Brief thoughts on Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water

Ever since the Wii-U was first announced to the public I had been clamouring at the prospect of a Fatal Frame game to be released on the console.  The console's controller, in my mind, would have made a perfect Camera Obscura.  

I never actually thought that Koei Tecmo would develop a Fatal Frame game where the gamepad would essentially become the franchises infamous Camera Obscura.  Even the thought of another Fatal Frame entry being released without the gamepad concept seemed liked a hopeless endeavour, considering the fourth entry in the series was not released outside of Japan.  Koei Tecmo and Nintendo were probably not confident that game would be a huge enough success at retail to justify distribution costs and have only made it available as a downloadable purchase through the Nintendo E-shop and a special limited retail edition was released in Europe (which is now sold out).

E3 2015 trailer

For those that are not familiar with the Fatal Frame series (or Project Zero as it is know here in Europe) it is a survival horror in the vain of the Resident Evil or the Silent Hill franchise.  Survival horror games have traditionally been less about action and more about suspense, where the player is motivated to avoid combat and conserve their limited ammo.  Fatal Frame took the same concept, but what made it unique is that the player could not use any traditional weapons at all, the only item they were equipped with was a camera called the Camera Obscura.  The camera, however was no ordinary camera, it held the power to exorcise spirits and was the only defence the player has against the vengeful ghouls in the series.  The Camera Obscura added to the terror as to defeat the ghosts the player had to look through the camera and be as close as possible to take a more damaging photograph.

Reviews for the game appear to have been mixed, IGN gave it a 7 out of 10 and GameSpot awarded it a rather average score of 5.  Edge magazine, a notoriously difficult to please and respected publication scored it with an 8 out of 10.  I think the reason for the differing scores could be a cultural issue, as European publications have ranked the game on average higher than their American counterparts (this was also the case for another survival horror Wii-U exclusive, named ZombiU).

The highlight of the game was using the Wii-U's gamepad as the in-game photo camera.  Before venturing into the game I was highly excited about the feature, but also a little apprehensive as the concept had been used in a manner of speaking before in Spirit Camera, a spin off in the Fatal Frame universe, on the 3DS.  Spirit Camera was a great concept, using augmented reality where ghosts would appear in your own house, but it was not scary and the technology just did not work properly.  

I can say I did not have any issues with the gamepad and I highly enjoyed my experience in the world.  The first 5 minutes of using the gamepad as the Camera Obscura did take a little adjustment as you have to remember to look at the screen on the controller when a ghost would pop up rather than  at the TV screen.  In a matter of minutes I became accustomed to the new controls and in no time was fending off evil spirits with my trusty camera.  Some may find the camera idea to be gimmicky, but for me it was the perfect method of playing a Fatal Frame game.  During certain grueling times I actually found myself physically moving backwards on my swivel chair as the ghouls crept closer to the camera as I fended for my life.

The sound in the game only helped me to become completely immersed in the Fatal Frame experience.  The inhuman screeching when the spirits appeared kept me on my toes.  On many occasions there were situations where I was looking through the controller screen trying to fend off one ghost while panicking as the sound made me believe that there were other ghosts ready to appear from any area off screen.  To really appreciate the sound effects, surround sound is a requirement.  Unlike previous entries the Japanese voice acting can be selected as an option, which is a lot more convincing than the rather cheesy English voiced acting.

The theme of the game is centered on water and the idea it is connected to both life and death.  Not only is this the focus in the story, but it is also affects the gameplay.  The more encounters the player has with the ghosts, then the wetter the character will become.  Then, if a character 'wetness' gauge is high, then a greater number of ghosts will likely join the party to scare you ridged.  The water in the game was absolutely beautiful and I found myself creeping and running through the water in many different environments, whilst occasionally stopping just to stare at the ripples gracefully dancing at the characters feet.

Overall, I had a nerve racking time with Fatal Frame V and it truly felt like going back in time to when survival horror was at its peak with classics such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Eternal Darkness.  It is recommended to classic survival horror fans, indie horror fans or anybody just looking for something different.