Customer Reviews

JU-ON: The Grudge

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I am in love with the Ju-On and Grudge films, there is just something about them that draws me to them more than any other horror movie. I have watched both Ju-On films, The Grudge 1, and 2 films many times, and just watched the recently released Grudge 3 and was very impressed with that one too. Even though I have the films almost memorized, and I know when all the scares are going to happen, they still manage to creep me out. So, when I heard that a game based on the movies was coming out, I was both excited, and skeptical. How would they make a game out of movies that do not have a happy ending? Where the characters have no weapons to fight, and no matter what they do, will always get killed. Would you get some mystical weapon to fight the ghosts with, would there be other ghosts other than Kayoko, and Toshio? I mean, how much could you do in a game with just two ghosts? I knew if the game had weapons or other ghosts to fight, it just wouldn't be faithful to the films.

All of these questions ran through my head, and reading previews didn't help much because a lot of the previewers seemed confused about what kind of game this was. Some previews said the game was on rails, others say it controls like a first person shooter. Some claimed you couldn't die and therefore the game wasn't scary, and on, and on. I really didn't know what to expect until I popped the game in my Wii and had at it. Well, I just beat it and to be honest folks, coming from a die hard fan of the films, I couldn't be more pleased. Lets see why.

Story: There isn't really a story to the game, it's just about a tragedy that strikes a Japanese family, and you as the player live the tragedy through the eyes of each of the family's four members, the mom, dad, son, and daughter. That is pretty much it. You won't have any journals to read, or story cinematics to watch.

Controls: The controls couldn't be simpler. You only use the Wii remote. The entire game is played from the first person perspective. Each of the characters have a flashlight and you use the remote to control the flashlight and for looking up, down, right, and left. The B trigger is used to walk, so you just point to where you want to go, and press and hold the B trigger. You use the A button for interacting and picking up objects, and pushing down on the directional pad lets you walk backwards. You cannot strafe, and instead either have to stop, and turn when you want to change directions, or steer yourself left or right while walking. I guess you could say the characters control like a tank. The controls work well for the most part, though I'd like it if they felt a little smoother when you are looking around. Fortunately, during the games quick time events, more on those later, the controls are 100% spot on in my experience.

Graphics: The graphics are fantastic with great lighting and shadow effects. The ghosts, especially the woman, have a lot of detail on them, right down to their eyeballs. The environments, combined with the flashlight effects are creepy as hell. Whether you are walking through the rusty and dirty abandoned factory, exploring the halls of the abandoned hospital, or trying to shake off Kayoko as she gets right up in your face, with her eyeballs rolling up in her head, the graphics never failed to impress.

Sound: Wow, the sound is just as good as the graphics. There isn't much music in the game, used only during the menus, QTEs, and during scares, but what is there is good. It's the sound effects that truly shine. While you won't hear much music, you are always hearing something, whether it is the trademark Kayoko throat sounds, Toshio's feet slapping on the floor as he runs by, your own footsteps, which change depending on the surface, or just the strange noises you'll hear, the sound effects also never failed to impress.

Gameplay: Okay, first and foremost, this is not an on-rails game like House of the Dead, or even Killer 7. No, you walk around just like you would in any first person shooter. You can walk, look up and down, and examine every nook and cranny. NO RAILS. Now that thats out of the way, on to the gameplay proper. There are five episodes to play, with each one taking place in a different location, and with a different family member, except the fifth, which has you playing as an earlier family member. The locations are the Abandoned Factory, Abandoned Hospital, Derelict Apartement Building, Beauty School, and the house, which is replicated perfectly. Each family member plays the exact same, and the goal of each episode is to escape the area with your life. You explore each area with a flashlight that you have to find batteries for. The flashlight is like your health meter. The battery life slowly dwindles away, and when the flashlight is all out of juice, its game over. Fortunately, it is easy to find batteries, and I never had a problem with this. Still, it brings an urgency to the situation as you can explore, but you have to keep an eye on the battery life, and for extra batteries.

