Games of the Survival Horror Nature by A Female

I'm moving...

2010-03-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

I've been away for a while as you can tell - I've had so much other stuff going on. On coming back I've decided to move this blog to TUMBLR because it's much better and easier to use.

All posts from now on can be found HERE

Hopefully the move will get me more followers or maybe not but I think you'll agree it LOOKS way much better.

I've not moved all my posts over there because some of the posts on this blog are out of date now but enjoy.

I have a twitter account now so you can follow me if you wish but I don't talk all games on there.

NEW: Alan Wake Video's Released (Spoilers)

2009-11-21T02:25:00.000-08:00

Alan Wake is well and truly out of his coma now.
Last Friday, Remedy Games unveiled some new videos featuring gameplay of the fourth coming XBox 360 Horror, Alan Wake, which is rumored to have a May '10 release.

There are five videos in total. All show Alan Wake in Gameplay with a few cutscenes thrown in for good measure. We know two of the characters already, Alan of course and his manager, Barry. A new character named Rusty is also introduced to us in the later three videos.

What else do these video's tell us about what to expect? Let's have a look at each one shall we?

Opening Gameplay

Part One

This video has been called Opening Gameplay but it seems like loads has happened before this scene. Are we being thrown right into action? It seems that we're introduced to the situation through recap-like cut scenes.

What it tells us:

Story:

Alice, Alan's wife, has been kidnapped and it seems her kidnappers want the pages to Alan's newest book. Unfortunately, Alan doesn't remember writing it.
Alan has arranged a meeting with a guy named Rusty.
Alan leaves Barry, his agent, behind but seems to fire a flare gun attracting police to his whereabouts. Why is this?

Gameplay:

Characters nearby to Alan seem to respond to his actions. E.g Barry's reaction to Alan turning off the light.
Alan narrates letting the player know his thoughts about certain situations.
Alan comes across manuscript papers which seem to predict what is about to happen. In this case, it explains part of the next video.

Part Two

This video is a continuation of the Opening Gameplay Mission. Alan comes across Rusty but he's in trouble.

What it tells us:

Story:

Rusty seems to be the Sheriff
When you see Rusty he's been viciously attacked as if by an animal. They turn out to be more human-like
Rusty has some manuscript pages

Gameplay:

The colour changes when you're in danger
Nearby characters give hints. E.g. Rusty mentions they are afraid of light, just in case you didn't notice.
Enemies are almost like poltergeists, throwing things at Alan

Part Three

The first part of this video is the same that was shown at this years E3 convention. Rusty has been taken away and Alan needs to find him in order to get the manuscript pages he has.

What it tells us:

Gameplay:

You can evade attacks by dodging and it looks a lot more smoother than the dodging in Silent Hill: Homecoming
We've already seen the Pistol but the Flare Gun and Shotgun are other weapons Alan can use
The Flare Gun can kill groups of enemies and will keep them away from you

Escape Police Gameplay

Part One

This is a whole new mission where Alan has been asked to meet with Alice's kidnapper.

What it tells us:

Story:

The police are after Alan for some reason
At one point, a flare gun is shot in the distance. Who did it?
Alan seems to have help here. When the police are near to finding him, something happens

Gameplay:

Alan can look behind whilst moving at the same time

Part Two

A continuation of the last video, Alan is still running from the police.

What it tells us:

Story:

It's confirmed that Rusty isn't a sheriff. The Sheriff is a female and seems to be on Alan's side
A man named Agent Nightingale seems to be the head of the police hunt in this scene. He doesn't seem to be a friend.
What seem to be police are climbing up the cliff. Are these the newly killed officers that were originally chasing him maybe?

Gameplay:

The game runs on a checkpoint system rather than save points a la Silent Hill

The game looks well and truly amazing to say the least. The story is intriguing and the controls and motions seem really smooth. There seems to be a lot of spoiler material in these videos which is weird considering how quiet Remedy has been about it.
Any other videos that are released before the game is should be viewed with caution if we don't want the whole plot given away.

What do you think of Alan Wake? Will he be worth the wait and what's more, will you be buying it?

The Monsters of Silent Hill - My Top 5.

2009-11-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

Monsters - The best thing about Silent Hill?

Nowadays Silent Hill is getting a bad rep since Team Silent split up but there are two things that have not changed in this series. Akira Yamaoka's spectacular music and the Monsters.
Silent Homecoming for example gave some of the best monsters in the whole series.

This year marks ten years since the the first Silent Hill hit the shelves and with 6 games under Konami's belt there's too many Monsters to count. Which Monsters are the best and which are easily forgotten? I have set up a survey to find out which Monsters have stuck in gamers minds and which aren't worth our time. To have your say click HERE.

To start us off, I'm going to show you what my top 5 Monsters in Silent Hill ever are and see if the fans agree with me.

5. Mannequins (Silent Hill 2)
The reason I like the Mannequins so much is because of their presence. They hide silently in the dark and when you come across one they omit a creepy atmosphere. I'm also afraid of inanimate objects coming to life thanks to the film Poltergeist and these fit the bill.

The first time you see one is when James finds a flashlight. You think you're alone until you pick this object up and a Mannequin scares the living daylight out of you when it jumps up from the floor.

When you hit them they have a very masculine scream, unusual for something that looks so feminine. Another creepy moment regarding this Monster is when you're walking besides a building and one jumps from the roof as if committing suicide.

They represent the sexual frustration that James feels after not being able to get intimate with his wife since her diagnosis.

4. Nurses (All)

The Nurses have been in all the Silent Hill games since game one (Although people know them as Patients, the Official Silent Hill 4 Guide refer to them as Nurses).
However, the Nurse that interested me the most were the Nurses from Silent Hill 3 (Left). They look almost Doll like and make one hell of a noise when you're around one. Even better is that these are the only Nurses to have a Gun.

At first they represented the Nurses that took care of Alessa but their representation is beginning to fade now that they've become such a fan favourite.

The Nurses have evolved spectacularly throughout the series and now they have become a Silent Hill Icon. They came first in the best Monster category in my Silent Hill Survey but this time I've split them up... Which one will be the most popular? Origins or Homecoming maybe?

3. Siam (Silent Hill Homecoming)

Siam was one of the first Monsters to be made public for Silent Hill Homecoming and he/she looks very intimidating indeed. I remember becoming very excited about this game as soon as I saw this picture. Just like I had done 5 years earlier with my #1 Monster.

You will only come across 5 Siams throughout the entire game and because you're too busy trying the kick the hell out of it you don't really take him in that much. I was playing Homecoming for the third time the other week and I was at the part where I had to turn the power off to get into the prison. I had done that but wanted to go back to the cemetery for the Rifle so I ran right past him when he bust out of the electric gates.
However, when I returned I figured I'd wait until he came into view and shoot him from a distance. I could hear him but couldn't see him. He grunts and she has the creepiest scream I've ever heard. The best designed and the most frightening of them all.

They represent Alex's parents. The male part represents Adam's controlling nature and the female part represents Lillian's powerlessness to do anything about it. Some think it may also be representative of James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2.

2. Schism (Silent Hill Homecoming)

Schism was another Monster that was one of the first to be revealed for this game. You come across them regularly and they're usually in groups.

No-one could forget when you first come across them at the Police Station. Never before have you been surrounded by a group of one particular Monster as large as this. The Shepherds attic is another place where the Schism's like to gather.
On several occasions you find yourself being surprised at their sudden arrival and Jesus, they're fast.
If you ever find yourself hidden enough to see how the Schism stands you'll see how he sways his head from left to right. He's actually rather creepy despite his human appearance.

He most likely represents Alex's guilt over his part in Joshua's death. The Swinging Pendulum was a medieval torture device used to force confessions out of criminals. The Schism may be trying to force Alex to come clean about Joshua's death and acts as a constant reminder of his guilt.

1. Double Head (Silent Hill 4)

My Winner, the Double Head. The reason I got into the series and Survival Horror in general. The first time I saw this... thing was in a Playstation Magazine which I got after buying my Playstation 2. I thought it was the creepiest thing I had ever seen in my life, intrigued I read about it some more. After that, every time I saw something on Silent Hill 4 I read about it and became very interested in the game.

In game play they're even creepier when you see the size of them and when you're in the Forest World for the second time, the sight of them in the darkness pointing at you stops you in your tracks.

It represents the Locane siblings Billy and Miriam who were killed by Walter Sullivan just before his arrest. Sullivan's guilt over killing the innocent children not only make them look younger than they actually were, but also manifests it into a separate entity to the rest of the victims.

So, what do you think? There's no doubt that your top 5 is different from mine just because there's so many to choose from.
Don't forget to follow the link I gave to take the survey.

The Survival Horror moments we won't forget. (Major Spoiler Alert)

2009-10-20T03:29:00.001-07:00

Horror games are not just for scares...

The best moments in gaming are in the Survival Horror genre thanks to classics such as Resident Evil, Project Zero and of course Silent Hill.

The reason why Silent Hill deserves an honorable mention is because the developers are not all about the scares. Silent Hill not only scares us but makes us think and even feel for the characters involved in the storyline.

Here I'm going to pay homage to the best moments in Survival Horror. Some are scary, some are heart warming and some are just plain creepy.

10. Haunting Ground - Daniella goes crazy
What's going on?
Fiona Belli is trapped in an old castle somewhere in Europe. She doesn't know how she got there but it's clear that the people who live in the castle have taken a fancy for her.
First, a great beast named Debilitas keeps chasing after her whilst she attempts to find her way out of confinement and then an anonymous guy tells her his plans to get her pregnant.
At this point Debilitas doesn't see her as a beautiful doll any more and he's moved on. Now, the maid, Daniella is getting too fond of her.

Why is it memorable?
Just as we were getting used to being able to walk places without being chased this happens. This scene marks the start of our cat and mouse chase with Daniella. She's more crazy than Debilitas and seems to be more violent (at least Debilitas had good intentions). This is when the player realises that things aren't going to get any easier.

9. Silent Hill 3 - Who is this?
What's going on?
Heather has gone to the Hospital to find Leonard Wolf as advised by Father Vincent. At this point she has spoken to Leonard over the phone and it seems that he is also against his Daughters actions. She has also been finding messages left by a deranged man named Stanley Coleman. After following Leonard's directions to where he is, Heather finds herself in the 'Alternate Hospital'. In entering a locker room, a pay phone is ringing inside one of the lockers. Heather answers it.

Why is it memorable?
OK, it's not scary nor is it an emotional scene. It does however do the job in confusing the player more so than they already are.
We don't instantly recognise the voice but he knows who Heather is. We only know of four guys so it's either Douglas and it isn't him, Vincent, Leonard or Stanley but the caller says he is neither. In fact he says that Leonard is a murderer and that Stanley is dead - but who left us those notes?
Another reason this scene is memorable is because of the birthday theme going on there. First he wishes Heather a happy 31st birthday and when she argues that it's not her birthday, he corrects her by saying it IS her 24th birthday. Heather is 17 years old though so he's confused us even more.

8. Silent Hill 4 - Cynthia's Death
What's going on?
Henry Townshend woke several days ago to find himself trapped inside his apartment. Doors and windows are locked BUT there is a hole in his bathroom wall. Going through the hole he finds himself in a subway but he's not alone, a woman is also there.
This is Cynthia and she's a little on the frisky side but she's friendly enough. Her confidence quickly disappears and fear begins to kick in. Henry loses her but she speaks to him over the tannoy, "Quickly, He's coming" she says. Unfortunately, Henry doesn't get to her in time.

Why is it memorable?
You expected Cynthia to be around for a long time, maybe even a sidekick to Henry so to find her brutally murdered was a shock.
From the start Cynthia shows herself to be cocky and confident and makes like nothing could brake her. In this scene however, she is in perfect fear at the prospect of dying - She thought she was dreaming but this is very much real. The chemistry between Henry and Cynthia was there from the start and it seems like they've known each other for years.
'Room of Angel' by Akira Yamaoka, playing in the background, adds to the atmosphere as well. Other characters Henry meets will die later on but none of their deaths will have the same effect as Cynthia's.

7. Project Zero IV - Sae introduces Kusabi
What's going on?
Mio and Mayu are on holiday when they find themselves lost in a local forest. They arrive at a deserted village which is covered in fog and with nowhere to go they go to the village.
At this point in the game Mayu has gone walkabout and Mio is trying to find her. Clues have lead Mio to the Kurosawa house and whilst investigating the area she comes across the Great Hall.

Why is it memorable?
Project Zero is known for its crazy ladies and no one is crazier than Sae Kurosawa. The laugh alone makes this the most memorable scene of the whole series. This particular scene introduced us to the Kusabi which even now is considered one of the most scariest ghosts to grace the game.
Another thing to note is that the Kusabi hangs around when you get back control of Mio and the Camera Obscura is powerless against it. You really are moving target when the Kusabi is around.

6. Silent Hill 3 - The Death of Harry Mason
What's going on?
Heather Mason, out heroine, has found herself in a weird situation. Whilst at the mall to pick something up for her dad, she meets a PI named Douglas Cartland and a religious freak named Claudia. Whilst trying to escape these two strangers, Heather finds herself in hell - a world full of monsters. On her way home she's almost killed by a giant worm, a subway train and meets another whack job called Vincent.
Finally on returning home, she finds Harry, her father dead on his chair.

Why is it memorable?
If you played the original Silent Hill you'll know Harry quite well. He was the main protagonist of the game and boy, did he go through a lot. To see that Harry has been brutally murdered will make even the toughest fellas emotional at the thought.
If you hadn't played Silent Hill (I hadn't at the time) you see Heather's tough exterior fade away and get the true sense that the two were close.
The player starts to warm to Heather after this because from now on, she's not as smug as she was at the start.

5. Silent Hill 2 - Infamous Prison Scene
What's going on?
James Sunderland has come to Silent Hill to find his wife Mary after receiving a letter from her. His wife has been dead for two years so this is obviously odd enough. Even more odd is the fact that James has met a woman named Maria who is the spitting image of her. She went missing in hospital and was killed by Pyramid Head later on, or so we thought.
Whilst making his way through a labyrinth under an old local prison, he comes across Maria alive and well.

Why is it memorable?
It's memorable because it makes the player even more confused. How does Maria know about the video tape in the hotel? Is Mary alive or what? What the hell is going on here.
It's also where Maria/Mary makes finally makes sexual advances towards James and in agreeing to make his way to her, it seems James has accepted the request. Also, in a time when voice acting wasn't a main priority, the acting in this scene is pretty amazing.

4. Silent Hill 4 - Trailer/Opening Scene
What's going on?
Nothing has happened yet. If you wait long enough at the start screen this scene will appear. It was also a trailer for the game before release.

Why is it memorable?
This is one of the scenes I was most freaked out by and it's also why this game is still my favourite Survival Horror of all time.
What this scene does primarily is get the player excited about what they're about to play - it really gets the adrenaline running. In between the songs 'Room of Angel' and 'Resting Comfortably', the best sound effects EVER take precedence. I remember being getting so excited after seeing this, especially at the monster at the end of the film. Unfortunately the screams were taken out of the game for some silly reason. There is no doubt that this opening trailer sets the atmosphere of Silent Hill perfectly.

3. Silent Hill - Lisa's Death
What's going on?
Harry Mason is in Silent Hill looking for his missing daughter Cheryl and during his search for her he meets Lisa Garland, a nurse at Alchemilla Hospital. We only ever see her in one room within the hospital, never anywhere else until we see her in an area referred to as 'Nowhere'.
In this scene she has realised that she is no longer real and is "just like them" but she still needs someone to care for her. When Harry pushes her away this happens...

Why is it memorable?
Throughout the game, Lisa is shown to be very vulnerable and helpless. She also very likable so to find out that she's actually dead is quite upsetting. After this scene, if you go back into the room, Lisa is gone but her diary is there. Reading about her traumatic experiences makes this scene more upsetting.

2. Silent Hill 2 - Pyramid Head Rape
What's going on?
James has found himself in an apartment complex in Silent Hill where he has come to search for his late wife. Whilst investigating the area he enters a room but someone is already in there doing dirty things.

Why is it memorable?
For one it's the first time we properly see Pyramid Head and the things he's capable of. It's one of those, to quote Henry Townshend "what the hell" moments. It makes you dread having to see him again which you know you will. I remember being quite scared that the Monster's he was raping were going to attack me when I left the closet. Luckily they didn't but this scene is one of the best in the series.

1. Forbidden Siren 2 - Mother Pays a Visit
What's going on?
You have no real clue as to who the main antagonist of this game is, sure the Shibito are giving us a hard time but they're easy. This is the scene where we find out.
Mamouru Itsuki has just been tricked into opening the "7 Gates" for Yuri Kishida - Guys will do anything for a pretty face, and the two descend underground.

Why is it memorable?
Mostly, this scene is memorable because it's freaky. When Yuri opens her blouse you're blown away immediately at the freakiness she's hiding.
This scene also marks the occasion where the Yamirei (soon to be Yamibito) are introduced to the game.
Another memorable part of this scene is that with the young Ichiko Yagura crouching over the now dead, Shigeru Fugita. Throughout the first part of this game, Ichiko comes across as a lost little girl and now, suddenly, she's killed one of our characters. Why did she do that?
We're made aware here that things are starting to kick off now, unfortunately though, this video has more effect on a bigger screen.

Others memorable to me

Silent Hill Homecoming: Scarlet's transformation
Why? Dolls are creepy, I think most people feel the same way and when she appears from the ground, shivers go down your spine.

Silent Hill Homecoming: Asphyxia Arrives
Why? Firstly it makes you jump, secondly the look on Alex's face when Asphyxia grabs Wheeler mirrors your own shock. It's easy to miss but Holloway's face on leaving leaves you wondering.

Silent Hill 4: Ghost Appearances
Why? The most scary parts of this game are when you come across the ghost of the various characters that were murdered throughout. Cynthia's and Andrew's in particular are very creepy.

Arrival of Cynthia
Arrival of Jasper
Arrival of Andrew
Arrival of Richard

Silent Hill 2: Maria's final death
Why? The most gruesome scene of the game and when both Pyramid Heads appear at each side of James means that a hard battle is on the cards.

Project Zero III: Battling Crawling Woman
Why? As soon as you get under those floorboards you know something is going to happen and it does. The detail in her face and the fact that she gets right in your face scares the s*** out of you.

Project Zero III: Shower Scene
Why? This scene will send shivers up your spine.

Condemned: On the Train
Why? Condemned will make you jump but there's few intense scenes. This one however reminded me that this was indeed a horror game.

Other recommended by others

Resident Evil: Jill Sandwich
On the video's You Tube page it seems this is mostly remembered for comedy reasons.

Resident Evil: Attacking Dogs
Well, it makes you jump and scream.

Silent Hill: Meeting Dahlia
She looks crazy and turns out to be just that. The person that recommended this said they didn't know why they liked it but they did.

Silent Hill 2: Wanna watch a video?
This when everything is made clear. I don't find it very memorable myself but these sure do:

"I was so shocked my mouth literally opened and I sat on the couch just like James...I've NEVER played another game and have EVER had the same reaction I had while playing this game. This game is beyond a masterpiece." - YouTube

"Best moment scene in gaming history!" - YouTube

Silent Hill 2: Angela on Fire
I don't like Angela very much so this scene means nothing to me but this is what was said:

"This moment was fantastic 'cause it gives you an insight as to how, while in the other world, minds can connect! Worlds overlap, glitches mix, etc. It was a wonderful scene with wonderful music." - Personal Contact

Silent Hill 3: Heather's Reflection
You're trapped and something bad is going to happen. Threat much?:

"I kept on spamming the x button on the door at this point." - YouTube

"I was in there more 3 minutes I couldn't get out, it was freaky." - YouTube

Silent Hill 3: They look like Monsters to you?
Another scene that is vague... This is what the person who chose this scene had this to say:

"What is really a joke? [it] is a question left open to interpretation." - Personal Contact

Biography

http://gamingissues.blogspot.com/2008/07/7-memorable-survival-horror-moments.html

http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=offtopic&thread.id=649230

http://www.cameraslens.com/forum/index.php?topic=8221.0

Project Zero Survey Results

2009-10-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly emerges victorious.

Around a month ago I asked fans from several forums and websites to complete a survey on their likes and dislikes regarding the Project Zero/Fatal Frame Series.

100 responses were received and the results were published on the following websites:

Playstation.com

Cameraslens.com

I was hoping for people to comment on the results before putting the results on this blog but only one person replied :( (Thanks Elwing from Cameraslens.com).
So instead I'll give you the results without any insights and include the link to the charts and statistics etc at the end if you're interested enough to do so.

Let's begin:

Favourite Protagonist:

WINNER: Miku Hinasaki (35%)
RUNNER UP: Mio Amakura (30%)
Others mentioned: Rei Kurosawa (21%), Mayu Amakura (7%), Kei Amakura (5%).

Favourite Antagonist:

WINNER: Sae Kurosawa (45%)
RUNNER UP: Reika Kuze (36%)
Others mentioned: Kirie Himuro (19%)

Favourite Ghost:

WINNER: Chitose Tachibana AKA Crimson Kimono
RUNNER UP: Akane and Azami Kiryu AKA The Kiryu Twins
Others mentioned: Blind Maiden, Woman Brushing, Crawling Woman, Kusabi, Broken Neck (PZ2), Fallen Woman, Engraver, Broken Neck (PZ1).

This was an open question so there were a lot of different responses. Those above were all in the Top 10.

Which was best for...Storyline:

WINNER: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (59%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero III: The Tormented (33%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero (8%)

Which was best for...Ghosts:

WINNER: Project Zero III: The Tormented (55%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (23%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero (21%)

Which was best for...Scares:

WINNER: Project Zero (41%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (32%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero III: The Tormented (28%)

Favourite Game Overall:

WINNER: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (52%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero III: The Tormented (34%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero (14%)

Worst Protagonist:

LOSER: Mayu Amakura (36%)
RUNNER UP: Kei Amakura (35%)
Others mentioned: Rei Kurosawa (16%), Miku Hinisaki (6%), Mio Amakura (5%)

Worst Antagonist:

LOSER: Kirie Himuro (43%)
RUNNER UP: Reika Kuze (33%)
Others mentioned: Sae Kurosawa (23%)

Which game was worst for...Storyline:

LOSER: Project Zero (47%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero III: The Tormented (36%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (16%)

Which game was worst for...Ghosts:

LOSER: Project Zero (53%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (26%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero III: The Tormented (21%)

Which game was worst for...Scares:

LOSER: Project Zero III: The Tormented (38%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (32%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero (31%)

Worst Game Overall:

LOSER: Project Zero (53%)
RUNNER UP: Project Zero III: The Tormented (31%)
Others mentioned: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (16%)

I then went on to ask people what they thought about the situation regarding Project Zero IV and the future of the franchise...

