Clock Tower 3 Review

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            Clock Tower 3

Review by TogerMay 2003

I should point out that I haven’t played any of the other Clock Towers, so there will be no debate, contrast and compare, or discussion about the merits of 2D point-and-click versus prerendered and real-time 3D. Now that that’s out of the way …

Let me start by saying that Clock Tower 3 is a jaw-dropping, drool-inducing, stunningly beautiful game. Yes, I’m an admitted eye candy junkie. Watching this game fed my eye-candy habit as no game before it. There. I said it. Let’s move on.

Clock Tower 3 is Capcom’s newest entry into the adventure/action/survival/horror genre. It’s not your typical survival/horror game. Instead of some buff, gun-toting, bad-ass heroine, Alyssa Hamilton is a tall, gawky teenager, unsure of herself and her surroundings and with no clue as to why these bizarre things are happening to her. She has no access to guns, knives, chainsaws or bazookas. Not even a heavy 2×4 with nails embedded in it. All she’s got is running, hiding and a very pretty glass bottle of holy water, which she uses to sprinkle the twisted creatures that inhabit the game world. That sanctified water doesn’t kill anything—it just stuns … for a limited time … usually, just enough time to find a hiding place.

As the game begins, Alyssa is your average 14-year-old boarding school denizen. She’d been sent away, without explanation, by her mother three years prior. Days before her 15th birthday, she receives a letter from her mother apologizing for sending her away, yet in the same breath telling her to go into hiding, once again with no reason, until after her birthday. A mysterious phone call from her mother sends her running for home to find out what’s going on. When she arrives, her mother is nowhere to be found, but there is an odd man there who claims her mother is never coming back, and then … he vanishes.

Progressing through Clock Tower 3, Alyssa will discover that she’s from a long line of “rooders,” special women destined to help tormented spirits who walk the earthly plane.  As a rooder, it’s her destiny to help these tortured souls find peace by helping to eliminate their pain, usually by finding a sentimental item such as a ring or locket that they lost in life.  Sounds sorta like the female equivalent of a Schattenjäger.  Unlike Gabriel Knight, once Alyssa realizes who she is and what she can do, she embraces it.

In the cutscene with the first mini-boss, Hammerman, Alyssa is falling all over herself to get away. She’s scared spitless and has no clue what’s going on. Later, she finds a diary explaining her heritage and bloodline. When she comes up against the next mini-boss, Corrodor (he has a penchant for throwing his victims in acid), she immediately starts throwing things and tells him that she’ll destroy him. Talk about a strong female role model!

The production values for Clock Tower 3 are simply amazing.  All of the cutscenes were motion-captured by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku, making them lifelike in the extreme. The movement was so fluid it seemed as if I was watching real-life events unfold in front of me. In one of the early scenes, Alyssa has to scamper under a bombed-out double-decker bus to avoid falling bombs during the London blitz. Her movements are incredibly amazing. I was so awestruck that I forgot to move when the game returned control back to me.

In-game, the video is just as detailed and beautiful. The few times I was able to stop and take a breath and actually check out my surroundings, I was stunned. Curtains move in the breeze.  You can see the characters’ chests rise and fall as they drew breath. A hanging lamp swings ever so slightly as Alyssa walks about the room. When she runs, her hair flows out behind her or swings as she moved her head from side to side. Running up and down stairs, whichever hand is closest to the railing will reach out and skim the railing for balance. As she walks from one side of the front foyer to the other, the camera follows her, and you’re temporarily blinded as the sun suddenly appears through the window above the door.

CT3’s music is suitably creepy, dramatic, poignant, soothing and tension-inducing. The music reaches a crashing crescendo when Alyssa is being threatened by crazies. Sound effects work to ratchet up the terror. In ransacked rooms, glass crunches underfoot. Doors and drawers squeak as they open and slam shut.

