Seeing as this morning at 1:40am - for the first time ever - I completed the first Project Zero game (as it's called in Europe, Fatal Frame in America) on Nightmare difficulty. After all these years I finally got to see the alternate ending. So to fit the horror theme I thought why not post my thoughts on Project Zero for my Monday long review! Especially seeing as it caused me to go out and buy my own vintage 1949 Zeiss Ikon Nettar 6x6 fold out camera.
Project Zero is a unique horror game developed for the ps2 by Tecmo, and later had an enhanced port developed for the Xbox. In the series are 4 main games, 3 of which are available world wide, the last one however is only available in English to the tech savvy that don't mind breaking a few laws. This post will focus solely on the first game.
The basic plot of the game is that Miku Hinasaki has gone to the Himuro mansion in search of her brother who went missing two weeks prior. Upon reaching the mansion, Miku finds herself quickly trapped and constantly under threat by the ghostly presences that reside within. Armed only with the antique camera handed down to her and her brother after their mother died, with some mysterious power to repel and capture the ghosts she must find a way to solve the mystery of the strangling ritual and save her brother.
So ignoring my pretty terrible synopsis of the game, let's start with the concept and how brilliant it is for a horror game. Primarily the game is your typical third-person horror that involves finding the right items for the right puzzles and progressing as you do so. Project Zero however, breaks this frankly over-used mould by incorporating a first person battle system through the lens of a camera. This works to create a massively atmospheric game that's filled with tense moments and can actually make your heart race.
Seeing as your enemies are solely ghosts, fighting is not as easy as line up your sight and shoot. Having to charge up your spirit power by keeping the ghost in your capture circle, all while trying to make sure it doesn't attack you and cancel everything out, and paying attention for the counter-attacks known as zero shots - everything quickly becomes over whelming, stressful, and damn it just great!
On top of the actual fighting of the ghosts, there's even a little something in Project zero for the collector in you! Throughout the game you get sudden appearances of non-aggressive ghosts that give you a nice photo op. However, some of these have a ridiculously short time limit and seem nearly impossible to capture a picture of, but there's a way! with a total of 108 waiting for you to take a cheeky picture of them and a bonus waiting at the end of the long collection tunnel, it might just be worth it.
Now the game play isn't perfect, especially not in the first instalment. For every god damn ghost you take out, you have to sit there and watch a very pointless and very frustrating animation of them screaming, sucking into some orb thing, and exploding. All so that you can continue waddling to your destination. And yes waddling is the right word. In every instalment of the series the running is pathetic. It's not even a fast walk. Yet I can't help but love it. It annoys me like nothing else ever could, it makes me want to scream when all I want to do is get away from the damn child crawling towards me, but it's part of the charm and really does add to the experience. It makes you consider when your viewfinder goes orange whether or not you fight, or have time to flight in order to save film.
You'll also sadly find the bonus functions that you can unlock for the camera by accumulating spirit points can be a bit of a let down. especially two of the special functions that you get by meeting certain completion requirements. (I still, after many many years of playing, have not found a practical use for the zoom special function).
Being able to upgrade the camera however, is a feature that makes the game more worthwhile to play. It's just a massive shame that it's so easy to get all parameters to max before you even finish the second chapter just by fighting every enemy,
Project Zero also has a ridiculously hard difficulty mode appropriately named `Nightmare` (as mentioned in the first paragraph) that can be unlocked after completion of the game. Alongside that being the fact that even on normal you get a ridiculously low amount of health items once you pass the half way mark, the amount of damage the enemies can do, and how hard they can be to hit (especially when you're a perfectionist like me and refuse to settle for anything less than a zero shot), you really will find yourself terrified when a ghost shows up as you have to try to decide if you genuinely think you can take it on.
Completing the game on `Nightmare` however has it's benefits, as previously mentioned it unlocks the only alternate ending (and also the only form of happiness that you can get from this soul crushing game).
With every passing chapter you find yourself being drawn further into the past and the mystery of the mansion. This drags you into a sorrow filled story that will leave you feeling sad not only for Miku and the pains her family have had to endure, but even some of the murderous ghosts that are trying to end poor Miku's life!
Now the graphics aren't amazing, and quite frankly nor is the voice acting (though the female voice actors did a much better job than the weirdly slow talking men in the game). At times you'll find yourself stuck trying to get through a thin corridor, Miku will just keep running into a wall when a camera changes until you let go of the stick and move it again, and the over-sexualised noises Miku and the ghosts make when attacked will make your family or housemates question if you've just decided to really loudly watch porn in your room.
When you get down to it though, some of it's faults can be put down to the fact that it was the first of it's kind, a diamond in the rough if you will, while some are just simply poor decisions on the developers part. Nonetheless, it still makes for a perfect Halloween Horror and if you're brave enough, I dare you to play it on the darkness through headphones on your own. Go on. It's only $9.99 on the American PSN.
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