Would you have bought Project Zero IV if had been released in the UK/US:

Yes: 91%
Some of them actually did buy the Japanese game.

No, Not Interested: 0%
Not surprising seeing that only fans of the series responded to the survey.

No, Don't own a Wii: 9%
Don't Know: 0%

Were you annoyed that Project Zero IV was sold to Nintendo:

Yes, Very Annoyed: 63%
Kinda: 14%
No, I have a Wii so it doesn't matter: 22%

Would you buy Project Zero V if it was released:

Yes, definitely: 74%
Only if it's released on the PS2/PS2/360: 20%
No: 0% (Good news for Tecmo)
Depends on what it's like: 5%

Summary

Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly is the clear leader here. It was the Winner of 4 polls including Best Game and Runner Up in the best categories 3 times.

The original Project Zero didn't fair as well despite winning more of the best categories than Project Zero III: The Tormented. It regularly placed top in the worst categories.

As for Project Zero IV, well it seems it would have sold well if released in the UK/US. It would have been well received by the fans if we were able to play it.

You can see the charts and my opinions on these responses in more detail HERE

The effect of the Next-Gen Consoles on Survival Horror

2009-10-04T02:43:00.000-07:00

How is the next generation of Consoles effecting the Survival Horror Genre?

If only one console is credited for the rise of Survival Horror it is surely the Playstation. Resident Evil and Silent Hill both started off on the PS One, as well as games such as Clock Tower, Alone in the Dark and Parasite Eve.
When the Playstation 2 came out in 1999 these classic game series were brought to the newer console as well as new horror classics such as Project Zero and Siren. Obscure, Haunting Ground, Manhunt and The Suffering were also released for the console.

Nowadays however, Sony has more competition for it's games with the likes of the Xbox 360 and especially the Nintendo Wii now on the market. How exactly is the Survival Horror Genre changing with additions of these new consoles.

Increase in action orientated Horror
Offenders: Dead Space, F.E.A.R, Condemned, Resident Evil 4 & 5
Horror games are starting to get too action orientated these days with the male market in mind. The arrivals of the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 mean that game developers are focusing more on the graphics rather than the plots and story lines E.g. Resistance, Kill Zone, Halo (Feel free to backlash).

Survival Horrors are following suit. If we look at the last couple of games that were released in this genre we'll find that weapons and combat have a huge part to play. Dead Space (left), F.E.A.R, and even Horror Classics such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill are following suit with action orientated additions such as RE 4 & 5 and SH:Homecoming.
Luckily, even though it's agreeably much harder than it's predecessors, Silent Hill: Homecoming didn't stray away from the good story lines the series is known for. It did however include more combat than the previous games and health items were very hard to come by making the game more focused on the combat aspect of Survival.

Condemned was the Xbox 360's first attempt at Survival Horror and like Silent Hill Homecoming, had a lot of combat involved but it actually had plenty of scary moments that sent shivers down your spine. Later, Condemned 2 was released for the 360 and the Playstation 3 whose version received better reviews.[2]
Unfortunately games like Dead Space and F.E.A.R think Horror is about making you jump and Resident Evil has jumped on this band wagon. Horror fans and even fans of the game don't like to call Resident Evil a Survival Horror any more.

When was the last time a game freaked you out because the environment put you on edge or because you were scared out of your mind that you had nothing to defeat monsters with? When was the last time you had to put a game away because it was affecting you so much?
It seems those days have gone...

Console Wars
Offenders: Alan Wake, Project Zero IV.
OK, so the Wii is the market leader but that doesn't mean you will sell more games on that console than on any other.

Tecmo made this mistake lately with Project Zero IV: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. Leaving their Sony fan base behind, they sold the games rights to Nintendo who sold the game in the Japanese region. For reasons unexplained, Nintendo US and Nintendo Europe didn't feel it necessary to release the game in their regions.
The most likely reason is that the game isn't suited to their target market - family and children. Why Tecmo did this I will never know because the US and the UK (without the rest of Europe) have the two largest gaming markets in the world[3] (In fact, in the UK the Gaming Industry is outselling the music industry).[4]

Alan Wake is another Horror game that isn't to grace the Playstation 3. When it was first announced (I can't remember when because that was ages ago now) the game was to be on the 360 and the Playstation 3 but Microsoft managed to gain the rights to the game. This isn't much a loss on the West's part because the US and Europe are going to be able to play it - It's just a shame that Sony have missed out on what looks like an impressive game.

The Nintendo Wii
Offenders: The Grudge, Cursed Mountain, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

I don't have the strongest opinion of the Wii. Even though it's the main reason why the UK is the 2nd largest games market in the world, to me it defines everything that is wrong in the gaming industry.
We're living in the digital age but the graphics in the games that Nintendo bring out are going backwards and the imagination put into them are terrible. With games like the Imagine Series (Vet, Fashion Designer,Teacher), Dogz, Catz and Wii-Sports, the Wii is a novelty console at best.

Why developers are making Horror games for this console when they could be making them for the Xbox or the Playstation 3 confuses me. Sure, the games are cheaper and quicker to develop and I'm aware that Developers have a hard time developing games for the Sony console but surely they aren't going to sell very well.
There is currently one Survival Horror game for the Wii and two on the way...These are Cursed Mountain, The Grudge and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Recently, it was announced that the Japanese film Ju-On (or The Grudge as it's known here) is to be made into a game. The decision to release this on the Wii is because of the Wii-mote's ability to measure hand movement. The more you're made jump and the more you shake determines your score at the end of the game. The game is to be sold in the US and UK but will it sell if the Wii's market is little children? Look at the front cover (left) and tell me what you think?

Another unfortunate point is that the best Survival Horror games are produced in Japan where the Nintendo Wii isn't necessarily aimed at the family/tween market.

Cursed Mountain is another Survival Horror game that is exclusive for the Wii and again, the Wii-mote is the attraction here. I don't know much about the game but the graphics, even though quite good for the Wii, are still leave something to be desired. (See Screenshot, Right).

The Silent Hill series has even joined the club releasing a game for the Wii. Konami however, unlike Tecmo, have stayed faithful to it's fan base of ten years, releasing the game on the PS2 and the PSP. Good news, but it's the Wii that has the better version again because of it's Wii-mote.
In Shattered Memories, you can use your Wii-mote as a Phone (you'll come across numbers to dial and the voice will emit from the speaker in the Wii-mote), Radio (again, the static will come out of the speaker), Pen (You can write notes on your map) and Torch (you can move the Wii-mote like a torch).
Shattered Memories may be more focused on the Wii, but at least it's stopping itself from being action orientated. There's no combat at all and it's going to make you think - that picture in the screenshot (left) remind you of anyone?

Summary.
A good Survival Horror game should have a plot which can get you thinking about how best to proceed. Give the player a bucket load of weapons and ammo then people are just going to blast their way through and hope for the best. Forbidden Siren made you think of a strategy to complete a mission without being spotted - you didn't get a lot of ammo in this game and most weapons you had to kill a Shibito for anyway.

Silent Hill made you think more on the storyline rather than combat. Most monsters could be out run in this game so combat wasn't always necessary but the game is still fun to play. The atmosphere in these games were the main reason why Silent Hill is scary - the thought of people watching you (Think of when Heather receives the letters from a Hospital Patient you never see yourself or when James is mentioned by name on a note put as graffiti on a wall).

Project Zero is yet another game that didn't focus on combat an those games were so scary that you had to pause the game to relax yourself a little (I know I did anyway).

Unfortunately, all these games are not as popular nowadays. Forbidden Siren has always been underrated, Nintendo decided that Project Zero IV should be kept away from us and Silent Hill is getting trampled on by those who would rather have Resident Evil because of it's "good combat an brilliant graphics".
People are even complaining that Shattered Memories isn't going to have any combat. I think it's a good thing that they're trying to put the Horror back into Survival Horror.

If games like Dead Space and F.E.A.R continue being more popular than the classics and if Resident Evil doesn't return to it's old ways, then I fear for this genre - I really do.

References:
[1] http://survivalhorroronline.com/articles/history.htm
[2] http://www.metacritic.com/search/process?sort=relevance&termtype=all&ts=condemned+2&ty=0&button=search
[3] http://www.ripten.com/2009/02/02/uk-overtakes-japan-in-the-videogame-market
[4] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7709298.stm

Female Horror Fan Wikia

2009-08-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a wikia!

OK, So I had the Idea of doing a Wiki for all things Survival Horror. Not just Silent Hill or Resident Evil, every Survival Horror game over the past 10 years.

I cannot do it all by myself so I invite people to help me out. I've started a few pages myself on my area of expertise - Silent Hill and Project Zero.

To contribute, visit FemaleHorrorFan.wikia

Fatal Frame Questionnaire

2009-08-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Fatal Frame Fans Wanted!!!

After the success of the Silent Hill Questionnaire I thought it would be a good idea to go into the other leading games of the genre.

Click HERE if you wish to help me out. I would be very grateful for all your replies.

Silent Hill Questionnaire - The Results.

2009-07-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

SILENT HILL 2 AND SILENT HILL 3 THE MOST POPULAR BY FAR WITH FANS...

This year marks ten years since the first Silent Hill game was released back in 1999. Five games have followed but has the series kept its charm? What are the highlights of the series? Who are the best characters? I wanted to find out.

So, around a month ago I created a Silent Hill questionnaire and asked members of the Gamespot and Playstation forums as well as readers of this blog to fill it out for me.

I asked who fans thought were the best and the worst of the series as well as asking them which game best fulfilled the key horror characteristics. Sixty people responded and these are the results. Let's start with what fans thought were the worst...

The Worst:

Least Favorite Support Character:
Runner Up: Eileen Galvin 17%
LOSER: Elle Holloway 33%
Others in this category: Angela Orosco (12%), Maria (12%), Cybil Bennett (10%) , Douglas (9%), Lisa Garland (3%), Other (3%).

NOTE: The other characters which were chosen under the 'Other' option are Dr Kaufmann from Silent Hill and Laura from Silent Hill 2 with 1 vote each.

Least Favourite Antagonist:
Runner Up: Claudia Wolf (27%)
LOSER: The Butcher (37%)
Others in this category: Dahlia Gillespie (17%), Walter Sullivan (14%), Pyramid Head (5%).

Least Favourite Protagonist:
Runner Up: Henry Townshend (29%)
LOSER: Travis Grady (31%)
Others in this Category: Heather Mason (17%), Alex Shepherd (14%), Harry Mason (5%), James Sunderland (5%).

Least Favourite Overall Silent Hill Game:
Runner Up: Silent Hill: Origins (26%)
LOSER: Silent Hill 4: The Room (32%)
Others in this Category: Homecoming (19%), Silent Hill 3 (14%), Silent Hill (7%), Silent Hill 2 (2%).

The Winners:

Best Monster:
Runner Up: The Doublehead (14%)
WINNER: The Nurses (29%)
Others in this Category: Grey Child/Mumbler (10%), Lying Figure/Patient Demon (10%), Mannequin (9%), Other (7%), Siam (7%), Numb Body (5%), Victims (3%), Carrion (2%), Insane Cancer (2%), Schism (2%), Air Screamer (0%), The Dogs (0%).

NOTE: The other Monsters which were chosen under the 'Other' option are the Rompers from Silent Hill with one vote and the Closers from Silent Hill 3 got three votes making them tied with the Numb Bodies.

Favourite Supporting Character:
Runner Up: Maria (21%)
WINNER: Douglas Cartland (22%)
Others in this Category: Cybil Bennett (12%), Eileen Galvin (12%), Other (10%), Lisa Garland (9%), Elle Holloway (2%).

NOTE: The other characters which were chosen under the 'Other' option are Laura from Silent Hill 2, Jasper from Silent Hill 4, Deputy Wheeler with 1 vote each and Eddie from Silent Hill 2 with 2 votes. Douglas Cartland received an extra vote under this category because somebody gave an explanation to their choice.

Favourite Antagonist:
Runner Up: Walter Sullivan (20%)
WINNER: Pyramid Head (63%)
Others in this Category: Claudia Wolf (12%), Dahlia Gillespie (5%), The Butcher (0%).

Favourite Protagonist:
Runner Up: Heather Mason (27%)
WINNER: James Sunderland (37%)
Others in this Category: Harry Mason (17%), Alex Shepherd (7%), Travis Grady (7%), Henry Townshend (5%).

Favourite Overall Silent Hill Game:
Runner Up: Silent Hill 3 (17%)
WINNER: Silent Hill 2 (53%)
Others in this Category: Silent Hill (15%), Silent Hill 4 (5%), Origins (5%), Homecoming (5%).

Which Silent Hill Game?:

Which Silent Hill game is best for...Atmosphere:
Runner Up: Silent Hill 3 (25%)
WINNER: Silent Hill 2 (41%)
Others in this Category: Silent Hill (20%), Silent Hill 4 (8%), Homecoming (3%), Origins (2%).

Which Silent Hill game is best for...Monsters:
Runner Up: Silent Hill 2 (24%)
WINNER: Silent Hill 3 (39%)
Others in this Category: Homecoming (15%), Silent Hill (14%), Origins (5%), Silent Hill 4 (3%).

Which Silent Hill game is best for...Plot:
Runner Up: Silent Hill 3 (9%)
WINNER: Silent Hill 2 (76%)
Others in this Category: Silent Hill 4 (7%), Silent Hill (5%), Homecoming (3%), Origins (0%).

Which Silent Hill game is best for...Tension:
Runner Up: Silent Hill 3 (25%)
WINNER: Silent Hill (29%)
Others in this Category: Silent Hill 2 (24%), Silent Hill 4 (12%), Homecoming (7%), Origins (3%).

With Shattered Memories due for release later this year, I also asked who would be buying this game at release:

73% said they will be buying the game,
3% said they definitely won't be buying the game and
24% were unsure.

Summary:

Surprise Surprise, Silent Hill 2 is the most popular game in the series winning more categories than the other games. James Sunderland was the fans favourite Protagonist by far and Pyramid head thrashed the competition in the Best Antagonist category.

On the other end of the scale, it was also no surprise to see the unpopularity of Silent Hill 4 and Origins who sweeped the Worst categories. Luckily for Silent Hill 4, Walter Sullivan's and the Doublehead's popularity saved it from being at the bottom of the list, even though it was voted the worst game of the bunch.
Homecoming also proved unpopular despite the fact that Alex had a small amount of backing - Even though he was joint second from bottom with Travis in the Best Protagonist poll, Heather Mason proved to be more hated in the Worst Protagonist poll which did surprise me.

The surprises for me were how unpopular Dahlia Gillespie was. She didn't get the large amount of votes I thought she would and Lisa Garland didn't get much approval either which I found surprising as I always thought she was a fan favourite.
Probably the biggest surprise of all is Douglas Cartland winning the Best Supporting Character category. He only just beat Maria from Silent Hill 2 but I didn't expect him to get more votes than her or Lisa from Silent Hill.

The game that fans seemed to be undecided about was Silent Hill 3. It was runner up in the Best Game category but it recieved more votes in the Worst Game category so maybe Silent Hill 3's results would have been much different if 100 replies were recieved.

Results I was dissapointed by:

I really did think that Walter Sullivan would give Pyramid Head a run for his money but even though Walter came second in the Best Antagonist category he was 25 votes behind. On top of that he was only 2 votes behind Dahlia in the Worst Antagonist category. Shame on you - Seriously though, I did get some feedback on the Gamespot and Playstation forums where people said they had a hard time choosing between the two.

I was also dissapointed by Silent Hill 4 getting more votes than Origins in the Wost Game category. Is it really THAT bad because Origins was only just tolerable to me.

Silent Hill's poor showing wasn't a surprise to me because it's been the general feeling of fans since it's release in 2004 but the things I felt put it ahead of the rest hasn't been proven here. I thought it had one of the best Plots for a game but Silent Hill 3 beat it, I also thought it had better Monsters than Silent Hill 3 and Origins but it got the least votes in this category.

So, what do you guys think? Are you dissapointed by any of these results? Any surprises? To see the graphs of these results click HERE.

If you took part in my survey, any feedback regarding the questions or the choices I made available would be appreciated.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - Tom Hulett Interview.

2009-07-18T04:41:00.000-07:00

So I was rummaging through YouTube today and I came across the beauty of a video about the upcoming Silent Hill game, Shattered Memories.

Online gaming Magazine G4tv (http://g4tv.com) had the chance of meeting Tom Hulett, Associate Producer at Konami, US when they were over at E3 earlier this year.
Tom gives a whole load of new information on the game and how it works and you can find the video below. However, here are the highlights:

Alternate Silent Hill has changed from a hellish abyss to an Ice World of some sort. This is the only change I am particularly wary of.

The Monsters that have been shown so far are not the be all and end all. Monsters start of formless but change in appearance depending on the gamers actions. This is to go with the overall idea that the Monsters of Silent Hill represent the Protagonists conscience.

The Monsters are much more intelligent than Monsters in the previous games. They will work as a team in order to get at you, splitting up to catch you off guard.

Even though combat isn't available in this game, you can shake them off when Monsters dive on top of you. You can also barricade doors, a la RE4 to stop them from following you and Flares can be used to keep them at a distance - Tom says they don't like the heat.

The Wii version of the game allows you to pick up items and manipulate them yourself. One scene shows you having to pick up cans and see if there's a key in any of them by shaking any of them.

Harry has a mobile phone in this game which has a variety of features. You can dial phone numbers if you come across one. You can receive voice mails and messages to freak you out even more. There is a camera, a phonebook and your map can be accessed as well. Your menu is also on this phone so you can change your settings and save the game.

Maps can viewed on the move like a GPS system. When you move, your character position moves with you whilst your still viewing the map. The Wiimote also allows you to make notes on the map such as places of interest.

Fatal Frame has influenced your camera mode. In some places in the game there are some things that can only be found when you take a picture. There is a scene with a swing set that shows you an example.

There is no doubt that the Wii version will be better than the PS2 and PSP versions. The Map function where you can circle or write memo's won't be available without the use of the Wiimote and nunchuck and I doubt you'll be able to pick things up without the motion censor. The Wii version will make the experience more real and this video has persuaded me to get the Wii version over the other two.

See for yourself:

I also found a trailer from E3 on YouTube too which shows you a bit more of the plot. Watch out for the woman at the end with short hair. Maria from Silent Hill 2 seems to be the inspiration but who is she? If there's one character Silent Hill fans won't want messing with it's Lisa Garland so let's hope that's not her.

What do you think so far? I can't wait. It looks amazing although there are some things I'm not keen on such as the ice and even character design. Cybil isn't looking too good and if that is Lisa Garland at the end of the trailer, I won't be happy at all. EDIT: That's not Lisa. I've just realised that she calls herself Dahlia. Uh Oh, what do you think of that?

Silent Hill Questionnaire

2009-07-18T03:47:00.001-07:00

Come on guys. Help me out here - I need your opinions. This time on Silent Hill.

Please click on this link: Silent Hill Survey to have your say on the Silent Hill series.

Survey is now CLOSED...Check back for the results.

Scary Games Online

2009-07-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

Survival Horrors aren't just limited to consoles, the web is full of point and click games to keep us amused.
You'll find some terrible ones out there but there are some out there that are worth mentioning. Three of which I'll write about here along with links so you can have a go yourself.

ABANDONED. LINK

Abandoned sees you playing as a girl who has found herself alone in a warehouse of some kind. She doesn't know where she is and why she's there but she's locked in small room under the floor.

The game isn't particularly scary and you won't get any jumps out of it though there is some tension there. The music and sound effects are good and the puzzles are actually kind of challenging. You'll need a pen and paper handy in order to do this because any pieces of paper aren't kept once collected so passwords and other clues need to be jotted down.

The game would have much better if there were a few ghosts or monsters popping up all over the place, though keep your eyes open for mysterious shadow that pops up in the same place again and again.

5/10

SILENT HILL: FINAL REDEMPTION. LINK

You play as Nathan Wales who starts the game off by telling you his story. Nine years ago he committed a "terrible sin" causing him to go insane. A local Priest named Father Vincent (Not from Silent Hill 3) became his saviour and helped Nathan get back on track. Nathan has come back to Silent Hill to visit Father Vincent but the place is deserted.

Real life pictures are used for the environments so the game looks really good and it gives you a good first impression.
The music is taken directly from the game but the game is not an official addition to the Silent Hill franchise.

There are a few scares to this game making you jump and you will feel a bit of tension thanks to Akira Yamaoka. There is only one puzzle to the game involving a safe but there are absolutely no hints as to how to open it. Press the buttons randomly and it will eventually open which seems pointless to me.

The game is incredibly short and the lack of puzzles down grades this game terribly. The graphics and the Silent Hill name makes this game worth trying but don't expect a masterpiece.

6/10

THE HOUSE. LINK

In The House, you have gone to investigate the home of a family who had all died in the 1970's, what happened to them and why were they all killed?

Set in black and white this game is close to amazing. Again it's not a long game but with will make you jump in several places. You go through each room individually finding out what happened to each family member.

There are no puzzles and the game can be quite tedious depending on who's playing. In each room there are several items that you can look at but you have to keep looking at them until you find out what happened in each room.

I showed this game to a friend of mine and she was jumpy all the way through it, and that was when she was playing in the daytime. Play in the dark with the sound way up and see how you fare.

9/10

For more scary games check the following websites out:

NEW ADDITION: Surveys

2009-07-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

I want to know what you think about the Survival Horror Genre but I also know that in order to comment on my blog you have to create an account for yourself.

These surveys are a way I can find out what you guys think without you having to register with Blogspot.com.

To look at what surveys are available and to take part in them click on this LINK.

Ghostbusters

2009-06-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Horror turns to Comedy, spoilers ahead...

OK, So it's not really a Survival Horror but it has ghosts in it and as a huge Ghostbusters fan I thought it my duty to review it here.

2009 marks the 25th Anniversary of the first film (released 1984) and to mark to occasion a whole lot of Ghostbuster stuff has been going off. The original films have been remastered and released as Blu-Ray discs, a new film is in the works and Ghostbusters the video game was released.
Usually games made from a film franchise aren't exactly gaming classics but this game was always due to be different. Not only was the game written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who were the writers for the original films but Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson joined them in lending their voices to the project. Other stars of notable talent include Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), Brian Doyle Murray (Mayor Mulligan), William Atherton (Walter Peck) and Alyssa Milano (Ilyssa Selwyn).