As you explore the levels, you'll find keys to open locked doors, no puzzle solving here, look for batteries, get scared silly, and survive quick time events. I've always like quick time events, and these are fun and I was surprised by how action packed some of them are. Usually what will happen is one of the ghosts will jump out and you'll have to shake them off, and evade them using on screen waggle prompts, like shaking your remote left and right, or up and down. As I said earlier, the controls are spot on when these events occur, and I never died from the game not recognizing my motions. Also, you'll have to be quick when the QTEs happen, because if you mess up, it's game over. So, contrary to what some previewers said, you can die, either from your battery running out in your flashlight, or losing a QTE. If you die, you have to play the level over again, no checkpoints, but the levels are short so if you do die, it won't take you long to get back to the spot you died in.

You unlock each level after beating the previous one, but the fifth and final level has to be unlocked by finding well hidden items in the first four levels. This would have been annoying if there wasn't some helpful people on the Gamefaqs message board, because the items are hidden a bit too well in my opinion. If you play through the four levels, but do not find all the items in each stage, you'll have to replay them. I didn't mind this simply because going back through a second time, I encountered scares that I missed the first time around. Also as I said, the levels are short and won't take you long to get through, especially when you know what you have to do. The whole game is short actually, you could, if you know where all the hidden items are, beat the game in one sitting, I would have if I didn't have to go back to find the hidden items. The shortness of the game could be a turn off for some people, but I think for the kind of game it is, the length is perfect. Of course an extra level or two wouldn't have hurt. Another thing some people have a problem with is the speed with which the characters walk. You cannot run, just walk slowly. I liked the slow walk because it added to the uneasy feeling I had while playing, but that is just me.

There is a two player mode using two remotes. One player plays the game like normal, while the other pushes buttons on the second remote to trigger scares. I didn't try out this mode so I'm not sure how well it works, or how much fun it is.

Closing: So the game is short, a bit on the easy side, and the characters can't run or strafe. No puzzles to solve, no weapons to use, and instant level restart if you fail a QTE. The game doesn't sound very good does it? Well think again, I had a blast with the game because it delivered exactly what I wanted: An authentic, scary, and atmospheric Grudge horror game experience, that plays a little differently than other games. The scares in the game are done well, and I jumped in my seat more than a few times. The scares are of the "Boo!" variety, but the game keeps you feeling uneasy while you are walking around thanks to the well designed,moody levels, and creepy sounds you hear. As soon as the game started I was sucked in and was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time I was playing it. For the price of the game, I was more than satisfied. If you are a fan of the films, or horror games in general, than give this a try. I'll probably bust this out every Halloween and play it. Thanks for reading my review, and I hope it was helpful.

This game is a haunted house simulator so don't buy it thinking you're buying an epic game. I had fun with this one, it scares the poo out of you at the most unexpected times. You basically use the wiimote as a flashlight, look for batteries for your flashlight, and try to avoid that crazy ghost in the movies. Whats funny is when you finish a stage depending on how much you shook the remote at scary moments you get graded on your wussyness (if that makes sense). It kept saying I was a frightened kitten lol and doubted I was a Leo (astro sign). You can also hide and grab a second wiimote and trigger scares on first player without them knowing which is funny.

One thing that bothers me the most are the clunky controls. Depending on where you point the wiimote on screen, that is where they move. When your character moves they literally move slower than a snail. All in all I think this is a fun game to get into the spirit of Halloween and I enjoyed it very much being a fan of horror game genre.

JU-ON: The Grudge for Wii is definitely not the "thrill-a-minute" scare-fest that some would have you think it is. But while this is not a very good game for serious gamers, it does fill a certain niche. If you are having a party, this can be a funny way to pass an hour or two. It's not going to scare everybody in the traditional sense, but it will startle you with the ghosts jumping out at you.

THE GOAL

This game has different levels, all based on the point of view of a different member of a family. However, the object of the game is to guide yourself through each stage and figure it out. The first level is simple: your dog runs into a factory so your object is to get him back. Other levels have different settings, such as a hospital, a spooky house, and so on.

As you guide yourself with your flashlight, you have to keep finding batteries to keep your light lit. If you run out of battery power without finishing the level, you're dead meat. You also have to find keys to access different rooms. There are also a bunch of smaller random objects that play into each level.

Sometimes you will find a flashlight, but the game sees those as batteries too. It's one of the things that was definitely not as thought out as it could have been.

