Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Multi)
By: Koei Tecmo
WHILE the J-Horror boom of the 90s and 00s has faded on the big screen, the games are still going strong. And, while survival horror nuts clear their calendars for next week’s Resident Evil 4 remake, Fatal Frame - the cult Japanese antidote to blockbuster frights – is providing an aperitif with Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.
Despite being helmed by gaming wunderkind Goichi Suda, 2008’s Wii effort never saw the light of day outside Japan, and though fans will welcome its long-awaited Western release, the years haven’t been kind.
While Resident Evil provides the zombies and Silent Hill revels in psychological freak-outs, Fatal Frame serves up supernatural frights familiar to fans of The Grudge and The Ring as angry ghosts steeped in folklore scare the Shinto out of you.
Lunar Eclipse revolves around two girls compelled to return to a remote island where, as kidnapped children, they escaped a sacrificial cult. Also returning is the detective who rescued them, still hoping to nab the man responsible. Playing alternately as all three, ghostly hijinks ensue as you put vengeful spirits to rest with nothing more than a camera.
Lending new meaning to "photo shoot", ghosts say cheese to your weaponised snapper in a throwback to the golden age of survival horror – warts and all. On top of puzzles involving masks, telephones and keys, ghostly encounters involve aiming the camera, fitting the correct lens and timing snapshots for maximum damage.
It’s a simple routine enlivened no end by the game’s incredible atmosphere. Its musty hospital rooms and haunted lighthouses creak with tension while the sound design – all distant clangs, radio static and sobbing children – is genuinely spine-chilling.
But, for a game about photography, there are, fittingly, a few negatives. Camera movement is erratic (you could say it's a 'loose Canon') while the characters, looking like ambulatory sex dolls, lumber around with similar grace. The glacial walking pace (a running option is more gentle shuffle), spiteful camera and antiquated controls make searching every room a chore, and while graphically updated over its 15-year-old original, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse remains a relic in all senses of the word.
Even if this spook snapper isn't one for the album, Fatal Frame’s long-suffering fans will just be glad to finally play the black sheep of the family, which, if you can look past the last-gen jank, offers old-school gamers a nostalgic J-horror experience.
