Customer Reviews

Fatal Frame

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ghosts are pretty scary.

I'm not talking about your "Casper the Friendly Ghost" spirits. I'm talking about your "corner-of-the-eye ethereal image" ghosts, the ones we all talk about in hushed voices over a cup of hot cocoa on stormy nights. Despite what scientists, religious fanatics or your mother may say, "ghosts can be very real ... and very scary." While fans of the horror genre may find their Resident Evil's or Silent Hill's staling, it'd be a hard press to find a single individual who wasn't disturbed, nerve racked or swear-to-death frightened of what Tecmo has done with such a simple concept as a ghost house. Fatal Frame mixes RPG gameplay with eeriness to create an experience like no other you have come unto before.

The story behind Fatal Frame is as follows: A young girl named Miku Hinasaki has ventured into the mysterious Himuro Mansion, the last known whereabouts of her missing older brother, Mafuyu. Mafuyu had ventured inside to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a certain renowned author named Junsei Takamine, who is Mafuyu's idol. Takamine's aim was to study the mansion's mysterious and bloody history, and, as you've imagined, neither him nor any of the members of his research team have been heard from since. You take the role of Miku, who, in the search for her brother, manages to learn all about the craziness going on at the Himuro Mansion and find out a bit more about Takamine and company than she probably wants to know.

As the game's main character, Miku, you will journey through the bowels of a haunted mansion in search of your lost brother with only a camera as protection. But not just any camera, mind you. Through an Onimusha-like upgrade system, you will be able to transform your poltergeist-friendly camera into a finely tuned spook-busting machine. Each ghost that you capture via your camera will net you a certain amount of spirit points, which you can spend on adding or improving functionality to your camera. Fatal Frame also delivers a very gripping psychological freak fest. The scenes of murder and ritualistic sacrifices are eerie and disturbing. The mansions long dead residents revealing themselves in grisly fashions at the most opportune moments (I swear they must monitor your heart rate through the controller) will keep your pulse racing at an unhealthy level, unless of course you're one of those jaded gamers made of stone who never flinches.

The graphics in Fatal Frame are just short of astounding. Interactive backgrounds, freaky grain-film filters, impressive Luigi's Mansion-quality dynamic lighting effects. Every object casts a realistic shadow on the background resulting in an almost frightening level of immersiveness. You'll see shadows moving as you walk, which adds in to the realism. However, don't expect to see everything in daylight or something; everything is dark and you'll have to look around with the flashlight. Also, while each character has an almost manga look to them and may not be uber-detailed like in Silent Hill 2, they still look sharp and contain elements of realism. The atmosphere is just breath-taking and although some areas within the mansion do look the same, the feeling of deja-vu is rarely noticeable. The whole package is pulled together really well to create a grisly environment. Excellent texture maps and a well-detailed environment immediately draw you into the game.

But what really stands out is the design and look of the ghosts. In fact, the ghost effects are awesome to behold. They fade in and out, and the visual effects when they are "invisible" is well done. You will find yourself shocked and horrified by what turns up when you least expect it.

The sound in Fatal Frame is anything but clunky. Using 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, it is composed mainly of an organic-ambience and strange ritualistic chanting music that would scare your little brother to death, if you were to record the samples onto a mini-recorder, put the device under his bed and hit play at full volume ... while he is sleeping. Ghosts will scream in agony as you film them and taunt you in the instances when they have the upper hand. Supernatural objects will resonate with a spooky hum as you close in on them, faint voices can be heard through long corridors, footsteps sound suitably different depending on the composition of what your walking on; all this equates to an audibly impressive, realistic experience that reverberates with resounding effect. But it was some of the voices that got my skin crawling the most. Whispers haunt certain corners while low demonic murmerings haunt others. Some spirits will taunt you while others will cry out in their torment, "It hurts ... It hurts ..."

Fatal Frame is a wonderful game that takes quite a lot of courage to play. You seriously do not know how scary this game is, and if you'll be able to handle it. Only buy it if you can stand in a pitch black haunted house screaming satanic verses in real life. It's a great game, but it makes most gamers run home crying to their mommy. Intense, but a definite classic. Buy it if your tough.

In my opinion, this was better than Silent Hill. It did not have as much blood and gore and it was VERY creepy and DEFINATELY scary! The graphics were excellent, the story line was engaging and the control of the main charachter was very fluid. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a unique twist on a horror game!

