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PAX Gamers - Clock Tower 3 Review | Playstation 2
Clock Tower 3 Review
Posted
Feb 19, 2006 02:14 am
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Going away to college for the first time can be a breathtaking experience. It’s only natural considering that it is the first time most of us will be living alone. For Alyssa, being away at boarding school was a mysterious experience in itself. After all, she doesn’t even know why she is there. Being rushed away to boarding school, Alyssa has many questions for the unexpected turn of events. Then one day at boarding school, she receives a letter from her mother that warns her to stay away from home. Being sent to boarding school for no apparent reasons and then receiving such a disturbing letter from your mother is disheartening to such a young girl. But she decides to ignore her mother’s warning and take matters into her own hands. Upon reaching her home, she realizes that it is abandoned. Or is it? Soon a creepy man spooks Alyssa to no ends. What does this mean for Alyssa?
The unique thing is the player will never fire a shot. Unlike traditional survival horror games where you are at least protected by a firearm or some sort of weapon, the developers decided to throw all that out of the window. Instead the game focuses on what horror is and that is to run for dear life. The game’s concept revolves around running from your attacker, hiding, and evading. In fact, your only means of defense is holy water in which you spray onto the attacker and it temporarily immobilizes them. But for the most part, you will be evading your attacker. During game sequences, there will be hiding spots that will be indicated. Other times there are other situations where you can lose your attacker.
The game for the part is fairly straightforward. For the most part, it consists of finding items and going from point A to point B. Many items require the player to have Alyssa crawl under certain objects or find a key in order to find other items. Controlling Alyssa feels like Resident Evil type controls. The controls felt a big clunky and sluggish. The controls were especially problematic when an attacker is chasing you. At this point in time during the chase, there will be instances where you are running in one direction and then the camera shifts to another section, thus making it difficult to control. The problem worsens with the problematic camera system. Clock Tower 3 offers a few cheap thrills and scares, but these situations are only magnified to the camera issues. It does get a bit scary when you can’t see an enemy coming towards you until the enemy is very close.
Despite the cheap scares, the game for the most part isn’t very scary at all. When an attacker is chasing you, a familiar hymn will tip you off that an attacker is near. The before mentioned cheap scares are only so because you can’t see them until they are near. The player will know that they are close, but the lack of a coherent and fluid camera gives the game a bit of horror. And even then, it doesn’t necessarily feel scary because you can just sit in a corner and wait for your attacker to appear. Once he does, you can pour some of your trusty holy water to buy you some time to escape.
Perhaps the best part about Clock Tower 3 is its atmosphere. In a way, it feels a bit like Shadow Hearts. It is dark, but moody at the same time. The storyline was able to capture a certain horror jive that is found in movies. A story filled with supernatural events, a schoolgirl’s mysterious life, and a mystery that is yet to be unraveled. A lot of games in the survival horror genre are dark and tense, but Clock Tower 3 is able to capture that feeling of life and death. Yes, the game has some cheap scares and in fact it isn’t all that scary, but what better is there to have little to no means of protection? All you have is your marathon like pair of legs and your wits. Even though the game is a bit on the easy side, being chased by a deranged killer still makes it so much fun.
Surrounded by a very dark atmosphere, Clock Tower 3 was able to build tension. This is reemphasized with the game’s graphics. But even with that said, the character models felt a bit uninspired. The character models felt a bit choppy and sluggish. But on a brighter note, the game did run exceptionally well. Along with the fantastic cutscenes, it reiterated a strong story. The storytelling was enhanced due to the subtle cutscenes, which offered some clues and back story that slowly unraveled into a grander scheme of things. Backed by some effective lighting, the game is definitely quite atmospheric.
The musical soundtrack for the most part felt solid. It enhanced the dark mood and built some tension along the way. Probably the worst part about the soundtrack is the hymn that plays when an attacker is near. Not saying that the musical portion is bad, but it certainly felt useless, as it detracted from the game’s experience. But there was redemption, as the voiceovers are quite good. Alyssa has a certain innocent sound that makes the situation more tragic when she is dragged into this predicament.
Clock Tower 3 is an extremely short game. In fact, it should take no more than 4-6 hours to beat. Throw that in with the fact that the game lacks any replay value and the game may make your purchase unjust. But even with the lack of incentives to play the game over, the initial play through is a genuine experience. With its unique approach to the survival horror genre, Capcom never ceases to amaze. Yes, the game has definite issues that detract from the experience, but the whole approach feels different.
Clock Tower 3 certainly has sluggish controls, the camera is untrustworthy, and it is really short, but even with all the problems, I never had so much fun playing a game that is so technically unsound. The game truly feels sloppy, but the game’s unique approach to the genre felt fresh and fun. The game isn’t your next masterpiece, but it offers plenty of solid gameplay and good fun. The story was also nicely told, which enhanced the game’s overall experience. Clock Tower 3 may seem like a low production value game, which it is, but the game’s uniqueness starts to sink in and perhaps the scariest part about it is that you may start enjoying it despite its apparent flaws. At a cheap price, the game is definitely well worth a look.