The story takes part in 1991, three years after the events of Ghostbusters and sees the return of the Sumerian God, Gozer. You play as a new recruit to the Ghostbusting team who is never named throughout the game and your job is to act as the Guinea pig for Rays and Egon's new equipment.
The game starts off with Ray and the gang telling you about your role until ghostbusters regular, Slimer breaks loose from the containment grid. Your attempt at catching Slimer is the basis of the training part of the game where Ray trains you in the use the Proton Pack and the traps. Slimer escapes though and leads the Ghostbusters to Hotel Sedgwick where Slimer was caught in the first film all the way back in 1984.

Dr Ilyssa Selwyn who is an expert in the Sumerian culture lends a hand as well as forming the love interest for Peter Venkman throughout the game.
Walter Peck now works for the Paranormal Contract Oversight Committee (P-COC) and the Mayor of New York has ordered him to work with the Ghostbusters to make sure that little damage is being caused to the city as possible.

There are several locations to explore such as the Public Library, the History Museum and the New York Streets. There are a huge array of Ghosts too featuring regulars such as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (right) and the Librarian.
You are also trained in the use of the PKE meter which can be used to scan the many ghosts you'll come across to gain information about them including which piece of equipment (there's four in total) is best to defeat it.
The PKE also leads you to a variety of possessed items that can be found throughout the various levels, all of which you'll find back at the Fire Station.
The proton pack has 4 different uses. The Proton Accelerator is the main one which you use to wear the ghosts out and capture them. The Portable Plasma Distributor contains green slime that is used to neutralise Black Slime and other dark matter as well as acting as a rope to move things too heavy to pick up by hand. The Dark Matter Generator helps slow ghosts and other targets down leaving you more time to tire the ghost down. The Meson Composite Collider acts like a machine gun in some ways shooting several shots a time. This is a more powerful version of the Proton Stream.

Lets talk a bit about the cast. As mentioned earlier all the original Ghostbusters appear and all are brilliant in it and the games developers have done a good job in creating likenesses for them, Peter Venkman walks around with a strut for example.
Dan Aykroyd is the star though as the over enthusiastic Ray Stantz. You spend most of your time with Ray which is a good thing, at least it was for me because Ray's my favourite. The chemistry between these guys is still there especially the bond between Egon and Ray while Winston is still there to make the occasional funny quip.
There are some scenes where the voice acting is quite poor especially coming from Bill Murray whose Garfield impersonation keeps coming through.

Even though it doesn't matter much, the game isn't completely free roaming but it's enough. In the later mission when the team goes to an alternate Central Park, the rookie (you) has to open the gate from the inside by pulling a lever in order to let the Ecto-1 in. They obviously weren't going to make it easy so even though the lever is just behind a fence near the main gate, you still have to explore the park for around 20 minutes before you get to it. What's more once the gate is opened Ray joins you by just jumping the fence separating the main gate from the button. I had to laugh.

There's plenty of stuff in this game to keep fans of Ghostbusters happy. The music for example is taken mostly from the film and a surge of excitement runs through you once the game starts with the sound of Ray Parker JR's classic theme tune.
In between the various missions you get to spend some time in the Fire House where Slimer lives (once you've recaptured him) and a familiar painting is standing near the reception desk. Interact with the Vigo the Carpathian and he'll talk to you.

In the UK, the game has only been released on the PS3 but trophies are plentiful. You get the obvious ones E.g. A trophy is earned after you complete a mission and when you complete the game. However, some trophies are hidden and have to be sought out. E.g. There's a room in the Sedgwick Hotel (that could be easily overlooked) that is covered in Black Slime. Get rid of it then you'll get a trophy all of which are named after quotes in the original films. There's a lot here for those gamers that like to overachieve the games they play.

The game isn't perfect. It would be better if your character had a name and a voice as you never hear him talk. Another improvement would be if you could interact with Ray and Co when in your company whether in the firehouse or on call.
Some things were out of the developers control though because Rick Moranis is now retired meaning that Louis Tully who was always the comedy within the Ghostbusters films isn't present.
Another disappointment is that you can't drive the Ecto-1 yourself which most people were looking forward to.

The game isn't really meant to be scary but there are some moments that shoots chills down tour spine. The Library Level is the best example of this. Several things will make you jump an the sounds of children in the background once you reach the children's reading area is quite unsettling.

If you're not a fan of the Ghostbusters films then not only is your taste in films ridiculously poor but this game really wouldn't entertain you at all. However I am a Ghostbusters fan so I'll give it....

9/10

Survival Horror Survey

2009-06-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Thank You for all your replies so far. The Survey is still open so please keep your views coming.

Sometimes it's hard to think of what to write about in this blog, especially when there isn't necessarily a specific game to write about.
To help me out I would appreciate if you could fill in my survey which will, or at least should, provide me with something interesting to write about.

To complete my survey click HERE

The Grudge on Nintendo Wii.

2009-06-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

Formerly known as Feel, the newest Survival Horror game for the Wii is taken from the popular Japanese Horror, Ju-On (The Grudge).

The west has been waiting for Project Zero IV (Fatal Frame IV) for a while now and it looks like nothing is going to happen about it. Nintendo however have decided (in Japan anyway) to release a game that looks every bit Project Zero. Why wouldn't it really seeing that Project Zero is obviously influenced by Japanese horror films such as The Grudge and The Ring.

The game was first introduced as a game named Feel which was accompanied by a trailer showing the reactions of several Japanese gamers playing it (see below). A week later it was officially announced that the game was The Grudge and would be released in the USA on Halloween 2009. The UK and Europe still has to wait for a confirmation of a release date. However, the game was shown at the Movie Comic Media Expo which was in London so it should see a release in the UK.

The game is described as a "Haunted House simulator" and the game rates you based on how calm you stay throughout the game. Any flinch of your hand is recognised by the Wii-mote and lowers your score. You will finish the game no matter how low your score is but according to Rising Star, the games developer "it is those with a steady hand and nerves of steel that will have the most to gain from this experience."

Trailer Video

It would be boring if it was set in a house so luckily there are a few more locations you will get to look around including an abandoned warehouse, a dimly lit hospital and, the one I'm most looking forward to, a mannequin factory.

I'm a bit bitter that Nintendo are releasing this whilst at the same time giving Project Zero a complete brush off but this game does look scary. I'm also interested in seeing whether years of playing Survival Horrors has desensitised me at all.

Here are some links for you to find out more:

CVG.com
Official Website (Japanese)

More Alan Wake revealed at E3!

2009-06-02T04:01:00.000-07:00

Finally, what a lot of people have been waiting for and hoping to see at this years E3 convention in LA.

Writer Sam Lake and game Producer Jay Ranki gave a demonstration during the Microsoft Press Conference yesterday. They start off with a short trailer which is narrated by the games protagonist explaining the disappearance of his wife, Alice. A guy named Rusty is introduced and the following demonstration shows Alan chasing after him in a dark forest.

One thing that I wanted to know about this game was what kind of creatures we would be defeating and now we know, kind of. We're not told exactly what they are but they look like ordinary, regular people though we can't see them properly due the darkness. They do however seem to be vulnerable to Alan's Flashlight and the light given off by Flares. At one point during game play the words "Use the light" show up on the wall.
Bats also make appearance attacking a chair lift that Alan ends up riding down but whether they show up again remains to be seen.

After the whole demo is completed a woman's voice, likely to be Alice asking Alan to "Wake Up" leading us to believe that what we played was a dream.

The video (gametrailer.com) can be seen below:

To top it all off it is confirmed that Alan Wake will be released in Spring 2010. Still a long way to go but what's one year when you've been waiting four?

For new screenshots of the game click HERE

The game is looking brilliant and any doubts that the game was actually going to be released have been blown out of the water. Roll on next spring.

Silent Hill being remade for the Wii.

2009-04-02T03:44:00.000-07:00

In 2008, Forbidden Siren was successfully remade for the PS3. The game had moved to better graphics, the story line was changed slightly and some new areas were added to the mix.

Now, it seems that it is Silent Hill who is having the make over under the name Shattered Memories.

The source can be found HERE.

The most interesting parts of the story is as follows:

"The characters play different roles, things don't necessarily happen in the same order, and the story is taken in lots of new directions."

I don't quite know what they mean when they say this. Will alliances change? Will Dahlia actually be a nice person? If so, that will mess up the series plot a lot. Does the order relate to the various levels so you will go to the Hospital before the school for example.

"One of Shattered Memories' most significant and intriguing additions-your answers actually affect how the game unfolds."

This isn't much new, all Silent Hill games end depending on what you do - James, in SH2 had to do different things to get the different endings E.g. Angela's knife, his photo of Mary and the Blue gem. Maybe more will be revealed.

"The last interesting tit bit from the article says that fans of the series will also be delighted to learn that there's a way through every locked door."

This will make the game much longer if you're a magpie gamer (you have to collect EVERYTHING). It could also make it tedious if some rooms have nothing in them.

Eurogamer has also put an article about this game.

They also quoted some very interesting facts:

"Konami goes on to ambitiously tout no load times, and claims players will only flee rather than engage baddies during combat. And while fleeing, the Z button will handle context-sensitive manoeuvres like breaking down doors, hopping fences and crashing through windows."

Will the game be challenging at all if you cannot combat the Monsters that show up? Will this take away some of the tension you usually get when playing Silent Hill games?

"Specifically, players will move Harry using the control stick and aim the torch by waving the Wiimote. Then, when Harry spots or uncovers something of interest, he'll vocally respond."

This will be a very good aspect if they do decide to do this. You'll get a better idea of how the character is feeling as the game progresses.

I'm disappointed that it's for the Wii - unfair seeing that the Playstation has had every Silent Hill game since release.

Here is an interesting read. It shows some screen shots of the game ans well as full information as how the game is going to work. There are some good points and also some bad but I'll leave it up to you to decide which you think are the negatives and positives.
It seems that a lot has been done for the games so far so a release should be imminent - Personally I am looking forward to it.

So, what does everybody think?

Is the Wii a good move?
Will it sell more than Homecoming did?

ATTENTION!! Feedback Wanted

2009-03-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

The huge blast of Survival Horror game releases is now over...
In 2008/2009 we've had new Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Condemned and Forbidden Siren games. We saw the release of a new classic, Dead Space and the disappointment that was Alone in the Dark.
Now we have hardly anything to look forward to except from Alan Wake and Project Zero IV but no dates have been given for either of them.

Because we have a gap in game releases now, I would like to take this chance to ask readers of this blog for feedback and ideas for improvement.

I would like to know:

1) What franchises are people most interested in?
2) Can you recommend me any games to play?
3) Anything I am doing that you can do without?
4) What could I do to make you visit more often?
5) Have you ever recommended the blog to a friend?

I have some ideas for future topics, how do you feel about them?:

1) Character Profiles
2) Debate topics E.g. Horrors of Next-Gen Vs Horrors of Old-Gen.
3) Series comparisons E.g. Best Silent Hill, Project Zero etc...

I am grateful for all feedback given.

Thanks in advance...

Jadehill2001 - femalehorrorfan

Games the UK/US have missed out on.

2009-03-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

Due to the Adult themes that are the norm in Survival Horror games, some regions decide to complain about some scenes/elements in the games that are released. This eventually means that some games are banned in some regions where others will tolerate it.
Sometimes it's the games' publishers that decide where a game is released. Sometimes they explain why the choice was made where others stay silent. Usually they don't give us an explanation and feel we should just except it.
The games below are examples of games that not all regions have had the chance to play, but why? I've tried to find out...

Imabikisou
Where Released: Japan
Why? Unknown - Market Differences?

It's not a game really, it's a "Graphic Novel" for the PS3 but it looks blooming marvelous.
Not a lot is known about it in the west and the official website is in Japanese. Google will translate for you but it still doesn't make much sense but what I can make out is that it revolves around a drug called "Vision" and a group of people including Hiroki Makimura and his girlfriend Manami Hayase. The people that use the drug end up dying in a fire leading to the belief that the drug is cursed in someway. Hiroki and Manami try and find out how to stop the curse.

The game consists of static images and short animated sequences but the graphics are amazing and the atmosphere still seems really intense despite the fact that you don't control the characters as in move left, forward etc. Instead, the game gives you options so you can tell the character what to do - at least, I think that's what you do.
I've tried to find the demo to get a clue as to how game play works but have had no success - my guess is that it was taken off the PSN.

The trailer above gives you an idea on what the game looks like and it isn't short of atmosphere at all. It's very dark and but I doubt it's something for Survival Horror gamers. If you're a fan of the Japanese horror films, like me, then this game should look interesting to you.

The game was developed by Japanese developers, Chunsoft and sega. Chunsoft has never released a game in the western market which is probably the main reason the US nor the UK has seen it.
It's easy to question whether this game would do well in the western market. Sound Novels aren't exactly the norm over here and the game would have probably bombed if it had been released here.

Chances of it coming to the US: None
Chances of it coming to the UK: None

Forbidden Siren 2
Where Released: Japan, UK, Europe
Why? No explanation.

Forbidden Siren 2 was released in Europe, Japan and the UK but wasn't released in the U.S. Forbidden Siren 1 was a huge success in Japan so the game was released in the UK four months later and then the US a month after that.
Poor sales figures of the original game may have been a reason why the US didn't get the sequel but Sony never made an announcement.

Several Survival Horror fans complained about the decision not to release Forbidden Siren 2. American Horror fans loved the original despite its difficulty and were quite unhappy about this.

It's a shame too because Forbidden Siren 2 really improved upon the original and the storyline and characters (including voice acting) as much better. In my opinion it was anyway. Youtube.com is a good source of seeing the game for yourself although it isn't the same as playing it.

Chances of it coming to the US: Very very small. The original was remade into Blood Curse so maybe FS2 has the same fate.

Rule of Rose
Where Released: US, Japan, Europe
Why? Banned

Rule of Rose was all over the gaming websites showing videos and screenshots etc. and it looked really good. The graphics looked fantastic and the storyline seemed interesting. The heroine, Jennifer is kidnapped by a group of snotty kids called the Red Crayon Aristocrats. They threaten to kill her if she doesn't do things for them so Jennifer is forced to search the ship where she is held hostage.

The games was due for release in all regions, that is until the Italian European Union minister Franco Frattini came along. He complained of the Brutality involved within the game along with the erotic aspects of the game involving female minors.
In 2007, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) proposed that the game be banned in Europe.
The game's publisher decided to withdraw it's release from the UK but, and this is the nonsense part, the rest of Europe would see it's release.
This annoyed a lot of people just because Frattini has no power in the UK. Why should the UK miss out when the rest of Europe is able to get it. Rule of Rose isn't the worst game ever released not when compared to the violence within GTA, Silent Hill and Resident Evil. These games pass just because they sell well and if the government can get money from a game (through V.A.T), who cares about the content?

I've managed to find some scenes on youtube to see what kind of subjects the game deals with and this is what I found:

A dog can be found hanging from it's legs. The dog's eyes have also been covered. This can be considered cruel.

In one cut scene, a grown man is consoling the young Diana by stroking her hair and arms.

The children are regularly seen beating something in a bag. This is likely the Dog that Jennifer rescues

The children bully Jennifer throughout the game

Maybe they were right to ban the game but giving it a more mature looking front cover and giving it an 18 certificate rating should have been good enough to stop parents buying it for their children. Adults should be able to make their own mind up about it - it's only a game after all.

Chances of it coming to the UK: Absolutely None

Fatal Frame IV?
Where Released: Japan (So far...)
Why? N/A - No Release status not confirmed.

We don't know what the deal is with this game yet. It was released in Japan in July 2008 but as of March 2009, the US and UK have not got it yet.
In January 2009, the Official Nintendo Magazine (UK Edition) announced that Europe and the UK were going to get this game in early 2009. Play.com, had a release date of 6th February down and things looked positive, for the UK at least.
It's now March '09 and nothing has been mentioned since, Tecmo haven't exactly been talkative on the subject and Nintendo (the game is for the Wii console) have been just as secretive.
Confirmation on a US release has not been mentioned AT ALL so it's quite likely the US will miss out.

It makes me wonder why Nintendo expressed interest in this when it only had the intentions to release it in Japan? Why Tecmo let it happen in the first place. Fair enough, the PS3 isn't the best selling console but at lease give it to Microsoft who are very Western friendly.
I think it's fair for me to say that the US is the series biggest market, especially when compared to the UK and it would be a bad choice to sell there.
As far as the UK is concerned, the Wii is the biggest factor in it's ever increasing games market. With advertising, it will sell especially with the good reviews it had in Japan (Edge Magazine - 8/10 and Famitsu - 34/40).

The UK has had confirmation and unless they change their mind we will get it though the US may, unfortunately miss out.

Chances of it coming to the US: OK. No confirmation yet but the UK hasn't been given a date yet so there is obviously still some time.
Chances of it coming to the UK: Very Good. It's been confirmed.

Silent Hill: Homecoming

2009-03-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

Developer: Double Helix
Publisher: Konami
Released (UK): Feb '09
Released (US): Sep '08

May contain spoilers.Homecoming is the latest Silent Hill game and it finally hit the UK shores in February '09 after hitting the states in September '08.

The game had been in production (which started in 2004) for quite a while before being released with trailers and screenshots show up here and there. The release date was due to be in September for the US and the UK but Konami doesn't like the UK it seems as we always have to wait longer for the Silent Hill games (the only exception being Silent Hill 3 which we got first).
It all started when Germany refused to classify it due to a scene in the game where a character is shot. It is unknown whether this was the reason for the European delay or whether it was own to translation issue - Konami never confirmed. The UK could have been given the completed US version but we also had to wait seeing we are part of the "European Market".
The game was also made to go through a big change for the Australian market before being classified.

In Homecoming we play as Alex Shepherd (above), a Soldier injured in combat who has come home to the town of Shepherds Glen. On arrival her finds the town completely deserted with only a few residents still living there. His brother Joshua (also above) has gone missing, his father Adam has gone to find him an his Mother Lillian is all alone in a catatonic state.
Alex also finds that Elle Holloway (below, left), his friend from childhood and her Mother Judge Holloway are still here. Elle who you can has been modelled off of Scarlett Johansson, is trying to find out what has happened to the town by sticking up wanted posters for the numerous people that have gone missing.
She is also in close communication with Deputy Wheeler who is also trying to find out what has been happening. With Elle's and Wheelers help, Alex sets off to find out what has happened to Shepherds Glen and his Brother.
During his rounds Alex meets three other characters. Mayor Bartlett who can be seen digging graves in the cemetery, Dr. Fitch who has gone crazy since the death of his daughter and Curtis Ackers, the junkyard owner who we meet near the games beginning and then again at the end.
Travis Grady from Silent Hill Origins and Pyramid Head (or Bogeyman) from Silent Hill 2 both give cameo appearances in the game.

The game isn't only just set in Shepherds glen however, it is called Silent Hill after all. Alex has several dream sequences that take place in Silent Hill involving the Hospital and the Hotel located in the town.
Halfway through the game Alex, Wheeler and Elle decide to go to Silent Hill for real after Lillian is kidnapped by strange men in Miner's clothes. However, Wheeler and Elle are both kidnapped by the same guys that took Lillian leaving Alex alone, again.

I've already mentioned the Hotel and the Hospital but other areas to investigate are the Penitentiary, Church, a place called Hell's Descent, the Sewers, Shepherds Glen Police Station, Shepherd's House, the Town Hall and the Cemetery (there's two in this game - one is in Shepherds Glen and one in Silent Hill).
Some areas are more interesting than the others whilst some consist mostly of battles. The Police Station for example is taken over by several Monsters that are too much to take on so you mostly have to run to get out as soon as you can. The Sewers are also full of Monsters you have to defeat with not much else to pay attention to.
The level where you're at Alex's house within the "Other World" is a very interesting one because it consists of four puzzles you need to solve in order to unlock the door to get out of there. I got pretty creeped out in this particular part of the game because Alex is not alone here, not one but a total of five Schisms are in the house with him.

The Monsters in Silent Hill Homecoming are some of the best in the whole series with a few star Monsters definitely worth noting.
Siam is a very good looking Monster which is primarily a large Man with giant clubs for arms. However, he also has the body of a female on his back who just lies helplessly with it's masculine side kicks ass. Whilst the game was in development it was Siam that interested me the most but you hardly come across him in the game and only shows up during crucial points in the game. E.g. When you have to save Elle from one and when one bashes down the Penitentiary gate.
You have the Needlers, who attack with their blade-like legs. Lurkers, who crawl along the ground laying into you with their hook-like claws. Smogs who spray toxic gasses and what's a Silent Hill game without a Dog or a Nurse Monster?

It was Schism (above, right) who was the star of the game for me though. They are very quick and can catch up with you quite easily. You will only come across them in enclosed spaces too which means you can't sneak past them. I mentioned earlier that one of the levels has five of them all under one roof which is unpleasant for those scared of this particular Monster who can be deadly in small spaces because they use their scissor-like heads which can cut Alex in half.
I once watched one for a while whilst it couldn't see me, I was on the steps in Shepherd's house and I really didn't want to deal with it and I did stop to compose myself before killing it. I hadn't felt this way since the Doublehead in Silent Hill 4, the first Silent Hill I played.

The game also had a variety of very difficult bosses to overcome, Sepulcher, Scarlett, Asphyxia (my favourite boss) and the final boss Amnion. They were all very difficult to beat even on Normal setting because it wasn't just a case of hitting them, you needed a different strategy for each one. It takes several attempts until Alex finally manages to bring them down, it did for me anyway.

Silent Hill Homecoming has had mixed reactions from fans and critics. Critics have been quite fussy with this and general reviews have not been favourable. Metacritic.com gives an average score from the various critics in the biz which is 72/100. The average score from gamers however is 8.5/10 so Double Helix have done enough to please Silent Hill fans.

The game definitely isn't flawless:

Music: Akira Yamaoka only composed 70 minutes of music for the game which isn't a lot saying that game play is about 5 hours long.

Puzzles: There were never any options to reset the puzzles when you really needed it. One puzzle in the attic was one which got harder to solve the more you moved the sliding tiles. I had to leave the house then leave the garden then re-enter before the puzzle reset.

Action Level: Silent Hill fans like to explore the various locations to find clues in the story, any freaky going ons designed for scares or to find as many health items as possible. In most cases, the Police station for example where you were being chased by 7 monsters.