I consider myself a pragmatic person. The line between reality and fiction firmly grasped; premises behind movies and games easily established ... but Oh My God this game is scary as hell. First off it's based on a true story, so that kind of sticks in the back of your mind as you begin playing. Coupled with the dynamic soundtrack and your game pad shaking like crazy anytime a ghost comes near you, it's a great psych out.

The game's premise is similar to the Pokemon game (if you ever played that on N64) ... except it's cranked up 100 notches for adult play. You walk around this haunted house armed with only a camera which captures the ghosts and prevents them from harming you .... but it's not only the capturing of them that makes this game enthralling, it's the visual and sound effects, along with the physical vibe of your game controller that really creeps you out.

It's also really challenging; a good combination of dextrous play and puzzle solving. And the endings for this game differ from the PS2 version to the XBOX version, which is unique.

But it's not for the faint of heart.

If you're looking for spectacular graphics, a great story line and wonderful almost cinematic combinations of sight, sound and feel, do yourself a favor and pick up this game. It hasn't left my XBOX since the UPS guy delivered it from Amazon.(com)

Being a huge fan of horror survival/role playing games, it was obvious that I had to have this one.
The graphics are pretty good, but what really gets you is the soundtrack and background noises as you explore the the castle looking for clues, and avoiding ghosts.
The ghost images are rather good. Just enough gore for horror fans, and enough cryptic messages for suspense lovers.
I recommend this game if single person survival is your gig.

I initially played 'Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly' before I tried out the original game. I was a little disappointed at first, because the gameplay seemed to go slower than in 'Crimson Butterfly'. Soon, however, I realized that the plot might even be creepier than its sequel. You're in a much smaller area in the first game than in the second which means that you have to retrace your steps a lot, but I don't fully understand the people who say that this aspect makes the first game "more boring" than the sequel. Worrying about when another screaming, headless ghost was going to materialize and wrap its hands around my throat managed to keep ME occupied, but hey, that's just me...

Another part about the first game that I thought was more authentic than in 'Crimson Butterfly' was the fact that you collect audio tapes that were recorded by the more "recent" victims of Himuro mansion to piece together the intricate mystery of why the old house is haunted. From these warped tapes, you also get a glimpse into the minds of these poor, doomed fools and can document, much to your chagrin, their individual descents into insanity. It just seems more realistic than the recordings you're given to work with in 'Crimson Butterfly'. You see, in the sequel, there's a similar manner in which you gain these aural clues in order to figure out your predicament, but instead of audio cassettes, you're given precious stones that are left behind from the various ghosts you fight. Since you're also conveniently carrying along a little altered radio from the 20's that is designed to pick up on "otherwordly sounds", you place the stones that the ghosts leave you into the radio and, the thoughts they were thinking before their untimely deaths having been transmitted into the stone, the ghost's last thoughts are heard in all their staticy, hard-to-understand glory! Wow! Perhaps I'm being too picky, but that method just seems a wee bit cornier than the eerie, real life appraoch of dead journalists unfortunate enough to be studying Himuro mansion recording their final thoughts onto tape.

Thoroughly unsettling and quite tragic and moving by its end, Fatal Frame is a fantastic game that I'd advise anyone to play, as long as they appreciate good writing and a good mystery.

From the terrified audio cassettes, to the paranoid, demented pages from old diaries, to the vengeful spirits moaning for help, these little bits of terror stacked up in this incredibly effective manner made it so that I couldn't possibly play Fatal Frame alone. Every time my boyfriend would leave the room, I'd pause the game and get up to follow him around until he'd get fed up with me and agree to go back into the room where the game was. So, to say the least, it helps to have someone supportive around while you're playing it. Just try to not play it around your meaner friends, who will take advantage of your vulnerability by grabbing you from behind and screaming "RRRARRH!!" every time you fight a ghost.

...not that that ever happened to me.

Fatal Frame is hands down the BEST series in the survival horror genre. While Resident evil goes for jump out at you scares and Silent Hill goes for demented gore, Fatal Frame pulls you in with its creepy ambiance,bizarre rituals and a great story.

