Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

"Scary as Hell"

I usually hate survival horror games because usually, they just aren't that scary. Resident Evil-not scary at all. Silent Hill is pretty scary, but there isn't one game yet that I have found scarier than this one. This game is so creepy. Sure, after the first couple of ghosts you seem to understand when they appear, but the game will still make you **** your pants nonetheless. This game does that better than any other game I have played yet.

STORY:8
This game has a very unique story. It all starts off with these two sisters walking through a forest and they get to talking. Then later one of the girls follows some crimson butterflies and suddenly the whole forest turns from beautiful and sunny to eerie and night. The girls don't know what is going on and stumble on to a mysterious village. I don't want to tell you more since the story is so great. The game really does draw you in.

GRAPHICS:10
The graphics are amazing. even though the character models don't have a whole lot of detail to them, that isn't enough to bring the score down to a nine. The environments look fantastic. The lighting is done just as good. The one thing that looks the best to me is the ghosts. The developers actually made them look so good. I can't put my finger on it, but I can tell that they did something different than in most games. Anyways, the graphics blew me away. The game's visuals are really what makes the game so eerie.

SOUND:10
You can't have a scary game without great sound components. The voice overs seem a little cheesy, but the ghost voices are really creepy. The music also helps the game's scare factor. The sound effects are also done great. All of these elements help make the game scary. You have to play this game with surround sound with the volume turned all the way up. That is how you get the best audio experience with this game.

SCARE FACTOR:9
This game is just plain scary. I had to put the controller down after about 30 minutes. That has never happened to me before. The visuals and audio make the game though because if they weren't good the game wouldn't be nearly as scary. One part of the game that was really scary was when I thought I saw an item and I pulled out my camera to look around and as soon I went into first person there was a ghost right in front of me. I literally stood up and went ''Oh SNAP!'' This game doesn't really scare you nearly as much the second time around because you know where all the ghosts are.

GAMEPLAY:8
Instead of unloadin' 400 rounds from a machine gun you use a camera called the camera obscura to kill enemies. It sounds a little strange, but the camera has special exorcism powers that you can upgrade throughout the game. You take pictures and look for items. That is about what the game is about. It seems like it might get repetitive, but the story of the game keeps everything fresh and exciting. Each ghost requires a different strategy and depending on how well you take the picture will determine how much damage is done to the ghost. The game does lack replay value, but the game is still good enough to earn an eight in this category.

CONTROL:6
When you actually think about it the controls are good. Look at Resident Evil. That game has some of the worst controls there are. In this the controls are great... well compared to Resident Evil that is. The controls are very clunky and the static camera angles don't really help a whole lot. If those problems were fixed the game would have been even more enjoyable. Other than that the controls are fine.

OVERALL:9
This is my favorite survival horror game yet. This game is also scarier than almost any other game out there. This game's presentation is what makes it so scary. The gameplay is great. The controls do need some work. I think the controls would have been better on one of the other systems, but they aren't to the point where the game is unplayable (cough cough Resident Evil!). If you can get passed the control issues the game is really a joy to play.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/04