8.7

Project Zero 3: The Tormented

Project Zero 3: The Tormented follows the popular Japanese survival horror genre that puts players in the role of Rei, a beautiful yet cursed young woman who is plagued by overwhelming guilt and twisted nightmares that mends the real-world with the supernatural. Unaware of whether the player is in the "real-world" or the supernatural, this tale actually gave me the creeps and is probably one of the most successful survival horror games in a long time.

Features

• Multi-Playable Characters: Using strategy and skill, the player must choose between 3 different characters with unique special abilities in order to complete each terrifying mission.

• Two Haunting Worlds: The game takes place in 2 haunting worlds: the nightmare and the real life. As the player moves deeper into the game, the line between the two worlds becomes blurred, creating fear and uneasiness in the player.

• In-Depth Storyline: The story of Rei's torment will consume the player as they move deeper and deeper into the mind-bending world of Fatal Frame III: The Tormented

• Camera Obscura: The Player will use the camera obscura not only as a weapon but as a guide by taking pictures of the ghostly inhabitants and creepy objects within the "House of Sleep" in order to solve the mystery of the tattoo and rid of the curse.

• Evolved Ghosts: Most terrifying ghosts to date as hideous facial expressions and creepy eye movements have been refined. Ghosts will stare at the player while morphing into a scarier ghost, increasing fear in the player as they confront the apparition.

• New Characters: A new female heroine, Rei Kurosawa, and a young journalist, Kei Amakura, bring new special abilities and their own stories to Fatal Frame III: The Tormented.

• Returning Characters: Miku from the original Fatal Frame is back and playable in Fatal Frame III: The Tormented, using her strong spiritual powers to help Rei solve the mystery of the "House of Sleep", as her haunting personal story from Fatal Frame continues...

• Disturbing Sounds and Visuals: Eerie sounds, unexpected movements, and psychologically disturbing visuals all add up to the most terrifying Japanese Horror interactive experience to date.

This game beautifully takes off where the previous title finished and Rei Kurosawa is joined with the original heroine from the first game, Miku Hinaksi and Kei Amakura, a close friend of Rei. Although your main character is Rei, these other characters must also be used throughout the adventure, each having their own strengths and weaknesses.

The title starts (how ironic), in a Haunted House where Rei has been assigned to take photographs of this haunted mansion. Unfortunately for Rei, this house contains a plethora of trapped spirits that our Japanese heroine now takes it upon herself to solve this strange, weird and nefarious mystery. To make matters worse, these spirits are both good and evil but fortunately for the gamer, Rei's powerful supernatural camera obscura has the ability to harm and banish these foul spirits.

The puzzles in this title, although sometimes difficult allows for some great exploration in this game that helps unlock a variety of new back-story quests that eventually leads the player to be both exorcist and social worker to the spirits.

There are a number of items littered throughout the game to assist you in your adventure and fortunately there are some lens upgrades to increase the power of your camera. The game also switches between first and third person modes but needless to say, these two modes but used together in order to successfully finish the game.

The control system of this title takes a little time mastering but after a few hours of happy snaps, you'll soon be able to take on the darkest spirits, this side of Hades. Although the most annoying aspect of the gameplay is that some of the camera angles (in-game) are a little strange at the best of times and can sometimes mean the struggle between life and death but ironically, it actually suits the genre perfectly.

The musical score of Project Zero 3 has a very eerie feel to it and once again helps transform you into the role of Rei and friends, add in a variety of sound effects that would not be out of place in a horror movie and the developers should receive an award for the combination of sound, music and storyline.

Graphically, Project Zero 3 is a masterpiece and all the characters in the game have been professionally designed and almost look "CGI" at some places in the game. Match that with a variety of realistic and extremely spooky special effects (the ghosts are down right creepy) and you'll have no trouble emerging yourself into this amazing title.

In conclusion, the professional gamer will complete this title in around 20 or so hours, depending on their proficiency with the part-time gamer, taking a little longer but this game has it all, an interesting storyline, relatable characters and some of the best darn graphics and gameplay to be seen in a long time. Awesome!