Essentailly you are Miku, a young girl searching for her missing brother at the haunted Himuro mansion. Armed only with special camera and a 6th sense, it is your job to discover what events unfolded at Himuro mansion that caused the massacre of nearly all who lived there and find your brother.

Fatal Frame looks really great and the Xbox version looks particularly excellent with its rich textures. Tecmo really did a great job making the game lighter than the PS2 version which was at times was too dark. The sound is also great with the dolby 5.1 sound. While fatal frame doesnt have music per se it does have lots of little eerie voices amd noises in the background that really come out in the dolby sound.

The game itself has great gameplay but the Xbox version doesn't control as smoothly as the PS2 version. Unfortunately at times the chracter does get "hung up" on geometry which sucks if you are playing a boss. The hang-ups dont happen very much and are a trade off as the PS2 version was hard to see in areas (particularly the hell mouth).

Either version is great and I cannot recommend Fatal Frame or its sequal Fatal Frame 2: Crmson Butterfly enough.

My cousin just recently bought this game and we already love it. You play as Miku, a young girl searching for her lost brother in a haunted mansion. Armed only with her inherited sixth sense and antique camera against the ruthless ghost. The story line draws you in from the beginning with its gorgeous graphics and creepy astrosphere. You find yourself jumping and becoming paranoid, always on the look out for another spook that would like to see Miku dead. The only drawbacks are the limited film, save points, and life preserves you find in the game. It's not really a problem just another challenge and a bit frustrating some times. This game is unique and brings some life back into the horror genre games. It's like being in a horror movie yourself. I recommend this game to anyone who likes something new, fun, or just likes to be scared.

Fatal Frame?! Project Zero is a very haunting atmospheric game. The best thing about it is that it doesn't rely entirely on blood and gore for it spook tactics. It's a lot more supernatural, psychological and implicit. In many ways it's very much like the Japanese cult horror/thriller film 'Ring' in nature.
The storyline is surprisingly intriguing and profound with plenty of intellectual subtext as the mystery unravels. It's important to pay attention to most details and sightings in order to gain further insight and comprehension. If you happen to become confused or trapped, backtracking over found books and notes can also help you out.
The highlight features of the game would absolutely have to be the devilishly evocative soundtrack, the beautifully rendered graphics, the classic dark dilapidated spookhouse and, of course, the ghosts! The controls can become increasingly frustrating as you make further progress and the ghost encounters become more frequent and terribly difficult. When Miku (who you play) struggles to walk through a specific route because of tiny unnoticeable obstacles and a ghost is circling the area, I feel like mashing the buttons with my clenched fist.
This game is heavily rewarding as you uncover new mysteries and reach through new areas around the house but alas eventually you may become bored with the same old tasks. The puzzles are somewhat reminiscent of earlier mystery/exploration games such as the 'Zork' trilogy. Involving the discovery of hidden codes, rearranging objects, finding lost ones and their intended purpose. The further you get the more determined you are to win and see how the story ends.
The concept and plot of the game is so complex and interesting it could've potentially developed into a short film. I'm glad it's a game instead because it's a lot more unique and original.
This is definitely a worthwhile purchase for all the horror survival game fans out there and it's one of the best games on X Box.

If You like First Person Shooters, You might like the fact that this game makes You take shots with a Camera as Your ONLY weapon.

I walked by this game a million times (because the cover looked lame) at the game store, until I finally read into it online, and saw some still gameplay pics online.

I bought my first copy disc only, I bought another complete with a manual and the artwork cause it's a keeper for my collection.

This game made me believe in video game story telling again.
And that there's always new angles in gameplay.

This game is another hit for Tecmo.
and the second is just as good as the first...

[Edited] June 12 2005 ~
I have read so many reviews where people are confused by the fact that the main character uses a camera so I thought that I would explain. In some Asian cultures some people believed that when you take a picture it captures a part of your soul.

I played this game when it was first released so I'm going to give a general review of the game and how it has held up after the few years that have past.

I didn't know what to expect when I got this game and boy was I scared and impressed by it. This game is very well made, the story is truly twisted like nothing I have ever seen. The gameplay is great and never gets boring and the suspense and horror is very intense.

IMO, nothing since has topped this game in terms of being the most atmospheric and disturbing.

I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys movies like "The Ring" and "The Grudge". Imagine being in those movies, the creepiness/scary factor is even stronger!

ENJOY =)