Incredibly atmospheric with a great storyline
Fatal Frame 2 finds twins, Mio and Mayu stumbling across a desolate village in the woods with no path leading back leaving them no choice but to explore and fight for survival when facing deadly ghosts, during their exploration a grissly tale of sacrificial ritual unfolds as the twins try to find a way out of the village and survive, the only way for them to defeat the murderous ghost they encounter is with the camera obscura, an old fashioned camera which combined with the correct film has the power to exorcise spirits.
The Camera Obscura depletes the health of any unwanted spirits when a photo is taken but more damage can be dealt during the 'shutter chance' when the capture circle in the camera's view turns red and deals a deadly blow knocking back the ghosts, an even deadlier blow can be dealt if the timing of the shot is perfect causing the 'fatal frame' which can lead to a combo shot dealing a hell of a lot of damage and the gain of a lot of spirit points which can be used to upgrade the camera.
visually, the game looks good, the walls of the houses are grimey with a good measure of blood splattered around, everything looks dark which adds to the atmosphere of the game but a lot of the rooms look similar so the scenery can become a little samey after a while, most of the ghosts look great too especially the kusabi (a formidable ghost you meet on a number of occasions) who is really well animated and one of the scariest ghost you will encounter. This can't be said for all ghosts though but thats the minority, generally everything looks good.
The controls handle very well but can be a little unresponsive at times especially when trying to time a shot from the camera just right which can lead to you missing the 'shutter chance' or the 'fatal frame' so a ghost is left open to attacking you. The movement controls are very well executed, you can run forward with the square button and change direction with the right stick. On a few occasions, you switch from controlling the primary character Mio, to her twin, Mayu. The controls are the same but you cant use the camera obscura when controlling Mayu.
The real highlight of the game is the numerous battles you have with terrifying ghosts, the tension is heightened as to get the perfect shot to deal a lot of damage, you have to wait for the ghosts to get close to you, a heart beat sound can be heard when a ghost is near and as they approach closer and closer, the pace of the heart beat quickens and the fear intensifies. Sometimes though when fighting multiple ghosts, they try and score cheap shots and attack you from behind when you're focusing on a ghost infront of you, also, vision can be distorted by the ghosts infront of the camera and because you have no control over the camera, its hard to see where you're going.
There's no real music within the game but rather just creepy sounds which fit absolutely perfectly , there is an awesome song once you've completed the game in the final cutscene which i just had to download after i finished playing.
The game has an added replay value for endings, once you've completed the game on normal mode, you unlock hard mode which gives you a second ending and , finishing hard mode unlocks the final difficulty entitled nightmare mode which gives you the final and best ending, completing the game also unlocks different costumes for the protsagonists and a mission mode.
The overall play time is rather short, it took me just less than 11 hours to finish the game in normal mode, even though this is rather short, it is a good time for this game as if it were any longer, the story would have been dragged out, as it is, the story develops at a good pace.
Overall, this game is a great innovative addition to the fatal frame series and to the horror genre although the controls let it time for time to time, it a must have for any fan of the survival horror genre.