Clock Tower

"Its heart is in the right place...but everything else is missing."

Ever since Resident Evil hit it big on the Playstation, horror themed-games have become all the rage with game companies. Enter ASCII, publishers of Clock Tower, a gruesome point-and-click ''hot spot'' adventure with decidedly adult content.

The story of the game is simplistic, but eerie: a recent string of murders has been linked to a mythical Norse monster, the gruesome Scissorman, who (appropriately) uses a pair of giant shears to disembowel/decapitate/(fill in your favorite act of violence with an edged weapon) his victims. However, several of the characters in the game (there are many) don't believe in this Scissorman. As a result, they begin to investigate the murders and search for the truth about this killing spree.

The graphics in the game aren't overly impressive; they get the job done but that's about it. Many objects are dithered and the characters share the same emotionless, blank expression. Everything is basically carried out in a faux 3D/roving camera perspective; the camera pans nicely to allow you to view the various locations in the game. When your hero moves, they have this extremely slow, choppy walk. You can make them run (a nice feature), but then they run in this horribly awkward, choppy animation. I had to keep myself from laughing the first five minutes I played the game. On the upside, the beastly Scissorman is appreciably scary and many of the scenes in the game go for well-drawn, over the top gore. Many moments will have you jumping out of your skin.

The game's soundtrack is weak at best, but the specific sound effects are accurate and help to intensify the suspensful mood of the game. It is often deafeningly quiet as you search for a way to escape from a maniacal murderer, and this (combined with the creaky doors, and echoing footfalls) help to create a horror movie mood in Clock Tower. The mood, in fact, is the game's strong point. If you turn all the lights off while playing you are almost guaranteed to jump at the sight of Scissorman, who shows up in random places throughout the game (this randomness ups the replay value a bit, as well). This technique is what made Resident Evil work so well, and the creators of this title emulated that success.

The game's interface works best with a mouse, and that is a principle failing of the game. It lacks the real action found in RE and the well-done clone Silent Hill; in fact, all actions are performed by an ''action button'', a multi-purpose type of function that doesn't add much to the depth of the game. In order to interact with other people, pick up items, close and open doors, and fight with Scissorman you tap the same button. This shallow gameplay is as exciting as clicking through a Windows interface, and this packs none of the frenzied action of RE. Rather than feeling in control of your own destiny (by using weapons and strategic combos to fight evil), you are always running away and using the same button to do everything. This is a true shame, and it kills many of the good points in the game. The whole ''search for a way to escape until you find Scissorman and then run and repeat the process'' gets awfully old, awfully quick. There isn't any real ''control scheme'' here; it's just point-and-click all the way. In my opinion, this simply just doesn't jell with the rest of the game's wonderful concept.

The game does grip you in some ways, however. As stated before, the mood and settings are incredible and Scissorman is one truly horrific killing machine. Also, the game sports multiple endings, and there are several points in the plot where you may choose to play out the fates of different characters, affecting the plot and resulting in multiple well-done endings. This ups the replay value a bit, and pulls Clock Tower out of being a total disaster.

Overall, Clock Tower presents many good ideas, but the whole package seems rushed and the initial thrill with the creepy environment falls in the face of a poor interface. Too bad, this could have been awesome.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/27/00, Updated 05/27/00