Inverted Aim: There wasn't an option to use Inverted Aim. This wasn't a problem for me but many have expressed disappointment in this.

I played the PS3 version of Silent Hill Homecoming which had some additional problems:

Sixaxis: When an item was found you could use the sixaxis controller to turn the item round to look it over which was unnecessary. Puzzle pieces could also be moved using sixaxis but it was very sensitive meaning that you hardly had to move the controller to do it.

Trophy's: Even though the 360 version of the game did have un-lockable achievements for it's gamers the developers failed to have Trophy's for its PS3 gamer which is unfortunate.

The game had a lot of good points though:

Alex Shepherd: I really liked Alex as a Protagonist. I think they did a good job of making the player sympathise with him because I definitely did. I think Alex is my favourite off all Protagonists - easy on the eye too.

Monsters: I've mentioned these already but the Monsters were a really good point. They look amazing and provide you with a challenge, especially Siam who is very strong and the bosses were the hardest of all Silent Hill bosses.

Locations: The locations in Homecoming were very good graphically. Hells Descent was uneventful and you couldn't explore the Police station but the towns of Shepherds Glen and Silent Hill were designed well and the fog from Silent Hill 2 had returned which I liked. The Penitentiary was a nice place because you could explore it without getting ambushed.

In Silent Hill games you will sometimes come across some references to previous Silent Hill games and you did in Homecoming too, though not as much as you would do in previous games:

Silent Hill 1:

Wheeler mentions a female police officer who went missing in Silent Hill. Cybil Bennett from SH1?

Finding a Serum will get you the "Dr Kaufmann's Handiwork" achievement.

Silent Hill 2:

Some of the achievements in the 360 version reference Silent Hill 2 characters. Killing a Feral will get you "Eddie's Legacy", "Angela's Choice" is given to you if you don't forgive your father and killing a Siam will get you "Shades of James".

Silent Hill 3:

Josh owns a doll of Robbie the Rabbit who was first seen in Silent Hill 3

Douglas Cartland is mentioned as a detective who had exposed the Cult for what it was.

There were some differences in Homecoming that set it apart from other games of the series. A star rating isn't given at the end of the game which is bugbear of mine. The star rating was a way of showing the player how well they've played.
Memo's that Alex come across are not stored for you to read another time but any clues these memo's give are stored in Alex's journal.
Speaking of which, the journal could have been used better. In Project Zero 2, Mio would write things of interest as she went around the Lost Village. It would have been interesting if Alex did the same.

The game, despite some problems with game play that I've already mentioned was definitely not as bad as the critics have said - not at all. I think it's one of the best. OK, Team Silent (Silent Hill 1,2,3 and 4) did a better job with atmosphere but Homecoming had a good storyline nonetheless. Alex was extremely like-able and the scene when Deputy Wheeler was attacked by Asphyxia had me gripped.
There's no doubt in my mind that this game was highly influenced by Silent Hill 2 but I did prefer Alex to James and the Monsters in Homecoming were much better than those in SH2.
It didn't have as much atmosphere as Silent Hill 3 but it had better story, better Monsters and a more like-able Protagonist.

9/10

Better than Silent Hill 2 for me but it wasn't on par with Silent Hill 4: The Room.

9/10...Too Nice?
Alex Shepherd...One for the Ladies?
Was anyone else disturbed by Schism or just me?

Silent Hill 1

2008-12-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released (UK): Aug '99
Released (US): Jan '99

May contain spoilers.Resident Evil was the start of the Survival Horror genre and was the only game worth any attention, until 1999 at least.
Silent Hill came catching up almost immediately and the first in the series is classed as the best Survival Horror game of all time.

It follows Harry Mason who has come to the town of Silent Hill with his daughter Cheryl.
The opening scene of the game contains clips that show what has happened prior to the games events as well as scenes from the game. See for yourself:

Cheryl has been having nightmares about a town called Silent Hill and her father takes her there to see if it will make her better. Unfortunately though, on their way to the town, they are involved in an accident after an unknown girl throws herself in front of the car.

When Harry comes to, he finds Cheryl has gone missing but where has she gone? He decides to take a walk into town where he eventually finds her. However, Cheryl doesn't hang around and runs away and when Harry chases after her, the town goes dark.
Walking along with nothing but a lit match as his only source of light, Harry comes across a dead, half decayed, body of a man on one of the chain link fences before being attacked by a group of monsters.
After this nightmare he wakes up in a local cafe where he meets Cybil Bennett, a Police Officer from a neighbouring town named Brahms. She has come to Silent Hill due to a lack of communication between the two towns. Harry tells her his situation and she agrees to out to help look for Cheryl, handing him a gun before she goes.

Harry is left to his own devices and walks around the town searching for clues as to where Cheryl may be. The areas that Harry need to search include:
Midwich Elementary School, the Sewers, Alchemilla Hospital and the town itself.
You will find the Sewers to be quite tedious due to it's maze like feature where you get attacked by several of the most irritating Monster of the game - the Hanged Scratcher. The Hospital is my favourite area of the game because it does have a very creepy atmosphere and is full of puzzles to figure out.
The "Nowhere" part of the game is the most interesting as Harry gets close to finding out what happened in this town.

Harry comes across several characters throughout his search for his little girl, the first of which is a woman who shows up at the school after Harry kills the Split-head lizard. We don't know who she is because she doesn't talk to Harry at all, but disappears without a trace.
A little later on, Harry meets a lady named Dahlia Gillespie in the Balkan church. She shows him the Flauros telling him to go to the Hospital to see if Cheryl is there. Dahlia gets involved quite a bit, telling Harry where to look next but why is she so helpful?
In the Hospital, we meet two more characters - Michael Kaufmann and fan favourite Lisa Garland. Harry's conversation with Kaufmann is a short one, Lisa (above, right) however is very friendly towards Harry and constantly asks Harry to stay with her.

Lisa is amongst the Silent Hill characters that have kept their popularity with Silent Hill fans, despite the fact that her character was used poorly in Origins. She also appears in the film by Christophe Gans but only for a brief period, and she isn't referred to by name. You will only come across Lisa in the "Dark" side of the hospital and that's because (as we later find out) she is a Demon just like all the monsters you come across.

Depending on which ending you're aiming for you may not come across Dr Kaufmann much at all. If you want the Good+ or the Good ending, you'll meet him in a bar being attacked by a group of Mumbler's then again at the Motel where Harry finds out about Kaufmann's involvement with the Drugs.
Kaufmann isn't a good guy but he had no problems with Harry so doesn't pose any threat.

This game has a large variety of Monsters some of which are quite irritating (Air Screamer, Hanged Scratcher) and some that have become a staple within the Silent Hill games (The Dog, Groaner, and the Nurse).
The Grey Child Monster was censored out of the European version due to their resemblance to real children (though I disagree that they look alike) and were replaced by the Mumbler, a bear like creature that is also in the US version.

There were some awkward moments in this game. The phone call you receive at the school from Cheryl where she screams for you to help her and at the Mall where the TV screens all show Cheryl bound to a chair.
The music really did add to the atmosphere of the game proving that Akira Yamaoka's composing skills have been strong since the beginning of the series.

The voice acting was pretty poor however, Cybil (left) amongst one of the worst. Pauses in dialogue can be strewn out which makes the acting sound wooden.

The graphics were another negative point which makes me hate the fact that I wasn't into gaming and Silent Hill in 1999. At the time these graphics were considered brilliant and it was revolutionary within the gaming industry as far as the horror is concerned. I found it hard to get creeped out by things that didn't look real. On several occasions you find dead carcases hung on the walls but they didn't scare me because they weren't detailed enough.
I realise it's unfair to judge the game on it's graphics alone, especially since this is the best developers could do at the time but because I played this game after 2,3,4 and Origins, it didn't feel the same to me.

I find it hard to review this game because the graphics really did put me off and I know loads would disagree with me but I give it...

7.5/10

I welcome Feedback regarding the score I've given it.
I've also found this game to be the hardest to grasp so if anything mentioned is wrong, please tell me.

Ones I'm Not Bothered About

2008-12-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Resident Evil 5

This is the game that seems to be getting the Survival Horror fans really excited. I am not excited at all about this game at all and I'm more excited about Silent Hill Homecoming.
This game is due for release in the UK and the US on 13th March '09, just two weeks after the European release of Silent Hill Homecoming. This means that the game has overshadowed the release of Homecoming in within the European market.

The game is set ten years after the first Resident Evil game and follows Chris Redfield who was the protagonist of the first game. It's set in a fictional country of Kijuju, Africa where Chris has been sent there to investigate an accident that happened as part of his service in the Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA).
A trailer shown at the E3 game's convention 2007 sparked an accusation of racism from Newsweek reporter, N'Gai Croal.
The trailer showed the White protagonist laying bullets into a group of Zombies, all of who were black, which I would expect seeing that it's in an African setting.
The following year a second trailer was made showing both black and white Zombies and an additional Female character of African descent. However, according to the games developers, these changes weren't made due to the controversy of the first trailer.

You can see an article about this here

I have also included the newest trailer which I found on youtube which shows more about the storyline and game play:

Resident Evil 4 didn't impress me at all despite all the raving reviews it received and it has put me off all Resident Evil games period. Apparently Resident Evil 5 plays exactly like Resident Evil 4 which really puts me off. However, the graphics in Resident Evil 5 are much better which is understandable seeing it's a next-gen game. The Zombies in particular look very scary compared to the Zombies that were in Resident Evil 4 but that isn't enough to persuade me to get it at release.

I may buy this in the very distant future when the price has gone down. I am not going to make the same mistake I made with Resident Evil 4.

For more details you can check out the Official Website which can be found HERE

Dead Space

This game was released in the US and the UK on Oct 14th '08 and I still haven't had any interest in buying it. It's another First Person Shooter set on the USG Ishimura "Planet Cracker" ship, whilst mining the planet of Aegis VII.
You play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer who is stranded after his ship becomes infested by the Corruption, a hostile, virus-like, alien DNA with the ability to infest the bodies of the dead, turning them into grotesque Monsters called Necromorphs.

It's not that I'm not intrigued by this game, I do want to try it because people say it's brilliant and scary. I just don't want to pay the full price tag for it. Now however, the price has gone down to around £28 but I'm still not going to run to the shops to get it. I don't like first person shooters very much and that is what this game is, this means that it's mostly an action game which intimidates me. I didn't like Resident Evil 4 for this reason and it's also one of the reasons I'm not interested in Resident Evil 5 (above).

Below is a trailer I found on the Official website:

If you go to the Survival Horror forum on the US Playstation website you'll see that almost every thread is on Dead Space. It's proven to be very popular and it's got me interested in it - only slightly though. I have downloaded and attempted to play the demo but it doesn't emphasise much on the story so you can't get an idea on whether the game would interest you or not. It forces you into battle straight away and that's not what I look for when buying a Survival Horror game.

More videos and images can be found on the Official Website which can be found HERE

Anybody else not interested in these games?

Should Dead Space be considered a Survival Horror instead of a straight forward FPS like Resistance?

Will Resident Evil 5 be better than Resident Evil 4?

Ones I'm Waiting For

2008-12-07T02:22:00.000-08:00

Alan Wake

Remedy Entertainment have been very secretive about this game and have hardly released anything about it. Alan Wake was even announced before the PS3 and Xbox 360 came out but it's only now that eager fans are getting what they want.
Alan Wake was to be released on both consoles until Microsoft bought the rights for it, therefore making it a PC and Xbox game only.
Screenshots were released in 2006 when the game was first announced but two years have passed so the game probably looks much different now.

The game is based around Alan Wake, a famous mystery writer. Suffering from a major case of writers block, his wife has brought him to Bright Falls to help him get his creative flow back.
Things go wrong when his wife disappears and the events of his last book, which he doesn't remember writing, start to occur to make things worse.

What we know:

- The storyline is all we know really. Remedy doesn't like to give things away it seems.

- The trailer shows a guy in a red coat, a Jon Lovitz type, who Alan calls Harry. We don't know why he's there and who he is but I'm sure I heard somewhere that he said he was Alan's manager, I could be wrong.

- In the trailer Harry mentions a Dr Hartman. "Dr Hartman was right. You are crazy". This leads you to believe that he must be a shrink.

Unfortunately, we don't yet know anything about the game play. Will there be monsters like in Silent Hill? What kind of weapons will there be?
The video section of the website shows a further two videos are going to be revealed - hopefully these will be game play videos, let's hope.

Remedy are saying that a release date won't be given until the game is finished so we don't have one yet. It seems they don't want to make the same mistake as other developers who give a release date before knowing when the game will be completed.

The official website can be found HERE

Official Trailer

Silent Hill Homecoming

This game has already been released in The USA and Japan but the UK has to wait until February '09 to get this game. Konami never gave us an official reason but it could be a matter of reasons.

1) Censorship - Germany in particular have expressed concern over the violence contained in the game. News of the German release delay came out before the news that the UK would also have to wait...Are the whole of Europe having to wait until Germany are satisfied? Will we have to make do with the censored version as well? News of the German delay can be found on this LINK

2) Translation - Europe speaks a lot of languages, that's a given so the game has to be translated to over 20 different languages. It seems the UK, who speaks English and in fact came up with the language have to wait with the rest of them. Sure, we could import since the PS3 and XBOX 360 are region free, but why should we have to pay for the delivery charges?

3) Sods Law - We had to wait for Origins and now we have to wait longer for Homecoming. Maybe Konami just doesn't think much into pleasing it's European Market. It's not all bad I suppose. The game has been banned entirely from Australia apparently due to a specific scene within the game.

Homecoming is going to be the fifth instalment of the game (Origins not counting as it's a prequel). It's based around Alex Shepherd who has gone back home, after leaving the Army, to Shepherds Glen after news came about of his younger brothers disappearance. When he returns home he finds the whole town in a mess and his Mother in a catatonic state. She went crazy after Joshua, her younger son's disappearance so Alex goes about finding him. His investigation around Shepherds Glen leads him to a nearby town called Silent Hill where he intends to find out what has been happening.

Konami were quite generous in the information they gave out regarding this game. Trailers and screenshots were released, giving us a chance to look what the game is going to look like.

What we know:

- We know that the cast of Monsters includes new as well as old - Siam (Right) is one of the most impressive, and the monster that got my attention. The Nurses return (it wouldn't be Silent Hill without them would it?) and they've been busy advertising the game, modelling on the popular Play Magazine front cover.

- Pyramid Head is going to be in this game. He was spotted walking around the town in one of the trailers released but how does he fit into this game when he was a manifestation of James Sunderland’s character in Silent Hill 2?

- We know that a female character is in the game, Elle, an old friend of Alex's who can be found on the official website. The official trailer (below) shows a truck driver, Travis Grady from Origins and screenshots so some kind of police officer, who remains nameless to us lot that haven't played it.

- The games has also taken on the appearance of the movie. In the previous games, we never actually saw the real world turn into the nightmare world but in this game, we will. The two realms will merge in real time, wall paper melting off of the walls and such.

Since this game has been released in the US, we know that the game has proven successful with Silent Hill fans but the critic’s reviews have been mixed. Metacritic gives the scores received from various magazines and websites, then giving a critics average. The worst score given was 60% from GamePro and the most promising score was 90% from the Official Playstation Magazine (US). The average however was 7.2/10, the sites users giving it 8.1/10 proving the game has been quite well received generally.

The official website can bee seen HERE

Official Trailer (YouTube)

Fatal Frame IV: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

Fatal Frame IV was announced, to the UK at least, earlier this year (2008). The game has been developed by Japanese developer, Grasshopper Manufacture. The news was both good and bad for fans because even though a new game is coming, it's coming on the Nintendo Wii. Previous games have been released on the Xbox and the Playstation 2, PS2 being the only console to have all of the first three games.
The game was released earlier in July over in Japan but for a while there was no news on a release over in the west. However, news came out earlier in December of a European release due early 2009. America is still to find out whether they will get the game or not.

Ten years ago, five young girls were kidnapped and held hostage in a mysterious mansion in Japan. They were all saved by a detective on the hunt for the criminal who had taken them. Several years later, two of the girls died under mysterious circumstances but the remaining three, now 17 years old have returned in order to find out more about what happened all those years ago.

What we know:

- There are four main characters in this game: Ruka Minazuki(F), Misaki Asō(F), Madoka Tsukimori(F) and Chōshiro Kirishima(M).

- The Wii remote and nunchuck will be used to aim the Camera Obscura and the torch that the character holds. How the camera will work however, remains to be seen.

- Ghosts include what looks like a female nurse and little boy, who is especially creepy - reminds me of the boy in the film, The Grudge.

We know nothing else regarding this game but news on game play and characters should be released soon if a European release is going to be the rumoured February '09. The official website and the official trailer are in Japanese but they shed some light into what the game will look like.
The game actually looks really good for the Wii and the ghost especially look really realistic, even more so than the ones in The Tormented.
Hopefully an English version of the website will be released real soon.

The official website, in Japanese, can be found HERE.

Trailer (Subtitled)

I'm really looking forward to all of these games. Silent Hill and Fatal Frame are two of my favourite Survival Horror games and both look like a good edition to each series.
Alan Wake is the one I'm looking forward to the most. However, it's a new addition to the genre and could be a huge sucess based on how it looks. People are getting restless waiting for it but good things come to those who wait.
I'm a geek, and I know this Why? I bought my Wii and Xbox 360 especially for Fatal Frame IV and Alan Wake so they better be really, really good.

Siren Blood Curse

2008-11-30T05:37:00.000-08:00

Developer: Sony Entertainment Japan
Publisher: Sony
Released (UK): Dec '07
Released (US): Nov '07

May Contain Spoilers. Siren Blood Curse is the latest instalment of the Forbidden Siren franchise and was released in Europe, Japan (where it was called New Translation rather than Blood Curse) and the US.
The game is a complete remake of the original game but with some adjustments. There is a whole new cast of characters, one reoccurrence and most of the environments have been changed although some have just been tweaked.

The story is based around an American film crew who have come to Hanuda to investigate a local cult and the sacrificial rituals the cult committed thirty years prior.

True to Forbidden Siren form, the story line is a confusing one. I cannot remember if the original had a time line situation but Blood Curse does. The game's time line is back and forth between 1976 and 2007 and times can even join together. The best example is the opening scene...The TV crew are in 2007 but they are witnessing a ritual which took place in 1976 and characters from both time periods can be seen in the same mission. Siren_Hill, a member of the US Playstation forum has done a nice thread on the time line which makes more sense [Here]

The cast in this game are mostly American, except from two from the local area of Handuda Village, Japan.

Howard Wright is travelling across Japan and has found himself stranded in Hanuda after his motorcycle broke down (His blog - http://hw-biker.blog-paradise.com/e/index.html confirms this) but why was he in the deserted village of Hanuda anyway?
We first see him in the opening scene when he stops a religious group half way through performing a ritual. One girl has already been stabbed and he manages to cause a distraction so a second girl can run away.
Howard is the main character in this game and the character we play as the most. His character is of course similar to the role of Kyoya Suda in the original.

Sam Monroe is a College Professor and Folklore expert who is in Hanuda to act as a consultant for a TV show that is being filmed on the rituals that happen there.
His character is based on Tamon Takeuchi from the original game because he is the guy who figures out what has been happening in Hanuda and how to stop it.
Sams part in this game is slightly confusing because there are two versions of him. One is the Sam Monroe who is new to Hanuda and the other is the older Sam, who knows exactly what to do to stop the games events from happening again.

Melissa Gale is a Television presenter who has come to Hanuda to get footage for her show called 'Encounters'. She is the ex-wife of Sam Monroe and was unaware that her ex-husband was going to be the consultant for the show.
Her role is similar to the roles of Reiko Takato and Naoko Mihama from the original game.
She is very protective of her daughter and spends most of the game trying to save her from the wandering shibito walking around. She is eventually sacrifices herself whilst blowing up a maggot shibito in order to save her daughter.

Seigo Saiga is one of the characters local to the area and is one of two of the non-American member of the cast. Seigo is a member of the cult (like Jun Kajiro in the original) and is the guy seen stabbing the girl in the opening scene (notice the white shoes). He is one of the characters stuck in 1976 and relives the time again and again despite killing himself halfway through the game.
He is also a doctor at the local hospital (Shiro Miyata in the original) and always carries a gun (like Akira Shimura in the original).
As a human he is of no threat to anyone, befriending and helping Sam in one mission but as a Shibito, tries to stop Howard from performing his task of finishing off Kaiko, the cults god.

Bella Monroe is the daughter of Sam Monroe and Melissa Gale. She has come to Hanuda with Sam who couldn't find a baby-sitter in time for the trip. She finds herself in the care of Sol after the TV crew were separated. Bella spends most of the game by herself and we first find her hiding in the hospital after Sol promises to come find her.
Bella is the only character who doesn't hold a weapon and cannot attempt to fight the shibitos she comes across. Like Harumi Yomoda in the original game she will cower when too close to a Shibito so stealth is necessary.
She is also similar to Tomoko Maeda who in the original game turned into a Shibito herself.

Amana is also a member of the cult of Hanuda. We first see Amana in one of Howards mission where she finds him recovering from a gunshot wound. She promises to help him escape but they part ways after Amana is flown away by a Shibito.
We play as Amana only once where she tries to recall the memories she lost before the events of the game. Amana's character is similar to Hisako Yao in the original game because she is the one who is trying to bring back Kaiko.
Like Sam, Amana has another version wandering the village [Major Spoiler Here]: Amana is Bella, grown up. This means that Bella joins Sam and Howard as the only characters live through the events of the game.

Sol Jackson is the camera man for 'Encounters' and is a friend of Melissa. An archive item, which shows a film script written by Sol shows that he is in love with his friend and colleague.
Sol dies pretty early on in the game and although his death isn't shown, we can gather he was killed by a Shibito whilst he tried to distract it away from Bella. Sol can be found everywhere as a Shibito, especially if Bella or Melissa are around. His character is similar to the role of Yoriko Anno in the original game seeing that he is in love with one of the more leading characters (Anno took a fancy to Tamon Takeuchi in the original).

Miyako Kajiro (her surname isn't used in BC) is the second of the Japanese characters and is the same Miyako from the original with one difference. She can see in Blood Curse so isn't as clingy as in the first one. You never play as Miyako making her the only non-playable character.
Miyako is the sidekick to Howard for most of the game but is kidnapped by Amana in order to be sacrificed for Kaiko's revival.
The 'Fruit' which is mentioned throughout the game, is Miyako's blood which she gave to Howard after he was shot by Melissa (who had mistaken him for a Shibito).
Even after being sacrificed for Kaiko, she helps Howard to defeat it by showing his whereabouts.