THE GAME PLAY

First and foremost, this game is not an open world game in the sense that most FPS games are. It is true that you get to walk around the levels to find things. However, there are predefined limits that mature and experienced gamers will notice right away. There are also no realistic physics to govern how you interact with your envinment. You don't have to worry about falling over the edge of a railing when you're up on a metal cat-walk. And if you see something on top of a pile of crates there is no way to climb and see if there is something up there.

Perhaps most frustrating is the slow pace at which you walk. No matter how hard you press the button you can't move faster. When the specters pop out to grab you, you have to shake the controller in order to start an "escape" where you finally speed up a little. But you cannot consciously speed up how fast you walk, which is annoying.

Game play is a huge weakness here for single-player mode. It's also the reason this game is more suited for kids. The slow pace and idiot-proof physics of the game add to the eeriness and make it easier for younger kids to make it through. But sooner or later everybody will notice how annoying it is that there's no way to fast-forward through going up those long stairs or walking back through that hallway again.

THE GRAPHICS AND SOUND

The graphics are average when compared to most video games. They are not bad, but they are not mind-blowing. The sparse dark visuals do help make the game a little spookier. It needs any help it can get.

If you look closely, as you explore the various levels you will see spooky evidence of the supernatural even when you don't see the ghosts. Fingerprints show up on windows and images of the ghosts are imprinted on various surfaces. Those images will disappear so you will miss them if you don't pay attention.

None of that is ground-breaking but they clearly did invest some time in the visual details of the game. If you like picking those things out it will at least help you enjoy the slower moments.

The sound is somewhat repetitive: every time you turn a knob the same sound chimes in. The sound effects associated with scares are more intricate.

THE MULTI-PLAYER MODE

While silly at times, the multi-player mode is fun for a party. The second player basically gets the ability to launch *scare* events to startle player 1. You have to press the B button in combination with one of the *panic* buttons (1, 2, +, -, A, control pad) - basically any button other than 'home.' You have to wait 15 seconds before repeating the same event. While they can be repetitive, they are also funny when well timed. It doesn't take long to memorize the *scares* in one-player mode, so the second player adds a much needed element of surprise. It won't keep you entertained indefinitely, but for an hour or two it's worth a few laughs.

THE ESRB RATING

This game's rating, M for mature, meaning 17 or older, seems overly strict. There is nothing in this game that would make me think that teenagers can't play it. Trust me, they've seen worse than this on network television. At first I made a point of trying to limit this game to the older kids in my family. Once we played it, it became obvious that most teens have played games with worse content than this. Actually, this game isn't really designed to be appealing to most people older than 17, unless they are novice gamers.

THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The product description claims that "unlike any other product on Wii, this game foregoes slow-paced story elements to offer immediate gratification with scare after scare." That's so untrue that it's laughable. There's nothing wrong with a slow pace in a role-playing game or mystery solving game, which is what this is. But they have over-sold this game, and that's why people will be disappointed.

CONCLUSION

Unless you are a die-hard fan of the original Ju-on movie or The Grudge remakes, you may want to rent this title before buying. I haven't played Silent Hill: Shattered Memories or Obscure: The Aftermath yet but I will be checking those out soon to see if they are a little scarier.

This game picks up a star because I think it's worth a few laughs for a teen's birthday party or a Halloween get-together. Just be sure to turn down the lights, and don't spoil the scares for those who haven't played it yet.

Enjoy.

and it wasnt. The graphics are decent, but the movements are far to difficult to manage with the wii remotes, especially since you need to get places quickly before your flashlight battery runs out. Also, the second player option lets you "scare" the main player, but the these "scares" are just pop-up images that flash across the screen. This gets boring and predictable quickly. Save your money.

The game itself has a horrible plot. A girl lost her dog in a factory, which is for some reason is hunted by the two kids, and gets all her family cursed. They're four different level and each level can be beat in thirty minutes. You could actually beat it in ten minutes if it wasn't for the fact it takes you five minutes to walk ten steps. Seriously, there's no option to run at all and you walk way to slow. The levels also have poor graphics. I know it's the wii and it couldn't have great graphics to begin with, but this is just pathetic.