Music and sound cues help tremendously when dealing with the killers in each of the chapters. Usually, when the dramatic music fades away, it is safe to come out of hiding—except when up against the Scissor-twins. Their AI is pretty sneaky. The music fades away, and it becomes deathly quiet. I’d move Alyssa out of hiding—in a bathroom stall, no less—and suddenly one of the slice-n-dice siblings would jump out and grab her!  I have to admit that I loved them the best of all the mini-bosses.  They were hilariously insane. (Okay, maybe hilarious isn’t a word usually associated with insane, but you know what I mean.) And their costume of feathers, tights and giant scissors reminded me of demented performers from Cirque du Soleil, the French-Canadian circus troupe.

In lieu of a health meter, CT3 employs a panic meter.  You’ll need to keep Alyssa mellow in order to control her movements.  If she’s frightened by something—usually it involves her being physically affected—then her panic meter will start to rise. The meter will progress from green, which is just a smidgen scared, all the way to red, which is severely panicked. In panic mode, Alyssa will stumble, run into walls, cower and actually come to a complete standstill. If she’s hidden when the meter goes off the charts, she will come out of hiding on her own. One hit in severe panic mode and it’s game ovah! Resting in a quiet place or walking will help to calm her. You can also use lavender water, found in various places throughout the game, to immediately relax her. Who’d’ve thunk it? A video game using aromatherapy.

As with most console games, saving is done at save points. Wait!  Don’t run off. The save points are a little different in this game. You don’t have to complete an entire level before you can save. Most of the areas you’ll visit will have at least one, sometimes two, save points. You are free to use the save point as many times as needed … I visited the save points after every little thing I accomplished, especially in the tougher chapters.

Did I mention that Clock Tower 3 is drop-dead gorgeous?

Voice work in Clock Tower 3 is very good. Compared to the last couple of console games I’ve played, the voice actors in this game deserve Oscars. Plus there’s quite a bit of speech throughout the game. The majority of the in-game speech is subtitled.  The only time it isn’t is when the mini-bosses are chasing you—their little speeches are looped.

Guess what?! I loved the camera controls for this game.  Everything is presented in a movie-like format—as the characters move across the scene the camera pans with them and changes the view, as it does when you’re watching a movie. For example, if I’m pushing the controller away from me to move Alyssa forward, when the camera pans around to face her the control for her movement remains the same (away from me) even though she’s coming toward me. There’s no fiddling with another button to adjust the camera.  Don’t like that? Then you can stop her movement for a split second as the camera pans, and the controls will reset for the direction she’s facing. Brilliant or what?

Almost forgot: Remember that pretty glass bottle for the holy water? It magically morphs into a spirit bow that Alyssa uses to shoot bolts of lightning at the mini-bosses. Pretty cool, eh?  There is a downside to that mystical bow … while powering it up, you cannot change your position. You just have to hope they’ll keep coming at you head on, which they do … in the first chapter.  After that, everybody has a gimmick—be it weaving and bobbing, changing direction midstride or teleporting to the other side of the room.

Oh, by the way, this is a horror game. It’s not so much gory as it is disturbing. One of the first images is that of a young girl being slammed in the head by a madman wielding an enormous sledgehammer. The game is rated “Mature.” Believe it.

As breathtaking as Clock Tower 3 is to look at, the gameplay is somewhat … blah. I think it was the sameness of it all—find an item, return said item to its owner, watch incredibly gorgeous cutscene, meet up with mentally unbalanced mini-boss, destroy him/her … lather, rinse, repeat.

Also, I would’ve liked to have been able to stop and “smell the roses”—or at the very least admire the scenery (which was breathtaking!)—during the game instead of constantly running for my life. In some chapters, the things you need to accomplish in order to move the story along require picking up an item, splashing some holy water on whatever hellspawn is chasing you, running to replenish the holy water bottle that you’ve just noticed is on empty, splashing the damned critter, again, and wishing it would get a life, then running hell-for-leather back to the room where you need to complete the I’ve-finally-located-the-final-key-for-this-door-so-now-it-better-damn-well-open ritual and moving on to the next dramatic cutscene, all the while screaming “move, you silly cow!” at Alyssa.

Was I scared? Not like System Shock 2 scared me. CT3 did make me jump once or twice. Was the story compelling?  Yes. I figured out who was behind it all well before Alyssa, but then I’m old enough to be her … big sister. Did I have fun playing the game? You betcha. And that’s what it’s all about. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Release Date: 2003

Available for: PlayStation 2

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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