Shibito make an excellent comeback and look better than ever. The same Shibito types are in Blood Curse although a new Shibito has been created for Blood Curse.
You have the regular Shibito which look and act as normal human beings, the Spider Shibito, the Moth Sbibito, the Brain Shibito and the new Maggot Shibito.

Human shibito (above) act just like normal people, carrying on with their daily lives as if they were still alive. They follow a routine just as they do in the original, patrolling the same areas making them easy to predict. They're pretty easy to defeat despite the fact that most of them carry a weapon of some kind. You can just sneak up behind them and impale them with one weapon or another or you can just hide in a closet until they go away.

The Spider Shibito (left) walk on all fours in a yoga, crab-like position which looks quite painful. They are more on guard and will spend time in one spot looking out for any intruders. They can be hard to spot too because they can walk on walls an on ceilings. They do have some limits though because they can't climb ladders and they can't open doors so they're easy to trap. They are quite fast when they see you and can jump on you from quite a distance so watch you're back carefully.

Moth Shibito (below) are Shibito with wings, so they can fly. They hide in bushes and in shadows so they can come out at you from anywhere. They will not hesitate to sweep down and grab you dropping you when high in the air. Some Moth Shbito carry guns so they can shoot you from afar making it harder for you to kill them before they kill you.
In all fairness, they are very seldom around so don't get in your way too much.

The Maggot Shibito is a new form of Shibito to Blood Curse but they aren't common and they sometimes act as a mini boss in the levels where they appear. They are the biggest form of Shibito and look like Maggots but with long arms. They are also in control of the Moth Shibito's meaning that once the Maggot is down, all the Moths go down with it. They're quite vicious and will throw things at you so you really nee to keep your distance and kill them using some kind of trap. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of them.

The Brain Shibito has also returned from the original game but the designers have done massive improvements to their appearance. Each Brain shibito looks different unlike in the first game where they all looked the same. Brain Shibito are your best bet of a scare in this game because they look that disgusting. The Brain Shibitos are much more shy then their maggot counterparts because they run away from you when they see you coming.
There are many Brain Shibito about so I'll go through each one. (I've named them myself because they have no official names - well one does)

Patient Brain (above) - Is seen in the Hospital when playing as Melissa Gale. It a large, black tumour-looking blob that is pushed around in a wheel chair by a Human Shibito nurse. It can't run away like the others because it has no legs but it is protected by the Nurse who will come running at you when she sees you - Knock her down first then you can attack the Brain. Easy isn’t it?

Headless Brain (below) - This Brain is located in the mines when playing as Howard Wright. This has tentacle things coming from its neck where a head would usually be. These tentacles grab onto the ceiling but this brain doesn't move. However, its position changes each time you play the level. This Brain startled me the first time I saw it because it looked violent, in fact it just stays there and lets you whack it to death.

Bee Brain - This is the Brain Shibito at the Shibito Nest when playing as Howard Wright. It looks like a Male Human Shibito but it has a head that is an oversized Bee. This guy is fast and wanders around in the pitch black making him hard to see so you have to trap him (with an animal trap) or cut him off. If you can catch a glimpse of him as the lightning goes off, the effect quite be quite surprising if you run into him unexpectedly.

Yukie (Nurse Brain, right) - Again, it's Howard that comes across this Brain, in the Mines. Yukie plays a small part in the story line because she's close, and I mean very close to Seigo Saigo (think of Mina Onda from the original game). She looks human but has some slug like things draping off of her face and like the Bee Brain, she is very fast and has a huge area to hide in. I remember having a hard time bringing Yukie down - get a sniper gun an you should get her quite easily.

The Sight-Jack has been changed in two ways although one of them is quite the annoyance. The Sight-Jack mode now allows the character to move whilst keeping tabs on a specific Shibito. The screen splits whenever you do this so half of it shows where your character is and the other half shows the view of the Shibito. Good Luck if you have a small TV screen because it's hard to see where you're going when this happens, especially if it's dark.
In the previous games, if a Shibito catch sight of you, the screen would flash re to show you what direction it was coming from. In this game, the screen splits again and will stay, showing you where the Shibito is coming from, until you press R2 to get rid of it. These are very annoying because they are uninvited by the player so they get in the way.

The archive item has returned with 50 items to collect as well as 50 different weapons to find. Some of the archive items are really interesting and give more information and background history of the characters. Sol's ID sheds light to a secret crush on Melissa, A tape can be found with an episode of 'Encounters' on it and Howard's mobile phone has a message on it from a friend. If you bought the game from PSN, there is an option to save some items onto your hard drive. One archive item seems to be an MP3 player and you can download the end music from Siren 1 and Howard’s phone has some pictures on it which can be downloaded. Some of them are quite nice too, if you like Japanese Landscape.

Forbidden Siren always had mixed reactions with the acting, especially the voice over’s, but with an American cast this isn't a problem with Blood Curse. The characters are played by proper actors just as in the first too games although it's not as obvious in this games graphics since it's for a next-gen console with next-gen graphics.
The environments look really good on this game although some areas are too dark to see at times but as a Survival Horror, you would expect it to be dark. The house is especially good, especially when you get into the living room which is very detailed.

The environments have changed in appearance, although some have stayed the same.
You have the Fields (below) where the church is located. The church's location has changed but apart from that, the area looks the same.

The Mines have returned but look completely different to the mines in Forbidden Siren 1 and are maze like in appearance because it has many levels with blocked stairways and elevators.
The house is also here and looks way better than in the original although the layout has stayed exactly the same.
The Hospital has changed, and looks more like it belongs in a Horror Game. It has changed in appearance and has a bit more blood in it as you can see in the picture below.
The shopping area from the original (where the restaurant is) has also changed in appearance and for some reason, is flooded. The picture of the Human Shibito's that is in the Shibito section are seen in this area if you want to know.
The Nest has to be back because it's very important to the story line and it's in much more detail, with items such as fans knocked over and broken plates all over the floors.

The school has gone and the area where Harumi manages to escape in the original game is not here either. Some other areas whose name's I cannot remember have also gone - The level where you had to hear Harumi's message from the tower and the level where you first play as Shiryo Miyato aren't here either.

The problems that the original had have all been erased. Checkpoints are more frequent, the characters are stronger taking more damage and archive items stay in the archive once it's been collected. These problems of course were all dealt with in Forbidden Siren 2 but if you're American, you wouldn't know about them.
The maps are another improvement for the series. You can view the map down from the top by which I mean in a Birdseye view or you can view the map in 3D, which shows each level at the same time. The map also locates where you have to go in order to fulfil your objective which makes the game easier.

Overall the game is fantastic and definitely improves on the original game. For me, the storyline wasn't changed enough to make sense to me so Forbidden Siren 2 has managed to beat it on that respect which means Blood Curse cannot score as highly that. Close but I'll give it...

9.5/10

All pictures have been taken from the Japanese Website which can be found HERE.

Silent Hill Origins

2008-10-31T04:11:00.000-07:00

Developer: Climax Studios
Publisher: Konami
Released (UK): Dec '07
Released (US): Nov '07

May Contain Spoilers:After the brilliance that was Silent Hill 4, I waited for ages for a new Silent Hill game and 2007 brought that moment. However, I was quite disappointed that it was to be for the PSP and not the PS2 or the PS3.
Although the game was released in 2007, the first trailer to be released was in 2006 and that promised the game was coming "This Winter". "This Winter" however turned out to be winter 2007 instead because of deadline problems (always the case).
It was a long wait but the trailers that were released looked really good and Origins was looking like a competitor.

Silent Hill Origins is a prequel to the first Silent Hill game and is based around Travis Grady. Travis is a lorry driver who is driving through Brahms on a delivery which is halted after a girl walks onto the road causing Travis to stop.
Travis stops and despite the fact that the girl runs away, he doesn't carry on with his journey and instead takes a detour to Silent Hill.

He follows the girl to a house that is seen caught on fire, a lady is seen walking away from the place. After hearing a girls scream coming from the house, Travis being the hero he is goes in and saves her. The girl is burnt badly but he gets her out, fainting shortly afterwards.
When he wakes up, he finds himself in the town but the girl isn't there with him. The game is then based on Travis trying to find out what happened to this girl and why the residents of the town (the ones he sees anyway) are so secretive.

Travis (above) is the only new character in this game, the supporting characters being from the original Silent Hill. The characters brought over are:

Alessa Gillespie - Alessa Gillespie is the girl Travis saved from the house but we don't know if she is dead or not. It's what Travis is trying to find out throughout but, as he goes on through the game he comes across her in a live state without any burns at all. She doesn't speak throughout the whole game but tries to lead Travis in helping her.
Dahlia Gillespie - In this game she doesn't give the whole witch like vibe she does in the original. She wears what I would call normal clothing rather than the Wicca-like clothing she wore in the first game. We speak to her three or four times only.
Dr. Kauffman - We see him only three times and he's very arrogant even now. He is very secretive and tells Travis he has no idea which girl he is talking about but expresses his uneasiness of Travis' presence.
Lisa Garland - She's a trainee nurse in this game and is nothing like the nurse in Silent Hill 1. She's flirtatious and is definitely not the innocent girl you meet in the original game. She’s the friendliest character Travis comes accross.

The Monsters of this game are numerous, though some are not very imaginative at all. This game also includes many bosses - all of which are relatively easy to defeat. The monsters include some old favourites as well as some new ones:
The Nurse makes a come back although they have gone under a great deal of revamp. They now look like the nurses from the Silent Hill movie but they seem more stupid because you'll find you can sneak past them with the light off.
The Patient Demon (AKA Straight Jackets) from Silent Hill 2 also makes a comeback but they're faster and chase after you. They have the same spitting attack as before but they give greater damage than before - ignoring them is your best bet. If they get too close, they straddle you and head butt you in the face.
The Carrion monsters (below) are supposed represent the road kill that Travis, as a lorry driver has run over throughout the years. I think they look like plucked Chickens with no heads but that's just me.

The Ariel is a puppet that comes to life but they are very easy to defeat when you use a fire arm. You only come across them when you're in a specific area – the Theatre.
The Caliban is first seen as a boss to one of the levels but becomes a regular enemy after that. They come in various sizes and you'll come across some that block the roads of the town. They're very slow and easy to get past if you don't want to waste your time.
The Two-Back (below) looks like a guy riding another guy like a horse. You only come across this monster in the last area of the game but they're very powerful. What’s more is that they always appear off screen so you can't see them until you've put several bullets in them.
The Remnant is probably the only monster in this game that has any creepiness. They're basically a shadow with some kind of harness. Like the nurses you can get past them without the light on but they can whack you quite hard. They remind me a little of the Mannequins in Silent Hill 2 because they give out a masculine scream when hit.

Then we have the bosses of the game. You come across one of the bosses at the end of each area and then you have the sub-boss and main boss at the very end so there's 6 in total:

The Hospital - Our first area is the Alchemilla Hospital where Travis believes the girl is resting. The hospital is commonplace in Silent Hill games – every game in the series has had a level in a hospital. The boss isn't much of a boss because it's just a Straight-Jacket with no part in the story.
Cedar Grove Sanitarium - We find out that Travis' mother was once committed here and the boss is a monster that represents her. Apparently, people in the mirror would talk to her and asked her to kill little baby Travis. This was to make sure that he wouldn't return and stop the ritual revolving around Alessa. She was stopped though and taken into care where she eventually died.
The Artaud Theatre - This is where we find the Caliban as our boss. Apparently, it's the monster of a Shakespearean play that was once played at the theatre. A note says that the costume was so scary, a little girl ran out screaming. Tony, the actor playing Caliban died from a haemorrhage shortly afterwards - The little girl turned out to be Alessa.
The Lakeside Motel - Two boss fights take place here, the first being the Butcher (below) [There's a huge spoiler here so look away now if you don't want to know]. The Butcher represents a serial killer who would bring women to the motel in order to rape then kill them. This killer was to be known as The Butcher but he didn't look the same in reality. The second ending of the game proves that the Butcher is indeed Travis Grady.

The second boss fight in the Motel is the monster representing Travis' father. After arguing with his wife at the sanitarium, Travis' father killed himself whilst little Travis played in the motels game room.
Then we have the ultimate boss, Samael, the Cult's God. The word God isn't necessarily true as all Silent Hill fans know that the Cult actually worships a Devil and the ‘Paradise’ they seek is actually Hell.

There are several issues with this game that I’m not happy with. One of which is the breakability of the weapons Travis uses. Where you would expect things like TV sets and toasters to break when thrown, even strong weapons like pipes and sledge hammers break. What's the point? It doesn't make the game any better; to me it makes it worse. Is it just me?

The Characters weren’t exactly memorable for me. I didn't feel anything for Travis Grady at all. In Silent Hill 2 and 3, you feel for the main characters - James for losing his wife and Heather for losing her father. I didn't feel any pity for Travis and he's lost both his parents - am I just that insensitive? Maybe, but as I've already said, I felt for James and Heather and I even felt for Walter Sullivan in Silent Hill 4 so I can’t be that bad.
Lisa was a big disappointment. She had no part in the plot at all and it wasn’t necessary at all for her to be in this game. I would say that she’s been put in the game to satisfy all the fan boys out there, but they messed with her character. She was very sweet in the original Silent Hill and you really did feel sorry for her situation and the scene of her death is classed as one of Silent Hill’s greatest.
The Butcher wasn't impressive either - can anybody say "Pyramid Head knock-off"?

The levels aren't up to much either although the Motel can be quite interesting, especially since this is where the Butcher hangs out. There are a lot of peepholes in this area which did spook me out at times. As well as the main levels of the game, Travis will come across other buildings to gain access to other areas. One of these is the Butcher Shop which is the best area of the game - freaky stuff happens in this place. Watch for the Nurse.

The main drawback of this game is the medium it has been developed for. The PSP doesn't have the best sound quality or the best graphics. The shiny screen makes it hard to play on the bus or in the car (as a passenger you understand) which means you have to wait until the sun goes down to play it. The game even makes you aware of this when you turn it on, advising you that the game is best played in the dark and with headphones on.
The game has been released on the PS2 since but the graphics have basically stayed the same.
The cut scenes are appalling for this day in age, PSP or not. However, you have some occasional scenes that are fantastic - why they didn't use the same technique for all the cut scenes, I don't quite understand. The game would be so much better for it if they had. I’ve found two examples of cut scenes from YouTube to demonstrate my point:

Good Cutscene:

Bad Cutscene: (This also shows the terrible acting and lack of chemistry between Travis and Lisa)

The UFO ending returns after being left out of Silent Hill 4. The ending is pretty uneventful but you get a useful weapon out of it. The game has several Accolades to achieve where you will unlock a new item once you’ve achieve it. Accolades include such things as completing the game within a certain time scale, limiting the use of your flashlight, using your fists to attack rather than using weapons etc.
Examples of the items you unlock include new outfits, a novelty light (where the flashlight projects a smiley face, football or Peace image) and armour for your hands.
This is one of the good things about the game because these items can make the game easier for you, making the accolades easier to accomplish.

It’s not the best Silent Hill game, for me, it’s actually the worst of the series but there has been a difference of opinion.
Fans of the series that I’ve come across on forums such as http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board?board.id=horror and www.play-mag.co.uk/forum seem to like this game more than Silent Hill 3 and 4. Not me though – I give it...

6/10

One's I've Never Finished...Part 4

2008-10-28T05:08:00.000-07:00

Condemned: Criminal Origins & Condemned 2

Condemned: Criminal Origins:
Developer: Monolith Productions
Publisher: Sega
Released (UK): Dec '05
Released (US): Nov '05

Condemned 2:
Developer: Monolith Productions
Publisher: Sega
Released (UK): Apr '08
Released (US): Mar '08

The Playstation is the console that most Survival Horror games were made for. Games such as Silent Hill and Project Zero were developed for the original Xbox occasionally but they sold more copies for the Sony console.
When the Xbox 360 was released Condemned: Criminal Origins was developed for it exclusively, meaning it wasn’t available for the PS2 or the PS3. The games sequel, Condemned 2 (with the sub-title Bloodshot in the U.S) was developed with both next-gen consoles in mind. A nice point to note is that Condemned 2 was released for both consoles at the same time (unlike Alone in the Dark).

What's it about?

Condemned: Criminal Origins:
You play as Ethan Thomas, an SCU agent with the FBI. Whilst investigating another murder by the Matchmaker, he's framed for killing the two police officers who were on scene with him.
Ethan comes across a man who he believes is the Matchmaker, a serial killer that has been tormenting the fictional Metro City. This man manages to get his hands on Ethans gun before killing the two officers in his way.
With the help of Rosa, the forensics expert at the lab and Malcom Vanhorn, an old friend of the Thomas family, Ethan goes about to find out why he is being framed. He later finds out that the Matchmaker has been spying on him through his apartment window after finding photographs of himself.
Later however, with the use of forensics, Ethan finds the matchmaker dead and he is not the guy who killed the cops or is he the guy who has been spying. A guy called Serial Killer X is the guy Ethan needs to stop. Serial Killer X stalks infamous serials beofre killing each one off and Ethan Thomas is the guy who needs to find out why.
The only problem is the epidemic causing people, especially drug addicts to go insane attacking everybody they come across.

Condemend 2:

Ethan Thomas has turned his life to the streets. After the events of Criminal Origins he quit the FBI and he now lives in the gutter with only Alcohol for company.
His old friend Malcom Vanhorn who was also in the original game has been killed, Killer X is still alive and the SCU want's Ethan back to find out what happened. The game is still set in Metro City where violence is still a way of life.
This time Serial Killer X has his eyes on the members of the "Oro" cult who use painful metal implants to develop psionic powers that allow them to influence and control the world.
It's these Oro members that are behind all the violence that occurs within the city.

There are a number of weapons that can be used in Condemned. Ethan can take Wood from the floor and metal pipes from the walls as well as the Pistol, Shotguns, Crowbars and Fire Axes that can be found round and about.

Another good quality this game has is the ability to process crime scenes a la Gil Grissom. Taking pictures of dead bodies and the evidence around them (Blood Smears, Tyre tracks etc) gives Rosa, the lab tech, the chance to analyse them for you.
The second game makes more use of this than the original however which makes the second game a bit more interesting and fun to play.

Why I never completed it

These games provide a lot of tension because there is a minimal use of music and all you can hear are the noises made by the various men and women who like to give Ethan a hard time.
In Condemned 2 you can hear some of them laughing which stops you in your tracks from time to time and the Mannequins that multiply behind you so you can't go back sends a chill down your spine.
Unfortunately, the game being a FPS means that there is a lot of action involved which is peeve of mine. It is defintely fitting of the Survival Horror title because it can be very scary.

I have tried to get into Condemned: Criminal Origins a couple of times and I got futher the second time but I still haven't complete it. The game didn't motivate me enough though I did enjoy it, the part I played anyway and I will try again, I'm just in no rush to do it.

The second game I was really getting into until I got stuck with the Doll boss. I then sold it because I needed the Money and I think I probably would buy it again. It's much cheaper now but I would probably wait until I finish Criminal Origins, if I do.

Is this the best Next-Gen Survival Horror?
Which is the best?

One's I've Never Finished...Part 3

2008-10-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

Resident Evil 4

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Released (UK): Nov '05
Released (US): Oct '05

May Contain Spoilers: The critics gave a positive outburst when they reviewed this game. Everyone was giving scores of 10/10 or 100% and even though I hadn't played a Resident Evil game before I thought I'd give it ago because of all this praise of being the best Survival Horror game ever. Silent Hill, another big contender got 84.0% on gamerankings.com where this game was given 95.7%.
I had to see for myself so I bought it, although it had been out for quite a while before I got my copy of it.

What's it about?

Again, I don't know much about the story of this game. I'll explain why later but the story as I know is that the games Protagonist, Leon S. Kennedy has gone to a village is Europe (Probably Spain - the Police jackets say Policia on them and Leon finds Pesetas, Spanish currency before the Euro). This is where the President's daughter, Lesley Graham was last seen after being kidnapped.

It's all I can remember so I went back to Wikipedia and got the plot from there:

"In 2004, the Umbrella Corporation's secretive activities within Raccoon City have become a public affair. Following an investigation conducted by the US government, several Umbrella officials are implicated and prosecuted. The government indefinitely suspends Umbrella's business, causing the company to become bankrupt.

Leon S. Kennedy (right) was recruited by the US government after they learned of his actions in Raccoon City. Leon is sent on a mission to rescue Ashley Graham (the blonde, below), the President's daughter, who has been kidnapped by a mysterious cult. Leon travels to a rural village in Europe, where he encounters a horde of unruly villagers who pledge their lives to Los Iluminados (The Illuminated Ones), the cult that kidnapped Ashley.
During the course of the mission, Leon is reunited with Ada Wong, a woman he met in Resident Evil 2, and Jack Krauser, one of Leon's former comrades from his years of government training, thought to be dead. He also meets Luis Sera, a former Los Illuminados researcher, who aids Leon on his mission, before he is murdered by Osmund Saddler, the leader of the Los Illuminados cult. By examining Sera's notes, Leon discovers that Los Illuminados gained control of their subjects by implanting a mind-controlling parasite known as Las Plagas into their bodies.

After Saddler discovers that Leon has rescued Ashley, he commands his subjects to use any means to recover her. Meanwhile, after defeating the village chief, Bitores Mendez, Leon, and Ashley take refuge inside the castle of the local castellan, Ramon Salazar. Ashley begins to cough blood, realizing that she is probably infected and runs into one of the castles many traps. Leon then battles his way through mazes and minions to find Salazar only to learn that Ashley has been taken to a nearby island research facility. After numerous altercations with Saddler's forces, including a freakishly empowered Krauser, Leon is able to rescue Ashley and defeat Saddler with Ada's assistance. Leon recovers a vial containing a Plagas sample from Saddler's corpse, but Ada forces him to give it to her at gunpoint. She then escapes from the complex in a helicopter, leaving Leon and Ashley to escape via jet-ski."

Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_evil_4

The bad guys in this are basically the villagers that follow the Los Illuminados cult. Each carry some weapon of some kind from a shovel/stick to flare's that blow up in your face. You also have the notorious Chainsaw man who occasionally pops up now and again to behead you resulting in an instant "Game Over".
Leon will find himself ganged up on in some cases because the villagers attack in groups of two all the way up to six or even more people. This was one of the most frustrating parts of the game because you can spend ten minutes at a time just shooting these people down.
As the game progresses these people are harder to push down - when shot in the head, tentacle looking things appear from the neck that whip you causing considerable damage

This game also has a limited inventory. Leon carries a case which can only fit so many items in it. This case can be upgraded to larger ones as the game goes on because you will occasionally come across the Seller. A suspicious looking guy I thought was a bad guy to begin with. He has all kinds of items for Leon if the price is right - Leon can exchange Pesetas for these items which include new weaponry and ammo as well as healing items etc.
You will also come across red and blue medallions that hang from high points such as trees and buildings. If you can collect all of these then the Seller will exchange something big for them.

