For lovers of Clock Tower comes a surprisingly wonderful treat you'll want to play again and again.
This is a usual occurrence in Haunting Ground, one of Capcom's greatest survival horror titles. This game will send your heart racing as you run somewhere, anywhere in a desperate search to hide. This game will challenge your wits, courage, and nerves like never before.
You will play as Fiona Belli, a young woman who has survived a horrific car accident that claimed both of her parents' lives, and has been brought to a strange castle to claim her inheritance. But everyone in the castle wants you for some sort of disturbing desire, and as the game progresses you will meet and overcome each with the help of dog companion, Hewie.
The controls work like a charm. Fiona is responsive and acts quickly, except when opening doors and other actions. You can preform a number of different actions, such as kicking, a weak shove, and backstep.
People are always complaining about a few aspects that MAKE survival horror; complaining the main character is timid or just a normal girl tossed in a horrific situation, but she still can't hit an an enemy correctly. Imagine yourself in this situation; you wouldn't be as badass as Jill Valentine, right?
It just so happens Fiona is also very helpless, and has little means to defend herself. But once you obtain Hewie, it's important to form close bonds with him. The closer you are, the more obedient he is. And it will pay off when you're panicking and screaming for him to help you. He may save your life. The thing with Hewie is the fact he is like a realistic dog; he doesn't always want to listen to you. Personally I like having a realistic dog rather than one that will do every last thing you say (Aka Brown from RoR, but he was like that for numerous reasons.)
There are numerous stalkers ingame that want you dead. They will wander the castle real-time, and the only way to tell if one is nearby is to listen carefully for the music to go silent. It's important not to mute the game too much; you won't always know when to come out of hiding. Speaking of which, since you are unable to fight your enemies back too easily, the best way to drop them is to hide. Hiding spots are anything from under a bed to behind a curtain to even behind a door. The stalkers are intelligent, so if you hide in one too many times they'll eventually catch on. Unlike Clock Tower 3, you can't run inside a hiding spot before their eyes; to get into a hiding spot, you have to have him out of the room. This is tricky, so sick Hewie on him near the next room to quickly run inside.
You have no real health meter, but two "stats"
instead; stamina and panic. Stamina depletes over time as you run and backstep and preform actions. Your movement will become slower and will eventually be unable to move for a bit. Panic will rather quickly increase when you are faced with a dangerous situation. Your visibility will get worse, you cannot enter the subscreen, she begins to run on her own automatically, and the worst bit is if she crashes into something, she will collapse and leave her completely helpless. You can still desperately call for Hewie until you eventually calm down. There is also a little damage meter; the more damage you take, the slower you will go. You will also be unable to backstep.
The game also provides a lot of difficult puzzles. Luckily the stalkers cannot enter a puzzle room until it's solved, but afterwards, watch out. They will head there a lot until you get past it.
The music is absolutely brilliant, and I have to have the entire OST on my mp3 player. It really adds a lot to a chase, and if you want to hear samplings go ahead on youtube and look up some tracks.
I will also commend Capcom on some actually very impressive voice work (Especially for Riccardo) and lines. Capcom has been notorious for bad voice acting since Resident Evil: Zero. (You were almost a Jill Sandwich!)
The graphics are also extremely beautiful. It has a fuzzy look to it, and really adds to the already extremely atmospheric gameplay.
If you've played the Clock Tower games full and are still looking for more, or just want one of the best survival horror games out there, go for Haunting Ground...
...Because "this game is overflowing with fear and terror. As you play you'll be chased into desperation by strange things. It's up to you to be brave and guide Fiona through it."