Fatal Frame

by Tecmo

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005V9NH
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 5, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,526 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #10 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Action
  • #24 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > All Games
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Review

With a couple of exceptions, the PlayStation2 has been starved for quality survival horror games. Thank goodness then for the arrival of Fatal Frame, with its mix of Japanese mythology, atmospheric graphics, and freaky sound effects.

The game tells the tale of a young girl searching for her missing brother in a cursed mansion--all fairly straightforward stuff. Fans of the genre will feel right at home as the backstory is quickly filled out, allowing the process of ghost hunting to begin--and unlike the comic lunacy of the GameCube’s Luigi’s Mansion, the spooks and specters here are of a very adult nature. Screaming and moaning accompany the arrival of the ghosts, and they don’t shut up until they’re "killed"--an act that requires a camera. Fatal Frame eschews pistols and shotguns in favor of a celluloid-death approach, which makes sense given the fact that the opposition are well beyond the living to begin with. In camera mode, the heroine’s faithful Box Brownie pops up in a first-person style and it’s necessary to keep the ghoul within the focusing reticule in order to drain maximum power from it. It sounds a little lame, but in practice it works well and is an effective way of explaining just how to "shoot" ghosts.

The plot development is nicely done, and there are a host of puzzles to solve that are well balanced and never get too tough, but it’s the graphics and sound work that really make Fatal Frame special. Cutscenes are rendered in a variety of styles designed to increase the tension, and the sparse soundtrack works wonders when it kicks in. While it’s not the strongest title in the PS2’s gaming arsenal, it’ll certainly keep survival horror fans busy until the next installment of Silent Hill rolls around--remember, though, it’s best played with the sound up loud, in the dark, on your own... --Chris Russell

Product Description

Description:
Based on a true story, Fatal Frame recounts Miku's investigation for her brother Mafuyu, who has been missing for two weeks. Her latest clue leads her to the abandoned Himuro mansion, a place that local townsfolk fear. Gifted with a supernatural sixth sense, you'll guide Miku as she explores the areas in the mansion where Mafuyu was last seen investigating the disappearance of three other people. Armed with only a camera, you must discover the connection between mysterious disappearances, restless spirits, and ritual sacrifices.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great...and Really Scary!!, September 28, 2002

By 

A. Griffiths "Adrian" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Frame (Video Game)

"Fatal Frame" is a game that definitely delivers. Although it does not have any particulary impressive premise (young girl with a camera investigates a haunted house) , it doesn't take long for you to really get into the game, and the scares start coming thick and fast.
The plot is fairly simple: main character Miku has come to the house to find her missing brother, so it's mostly a matter of making your way through the mansion, solving puzzles that will open doors, and trying to piece together the grim history of the house. But to do this, you have to be prepared to encounter a wide variety of ghostly apparitions, and it's here that the game really excels. The appearances of the ghosts are almost always a surprise, and it has to be said that they look and sound terrifying. After recovering from the shock, your next task is to quickly equip your camera and try and snap the ghost within the frame. This task can be very challenging, as more often that not the ghost will dart around, disappear completely and materialize behind you, or lunge at you unexpectedly and start throttling the life out of you! The idea of using a camera to fight is unusual and works well...by holding the ghost in constant view as it approaches, the camera will "charge up" and you can release a more powerful attack when you finally press the shutter-but are you brave enough to do that?. The best thing is that once you have completed Miku's first night, the ghostly appearances are far more randomised, and as you search the house once again (every chapter has new items and tasks appearing in places you have already explored), you will feel the tension as your camera suddenly lights up, and the controller throbs in your hands...oh no, another one! But, in a great additional aspect, the more ghosts you snap, the more points you score, which can be used to enhance the capabilities of the camera, so you have an element of levelling up which heightens and extends gameplay.
My only criticisms are that the game is quite short, and Miku is quite hard to control as you continually run in to bits of furniture, and she often rotates all over the place every time the camera angle changes. Plus, her "run" mode is no more than a gentle jog...no good for escaping evil ghosts! Still, I suppose it would have made the game even shorter were you able to dash through the mansion in no time at all...The graphics are great, the mansion looks suitably decrepit and sinister, and the secret behind the house's evil reputation (as it is slowly revealed) involves some truly sickening and creepy events...you have been warned!
Do yourself a favour and ONLY play this game after dark, with the lights off, you won't be sorry. It's easily as scary as "Silent Hill", in places more so, so I wholeheartedly recommend it.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I NEED BATTERIES FOR MY NIGHTLITE, June 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fatal Frame (Video Game)

Folks theres only one work to describe this game... CREEPY CREEPY CREEPY I am an adult and this game freaked me out. Much scarier than Resident Evil and seriously challenges both Silent Hills as well. You play as a young girl who must find her missing brother in a haunted mansion. Her only weapon a frieken camera. Sounds lame right? WRONG!!! Its actually pretty damn cool. The way it works is you capture and kill ghosts by taking pictures of them with your camera. The more pictures you take and ghosts you catch, the more advanced and powerful the film in the camera gets. But the film isnt the only thing that gets stronger the Ghosts do too. And man these ghosts aint what you would call friendly in fact theyre mean... no brutal and theyre pretty damn determined to kill you. The game gets tough. The story gets better and better. Can you survive? I did manage to beat the game but frequently check under my bed and in my closet during the night as if I were five again. I give this game my highest recommendation!!! Praise to TECMO for producing such an awesome game

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Grand high Empress Of All Horror Games, November 23, 2003

By 

Review Lover "ReviewLover" (At a place...) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fatal Frame (Video Game)

Surely, Fatal Frame (Project Zero here in PAL-region countries) is, without a doubt, the single greatest Horror game ever to grace the Playstation 2. Or any other console, for that matter. It's beautiful to watch, smooth to play, emotionally involving, and, most importantly of all, genuinely terrifying.

The plot concerns Miku, who has come to a haunted Japanese mansion house in order to search for her lost brother Mafuyu. From a family of psychic spirit-communicators, Miku is soon absorbed in unravelling what happened not only to her borther, but to a team of paranormal investigators, and to the original family. It's a beautifully grim tale of ritualistic suicide, demon-worshipping and powermongering, and I promise you, it's worth the ride.

The control system, like all horror adventures in this mold, will never be perfect, but FF goes a huge way towards redressing the balance by removing traditional weapons like guns and replacing them with a Camera. Yes, a camera. Your ammo is differnet exposure-speed film and you upgrade the tool with the amount of souls you manage to capture with it. Ghosts are already dead, and it's up to you to exorcise them. The fluidity of movement involved with a weapon of this nature is a huge relief from the slow aiming and reloading process so long associated with the pistols and semi-automatics from the Biohazard and Silent Hill games.

The graphics, too, deserve a special mention, becuase they're beautiful. The monochromatic minimalism and traditional Japanese design seem all the more upsetting for those of us not from that culture, and the ghosts themselves are a truly disturbing mix of traditional Shinto folklore and tortured, Francis-Bacon-esque faces.

The sound works on the same principle. All is silent until something upsetting tears through that silence and forces us to look. Droplet effects and various footstep sounds have also been used to create a magnificent aural atmosphere, the best I've ever witnessed. And I've played plenty.

My only complaint is the difficulty level. It takes a huge step up after the Second Night, and chances are you'll have wasted all of your stronger film on the earlier demons. Play it often and frugally, however, and you'll avoid this fate.

For atmosphere and sheer terror alone, Fatal Frame deserves the crown of Survival Horror. Happily, Tecmo have given us a beautiful and innovative game to go with that atmosphere. I can't recommend it highly enough.

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