Why I never completed it:

I tried, I really did try and get into this but I just couldn't. It wasn't compelling nor scary in the slightest.
It took a long time for the storyline to even get going, it was just Leon blowing a few people's head off in a Spanish village.
Being a PS2/Gamecube game it doesn't exactly have graphics that blow all previous horror games out of the park. There were no scary bits in it at all the good parts of the game were purely its mechanics E.g. Controls and Accuracy. The game is over the shoulder view so you see Leon at the bottom left side of the screen. When you aim your pistol/shotgun a laser helps you aim your shot although it does shake slightly as if Leon’s hands are shaking. What is annoying though is that your target goes off line when a shot has been made - it adds to the realism but when you have a mob to fight off, it makes things difficult.

The first time I played this, I got through the first chapter (up until you meet the Seller for the first time). At the beginning of the second chapter I arrived at a village where I was mobbed by a gang of people. I shot them down and even more people came so I shot them down too but even more came. This happened on repeat for about 15 minutes - I got fed up and put it away.
However, I later tried again, from the start. I got further this time and actually got to rescue Ashley from so place or another, I wasn't paying much attention. Low and behold, I stopped soon after that...I was bored.

People say Silent Hill is in trouble because of this game which brought new attention to Resident Evil as a series. In my opinion, Silent Hill should have nothing to worry about as far as Survival Horror games are concerned. It looked good and worked well but it WAS NOT A HORROR GAME.
I don't even think Resident Evil is a contender in this genre of games. Forbidden Siren on the other hand...Might just happen.

Why do people get excited by this game?
Am I the only person NOT to like this game?
Silent Hill Vs Resident Evil...Debate

Forbidden Siren 2

2008-10-22T07:27:00.001-07:00

Developer: SCE Japan
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released (UK): Aug '06
Released (US): N/A

Luckily, Christmas was around the corner when Forbidden Siren 2 came out in Europe or I wouldn't have played this game at all. The original was so hard I thought this one would be just as bad so I got my Mum to buy me it as a Christmas present.

The game takes place on the fictional Yamijima Island, Japan. Years before the events of the game, a Tsunami occurred there killing everyone on the Island making it inhabited. However, various people have found themselves on the island for a variety or reasons (explained later) where suspicious events start to happen.

Like the previous game, Forbidden Siren 2 has a big cast of characters, playable or not. Each character is on Yamijima Island for their own reasons.

Mamoru Itsuki is the main character of the game an is also the guy we start off as. He's a Journalist for an Occult magazine and has come to the Island to find out more about the Tsunami that occurred all those years ago. He takes a boat there along with other characters in the game but the boat is capsized and he finds himself on the coast of the island where he meets Yuri Kishida.

Yuri Kishida is found locked in a small building at Yamijima Harbour. She starts off as nice as a puppy but ends up not to be as she seems. We never play as Yuri and she only appears at the start of the game before we find out who she really is.

Ikuko Kifune is a dockworker who was working on the boat that capsized with Mamoru and Co inside. She has Psychic abilities and can take control of the Shibito's/Yamibito's movements which she uses to eventually save Mamoru from Yuri. She helps Mamoru get rid of our antagonist at the end of the game.

Yorito Nagai is a Private in the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Squad. He finds himself on Yamijima Island along with his supervisors; Takeaki Misawa and Hiroshi Okita after their helicopter lost control and crashed. After finding Okita, Yorito's friend, dead on site he goes along with Misawa to get help.

Takeaki Misawa is a Major in the same force as Yorito but goes crazy throughout the course of the game. He is killed by Yorito after he is seen threatening Ichiko Yagura but comes back as a Yamibito then as a Kou Yamibito who is destroyed by Yorito near the end of the game.

Akiko Kiyota (right) is another of the passengers of the boat Mamoru took to the Island although she is cleverly disguised in a big hat and sunglasses. She's a Psychic who has been "hired" to help Soji Abe with a big problem, explained later. She later starts to receive connections from a recently deceased Shu Mikami and helps get rid of our antagonist by killing herself (explained later). She's one of my favourite characters in the game, although I don't know why.

Shu Mikami is a famous Romance Novelist who was born on Yamijima Island. His mother had died as a child and his father, Ryuhei Mikami, looked after him before he was brutally murdered. Shu was eventually adopted by a family and lived in Tokyo eventually forgetting his childhood. Shu Mikami is blind and can only see by Sight Jacking his dog Tsukasa.

Shigeru Fujita is a police officer who was born on Yamijima Island but moved to mainland Japan with his wife. He comes back to the Island to investigate the rumours that people were living there again. A possessed Ichiko Yagura eventually kills him later in the game.

Ichiko Yagura is a student at Kameishino Prefectural Middle School who had died after being thrown off the Bright Win Ferry during a storm. Her body is taken over by another of our antagonists and we find her on the ferry not knowing what has happened to her. She later goes on to kill Shigeru Fujita before turning on Yorito Nagai.

Soji Abe has been accused of murdering his room mate, Ryuko Tagawa. He goes to Akiko, Ryuko’s psychic to help prove his innocence. He goes to Yamijima Island at Akiko's suggestion, on the boat with Akiko, Mamoru and Shu. I love Soji, he's my favourite character giving a bit of comedy and goofiness to the game. Watch the actor's face...He does a really good job.

Other characters, that aren't playable include:

Kanae, who was found, washed up by a younger Shu Mikami who was out with his father looking for treasure. The Mikami family takes her in because of her resemblance to Shu's mother. The villagers turn against her, calling her a witch because she was afraid of the light and would only come out at night. One night Tsuneo Ohta, the head fisherman gathered the villagers to hunt Kanae down and kill her. His daughter Tomoe Ohta was also a part of the mob but fell onto a tall pole after running away from a Shiryo.

Pictures from the games Japanese homepage:
http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/siren2/siren2_top/index.html

The Shibito's return to Forbidden Siren 2 but they're not alone. You have the problems of three new harmful creatures:
The Shiryo are red blobs that inhabit dead humans in order to create the Shibito. These weren't in the first game and they don't cause you too much trouble. They wander dark places and are afraid of light - they will die when exposed to it. They will bite you if they have the chance but can be beaten with a weapon.
The Yamirei look like slugs wrapped in black cloth. They are also afraid of light and will melt when exposed to your torch. They avoid light so go under lamposts if available to recover from them. They head butt you and are very sneaky, always coming fast from behind.

The Yamibito (below) are the biggest addition so I'll go into further detail:
When a Yamirei comes into contact with a dead body, that body will become a Yamibito. They're like Shibito's except they talk as usual thinking they are still the people they once were E.g. Shigeru Fugita, when a Yamibito can be heard saying phrases such as "I knew there was a reason I hated stake-outs." and "How about letting me cuff you?”
They stay away from light and they will shield their eyes if you approach them from the front making for an easy hit. They take less time to gain consciousness once down but they can be knocked out quite easily. They don't follow any set route like the Shibito do so they are less predictable.

There is also another kind of Yamibito around called the Kou-Yamibito. It is never explained what makes a Yamibito turn into a Kou-Yamibito and not every Yamibito in the game turns into one. Tomoe Ohta, Tsuneo Ohta, Takeaki Misawa, Ryuhei Mikami and Hiroshi Okita all turn into one eventually. The male Kou-Yamibito look like a hand (it's not a hand - just looks like one) walking on their fingertips (like Thing from the Addams Family). In place of where the wrist would be is the body of a usual Yamibito without a head. The head is in the palm of the hand instead. They have a black mist around them that block your sight if you're near them. The female Kou-Yamibito, Tomoe Ohta is in the form of a dog and is the fastest enemy you will encounter. All Kou-Yamibito will be attracted the light so turn yours off to avoid them and they are immune from attacks to the front. You need to shoot them in their back; a couple of shots will do it.

Our major Antagonist in this game is a creature called Mother. She is trapped and needs to open the seven gates in order to be released. She sends out a variety of 'Avatars' who kidnap women in order to use their body's to open these gates. Shu's mother was one as were Kanae, Ryuko Tagawa and Yuri Kishida. All these Avatars take on the appearance of Mother which explains Kanae's resemblance to Shu's mother and Yuri's resemblance to Kanae. It was Yuri who eventually completed the opening of the seven gates by using Mamoru to do the task for her.
Once these gates were open Mother could finally escape and with her, Yamirei would try and possess everyone on the Island.
Another Antagonist in the game is Otoshigo, the leader of the Shiryo and nemesis of Mother. Otoshigo also inhabits the sea and when Ichiko Yagura is thrown overboard the Bright Win Ferry, he takes over her body. I'm not sure why he infested Ichiko's body and what he was planning to do - The plot is very confusing. I don't even think Otoshigo was worth putting in the game to be honest.

Sight Jacking is back and you can use it to find Shibito, Yamibito and sidekick characters if they've gone missing. Some missions within the game force you to use the sight jack especially those involving Shu Mikami in some way. Ikuko Kifune can control the Shibito/Yamibito she sight jacks and Akiko Kiyota can see past memories through sight jacks when she reaches a certain place.

The Archive Items are also back but they're a lot more innovative in this one. It shows videos of events relating to the plot such as the film of Yuri Kishida's body being found on the ferry. ID's belonging to the characters can be found with some extra information such as a letter addressed to Mamoru from his girlfriend and a letter from Yorito's parents regarding his promotion within the force.
Unlike the first game, your archive items will stay in the archive once you've found it. If you die at all, the item will still be there and you don't even have to complete the mission through once you have it.

The weapons are the same...Pokers, Hammers, Crowbars, Pistols, Shotguns etc are all here. Yorito and Takeaki will always have a firearm of some sort with a good supply of ammo because of their link to the Army.

I loved this game very much and it's one of my favourites, below Silent Hill 4 probably. This second instalment has improved on the original a lot and here's why:

1) Hints are given at the beginning of each mission. Some are very vague but some are very useful. You'll get fewer hints as the game goes on but it's still a very nice addition to the game.

2) As already mentioned, archive items stay put once you collect them.

3) Checkpoints are easier to come by in this game. If you die throughout the mission, you won't have to start from the beginning like you did in the first one.

4) The maps are much better also. This time you can actually see where about you are on there. It's much harder to get lost.

5) The acting is so much better in this game than on the previous one. I've already mentioned Soji Abe and the actor that plays him so well but Shigeru Fujita and Akiko Kiyota also do good jobs with their faces. The actors also have a Japanese accent unlike in the first one where the actors had more of a British flare to them.

6) The Link Navigator can be accessed from the very beginning. It looks the same as the navigator from the first game with the characters on the top and the time at the side. Missions are split in two parts like in the previous game that unlocks when certain events happen in a previous mission.

It's unfortunate that this game was never released in the U.S. because it's much better than the first. I've been on American forums who have said how much Blood Curse improved on the series but most of the improvements mentioned were on this game too.
It's never been mentioned why it wasn't released over in the States. It may have been due to poor sales of the original or it may be because of a bad reception but it may be wise of Sony to release the game now after the release of Blood Curse. Maybe they could remake it the way they remade the original but I'd rather they do a whole new instalment.

This game really made the series for me and I have to give it a perfect score:

10/10

Why do you think it was never released in the US?
Is the acting better?
If I've completely missed the plot, please comment?

One's I've Never Finished...Part 2

2008-10-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

Forbidden Siren

Developer: SCE Japan
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released (UK): Mar '04
Released (US): Apr '04

I saw this game get a good 9/10 score from the Official Playstation Magazine. I decided to buy it, although it took me some time to find it. It's not well known in the UK unless you are a Survival Horror fan and has only now found itself known after the recent release of Blood Curse on the PS3.
(Note: Because of this reason, I haven't been able to find any good pictures, just various screenshots.)

What's it about?

Forbidden Siren is set in Hanuda Village, Japan where various different characters find themselves. The story is actually very confusing so I've put this excerpt from Wikipedia's article on the game:

"Siren is set in a remote, rural Japanese mountain village named Hanuda, which is characterized as being very traditional and particularly xenophobic. Following a ritual ceremony near midnight, the village teeters wildly between time and space, with an infinite sea of blood-red water in place of the usual surrounding mountains. The crux of the story focuses on the efforts of Hisako Yao, the leader of a strange local religion, to resurrect or re-awaken a being known as Datatsushi through an occult ceremony. The siren of the title is the call of Datatsushi, summoning the residents of Hanuda to immerse them selves in the red water, thus creating an army of subordinates called Shibito. The shibito then go about building a nest to house the corporal form of Datatsushi once it is summoned, as well as killing and converting any living humans left in Hanuda. The story is told through the perspectives of ten survivors, some of whom are natives of Hanuda, and is presented out of chronological order over the three days in which the mystery takes place."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Siren

There are four types of Shibito in this and they aren't defeatable meaning they will eventually wake up after being knocked out. They are attracted to noise and light so always walk (never run) when close to them and turn your torch off when around them.
The four types are:

Human Shibito - (Left) These look like Humans as normal, except for the blood coming from their eyes and the black stuff around their mouth.

Spider Shibito - They are called Spider Shibito because of how they walk. Like the Crab Yoga position they walk on all fours, their back towards the floor. At some point you see them creating webs with rope and string.

Moth Shibito - These Shibito have wings like a moth or butterfly. They also carry gun's making it harder to avoid them.

Brain Shibito - (Right with Risa) There are few of these about and they have worm like things hanging from their faces. They control the Spider Shibito so when the Brain is down, the Spiders will fall down also.

Sight Jacking is a concept within the game where the characters can see what the Shibito and other characters can see. This is vital plainly because this game involves more stealth than action. One character in particular wields no weapons whatsoever throughout their part in the game so stealth is absolutely necessary or you'll fail. Some Shibito hold rifles which can get you from far distances so sight Jacking informs you of what the shibito is focused on.
Shibito are very predictable and always use the same route either A to B or in circles. Sight Jacking various Shibitos in the area will make to wise to where they patrol as well as using their sight to find items.

There is a huge cast in this game, some characters being more important than others. Some characters you'll only play as once or twice, some characters you don't play as at all. Here's a list and the reasons they are at Hanuda Village.

Kyoya Suda (left) is our main character in the game and is the hero at the end (apparently). He's come to Hanuda to find out more about the massacre that happened there years ago.

Kei Makino is a Priest of the local religion. I haven't come across him much whilst I've been playing but he's the brother of Shiro Miyata is a doctor at the local hospital.

Risa Onda is is back at her hometown from Tokyo to see her twin sister Mina Onda who is a nurse at the hospital where Shiro works.

Tamon Takeuchi (right with Yoriko)is a teacher who grew up in Hanuda Village and has returned to find out what had happened to his parents who had died when Tamon was a child.

Yoriko Anno is Tamon's student who has come along uninvited. We find that she has a crush on her teacher which is the unofficial reason for coming along. She's quite annoying is this character - I don't like her much.

Hisako Yao is one of our bad guys although she is nice at the beginning of the game. She is a nun of the local religion and she's the reason the events of the game occur, reincarnating the god of their religion.

Miyako Kajiro (left) is the latest girl within the Kajiro family to be sacrificed for the religion. She is goes along with Kyoya for most of the game but she is completely blind which can be a pain for whoever is playing the game.

Reiko Takato is a teacher at the local elementary school whose student is Harumi Yomoda. Reiko spends half of the game protecting Harumi from the Shibito before sacrificing her life in order to save her once again.

Akira Shimura is also a resident of Hanuda and is the oldest character of the game. His Shotgun makes him the easiest character to play as although he is pretty slow. He kills himself to avoid becoming one of the un-dead, failing. He eventually becomes a Shibito.

Naoko Mihama is a model/TV Presenter who is in Hanuda to film the Television series, Occult Japan. Going a little bit crazy she drowns herself in the red water in a bid to keep her youthful looks. She is my personal favourite in this game.

Tomoko Maeda is a middle school student who becomes a Shibito. She dies off screen so we don't know how she died but she was probably killed by another Shibito

Mina, Yoriko and Miyako are the only characters we never play as through the game but all have quite important parts in the plot.

A lot of the time the playable character will have a sidekick with them. These don't attack the Shibito themselves but rely on you to do it. They'll do pretty much what you tell them to such as "Wait","Hide" and "Come Here". Female sidekicks may also need your help in pulling them up high places such as sheds, rocks etc. In some cases, hiding a sidekick in a certain place may encourage them to find items such as keys.

The graphics used in this game are very unique in the fact that the characters are played by actors (I don't just mean the voice). The actor’s faces are imposed onto the character models making them look more realistic. Going to the Menu Page allows you to see the real life actor playing the character.

The areas in the game include The Elementary School, The Maeda House, Lower Arato, Janokubi Valley and the Shibito Nest amongst others and there are some really good props hanging around such as the payphones, drawings (by the children at the school). The clothes the female characters wear are nice too - Risa Onda and Naoko Mihama for example.

In order to find out more about the plot, there are 100 Archive Items to find throughout the game. I love this part of the game because the guys at Sony have been really innovative regarding the kind of items you can get. Videos and Tapes are some of the best you can get but there are also newspaper and magazine articles which can be quite funny. I think these can be really interesting to look at.
The weapons are quite unique too. You have the staples such as the rifle and the pistol but you also have the Poker, Umbrella, Hammer and the crowbar.

Why I never completed it:

This game is extremely hard and that is the only reason I haven't been able to complete it. The game is much harder than most for the following reasons:

1) Where Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Project Zero have healing items to collect; Forbidden Siren has nothing like that. If you get trapped by several Shibito’s you will die, your energy however will go back to normal when you haven't been hit for a while.

2) If your Sidekick dies you will have to start from the top and because they don't attack Shibito they usually do unless you tell them to stay put.

3) Checkpoint is a word Sony Japan doesn't know about in this game. Checkpoints are exceptionally rare meaning that you have to do the whole mission from the start which is obviously a pain when you're near the end of a mission. Checkpoints do occur occasionally but not very often.

4) The game is quite time consuming if you're a magpie gamer like me I.E. You have to collect everything available to you. If you find an archive item then die during the mission, you will have to go and get the archive item again. It takes forever on the harder missions at the end of the game.

5) It is a very confusing storyline on religion which is a subject I personally find boring. To make the game even more confusing, the events of the game are not in chronological order so you're going back and forth but the link navigator will help you out a little. The link navigator is a graph with the character names at the top and the times on the left so you can look back at what mission came first. Unfortunately you won’t get control of it until halfway through the game.

The first time I played this I didn't get as far as the third or fourth mission without getting killed over and over again. I put it aside and just never went back to it...In fact, I sold it without giving it much of a chance - I found it just too hard.
Then Forbidden Siren 2 was due for release and despite the fact I was unsure about getting the second after failing the first, it was Christmas so I got my Mum to buy it for my present. I’m going to talk about Forbidden Siren 2 later but for now I’ll just say this. It impressed me so much I decided to get the original again and give it another go.
The second time I got a little further but I still found it rather hard and for a second time I put it aside. As I’m writing this now, I am attempting it again after the recent Blood Curse has been released although I’m using a walkthrough in order to do it.

Anybody else find the game extremely hard?
Archive Items? A pain or useful?
Who's your favourite character?

Project Zero III: The Tormented

2008-10-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Released (UK): Feb '06
Released (US): Nov '05

May contain spoilers. I was so unbelievably pleased when I heard Tecmo were doing a third Project Zero game. There were hardly any games out at that time for Survival Horror nuts such as myself so it was quite exciting. Being British I had to wait longer than most (as usual) - the game was out in November '05 in the States but we didn't get it until February '06.

Tecmo went in a new direction with Project Zero III: The Tormented in the fact that you play as three characters rather than the one.
You have Rei Kurasawa, our main protagonist, Miku Hinasaki from the original game and another new character Kei Amakura, Uncle of the twins from Crimson Butterfly.

It's a long opening but the game starts off with Rei approaching a car crash in the rain, inside the car is a young man who is unconscious and when Rei starts crying it becomes obvious she knows who the man is. The scene then cuts to Rei again taking pictures in an old, dilapidated mansion when Miku appears behind her and Rei informs her that the mansion is rumoured to be haunted but Miku ignore it "Rumours are just rumours" and immediately starts to pack away Rei's things "I'm gonna load these up" she says.

Just like Mafuyu's part in Project Zero 1, the dream sequence works as an introduction to the game but it's a little different. It's basically Rei chasing after the man through what appears to be a newer version of the mansion Rei was taking pictures of. You automatically start off with a camera, it's not the Camera Obscura but it means you can immediately start receiving points by taking photos of the various ghosts that show up. You're not in danger at this point, you cannot die but if attacked, Rei will snap out of her daydream and you'll miss some photo op's for some other ghosts.

The scene changes again and Rei has been tied up on the floor surrounded by four young girls with long black hair and stakes in their hands. Just as they set about impaling her, Miku interrupts and disrupts the day dream causing yet another cut scene. Rei is at home now and is in her dark room processing her pictures and finds the one Yuu was in. The scene skips again to Rei in her bed having a very disturbing sleep and we start the main part of the game.

Another difference between this game and the others is that all the hauntings happen in dreams rather than reality (Miku wasn't dreaming when at Himura mansion an Mio wasn't dreaming when in the lost village) meaning that there are sequences in reality that has a meaning to the game.
Every time you wake up Rei makes notes in her notebook about the various happenings and characters she encounters within her dreams. We find out from this that Yuu Aso was Rei's fiancée who died after the crash, caused by Rei who was driving at the time. We also learn that Miku is her assistant and very good friend throughout Rei's grievance of her late fiancée.
Once we find the Camera Obscura, some pictures taken throughout the dreams can be developed in the dark room and given to Miku who will find out some more information on the subject of the photo of interest.
You will also receive several letters from Kei, who was a friend and colleague of Yuu's and indeed Mafuyu's from Project Zero 1.
As the game progresses you'll find that some spirits travel into the real world with Rei and various haunting’s occur within the house. Keep a watch on Ruri, Miku's cat because it's rumoured he can be found where the various haunting’s happen.

