Motorola C51 SD7561 5.8 GHz Twin 1-Line Cordless Phone

Manufacturer: Tecmo
Platform: Playstation 2
Category: Survival-Horror
Genre: Horror
Price: $ 52.99 (USD)
ESRB Rating: Teen (frightening content)

NOTE: This game is called "Project Zero" in Japan.

Are you afraid of the dark? No? Then settle in, turn out the lights, and put this one into your PS2 platform. It opens with a black & white scene of a guy standing in what appears to be a junkyard. Of course, if you watched the opening movie, you'd know that you're standing outside of a supposedly haunted manor house where a team of researchers disappeared recently.

You cautiously move around, noting something in the beam of your flashlight. You check it out and find that it's film, sized to fit the camera that your deceased mother gave you. After looking about for another moment, you cautiously enter the manor. A hallway, filled with dangling ropes. What kind of place is this?

You investigate further, curiosity drawing you on. What's that? Was that someone moving in the corner? You only caught a glimpse, but it definitely seemed like someone else was here, in this abandoned and empty house. Are you beginning to feel that chill run up your spine yet?

Hmmm, what's upstairs? A locked door and something on the floor, a scrap from a notebook. What's that behind you? Quick, turn around! God, it's horrible! You snap pictures desperately, trying to backpedal away from it's chilling touch!

Whew! It's over, your camera's mystical powers have driven the ghost away. But after a few more moments of exploration, you meet something that even your camera can't prepare you for. There's a great little cinema of your fate and then we cut to...

Miku, our protagonist in "traditional" schoolgirl garb, who has set out to rescue her brother who disappeared just two weeks ago while exploring this very mansion. Well, maybe you'll have better luck with her than you did with Mafuyu just a few moments ago. Maybe.

FRIGHT FEST
Following the black-and-white introduction in which the player portrays Mafuyu, Miku's presumably doomed brother, the game opens in full-color and quickly absorbs the player into a horrific world where the dead walk. Your quest is pretty straightforward and simple. Explore the haunted manor and find your missing brother (and while you're in there, you may as well solve the secret of the place and find out what happened to the three researchers who entered before him).

The plot of the game is very linear and familiar to any console veteran. It's a simple A-B-C quest. If you encounter a locked door, you know that somewhere in the game, you'll find a key that opens it. If you can't open a door, you probably need to complete a task.

Okay, so what makes this darned game so compelling?

Well, the play's the thing. See, hindering your quest are the pesky ghosts that inhabit the manse. Ah, but no cheesy poltergeists, these. These ghosts are out for life energy...yours! Their touch causes the screen to go weird and your controller to buzz so fiercely that it threatens to leap from your grasp. Get "hit" enough times and you'll have to come back at the last save point (which can be frustrating).

Of course, guns and knives and swords are of no use against ghosts, but fortunately, you have another defense. The camera that you carry, given to you by your deceased mother (and of late, found where Mafuyu was last seen), has the power to capture ghosts.

Get a ghost in your sights and the circle in the viewfinder turns blue. Snap the shot and steal some of the ghost's energy. Keep them in view a few seconds to let the camera charge up with mystical energy and a successful shot will do even more damage. And if you wait until they're right on top of you and snap when the circle is orange, you can cause them a lot of grief! Shoot them enough and they'll temporarily dissipate.

And your camera has another function as well. It can see things that you can't. Anytime you feel the controller vibrating, or hear an odd noise, bring the camera up to your eye. If you see a distortion on a wall or fixture and the viewfinder circle lights up, snap a photo because there's probably something there that you should see.

Some of the ghosts that inhabit the manor are shades, just shadows that can do you no harm. This doesn't mean you shouldn't take a shot of them, though. Capturing a ghost, even a benign one, on film gives you experience, which you can use to unlock new features about your camera.

The graphics are stunning and, unlike many Japanese imports, these characters look Japanese! The cinematography is very well done, with the camera automatically moving to just the right angle to keep you on your toes while moving about. It can be a little frustrating because you want to see something in front of you without getting any closer, but after a while, you get used to it.

The ghosts themselves are very frightening in appearance and they have a disconcerting habit of jumping out at you when you least expect it. There are many "jump scenes" throughout the game and even after you become accustomed to it, some still manage to catch you off-guard. The first time you encounter a ghost by surprise, you may find yourself with a sudden need to visit the facilities. Don't play this game with a full bladder.

The control system is somewhat complex, with a lot of different features for different buttons and makes good use of almost the entirety of the controller. Movement is especially confusing as you must learn to master the concept that pushing the controller forward makes the character walk forward, no matter what direction they are facing on the screen. Once you've played for a short time, however, you'll appreciate the "second nature" feel the controls take on.

Be forewarned: This game is a memory-hog! I had to clear a lot of the older saved games from my 8 Mb card just to get room to store the game and if you want to keep a photo album, you'll need even more room! Still, it's worth clearing those old games off to make room for this gem.

The cut-scenes are filmed in a very grainy black & white, making them seem more like the dream sequences that they are. This is a nice touch and really adds to the atmosphere of the game. Even the sound effects are well-done, with the ghosts crying warnings even as they assault your body and senses.

Saving is very important and at certain points in the game, you may find an old camera with a blue light on it. Use them whenever you find one! You'll thank yourself later when you come across something not so easily defeated and have to restart your game. Another key point is to conserve your film. You can reload your camera at any save station with 30 shots, and you can find small rolls of film to carry with you, but these should be used sparingly because you'll need all you can get as the game progresses! Reload your film every time you save, even if you aren't low.

As of this writing, I'm about a third of the way through and I'm hooked. I don't perceive the game as having a high replay value, since once you've beaten it, you pretty much know what to do and where the critical ghost attacks are, but for a rental, you'll get your money's worth from it. Of course, if you're a true horror fan, you'll play it alone...with the lights off. And don't worry about locking the doors, the ghosts don't tend to use them anyway.