Project Zero 3 review

Spooky. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think about Project Zero 3 retrospectively. The problem is: Spooky isn’t exactly singing any praises. The first Project Zero and its sequel Crimson Butterfly were terrifying games – the sequel doubly so. Because of that it’s hard not to feel slightly disappointment with the third – and possibly final – chapter in the series.

It’s not a bad game, not by any stretch. In fact it’s rather wonderful. But Project Zero 3: The Tormented needed to be more than spooky. My pants should be soaked even now, mere minutes after completing it. You might consider that a good thing. If you have any experience with this series, you won’t, and rightly so.

The House of Sleep

But before this review makes it seem like I actually disliked the game, let’s highlight everything good in Project Zero 3. First of all, the story is easily up to the standard the series established. FMVs and in-game cinematics are drop dead gorgeous – a mighty feat in the time of next-gen. Like the previous two games we have more than merely an excuse in Project Zero 3: we have fully developed characters and plot.

Rei Kurosawa is a freelance photographer still suffering the loss of her boyfriend Yuu, who died in a vicious car crash one year ago. She’s become introverted, forcing her chores and assignment scheduling onto her assistant Miku Hinasaki (from Project Zero 1, fact fans). On a routine assignment to cover a reportedly haunted mansion Rei sees Yuu’s ghost wandering the corridors.

Of course she follows him, unaware that she’s stepping into the realm of The House of Sleep. She’s going to be re-visiting the house a number of times in her sleep as she tries to unravel the twisted history it harbour – all the while searching for Yuu. But she won’t be alone. As has become a staple of the series, ghosts litter the place and only the camera obscurer is going to get her and two other playable characters out of harms way. But more on them later.

Tormented

Project Zero 3 looks gorgeous. Sure, the living characters are a tad robotic, but the House of Sleep and especially the ghosts who inhabit it look amazing. There’s a fluidity to many ghost’s movements that could knock you for a second or two when you first encounter them. Unfortunately, you will encounter them a lot. The game re-uses many of the ghosts throughout its 20 hours or so of game time.

Furthermore, there are very few truly standout designs. All the ghosts are immaculately detailed and amazing to behold. But only a small few really stick out.

Possibly the scariest in the entire game is the elongated woman. You happen upon a torture chamber early in on where women had their hands and feet tied to ropes and stretched beyond their limits. Suffice it to say, you fight one of these woman and she’s absolutely terrifying. Arms and legs double-human length and long black hair flowing over her face. The sounds she make will chill you to the marrow.

It says a lot about Project Zero 3 that the scariest ghost comes early in the game. Once you get used to the mechanics at play here, you lose a real sense of fear – something you never did in the previous games. Every time something eerie is about to happen, or a ghost about to appear, the screen becomes static and the sound abruptly changes. It practically screams “Ready! Steady! Go!” before they show up, negating the game’s fear factor

Less Than Zero

While we’re on the subject of negating the stealth section is a gross misjudgement. Yes, you read that right: stealth section. As the game progresses you get to control Miku and a new character called Kei. They have different strengths and weaknesses, and Kei’s is the ability to hide from ghosts. It makes up for the fact he’s a bit crap with a camera, basically.

Unfortunately the extent of Kei’s hiding is pressing the circle button while hiding behind things. It’s a far cry from running up to and peeking around corners, which would have been preferable to what actually exists. The problem is that Project Zero 3, like its predecessors, has fixed camera perspectives and you can’t always see around corners. All you have to rely on is a device in the corner of the screen that glows blue when a ghost is nearby or red when they see you.

There are other contrivances, too. The whole idea of the game’s hub being Rei’s apartment screams Silent Hill 4 – and like that game, the relative safety of the environment soon vanishes. Another niggle is the voice acting. Everyone… tends… to… speak… slooowly… and there’s a bizarre tinny sound in their voices too. Finally, it really feels like the whole game was padded out with these interminable key-hunting bits. Re-re-re-visiting the same locations is not fun.

But don’t let any of this put you off. Any suffering’s the game has are purely a product of Tecmo being willing to change things third time around. And really, you have to honour that. Konami tried it with Silent Hill 4 but the changes were a little too drastic. In Project Zero 3, enough new additions are added, such as the ability to develop photographs, to make it another fine survival horror. If it is the last in the series it’s truly a shame. But Project Zero 3: The Tormented definitely goes out with a bang… a big spooky bang.