Project Zero (PS2)

Have you ever wondered what it's like to go ghost hunting? Well, now you can in this original take on the horror franchise called Project Zero (aka Fatal Frame in other countries) for PS2 and Xbox.You start the game as Mafuyu Hinasaki (Miku's brother) for a short section of the game until he suddenly disappears in Himuro Mansion while he is looking for a someone. When he does, you'll be in control of his sister, Miku - wondering where her brother went.Who would of thought that a camera would be a useful weapon for killing things. Apparently, that came true and that idea became a great idea. The camera (called Camera Obscura) is a special-type of camera with special abilities that can kill any type of ghosts throughout the game, but only if you have film in your cam to do so. Throughout the game, you'll come across all kinds of ghosts that you can take a shot at with your cam. They come in different forms like hidden ghosts, wandering ghosts and boss battles amongst others, but before you can take a shot, the cam needs to charge up first before you can take one. You'll be rewarded with ''Spirit Points'' after every ghost defeated and these can help you by upgrading your cam to be more powerful and more effective against the scary nasties. It's not all about snapping ghosts and hope it'll be all over. There are puzzles to do and some ghosts will need snapping to progress through the game. They can damage you as well, if you are not careful.The game is fun, but there is some difficutly and minor problems. Miku (for starters) runs kinda slow, but that's the way the game is. The boss battles can be a pain at times and you can also easily miss ghosts that are just wandering around or if they are hidden - requiring you get them on your next playthrough. You'll be confused of where to go sometimes, but you do sometimes - and the puzzles can be annoying if you don't have a clue what you are doing, so you might spend like an hour on a puzzle until you solve it.Despite all that, the game is great. The haunted atmosphere that goes really well with the scary music will leave you wondering what could be around the next corner, or through a door. There a scary surprises around every corner that will make you poo your pants everytime because you don't know what to expect. The ghosts are so realistic, they are unbelieveably scary. If you don't like getting scared, then I suggest you stay away from this game. If you are a brave person, then this game is for you.

It's great so far, my only issue with it is that there seems to be no option at all for subtitles which isn't great since I'm a little hard of hearing to say the least and it's hard to make out what is being said half the time. Still, so far it seems to be a pretty decent game.

I would love to give this game the maximum of five stars, I really would. However, I can't.The game is genuinely disturbing- beautifully spooky graphics, unsettling sound, and scares at the most unexpected of moments, often in the most unexpected of ways. In those respects, it's absolutely fantastic, and can't be faulted.Now for the bad bit- the reason I only award it three stars instead of the five it truly deserves. The control system sucks. And blows.Instead of weapons, you are 'armed' with an antique camera, which captures the spirits when you photograph them. It's all very clever, and makes a pleasant change from the usual array of guns that this type of game normally involves, but in practise is too darn fiddly and frustrating for any but the most patient of gamer. I persevered for some time, but after getting mullered many, many times, I gave it up in a fit of pique.If you're very patient, then you'll love this game. If like me, you're not, then go and buy Silent Hill 2 or 3 (or wait for Silent Hill 4 later in the year). They're still the better game.Five stars for everything other than the 'weapon' system.No stars for that damn camera.

If you're familiar with Japanese horror movies such as The Ring, The Grudge or the Slit-Mouth Woman, this is a game that would fall into a similar category. As a Haunted-House style survival horror game, you are Miku, a high school student in search for her brother, who went missing 2 weeks before the game's events. Unlike your Resident Evils and Silent Hills, Miku's only weapon is an old film camera, that captures ghosts. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Forget Boos from the Super Mario games and Casper The Friendly Ghost, these ghosts are out for blood! All of them tortured or mutilated in some way, they seek rest, and are very, very angry! I bought this game recently, and it's 10 years old now. The graphics are still very nice with animation moving fluidly and excellent use of lighting. The music and sound effects however, are timeless, it doesn't matter how old this game can get, the music remains absolutely terrifying. If you listen to it with headphones and the lights out, see how long it takes before you begin to feel scared. It's full of seemingly unpredictable jump scares, times when you get too scared to continue without running all the way back to save your game, and an RPG element, in which every photo you take of ghosts earns you points to upgrade your uh...weapon (camera), and the better the photo, the more points you get. Every time I play it, I keep needing to remind myself "It's just a game." It also has a great story to it and good replayability (if you dare).

What I like about this game is that it really nails down the horror side.The only weapon you have is a photo-camera which is a nice change, makes you feel a bit more vulnerable.Great game, I enjoyed it a lot.