one has lived in in many years. The locals do try to urge him away but he is persistent, and soon he and his whole research team go missing.

Mafuyu is an avid reader and idol of Junsei Takamine's and becomes disturbed when his idol goes missing. He tracks Takamine and his group to Himura Mansion; his trusty and special camera from his mother by his side. As you begin to explore the interior of the Mansion you know something is wrong. The grainy black and white picture that you are playing in seems to shriek terror. The dust never seems to settle and the darkness forever looms in front of you. You never "see" it coming.

Miku is Mafuyu's sister and has a unique gift of her own. She can see ghosts and some pictures of the past in her mind. Her sixth sense is what has brought her to the Mansion to try to save her brother from what she believes is a horrible fate. As you play Miku you are able to see a colored version of the Mansion but are no more armed now than Mafuyu was at the beginning of the game.

Wait...was that a creak on the stair? There...was that a shadow over there? What is that sound? Did that thing move? Here, there, RIGHT BEHIND YOU. (sorry heh heh couldn't help it)

Gamer fans will not be disappointed with this game, though at times aiming the camera and trying not to snap a zillion pictures at the bad guys (thereby wasting your limited film supply) is very hard to do.

Play this game. Own this game. Oh and...you may not want to PLAY ALONE IN THE DARK. Bring a friend-then you can share the headset. Heh heh heh...

(The game is based on a true story and as far as I can tell the extent of the truth goes as far as a team of researchers disappearing and never returning from the Mansion). This has some definite disturbing images within it and I would recommend renting this game before purchasing to make sure that it is suited for children.

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