The Camera Obscura is back but in this game we have three types, one for each character. Rei has the best one because it uses the special functions that you find around the mansion and it's more powerful meaning that it takes more energy from the nasty spirits with the shots.
Miku's camera doesn't use the special functions which means fighting with her is much harder (Tecmo are sticking with the whole damsel in distress theme with her) but she has the Double function which gives the camera extra charge and Kei's camera is weak so it takes him longer to defeat the ghosts.
The camera in this game uses Type-07, Type-14, Type-61, Type-90 and Type-Zero film and a nice thing about this game is that you have unlimited Type-07 film and Type-14 film is refreshed every time you start a dream.
Special functions include Blast, Zero, Pierce and Slow. In the previous games the camera automatically showed you the HP (Health) of the ghost you're battling but in this game you have to find the lens before it'll show you. This is a pain to get however...I was on my fourth go before I managed to get it.

Another new feature of this game is the introduction of Special Abilities. Each character has one although you hardly use Kei's special ability.
Rei has the Flash ability will send ghosts back from you when battling them, useful for when you miss a shot and a ghost is in your face.
Miku has the Sacred Stone which enables her to slow time to get better shots.
Kei can crouch. This isn't really necessary because you only need to do it once because Kei doesn't have the camera when you play as him for the first time. Crouching means he can hide from ghosts but most ghosts stay until they're exorcised.
Miku and Kei have something else going for them too. Miku can crawl under small spaces such as under the floor because she's teeny. Kei is a brawny man so can push furniture that block doors and he can take more damage than the girls can.

Let's talk about the ghosts of the game. I think they're truly remarkable and they are the best of the series. There are three in particular that deserve a thorough mention: Kiriko Asanuma AKA Crawling Woman, Tengai Narumi AKA Head Carpenter and Stroller Grandma (pictured below).

Stroller Grandma is unique in the fact that she is the only ghost who doesn't hang around to be defeated. She will strike you twice with her pram and then leave you alone...if you're lucky she'll show up a couple of times but I've managed to play the game through without coming across her once.
She is very hard to defeat because when she does show up it will be in a narrow corridor and she may come out of the walls. Your only chance is when she is coming straight at you but even then you have to get a couple of Fatal Frame shots. If you do manage to defeat her, you'll get a key which gains you access to the lens I mentioned earlier. Get this then you'll be able to tell how long the ghost has left, useful for when you get the boss fight at the end.

Tengai Narumi, the Head Carpenter is one of the hardest ghosts to beat, especially if you're playing for the first time. He's very violent and he's very fast and has a cleaver he attacks you with. He chases you throughout the first dream sequence at the game's start (He frightened me when he came out of the wall and rushed me) and you'll have to beat him several times throughout the game. He mostly bothers Rei but you'll come across him once as Miku, which she finds hard to do.

My favourite ghost of the game and also of the series is the Crawling Woman. She is a very scary looking woman with no part in the main plot of the game but she is one of the ghosts that show up a lot although you only have to fight her twice. As with Stroller Grandma you can only get her with Fatal Frame shots but it only takes one or two of them to get rid of her. The design of this character is the best - see for yourself. I found this clip on youtube.com, which shows your first battle with her. (Note: I don't know if the guys in the background are being real or putting it on but they definitely match my feelings at the time. WARNING! Bad Language.).

Another honourable mention is the Kuze Family Head but if I remember rightly you only have to fight her three or four times. Ghosts you will come across more regularly include three of the four Shrine Maidens, the Carpenters and Woman Brushing as well as the other rare ghosts such as the Engravers and the Mother and Daughter.
There is of course the main ghost of the game, Reika AKA The Tattooed Priestess, our Antagonist. Like Kirie from Project Zero 1, Reika was to take part a sacrifices before falling in love with a male visitor.

To become a priestess, the woman would have to have had suffered the loss of a loved one such as a family member. Reika's parents had died during a disaster of their hometown causing Reika to be adopted by the Kuze family.
The priestess had to be kept under lock and key in the hanging prison where she was cared for by the four Shrine Maidens, one of which was Amane Kuze. Amane is the half-sister of Kaname Ototsuki, an old friend of Reika's with whom she was in love once upon a time before joining the Kuze family.
The first ritual of the sacrifice is the Piercing of the Soul ritual where the Engravers had to tattoo her entire body whilst the Shrine Maidens sang a lullaby. The Priestess was then taken to the Chamber of Thorns where she was impaled by the Shrine Maidens for the Impalement Ritual.
Before her impalement, Reika had written about the many dreams she had of Kaname, who had returned to her thoughts after talking about him to Aname. She also stated that she hoped these dreams would last forever after her death.

The Unleashing happened when Reika was able to see Kaname one last time just before she died. Kaname had returned to the villiage after Reika's dreams connected with his and with the help of Aname he was able to sneak his way into the Chamber of Thorns to see her. Unfortunately the Family Head found him and killed him right in front of his 'love's' eyes.
Reika's spirit turned hostile to everyone within the manor and killed everyone she came across.

Now, everyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one finds them selves dreaming of the Manor of Sleep. Rei had lost Yuu, Miku had lost her brother Mafuyu in the Himuro Mansion and Kei had suffered the loss of his niece, Mayu Amakura from Crimson Butterfly.
It is up to these three to figure out the meaning to these dreams and a way to let Reika rest in piece.

I absolutely loved this game. I think it is the best of the series so far and will be hard to top. The graphics were much better in this and the ghosts looked much more real. The ghosts were scarier in this and the music that accompanies each ghost when it arrives adds to the tension. E.g. The music shifts but whilst some ghosts are predictable you will eventually come across music you don't recognise and be left waiting for the ghost to show up (normally from behind).
The fact that you played as more than one character was a nice addition to the series because it changed the style of game play. As I said previously, some ghosts are easier to beat as one character but harder as another.
The game has a lot of good extras such as extra costumes, missions in the mission mode and of course the ghost list meaning that this has good replay value.
I really find it hard to fault it. Kei's crouching ability wasn't really necessary but that wasn't enough to downgrade the game as a whole. Some may disagree with me and say that the original was the best and some may say Crimson Butterfly was the best but I give it a perfect...

10/10

Are the ghosts scarier in this game?
Is the series getting boring?
Is the game too dependent on the previous two games?

One's I've never Finished...Part 1.

2008-10-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Haunting Ground

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Released (UK): Apr '05
Released (US): May '05

After completing Project Zero I was bored and no other horror games were due out so I got this one. Haunting Ground sounded interesting to me and even though the critics didn't think much of it, I thought I'd give it a go.

What's it about?:

The game starts off with camera going down to the basement which looks to be used as a kitchen. There's meat hanging all over the place and a large man is seen chopping it up. The scene then goes to a cage that is in the room and in it lays our protagonist - Fiona Belli.
The large man looks at her and tries to touch her but is scared off by some lightning. We see start to see the end of Fiona's dream but she is woken up by the sound of the weather.Obviously she's pretty freaked out by the whole thing - anyone would be. She sees that the cage she's in is unlocked and goes about escaping. A very angry sounding Dog is also there but runs out the room leaving its collar behind. Just before the scene ends Fiona reads out the name - Hewie, our soon to be partner in crime, and our only weapon.

Typically, our female protagonist is skimpily clad in a white satin sheet for the start of the game and this is probably the only decent part of the game as far as men are concerned. At this point you have absolutely no idea what to do except wander around but you do find yourself following a route led by some stone steps which leads you towards a big door which is essentially Fiona's bedroom.
It's here where you are introduced to Daniella (below), the castles maid. She's a little crazy and talks like a robot (a characteristic or just bad acting?). She has some clothes for you to wear - which you change in to, unaware that someone is watching you through an ugly painting.

After a little walk around the castle you meet Debilitas, the big guy from the very beginning of the game. He's playing with a doll which he discards when he sees Fiona - he runs after her.
This part introduces the Evasion process of the game - Fiona can hide from the monsters and crazy people who run after her. Beds, Tables, Closets etc all provide hiding places but if you go to the same hiding place all the time, your stalkers will get wise to it and find you.

In events a bit further on in the game Fiona is distracted by the sound of a Dog whimpering outside. It's the dog we saw, Hewie and he's caught in a trap. Hewie is used to reach high places an to crawl through tight spaces to retrieve things for you as well as attacking the monsters and crazy people chasing you.
Hewie can get in the way though and you'll find yourself feeling guilty after accidentally kicking him whilst trying to break a vase.

Vases can contain various items such as flowers and herbs which can be used to heal yourself or cause damage to Fiona. Location’s known as Recovery Points (usually a sink) restores Fiona’s status, therefore giving her higher energy.
Items such as Jerky can also be found to help restore Hewie’s stamina and speed.

Let's talk about how Hewie works. Fiona gives orders to Hewie such as "Go", "Sit" and "Come Here" an can also tell him off when he does something wrong. Hewie, just like any Dog won't be perfect to start off with. He doesn't know Fiona and although her trusts her (because she saved him from the trap) he doesn't always do as he's told. You have to make sure you praise him when he does good by saying "Good Boy" - kicking him will make him trust you less so don't do it, but as I said - it can be easily done by mistake. As the game goes on you'll find it easier to get Hewie to do as you wish.

There are puzzles along the way some of which can be quite hard to solve and may requires Hewies help. Some example puzzles include an area with spotlights that have to be pointed towards a certain area for a room to be unlocked and the Lunar room which includes panels on the floor that have to be stood on in a certain order - Hewie will help you here.

Enemies in this game are split into two categories: Pursuers and Minor Enemies.
Minor Enemies include the Luminessant, a blue orb that is attracted to Azoth energy (humans have it apparently) and once it hits you, it omits a large sound which attracts a Pursuer. The Homunculus does nothing really except make mumbling noises and standing on their heads, I don't even think they chase you. Failures are like parasites and attach themselves to Fiona’s legs as well as screaming causing Pursuers to come for you.
The Pursuers are the game bosses and Fiona’s biggest problem - These I can go into in more detail.

I've already mentioned Debilitas who's like Quasimodo in appearance. He chases Fiona because he fancies her basically. All he wants to do is hug her and stroke her but he gets carried away (like Lenny in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck) and causes her harm. He's easy to hide from because of his stupidity but he's strong and Fiona or Hewie can't do much damage to him but he does runaway if he gets fed up of fighting.
I've also mentioned Daniella, the maid who becomes jealous her masters fascination of Fiona. She's a bit harder than Debilitas because she has access to various weapons and she's smart to the hiding places Fiona finds. You won't be able to hide from her in the same place over and over again. Daniella also crawls into hiding spaces and can make you jump if you come across her. She's also of a danger to Hewie too because she will hurt him if she cannot find you (Hewie doesn't hide with Fiona in some places). There is a good thing about Daniella though and I remember seeing her in a corridor but she didn't chase after me, she was cleaning. She will talk to you if this is the case and may even give you a useful item. If she's laughing manically then go the other way but if you come across a mirror she will be distracted by it and will stand there and scream for a while.
Riccardo (pictured above with Daniella) is a pain in your behind. He’s a bit more persistent than the other two before and will take forever searching in a room for you and if you hide in the same spot twice, he will find you the second time. On top of this he’s faster than Daniella who just walks after you and he has a gun so he can attack you from further away. Luckily we hardly get chased by this guy before we have to kill him.
Old Lorezo is someone we think is on our side only to turn out to be even more insane then anyone else in the game. He’s disabled so he can only crawl after you but he can be sometimes very fast so be careful. He cannot however open doors so if you close doors after you he won’t chase you no further. Lorenzo later comes back in two other forms but I’ll leave them out as you rarely come across them.

There are a huge array of items to collect such as health items, dog treats and accessories for Fiona to wear. Various boots are available to help Fiona make less noise when walking or to cause more damage to a pursuer when she kicks them. Chokers are available to reduce her Azoth energy so Luminessants don't bother you as much. You can also find Magnesium which blows up when someone steps on it, slowing them down.

Why I never completed it:

This is game is the most frustrating games I have ever played. I just got really fed up with it - I even got quite close to the end too but some of the reasons I gave up contain some spoilers so beware:

1) This is how the game mostly was...You make your way to your destination only for Debilitas/Daniella etc to show up. You run away and hide, wait 5 minutes, make your way back to your destination, get a little further only to be chased again. Very annoying indeed.

2) Sometimes it will take 10 attempts at trying to get Hewie to do something. I remember one spot where I needed Hewie to get a flower for me from behind a gate only he could get through. He just wouldn't go through the hole no matter how close I was to the flower myself. Just as in Project Zero, if you stay in a place too long, your stalker will find you. Debilitas showed up and I had to run away from the area.

3) Fiona can go into panic mode. If she is attacked she goes into a major panic which causes the screen to go into a blurry black and white as well as causing Fiona to fall and bump into walls. Basically, she becomes impossible to control which is bad game design if you ask me - this doesn't supply any form of tension or horror atmosphere - just frustration, pointless frustration.

4) Survival horrors have many staples in them. One staple of a survival horror game is the Map and Haunting Ground has a terrible one. The rooms have no names so it's hard to determine which room is which and it's quite small and feint. I never looked at it whilst I played it because there was never any point.

5) This contains quite a large spoiler regarding the character Lorenzo. When you first meet him he's in a wheelchair and cannot use his legs so he's quite easy to kill. The annoyance is that his character comes back to life and refuses to bloody well die. He comes back as his younger, much more mobile self and chases you all over until Fiona sets him a trap involving a large hole containing some Lava like substance. You think this would kill him but oh no - Fiona finds herself being chased by his burning skeleton. The game just would not end.

6) There's a section at what I believe is at the end of the game which took me ages to figure out what to do. I was being chased by the skeleton of Lorenzo and I died over and over and over again. You know what it's like when you play a game and die all the time - you get frustrated and when you die, you want to do it again as fast as possible just to get it done. This is why the "Game Over" screen is unbelievably irritating. The screen goes red and reads "Acta Est Fabula" with the most annoying music in the background. The whole thing goes on for a minute or two and it won't go away until it's finished. It's the equivalent of someone laughing in your face.

7) The game is 50% running away from your goal and 20% trying to get Hewie to do as he's told...It can take up to 5 minutes just to get him to follow you into a room. That means only 30% is finding out about the story and getting items and clues and so forth. It's very tiring and I found myself getting extremely restless. I could never do the section described in point 6 above so I eventually gave up and I no longer have this game, I sold it for £5. I never did find out how it ended.

You mean there wasn't anything good about it at all?

There were some good things worth a mention in this game and it's mostly aesthetic. The graphics are beautiful and the character models are fantastic, especially when Fiona and Daniella are concerned. The Belli Castle looked great, especially outside in the garden and the cut scenes are some of the best I've seen.

I've been quite harsh on this game - Does anybody disagree with me?
Fiona Belli...Could she be an overlooked competitor for best Survival Horror hero?

Project Zero

2008-09-14T15:40:00.001-07:00

Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Released (UK): Aug '02
Released (US): Mar '02

May contain Spoilers: I managed to find the first Project Zero from a Marketplace seller on Amazon.co.uk and as soon as it came I went upstairs to play it. Please note that I’m talking about this game as if this was the second in the series since I played Crimson Butterfly previous to this.

In the original Project Zero you play as men’s favourite Miku Hinasaki and it’s 1986. She has gone to the Himuro mansion in search of her missing brother Mafuyu Hinasaki, an amateur folklorist who had gone to the mansion to find his mentor Junsei Takamine who had gone to the mansion to research a new horror novel along with his production team of Kogi Agata and Tomoe Hirasaka.
When Mafuyu doesn't return from his search and Junsei and his team were also still missing Miku goes herself to find what happened to them.

At the beginning of the game you have your typical narration in the background. Miku tells you the story up to that point but also tells us that she has psychic abilities and frequently sees visions. She also points out that her Mother had died and Mafuyu was the only family she had left. Mafuyu could also see these visions which were passed on from their mother, Miyuki Hinasaki.
The game then starts off with the oh-so feminine looking Mafuyu as the controllable character to get you used to the controls of the game. He also has with him the Camera Obscura that can see things invisible to the naked eye. We find out more about the camera later and how it came to be in Mafuyu’s possession because it reveals more about his and Miku’s family history.

The Camera changes throughout the series but in Project Zero 1 it uses four types of film. From weakest to strongest these are Type-14, Type-32, Type-74 and Type-90. The camera also has several special abilities such as See (makes the spirit easier to see), Slow (Slows the spirits movement), Pressure (Pushes spirits further away from Miku), Paralyze (Stops the spirit temporarily) and Search (Finds the spirit after it's vanished). There is also a filament (at the top of the screen when in Camera mode, at the bottom of the screen in normal mode) which turns blue or orange when a ghost is around.

There are three types of ghosts that show up within the Himuro mansion:
Secret Ghosts – These can only be seen through the Camera Obscura after you’ve taken their picture. The filament will glow blue when there’s one around and the pictures of these ghosts will go onto your ghost list which is unlocked when you complete the game.
Friendly Ghosts – You can see these without the camera and will not attack you. These ghosts act as clues during the game and they tend to lead you around the mansion. These are also added onto the ghost list on completion of the game.
Vengeful Ghosts – When the filament goes orange the ghost is a hostile one and will attack you. These ghosts can be related to the story (E.g. Junsei Takamine, Kirie) or just random ghosts with stories of their own (E.g. Broken neck lady, Long Arms).
You’ll find that some ghosts are harder than other ghosts within the game such as the Blind Woman who can be very fast for someone who can’t see, the Himuro Family Master and of course Kirie Himuro - the boss ghost of the game.

Kirie was chosen to become the Rope Shrine Maiden after winning the traditional game of Demon Tag which was played especially to find the next sacrifice. In preparation for the Strangling Ritual she was confined to the house for 10 whole days and could only be seen by the Himuro Priests, veiled so that she couldn't see their faces. This was done to keep the Maiden 'Pure' so she was more appealing to the Hellgate. However, a male visitor (name unknown) was invited to stay at the mansion (again for a reason unknown) while Kirie was inprisoned. Eventually the two of them grew very close and Kirie fell in love with him, therefore losing her purity. The Ceremony Master Lord Himuro, another of the hard ghosts to beat wasn't happy about this outcome and ordered someone to kill the boy corrupting Kirie's soul.

After her lovers death, Kirie started to have second thoughts about going on with the ceremony because she felt responsible for her boyfriends death. This resulted in the Strangling Ritual failing to close the hellgate and all hell broke loose. The Calamity struck the entire mansion and spirits of those that had died at the mouth of Hells Gate broke loose killing everyone in sight. Anybody not killed by this malice were killed by the Ceremony Master who killed himself afterwards.
The spirit of Kirie split into two forms: The vengeful ghost who waits in the Mansion killing anybody who visits and her younger self who seeks help in cleansing Kiries soul.

As the game progresses you find out more about how Mafuyu has managed to survive longer than Takamine and Co. Does he survive? You have to play it to find that out but the ending is a dissapointing one (Unless you play it on Nightmare mode which as a different ending) and if you were Miku, you would be pretty much pissed off with your older Bro' after all the trouble you've just gone through.

The ghosts aren't the best looking of the series but that's expected since this was the first one made. The atmosphere was definitely there and again I was forced to take several time outs to calm myself down whilst playing it. Unfortunately though, the atmosphere dies down once you've played it a couple of times (Crimson Butterfly still keeps me under suspense when playing it). As I mentioned before the men love Miku in this game and the majority of Project Zero fans all say she is the best character of the series (Sae from Crimson Butterfly is another favourite) but I disagree slightly. She's a bit pathetic to say the least but most of the main characters in the series are...Mio and especially Mayu both fit the same bill. Project Zero 3 moves away from that, a little bit anyway but I'll talk about that game later.

It's a good game, not brilliant. Crimson Butterfly was better and The Tormented was even better than Crimson Butterfly.

7/10

Miku Hinisaki...The best Project Zero character?
Has Project Zero 1 survived well after the release of Project Zero 2 & 3?

Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly

2008-08-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Released (UK): Apr '04
Released (US): Nov '03

May contain Spoilers: After playing Silent Hill 3 I had thoughts to try Silent Hill 1 but wasn't willing to buy a PSOne memory card for the pleasure so I thought back to a game I saw when reading on Silent Hill 4.

Another game came out around the same time as Silent Hill 4 and it was Project Zero II (Fatal Frame in the US). I remember reading the premise of the game in the Official Playstation Magazine, thinking of how different it was. I even thought it was a child’s game where you just took pictures but after seeing the cover, my opinion changed.

The game begins with just a black picture, a female voice is heard to say “Didn’t we always promise each other... that we will always be together? You then see a girl in a ditch, another girl looking on.
The scene then cuts to see Mio Amakura, our main character sat by a pool. Another girl comes behind her and they reminisce about the times they both spent there. The other girl is Mio’s twin, Mayu.
“Is your leg OK? Does it hurt?” Mio askers her twin, who’s leg is bandaged. Another cut scene is shown that shows a younger Mayu running after Mio who had run ahead of her. We find out how Mayu hurt her leg and realise that the girl in the ditch earlier was Mayu who had fallen after failing to keep up with her twin.
The scene switches again back to the pool and Mio...May however, is missing. She’s gone limping off chasing a red butterfly, Mio chases her.
Eventually you’re led to a shrine gate where a woman in a white Kimono is crying “I’m sorry”. Through the gates you find Mayu looking out to a village – The lost village we are sure to find out about later.
Then the game begins...

Mio is the character that you control and Mayu obediently follows her along but she will eventually become a pain to poor Mio.
The game starts you off with a sub-plot to solve before getting you into the main storyline and acts as a little tutorial in how the game works and how to go about the workings of the ghosts.
Our first clue is found on the path leading into the village, a woman’s bag has been dropped on the floor. Inside it we find a newspaper clipping telling of a geological surveyor, Misumi Makimura going missing after surveying the site for a dam. Then we find a follow up article stating the close of the missing person’s case, he’s been missing for ten days and finally there is a picture of a man and a woman, a couple.
The twins go further down the path and your first ghost appears, a woman walking into a house and you start to feel a bit of uneasiness now.

Once you’re in the house you start to get the feel of the game is going to work. The music is scarcely used and when it is used it’s very low in order for the creepy sound effects to come through – bangs, moans etc. When you walk through the door a ghost pops up through a trellis and it looks like the woman form the picture you found earlier and likely owner of the bag it was in.
Once you’re in the main part of the house a cut scene is shown where Mayu seems freaked out by something, shaking in the corner. Twins being Twins, Mio also feels what Mayu feels and when she touches her we see what happened to the missing surveyor’s girlfriend.
It turns out she came to find Misumi and found herself in this house where she thinks she sees him. However, he’s dead (obviously) and what she’s seen is his ghost who eventually kills her. I know that if this had happened to me I would have been right out of there but the exit door has now been sealed shut – we’re stuck now.

