Clock Tower

"A True Classic in The World of Survival Horror"

A young girl of 14, Jennifer Simpson, climbs up a steep cliff, chased by the horrible creature/killer called SCISSORMAN!!! Nearing the top of the cliff, she slips on a bit of loose ground, and a crate comes crashing down on the horrid butcher below her. The contents explode and Jennifer watches in horror as her worst nightmare burns and writhes in agony. All seemed well...until one year later...

What better way to start a game intro? This game is really the sleeper hit to end all sleeper hits! But I'll shut up and go on with the review.

GamePlay: 10
Clock Tower is a unique game in its own. What perhaps makes it so unique is the fact that it is a point and click game that uses the oh so rare mouse! Now you don't need the mouse, a controller will do good. Many people say this is clunky and hard to use, but I found no problems with it. Basically, you are one of two characters: Jennifer, the girl mentioned before, or Helen Maxwell, her guardian and assistant of the professor who is doing therapy on Jennifer.
The Main baddy, (and the only baddy in the game) is a horrible monster known as ScissorMan, who has seemingly come back from the dead, weilding his trademark GIANT PAIR OF SCISSORS, to kill his victims! Yes, it may sound corny, but it's much better and gorrier then some zombie biting your neck (you know what I mean). Speacking of gorry, this game is NOT for a squeamish person. Some of the scenes of violence and blood are simply unthinkable in real life. But then again, that's what makes the game good. How the game progresses is this:

Intermission: This is what goes on in the day, and sometimes determines what goes on later in the game. This is really just a plot progression point.

Scenario: There are 4 scenarios in the game, you play 3 of them and a prologue. They are: A University, A Two Story House, A Library, and a Castle. All of these scenarios happen at night, and you happen to be trapped in them with ScissorMan. Now, let's say you are in the university walking along in a hall whistling, when sudddenly ScissorMan's Theme comes on. At this point, I have my eyes OPEN, because when that music comes on, ScissorMan is after you.

Here, you have some choices: Hide, or Fight. No, I don't mean blow his brains out with a shotgun, (You know what I mean) You have to use something else, say a frying pan, a bed sheet, a fire extinguisher... Anyway, let's say you want to HIDE. Where do you go? You spot a restroom. You click madly on it. Your character rushes over and enters the restroom and enters a stall just as you hear ScissorMan's maniacal SHING SHING of his giant gardening shears. Now you just wait, and pray. If he knows where you are, (you can't hide in the same place ten times over. He wises up to you)he kills you. If he doesn't know where you are, the music slowly dies down, you get out of the stall, and feel your heart, which is beating very fast at this point.

Now, let's say you decide to fight. First you need to find a weapon. You run into a office room/ computer room. You look drastically for something to use on him. Suddenly, the door opens. ScissorMan walks in and sees you! He walks slowly towards you, SHING SHINGING his shears with every step he takes. Finally you see a can of mace. You spray it in his eyes and run out of the room, listening to his screams of pain. The music dies down, and you are alive. There is a problem with weapons though. Although you are sure they will work on ScissorMan, unlike hiding, you can only use that weapon ONCE. Upon using it, you may not use it for the rest of the game, so it's best to use weapons only when you must. Assuming you live through the scenario, you go on to another Intermission, and then to the next Scenario. One more thing. Scissorman's hiding places are totaly randomized. He may not be in that box the first time you enter the room, but the second time... Th'ats pretty much all there is to it.

Graphics: 6

Ok, the graphics are FINE. Nothing to hate the game for, just a little choppier than most people are used to these days. If you have a PS2, that will help clear up some of the choppieness

Sound: 10

There is hardly any sound at all in the game, one of the things that makes it so great. All you hear is the creaking of an open locker/door. The tap tap of walking across a floorboard. It makes the game so that you WANT ScissorMan to be there in the corner, just so you can relive the suspense the sound makes. In my Opinion, EXCELLENT!

Replayability: 8

Replayability huh? You wont be disappointed. There are actually 10 different endings you can get! I myself, got a little tired of the game after getting my 6th ending, but it would be a great way to spend a rainy Saturday.

Buy or Rent?: BUY

I strongly recomend this game to any fan of Survival Horror It may be a little hard to find now, but it is DEFINITLY worth the low price it has these days.

Overall: 10

This game makes a true statement for itself now, and if you can get your hands on the 1st Clock Tower for SNES, you can understand the storyline even better! I can not and will not give Clock Tower 2 the same credit this one has.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/03, Updated 07/09/03