The only way to be scared of this is to be under the age of ten or never played a horror game before. Most of the time, the game only has cheap scares where things pop out at you. I do admit that it was scary the first few time when the girl and catboy jumped out at me, but it got old fast. The flashlight idea was also terrible. If you run out of batteries your dead and there's no save points at all though out the game so you'll have to start over even if you at the end. The batteries run out way to fast. I understand that it's supposed to scare you, but it's just annoying trying to find them.

The controls are terrible and impossible to get use too. You have to hold down B to slowly walk and it's hard to turn. Pointing the flashlight to much to the side makes you spin around like crazy. Every door has to be centered on the screen to open it. Then how much you move the wii remote shows you your scare level and your sissy level. If you move around with the wii remote to much your scare level goes up. They seem to forgot that you have to move the wii remote to move the character because when my friend and I figured out that the only thing that was in this game was shock scares and when you have to move the wii remote in a certain way when the girl attacks you, we never flinched and still got a high on the scare level. I don't know how the sissy level works so I can't say anything about it.

Please don't buy this game, rent it first.

It could have been very good were it not for the insane control system which finds your torch beam pointing madly (often at the ceiling)and very little you can do other than shaking the control which spins you round and lands you anywhere. There's also not much to do other than collect batteries and keys and it soon becomes mighty tedious. Good idea to have almost zero combat and fighting though, they should improve on it.

Been a big fan of the Ju-on series I felt that this game would be a great collection for my Wii game library, but after playing the game all I can say is while it had some creepy moments all in all the game was a real letdown. The biggest complaint I have was the sensitivity control of the motion system, while in the game all you really have is a flashlight with a set amount of time which you use to search rooms and find certain clues and items throughout the game through shadowy lightly lighted rooms, and you use the wii remote as the flashlight which wouldn't be so bad but the motion response for the wii remote in the game is so sluggish and spotty it becomes to annoying after a while. In one level you try moving the flashlight around to try and search but the response is slow lagging that when you turn the light to the left it takes about three seconds for the flashlight in the game to respond, another little annoyance is when the game loads during playtime that when you're trying to look a something it stutters like one moment you're look at the ground and turning the flashlight to the left and than the next moment the flashlight is pointing to the ceiling. The animation is decent but nothing to really shout about you'll get a thrill and chill here an there but after five or six times it's really not that scary or shocking as much as you would think. So for fans of the Ju-On series go ahead and give the game a try but don't put your expectations to high on the game or face grave disappointment like I did...

Quite disappointed with this game. It was quite uneventful, and a little frustrating to find my way around to complete the objectives. The 2nd player option is completely pointless: Scare player 1 randomly with a screen filled with blood splatter? OOooooh, spooky!

I decided to update my review after having some extra time with the game. As an older Wii owner I'm starved for horror, as this is my only console at the moment. The original/Japanese movie Ju-on was my 1st introduction into the Asian Horror genre, so I have a great fondness for the series. When I saw that there was a Ju-on for the Wii I was thrilled, and counted down the days before the games arrival. The one concern was seeing the star reviews on Amazon's Japanese site, which were very low (averaging 2 stars at the time). This did not have an effect on me of course because of how much I enjoy the series. The moment I put the game in I was in 7th heaven. The game itself stays true to the main characters behind the series, so kudos to the creators there. There are 4 levels to initially clear, and each one brings about some great scares. The sound effects, and feel of the environment is quite creepy, and I have to admit there were a few times that I literally jumped and screamed like a little girl.

As mentioned by others, your remote is all that you need as it acts like your flashlight. The biggest issue here was that often the light (which also guides you in the direction you want to walk_) would become stuck in a sense. I corrected this by wiggling the remote. This was not only frustrating, as it happened often, but battery power was draining while I was trying to correct this (you need those batteries to last otherwise death awaits...though that can be quite fun ;) ). Throughout the game you need to collect small items that will allow you to open the final chapter. These items are not highlighted like the batteries or keys, and some are quite difficult to find. Though you cannot save your progress, should you die, these items will be saved (basically you don't have to go through the trouble of searching for these again/ wasting batteries etc. ) Honestly the only way that I found all items of one of the levels was by watching a Japanese walkthrough video on youtube. Making it to that final level though is worth any minor frustration, at least it was for this Ju-on fan. That final scene sticks quite close to a major running theme through the series, the house itself. Playing it through once by myself was very satisfying.