It’s Mio and Mayu’s job to figure out what happened to Misumi and why he killed his girlfriend but what can two young girls do? The Fatal Frame/Project Zero games are based around the use of the Camera Obscura which we find within the house. This Camera was invented by Dr. Kunihiko Aso and can see things invisible to the naked eye and has special exorcising abilities. As you proceed throughout the game you’ll come across doors that are blocked by a supernatural power, the camera obscura reveals clues as to how to get rid of these powers shutting the door. The main role of the camera is to get rid of those hostile ghosts that want you dead which brings us to the ghosts of the game.

Battles occur very often throughout the game but ghosts can be hard to beat or easy to beat depending on their part in the story. As already explained the first ghost we have to fight is Myako, Misumi’s bird. She doesn’t have a part in the main story of this game; therefore she doesn’t present much of a challenge. She’s just one of many ghosts with a separate mini story that comes around every so often to pester you. However, ghosts such as the Kusabi and the Mourners do play a big part and they are much, much harder...especially as the game goes on.
Various ghosts have different personalities and move in a different way. Some are fast and some are slow, some move in circles around Mio and some vanish and reappear somewhere else. One particular ghost crawls on the floor and attacks your feet.
Some ghosts are very memorable such as the Kusabi (below), an outside visitor sacrificed to appease the Hellish Abyss of All Gods Village when there were no twins available to complete the longer lasting Crimson Sacrifice which does the same job. In Crimson Butterfly the Kusabi is Seijiro Makabe, a folklorist who had visited the village for research at the time. He was the last Kusabi to be sacrificed before the crimson sacrifice of Sae and Yae Kurasawi (I’ll talk about them later). This Crimson Sacrifice failed and brought on the Repentance where the Kusabi broke through the abyss and slaughtered the town.
Other memorable ghosts for me included the Limbo Woman, a ghost with no arms who was killed by the Kusabi when the Repentance happened.

Sae Kurasawa is the main ghost in this game and is the Antagonist. I’ll talk about her briefly as to not ruin the whole game if you’re intending to play it. Sae and her twin sister Yae were the daughters of the ceremony master at the time of the repentance and were both due to perform the Crimson Sacrifice. The Crimson Sacrifice is performed by twins (shrine maidens for females, Altar Twins for boys). The older twin must kill the younger twin by strangling them whilst priests look on. The dead twin is then thrown into the Abyss to appease the spirit and the Remaining – the older twin stays in the Village to protect it.
The twins grew up with Altar Twins Itsuki and Mutsuki Tachibana and when they were 14, the boys were due to do the ritual where Itsuki killed Mutsuki but the ritual failed and Sae and Yae were forced to do the ritual one year later.

Seijiro Makabe and his companion Ryozo Munakata visited during this period and Ryozo took a liking to the twins and became friendly with them. The twins knew about the Kusabi ritual and were worried one of these men was to become the sacrifice so they helped them escape. Seijiro however, stayed and did the ritual whilst Ryoza went to plan for the twins escape.
Sae was very willing to complete the ritual and only went along with the escape for her sister. With Itsuki’s and Ryozo’s help, the twins escaped but Sae still wanting to do the ritual in order to save the village fell, on purpose hoping Yae would come back for her but she didn’t. Yae kept on running and left Sae to be caught by a mob of villagers (Mio also gets mobbed by these) and brought back home where she waited for Yae’s return. Seijiro had been sacrificed at this time to keep the bad spirits at bay until the twins did their turn. Itsuki had been imprisoned for helping Yae to escape.
Gradually Sae started to lose faith in her sister coming back an went to see Itsuki one last time but the final straw for Sae came when she found Itsuki dead, after committing suicide. She decided to do the ritual by herself and was hung off the last Tori Gate on the way to the Abyss opening where she was thrown.
The whole thing failed because the ritual was not performed correctly and the Abyss opened and a vengeful Sae emerged along with the Kusabi who slaughtered the whole town.
The arrival of Mio and Mayu shake things up as the ghosts of the town consider them to be the next sacrifice. Throughout the game you’ll hear someone shout “The twins that will become the sacrifice have returned” – freaky.
It’s Mio’s job to find out the story of the town and how to get out of there though it’s easier said than done because Mayu becomes possessed by Sae’s spirit who wants to complete the ritual for one last time.

The game is very good and the critics regard this as the best in the series. Though it’s not my favourite in the franchise it definitely provides a lot of scares and good atmosphere which keeps you on edge throughout.
Gamer.TV, the UK gaming magazine show did an experiment where they strapped people up to a machine which measured someone’s heartbeat and reflexes when playing a variety of games. People were told to play games such as Silent Hill, Doom and of course Project Zero – which won.
The series may not be considered the best Survival Horror game to fans (Resident Evil and Silent Hill share that prize) but it is the scariest no matter what people say. Those who say Silent Hill is the scariest haven’t played this game – Silent Hill is brilliant, amazing and fantastic but scary?
I was really surprised at how good this game was because I thought the premise sounded pathetic. I wasn’t prepared to sweat throughout the whole thing.

9/10

After playing this I decided to go hunt for the first in the series to see how it compared to its successor.

Is this the scariest of the series?
Is Sae the better Antagonist?
What did you think of the Twins?

Silent Hill 3

2008-08-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released (UK): May '03
Released (US): Aug '03

May contain Spoilers. At the time this was considered the best game of the series - at least it was according to the reviews and forums. I was really looking forward to playing this one more than I was SH4 or SH2.

You play as Heather Mason, a 17 year old girl who has a bit of an attitude at first. You don't know much about her but that's what this game is about - self discovery. On your first attempt at this game you're thrown right in the deep end because you're playing from the beginning. The opening 'level' is set in an Amusement Park and only lasts a couple of minutes. At the end, you find it basically acts as a dream sequence because Heather wakes up in a restaurant, the noise of hustle and bustle going on in the background.

When she leaves the restaurant you find she's in a shopping mall. You start to find more about her here because of two things. First she calls her Dad and looks happy when she speaks to him and laughs at a joke he must have told. Then she gets interrupted by a dishevelled looking man who introduces himself as Douglas Cartland, a Detective sent to find her - "It's about your Birth" he says. Heathers not interested though (would you be?) and walks away, however, Douglas follows you. Heather, it seems, also has a bad temper because she blows when he doesn't leave her alone. She runs into the toilets and escapes through the window.

This is when the game begins and you're on your way back home to Daddy as promised. Sounds easy enough but when she returns to the Mall she find's it deserted, except for some very nasty looking monsters. Actually the Monsters in Silent Hill 3 are pretty basic, the first one you come across being the Closer, a tall monster with clubs for arms - large but they move slowly. You also have the dog-like Doubleheads, the screeching Pendulum which is safer to run away from, the Numb Body (pictured), Scraper, Slurper, Insane Cancer and the Nurses make their return.

The monsters are of the same style as Silent Hill 2 - fleshy and wooden looking, but they're better in terms of sound effects. The Numb Bodies in particular make a screaming noise while they walk and they echo from the walls which gives a good atmosphere. The Nurses have a nice scream when you attack them which also add a bit extra. Other than these two, the monsters aren't anything to scream about yourself.

One thing this game does have though is bloody good atmosphere. Each area you go you're guaranteed a scare of some kind. We've already mentioned the Shopping Centre and you get a good freak when you knock on a toilet cubicle to find the door opens to reveal a bloody toilet seat. You also have the Subway, Sewers, Construction Site, Hilltop Centre, Brookhaven Hospital and the Amusement Park with the unforgettable Borley Mansion.

The best Silent Hill 3 moment takes part in the Hilltop Centre when a Mannequin mysteriously loses it's head when you back is turned - makes you jump too because it screams. I always find it creepy when inanimate objects come to life in some way.
Heathers stalker at the Hospital also causes a shiver down your spine just because the feeling that someone else is there in a deserted hospital is a good way to creep anyone out. Silent Hill 3 makes much better use of the hospital than SH2 (it's the same design) by making it look more like a mental hospital. The stalker, the knocked over wheelchair in the basement and the phone call you receive from a maniac in the locker room.
In general Silent Hill 3 has the better 'levels' than the other Silent Hill games I have played so far.

Heather meets several people while she walks around to settle her fate. We've already met Douglas but things go really freaky after our meeting with Claudia Wolf, a cult member who is arranging for her god to be born to make way for a new paradise. Another cult member we meet is Vincent, a priest within the cult who wishes to stop Claudia's scheme. He helps Heather throughout the game though we don't know whether it's in her best interest or his own.
Supporting characters include: Leonard Wolf, Claudia's father who was committed to the Hospital for violence towards 'non-believers' of the cult in which he was a part and Harry Mason, Heathers father and the protagonist of the original Silent Hill game.
You don't feel much emotion for these characters unless you had previously played the first Silent Hill game - Harry is well known to people who have played the original and it's quite emotional to see him meet his untimely end. Claudia and Vincent don't have much personality and I doubt they'd ever be named as a favourite among the fans. Douglas you feel a little towards because he becomes a new father figure for Heather and even though it's not mentioned, the game leads you to believe they leave together when the game ends.
Then we have Heather - named by fans as the best Silent Hill character but it must be the testosterone speaking because I don't think she has much going for her. She's a strong character for sure but likeable? She's a little bratty at the beginning of the game and has a short fuse and a little stubborn. I wouldn't name her as my favourite character of the series let alone my favourite Protagonist.

My opinions on this game always change. At the time I remember not liking this game much when comparing it to Silent Hill 2 & 4 but now I think it was a better game than Silent Hill 2. It has a better atmosphere than SH2 and the characters weren't exactly great in either of them. Silent Hill 3 also had better environments but Silent Hill 2 had a better Protagonist, storyline and Pyramid Head....

9/10

The game is on par with Silent Hill 2 but this is my opinion only. The general opinion is that Silent Hill 2 had everything necessary for a horror game but Silent Hill 3 also had these things but improved on them and if Heather is the best character Team Silent have ever come up with - wouldn't that make SH3 the superior one?

Heather Mason...Is she really the best Protagonist?
Or are fans deciding with their eyes?

Silent Hill 2

2008-08-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released (UK): Nov '01
Released (US): Sept '01

May contain spoilers. After being told so many people that Silent Hill 4 was garbage I decided to see how the game compared to previous instalments. Many people said Silent Hill 3 was the best of the bunch so I set off to buy that but I couldn't find it anywhere. Amazon didn't have it, neither did Game or Gamestation. I tried HMV but they didn't have it either but they did have Silent Hill 2. I was going to try them all anyway so I bought it and took it home to play that night.

In this game you play as James Sunderland who you find staring at himself in mirror of a public restroom. He looks stressed and once you lead him out of there you find out why.

You hear a lady's voice narrate a letter whilst James looks out over a lake. The letter asks James to meet the letter writer at their 'Special Place' in a town called Silent Hill where she says they had visited before.

James admits that this letter was written by his wife, Mary but he also says that Mary died two years ago from a disease. Creepy, huh? James doesn't know which special place she means "This whole town was our special place". We have to actually make our way to Silent Hill first so let's get a map and hop to it.

This games major flaw is the amount of travelling you have to do and it isn't always obvious where you're supposed to go. At first you're just following a trail but once you reach the town you're entering a maze. Some roads are blocked and you'll start getting restless trying to find to an unblocked route. A blood trail and the steps of a shadowed figure lead you on for a bit longer but then you're on your own.

At this point you have a weapon (wooden plank) and a Radio that doesn't seem to work. Where do you go from her though? The idea is to go to Rosewater Park but when you follow the road there, it's blocked. I walked around for ages until I came across a Caravan with a message inside "I'll wait at Bar Neely’s" - a clue at last, 20-30 minutes in. Once at Bar Neely’s we find ourselves on a roll and eventually we're at Woodside Apartments.

The game finally gets going now and the spookiness creeps in. The music in the Apartments is the main addition to the atmosphere (Akira Yamaoka is a genius) but the lack of light is also a factor.

The Apartment building is one of many areas you come across. Once out of the building you reach the Park, Brookhaven Hospital, the Historical Society and Prison then finally the Lakeview Hotel.

All of them have their moments: The hospital has the gloomy atmosphere. The Prison has noises coming from empty prisons and the labyrinth. Your weapons are taken away from you for part of the Hotel level and then the Apartments have Pyramid Head (below).

Named by most Silent Hill fans, favourite Survival Horror baddy of all time, Pyramid Head is a monster created by the Town to taunt James throughout his mission to find his dead wife. The first time you see Pyramid Head, he's standing behind a fence in the corridor of the Apartment building. He's bright red and definitely unmissable - I remember feeling quite excited when I saw him. The game was finally beginning to get good.

Other monsters of the series have become pretty standard within the series. The Lying Figure (aka Patient Demon, Straightjacket) we see again in Origins and the movie. The Nurses are also a fan favourite and they've featured in every Silent Hill game (though they look rather different in Silent Hill 1). Other monsters include the Creeper, Abstract Daddy, and the Mannequin, who despite having very feminine features (long slender legs) have a masculine scream, they also look very good against the dark environment giving a more freaky appearance. There's also the Mandarin, a big thing that clings to the grate ceilings with their feet, but why they're here is beyond me. You only come across 'em once and they're of no danger to you.

Is James the only person in this town? No, he's not. He comes across several people in Silent Hill, all of which have their own reasons for being there.

Angela Orosco is the first you come across, in the cemetery during you trek towards the town. She says she's looking for her mother but as the game progresses you find out little more disturbing things about this woman (who looks older than her 19 years). Then you meet the bratty little Laura briefly after she steps on your hand. Eddie Dumbrowski is rather complicated because he doesn't tell you why he's there directly - you have to follow the various clues the developers scatter throughout the game (notably his conversation with Laura at the Bowling Alley. Then you have Maria. Ah! Maria - the guys all love her. James meets her in the park and confuses her with his wife and she does look a lot like her except for a couple of things. She's dressed more provocatively and is very flirtatious.

Like Pyramid Head she is also a creation of the town and is there to torment James as much as possible. However, James doesn't see this because he's attracted to her (she looks like his wife) and likes having her around.

There are several endings in the game and if you have the Directors Cut/Greatest Hits version, there's even more:

1. Leave
2. In Water
3. Maria
4. UFO
5. Re-birth
6. Dog

There are several things you have to do or avoid in order to get these individual endings such as listening to conversations in full, being nicer to Maria and collecting items. Leave is the generic ending however and if you just play the game oblivious to all of the extras, you will get this.

Due to all these endings there is a lot of replay value for this game. On top of this you have a seperate choice of difficulty setting for the puzzles as well as the gameplay which also changes your experience. The hard riddle settings will really get your brain working because they can become quite hard (especially the coin puzzle - watch out for it).

Overall the game is good, not brilliant but good. The game didn't have the same amount of tension that Silent Hill 4 had despite Pyramid Head's wandering around. The monsters didn't appeal to me as much, though the Mannequins were the highlight of the bunch - they weren't around for much of the game.

The storyline was compelling, a letter from a dead person is quite thrilling don't you think? I didn't like the supporting cast very much - Laura is everything I hate in a kid and Angela Orosco was the most boring person I had ever come across, ungrateful too.

Akira Yamaoka did a very good job with the music he's become very well known for and really created the tension the game probably wouldn't have had without it.

After playing the game I still wasn't inclined to believe that Silent Hill 4 was the poorest Silent Hill game but it was still an enjoyable experience.

8/10

However, during playing this game I managed to get my hands on Silent Hill 3 from a Marketplace seller on Amazon.co.uk.

Pyramid Head...Best character ever?
Do you think SH2 is the best in the series?

Silent Hill 4: The Room

2008-08-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released (UK): Sept '04
Released (US): Sept '04

May contain Spoilers. You're Henry Townsend, a regular Joe who lives by himself in an apartment located in a town called Ashfield. You moved there two years ago living in a carefree manner. Then the game starts by bringing you up to date - Five days ago Henry started having nightmares, which shows in the opening scene that was on the demo. At the same time Henry found himself locked in his apartment with no TV, Phone and no way out but hang on.... When Henry wakes up from his dream he receives a phone call, from a woman. "Help Me,” she asks but when the call cuts off, you find the cord has been cut - how did that happen? The door has been locked from the inside and some one named Walter has written a message "Don't go out".

The game really gets going when you hear a noise in the bathroom. A hole has been knocked right through the wall - who did that? You're the only one in the room, right? Within the first ten minutes of the game, you're already gripped, well I was, and I was spooked. How can you not be after seeing this video?

Curiosity gets the better of Henry and he forces the player to go check the hole out. On this occasion, the hole leads you to the start of the first part of the game - the Subway World. It's a little too quiet to be a subway station but you do see a woman up ahead. She introduces herself as Cynthia one of the eight other characters Henry will meet throughout the game in the various 'worlds'. You will meet a new character in every world you come across - Jasper Gein, Andrew De Salvo, Richard Braintree are among them.

These worlds all do their very best to add to the feel of terror throughout the game - some more so than others. I found both the Forest World and Water Tower World to be very intense because they make the best use of sound effects from wild animal calls to footsteps. Other environments include the Building World, Apartment World and Hospital World. The characters that you meet all have their part in the story but the character the game is based around is the life of the Antagonist of the game - Walter Sullivan (below).

At the time I didn't know it because this was the only game of the series I had played at that time but the name Walter Sullivan was mentioned in Silent Hill 2 several years earlier. Fans should have known what kind of guy he was as soon as his name came up but newbies like me were clueless. Either way, we were due to find out more about him.

What about the monsters? Games need bad guys right? The Doublehead was the only monster I had seen of this game before playing it but more were to come. The first monster you come across is the Sniffer Dog who in pairs wander around the Subway World among with the ghosts or Victims that haunt it. Other monsters include the ape like Gumhead, the quite tall and dangerous Patients, the utterly annoying Wall Men and the pointless Mothbats, Tremors and Mushrooms.

Game play starts off in quite a tedious way. I got stuck almost immediately. You lose Cynthia and meet a dead end when you find two closed off stairways and a locked subway entrance. It took me ages to realise that there was a hole in a restroom wall that I had to go through. I thought it was my own foolishness but a friend of mine got stuck in the same place also. This hole leads you back to your apartment and it's also the moment when you realise that these holes are the gateway to the 'real' world from the 'nightmare' world and vice versa. You have to keep checking back at you apartment for any new information or clues. This is also the only place you can save your progress. Henry travels light through out the game and can only hold ten items at a time. Any reject items that you don't need can be stored in a chest back in your apartment so check what you need before leaving home - this adds to the little bit of tediousness that you get at the beginning of the game. It's all quite easy until you get to the second half of the game where the dark part of the storyline really kicks off. The second half of the game sees Henry with a companion, Eileen Galvin - his next-door neighbour.

Around this time Henry sees his apartment is no longer the safe haven it was previously (before Eileen, just being in your apartment added health to your health gage) as it's now starting to become possessed by evil spirits. Silent Hill 4 as four endings which are determined by two things: 1) Eileen’s Survival. 2) % Of spirits exorcised. Eileen will become possessed herself if Henry allows her to get hurt too badly so if you want a good ending - don't let it happen. Spirits in your apartment can be easily exorcised with the use of the Holy Candle, many of which can be found throughout the nightmare worlds. The more you exorcise, the more chance of a better ending.

Then we get to the boss fight - Walter Sullivan is our target and we have to end him within a time frame, which is dependent on how well you've played. Eileen becomes possessed at this point but how badly possessed she is highly depends on if she was badly hurt. Walter has to be killed before Eileen walks into the machine Walter had invented - if she's badly possessed she walks faster so you have less time to kill Walter in but if you want the bad ending then don't worry about it. Overall the fight is quite hard - you need to make sure you bring enough health items with you and that you're equipped with a pistol, some bullets and a melee weapon in case your bullets run out. The fight should take around 10 minutes to complete it but it is very likely you will be on your 5th attempt when you do.

I loved this game. I thought it was atmospheric, intriguing and disturbing all at the same time. The hauntings in the apartment always had me scared to see what new spirit had occurred and the Doublehead didn't disappoint me - there's a point in the game where you see six of them waiting for you at the end of a large corridor, blocking the exit out of there. I was hesitant to move any closer.

I've since heard a lot of complaints about the game and Silent Hill fans have said that they hated it and I couldn't see why they should say that. I've since played the other games and even though I can see what they mean - It wasn't set in Silent Hill at all, there was no flashlight or radio, Henry could only carry ten items and no more - but you can't criticise the game too much. The Room originally wasn't going to be a Silent Hill game at all and you can tell but it wasn't a crap game. Would fans have been as critical if the game wasn't part of the franchise? I doubt it.

The game's good points were plentiful: Better graphics, good-looking monsters, excellent plot and the best thing? Walter Sullivan still is the best horror antagonist of all time (in my eyes anyway).

10/10

I wanted to find out for myself how these games could possibly be better than this one. So I did....

Did you like Walter Sullivan?
Was Silent Hill's greatest Monster in SH4?
How was Henry as a Protagonist?

My First Survival Horror Experience

2008-08-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a late bloomer in almost everything I do and gaming is one of 'em. It was 2004 when I bought my Playstation 2 and the last time I played a game was in 1991 when I got a Sega Megadrive for Christmas.
I tried all sorts of flops when I bought it - Sonic Heroes, Smackdown: Here comes the pain and Need For Speed. I started to buy the Official Magazine to find out what games were actually worth the £40 I was paying for them. One thing managed to catch my eye however and I pursued to read it.
It was a preview of the fourth game in a successful series called Silent Hill. It was only half a page but it was a picture that was brought to my attention, the Doublehead (pictured)- A monster that was due to be in the game.
The games I last played as a kid were Sonic the Hedgehog, Alex Kidd and Ecco the Dolphin and this was nothing like the characters in these games.
Anyway - It got me interested and I read it and I thought the games sound really good. After that I would always read on if Silent Hill 4: The Room was mentioned.
Eventually, a demo was given out with the magazine and I finally managed to get hands on with this game. The demo was really interesting and gripped me immediately - The man coming out of the wall in your apartment in which you are currently trapped.
It was hard however and I found that I got nowhere quite quickly. When the game was finally released I found myself doubting whether I should actually buy it. I thought it would be too hard (I was known for giving up quite easily) and therefore a waste of money. A couple of days later, I bit the bullet and went to the shop to get it.
These are my thoughts on the game.....

What was your first Survival Horror game?
Did you like it?