Clock Tower

"Wait until dark"

Jennifer Simpson climbs up a steep cliffside, desperately trying to make it to the top. Her life depends on it. Down below, a deformed, vile creature called as Scissorman, slithers its way towards the cliff; he's as hungry to kill as Jennifer is to live. Near the top, just as Jennifer reaches to pull herself up, the soil gives way and a crate falls down towards Scissorman, exploding on impact. As Jennifer pulls herself up, she turns around and watches her would-be murderer burn.

A year after the event, unspeakably brutal murders begin occurring everywhere - Scissorman has returned. And Jennifer, who has since been adopted by Helen Maxwell, an assistant professor of criminal psychology, must escape his wrath yet once again.

Clock Tower is a basic point-and-click adventure. As Jennifer or Helen, or one of their annoying friends, you must do your damnedest not to fall victim to Scissorman, who, despite his goofy name, is one of the coolest and most terrifying figures in video gamedom. Really, what a piece of work this guy is. He dons tattered and torn, dark-blue clothing, walks with a hunch, has a hideously deformed face, and, as if you couldn't have gathered by his name, carries a pair of scissors (a giant, blood-soaked pair of scissors, to be precise), which he snaps with every determined step. O.J. Simpson, your successor has arrived.

Gameplay is broken down into two different segments: intermission, where the poorly told story unfolds, and where you determine which path the game shall take; and scenario, where you must avoid Scissorman's shears of wrath, and collect items needed in order to complete the game. Both segments pretty much play the same, however, as you're moving and clicking a cursor around the screen. Move your cursor to an area where you want your character to move to, click, and they walk on over (or, to speed things up, double-click to make them run). To pick up / use an item, open a door / box / etc., just move your cursor over the item / door / etc., click, and your action will be carried out.

Simple, right? Well, somehow, Human Entertainment (the now-defunct Human Entertainment, rather) managed to screw even this much up. Pointing and clicking just ****ing slow. The cursor doesn't move fast enough, and there's a delay before every action is carried out; running looks and works even clunkier, the character jerking around even just to stop. The intermission sections are even more brain-numbingly slow, as there's no option to skip through all the text. That the scriptwriter so obviously put no care care into their work, with the characters blurting out insipid lines even B-movie actors would find silly, doesn't help. Players who were frustrated with the pacing of other survival-horror games will no doubt be infuriated over Clock Tower's snail-like flow. And, as if all that wasn't bad enough, the visuals are absolutely appalling. CT looked sloppy even back on its release, with character models so archaic they practically creak when moving, and it's almost intolerable now.

And yet, Clock Tower is still worth your time. Why? Its haunting atmosphere is practically unparalleled.

The four scenario sections - a dimly lit university, two-story house, library and mansion - are loaded with dead bodies, creepy surroundings and ****-in-your-pants pop-ups from Scissorman. They are dark, silent and practically bleeding with dread. The sitting security guard whose falls off when you tap his shoulder, a co-worker with her stomach ripped open, KILL written across computer screens, the shing ... shing ... shing of Scissorman's blades that grow louder as he approaches - this is one of the most frightening video games I've ever played.

And it's clever, too. Each scenario requires you to escape from whatever setting you're in, which is never as simple as just walking out the front door or crawling through a window. You must search for the exit, collect the necessary items to help you break free, and try not to get slaughtered while doing so. You never know what door Scissorman will be waiting behind, or when he'll locate you and gut you like a fish. Unlike most survival-horror games, you aren't equipped with a shotgun or blunt object; sometimes you'll be able fend Scissorman off and run past him (like with a fire extinguisher, for example), but your safest bet is to just hide. Even then, stepping into large boxes and covering yourself or walking into closets and shutting the doors only works for so long. Scissorman will find you if you hide in the same spot twice, and while these stages are fairly big, there are only so many areas to hide in. Time works against you.

Clock Tower just intimidates the player into putting the controller down and turning the system off. While the Resident Evils and Silent Hills provide many slick hocks and scares, Clock Tower still holds its own very well. Its botched dialogue, slow pace and excruciating graphics hold it back from being a real star of the genre, but if you have some patience, you will find few games offer such a horrifying experience.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/01, Updated 06/03/04