Several days after I introduced the game to family and friends, all who were not familiar with the series. The 2nd player mode allows you to throw in some extra scares as friends/families play. It was a blast initially, but I have to say that the novelty began to wear off on my end. While there is some variation in the effects that happen when you decide to throw a scare into the mix, I noticed that eventually they became repetitive. The friend that I most recently played with (not familiar with the series) was startled several times, but soon became irritated with the pace of the game. As many have mentioned you do move at a slow/cautious pace. Personally I felt that it added to the creepiness. He also could not understand why the nunchuck was not used for guidance/walking. While that would have eliminated the trouble with getting stuck, it would also have gotten rid of the feel that you are holding a flashlight.

I spent some time playing through the game again by myself, thinking that there may be some new scares etc. So far I have noticed very little change in gameplay. My initial review was a 4 star review. Though I'm still so very happy that I had a chance to interact with characters / scenes from one of my favorite Asian Horror films, I believe this may have been better off being a rental. Had you asked me 5 days ago if this is worth the original price...especially for Ju-on fans I would have said yes. After having additional hours playing with friends, and restarting the game I feel differently. While I love the series, and love the feel of game, I really do not feel that I will be keeping this as a permanent part of my collection due to what I see as a lack of replay value. To those thinking of purchasing new, I would rent or play a friends 1st to get a feel for it.

If you are looking for an epic survival horror experience with top-notch gameplay and a finely crafted plot... this is not the game you're looking for, you don't need to see its identification, it can go about its business, move along.

However, if you have an evening to spare and just want the Wii equivalent of someone randomly yelling "BOO" at you for a couple of hours and not have to think too much about it, this is exactly the game you're looking for. Ju-On is somewhere between "Baby's First Survival Horror Game" and "long, interactive creepypasta-side-dish screamer .gif".

You walk around (very slowly--I'll get to that in a bit), look for keys and bits of drawings and newspaper clippings and such, and occasionally get the bajeezus scared out of you by Kayako, Toshio, and/or random things falling down, making noise, or otherwise behaving in ways they shouldn't. I am not too proud to tell you that I, a Silent Hill and Fatal Frame veteran, jumped and yelped like a little girl several times over the course of the game. And far be it for me to spoil, but those of you who found a certain part of the office building in Silent Hill 3 particularly creepy will really like (or dislike) a certain part of the last chapter of Ju-On. There was a soft and slightly whiny F-bomb dropped when I entered that room and realized what I was looking at, yes.

The environments are beautifully rendered and the ambient sounds are great. As for the gameplay itself... as I said, Baby's First Survival Horror Game. Don't come into this with high expectations. There are no real puzzles to speak of, just keys to find and doors to use them on, and for the most part the game is pretty clear about where it wants you to go and what it wants you to poke once you get there. There is no combat. You can die, either by mis-waggling the Wiimote in one sort of quick-time event or by not keeping the cursor in the right place in the other (and this was not easy when I had to keep that cursor in a circle the approximate size of a dime when right behind that circle was Kayako being her creepy self way too up-close and personal for my liking), or by running out of batteries for your flashlight. Fortunately, batteries are fairly plentiful and the quick-time events are not that hairy (no pun intended); if you botch one and die, you'll probably pass it on the next attempt.

The most annoying thing about the game mechanics, though, is your movement speed. At first I thought this was pretty cool, it kept me on the edge of my seat both nervously eyeing my battery supply and waiting for the next dead person or inanimate object to leap out and go BLAAARGH at me. On subsequent playthroughs for item-gathering purposes, it became a major annoyance.

I also really wish the game was longer. I finished it in a couple of hours and was sad.

If you want Silent Hill-caliber gameplay, you will be disappointed and this will probably not be enough to tide you over until Shattered Memories comes out. But for what it is, Ju-On really is an entertaining little game and a fun way to kill a couple of hours, and it always makes me happy to see a horror game for the Wii that's not yet another Resident Evil spinoff or remake.