Fatal Frame

The game tells the tale of a young girl searching for her missing brother in a cursed mansion--all fairly straightforward stuff. Fans of the genre will feel right at home as the backstory is quickly filled out, allowing the process of ghost hunting to begin--and unlike the comic lunacy of the GameCube's Luigi's Mansion, the spooks and specters here are of a very adult nature. Screaming and moaning accompany the arrival of the ghosts, and they don't shut up until they're "killed"--an act that requires a camera. Fatal Frame eschews pistols and shotguns in favor of a celluloid-death approach, which makes sense given the fact that the opposition are well beyond the living to begin with. In camera mode, the heroine's faithful Box Brownie pops up in a first-person style and it's necessary to keep the ghoul within the focusing reticule in order to drain maximum power from it. It sounds a little lame, but in practice it works well and is an effective way of explaining just how to "shoot" ghosts.

The plot development is nicely done, and there are a host of puzzles to solve that are well balanced and never get too tough, but it's the graphics and sound work that really make Fatal Frame special. Cutscenes are rendered in a variety of styles designed to increase the tension, and the sparse soundtrack works wonders when it kicks in. While it's not the strongest title in the PS2's gaming arsenal, it'll certainly keep survival horror fans busy until the next installment of Silent Hill rolls around--remember, though, it's best played with the sound up loud, in the dark, on your own... --Chris Russell

Amazon.com Product Description
Fatal Frame, a horror-adventure game, leaves its victims breathless as they become immersed in a world of supernatural spirits and sheer terror. Guided by her sixth sense and armed only with an antique camera, Miku sets out to solve the mystery of her brother's sudden disappearance. As the story unfolds, she discovers gruesome details about the Himura mansion's troubled past. The property and surrounding area have a dark history involving grisly murders, an evil cult, and restless spirits.