An unmissable masterpiece that will change your view on games forever. Creepy yet beautiful.
Gameplay: The game plays similarly to most other survival horror games and while the controls can get a bit clunky sometimes, it is a brilliant, involving adventure. The gameplay is mostly split up into exploring the dark town, completing various puzzles and fighting the various monsters that haunt the town. You get a good range of weapons to fight these as well with weapons that range from a lead pipe to a shotgun, though ammo and first aid kits are in short supply and it is best to conserve your supplies. The puzzles are smart enough to be challenging but are never obscure or stupid (as in the Resident Evil games) and the solutions always seem natural. There is a good variaty of locations to explore in the game which include a prison, a hospital and an underground labyrinth which is the lair of a re-accuring enemy in the game known as Pyramid Head, an unkillable physcho that appears to stalk and torment the protaganist at diiferent points throughout the game. Graphics and Sound: The graphics in this game are great to say that it came out 6 years ago and stands up next to games such as Resident Evil 4 in the visuals department. One great feature the game uses to build tension is the use of darkness and fog to lower visabiliy and often when in interior locations such as the hospital, your only source of light is usually a small flashlight that you find at the beginning of the game. The game has great weather effects in the form of the fog that has engulfed the town. The art direction is also great with brillaint monster designs and the town itself is extremely detailed, right down to the rust covering the walls.The sound is one of the games best points with a great soundtrack as well as some really creepy in-game music. The voice acting is great though sometimes the actors can seem a unemotional, though considering the tone of the game this may have been intentional. One ingenious tension building divice is a radio that you get at the start of the game which emits static whenever a monster is near and while it is supposed to alert you so you can be ready, it still makes you **** yourself every time! Value: With 5 different endings (including a hilarious joke ending) there is plenty of reason to play through again. Conclusion: If you like adventure or horror games this is a must have and even if you don't then still give this game a go anyway, it'll be worth it.