I asked Shabby if I can post reviews here a few months ago and said it's fine so please enjoy :) Story (5/5) Fatal Frame or also known as "Project Zero" in Europe and "Zero/Rei" in Japan, follows a teenage girl Miku Hinasaki during her visit in Himuro Mansion without knowing what shes getting herself into while looking for her brother that goes missing. There are five chapters in all including the Intro chapter that follows Miku's brother Mafuyu. Miku finds the Camera Obscura, a special camera that takes pictures of ghost and helps you defend yourself against the ones that want to do you harm. Graphics (5/5) For a PS2 game released in the early 2000's the graphics must be the best for it's time. I am someone who doesn't care for graphics but this is mainly for those who are curious about them. Music (5/5) The music adds to the tension and paranoia the player must be feeling the first time playing the game like how the first Silent Hill did. Depending on what ghost you encounter you will notice the music is different between ghost. Gameplay (5/5) Depending on which control option you choose (default is recommended) you use the left analog stick to move and press O to switch to camera mode. While in camera mode you can press X or R1 to take a picture of ghost. You charge the power of the camera by focusing on the ghost you encounter, the more you charge the more powerful the damage will be. Voice Acting (5/5) The voice acting is decent for it's time and shouldn't be compared to the voice acting we have now. I must admit, the voice acting is a bit mehh. Is it scary? For a game released in the early 2000's I would have to say yes; this game is scary the first time around. This is the first video game to scary the first 20 minutes of it and believe me it is not easy to scare me. To be honest this game makes Silent Hill and Resident Evil look like a early childhood rated game (no bashing intended). XBOX Version? There is a XBOX version released later with detailed graphics, more ghost, and more costumes. With some puzzles the Japanese characters that represent numbers are replaced with actual numbers. Is it recommended? If you like survival horror especially Japanese horror I do recommend it. History From what I can understand from the Zero Wiki, Fatal Frame has an interesting background, the "Based On A True Story" is to gain interest from the North American market. Most of the things in the game are inspired/based on real events. There is no real person named Miku Hinasaki nor she is based on a real person. Himuro Mansion does have a real life counterpart but it isn't cursed or haunted in anyway shape or form. There is a real place where you can see ghost in the day and dead bodies found there with rope marks but there hasn't been any real reports found to support it, it's been said people who live near there are cursed or cursed if they leave their windows open at night (I forgot which one). Another story is about a woman in white who hung herself on a tree due to the lost her lover and people can hear crying from that same tree, a man one day cut down the tree and who ever has a piece of it is cursed then dies, the man who has cut it down disappeared without a trace. Localization Miku's appearance is a little different in the localized version. Miku's hair is light brown then black, her skirt was originally a three panel skirt like the ones you see in anime, her skin and lips are changed to a healthy looking color, her eyes are a little smaller in the localized version too with some more differences. Final Words Fatal Frame has an interesting history, it is a type of game that is a bit hard to find especially the XBOX version. If you end up finding it at a GameStop, yard sale, or anywhere else that sells used and new games please give it a try. I give Fatal Frame a perfect 5/5
Great Review! I actually ended up looking at gameplay videos on youtube after reading your visitor message and forgot to reply haha. Anyways it looks very interesting, and the fact that a camera is the main weapon you use it adds to the scares since you have to go into a first person mode and snap a picture. In a kinda unrelated note, I also watched parts of walkthroughs of people playing the game...it's pretty funny lol. Spoiler [video=youtube;Usg6L_Jk9y4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usg6L_Jk9y4[/video] Your review just sealed the deal for me. While I haven't played much of the horror genre of games (I've only played the main Resident Evil series and Dead Space 1) I think this game could give more scares. Now it's a question of where can I find them lol. I do have a question, is it possible to just pick up one of the games and understand it without any knowledge of the previous games' stories before it?
Well you can just as long as you dont play the third game first, that game will spoil the whole story in the first and second game. I highly recommend to pick up the first and second then the third one after those(trust me).
Silent Hill 1 was MUCH MUCH MUCH scarier to me ^^;; sorry. I think it is because Fatal Frame is more of the "BOO!" scary, and Silent Hill works at a much deeper psychological level of terror (in the first and third game anyway - the others, Fatal Frame is a bit scarier than~). But all of the Fatal Frame series are definitely in my top horror genre games of all time, though it is sorely outdone by both Rule of Rose and Deadly Premonition in terms of storyline, horror tactics, and gameplay elements. If you're looking for a great thrill or scare with unique gameplay then I certainly recommend this ProjectZero series~.
