Fatal Frame

Being a 3DS and Kinect owner as well as a fan of Japanese robots/mechs, two neighboring games on the main exhibition hall of PAX East immediately caught my attention: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor for the Xbox 360 and Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir for the 3DS. Both games are updates to game franchises that were once considered innovative back when they were first released.

I agree with Mike in finding that Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is one of the scariest, most unsettling game experiences around but only when I wasn't being bored out of my mind by the game's busywork and glacial pace. I do share our horror maven's sadness at seeing such a promising title go astray, but I'm not quite as forgiving as he is.

This use of music and sound is perhaps the greatest strength of Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, the sequel to Tecmo's underrated survival horror offering Fatal Frame. While Crimson Butterfly never wants for a gruesome or terrifying visual, it's the audio component of the game that makes it so creepy. As it stands, the game is a veritable primer on how to use sound to create atmosphere in a horror game.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

Game Description: Based on a true story, Fatal Frame, a horror adventure game, leaves its victims breathless as they become immersed in a world full of supernatural spirits and sheer terror. Guided by her sixth sense and armed only with an antique camera, Miku sets out to solve the mystery of her brother's sudden disappearance. As the story unfolds, she discovers gruesome details about the Himura mansion's troubled past. The property and surrounding area have a dark history involving grisly murders, an evil cult, and restless spirits.

It pains me dearly to score a Tecmo game so low, but in all good conscience I just cant let them slide. Theyve always been known for extremely fun, solid and original games despite (generally) not having cutting edge graphics. Breaking with that tradition in Fatal Frames case, the graphics arent that bad but they seem to have gone astray when it came to the gameplay department. Very, very disappointing.

Fatal Frame is a scary and original horror experience. While not a great game, it does deliver on its promise to explore the survival-horror genre from a fresh perspective.