Clock Tower
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By Juan Valencia (KillerJuan77)
| Published by: ASCII Entertainment | Developed by: Human Entertainment | ESRB: Rating: M for Mature |
| Platform: Playstation | Release Date:September 30 1997 | Genre: Survival Horror |
June 12, 2009
In 1996, Resident Evil was released and revolutionized the survival horror genre. Afterward, many games tried to copy the Resident Evil formula. Very few succeeded. But the survival horror genre didn’t exist purely within that formula. One nearly forgotten gem tried and succeeded to be both original and frightening: Clock Tower.
Clock Tower is a sequel to Clock Tower: The First Fear for the SNES which wasn’t released in America or Europe. In Clock Tower, you can play as Jennifer Simpson, one of the two survivors from the Scissorman murders in the first game—the other survivor being an eight year old boy called Edward. You can also play as Helen Maxwell, the assistant to the police psychologist. At the start of the game, Scissorman tries to attack Helen and Jennifer at the police department. You have to discover why Scissorman is back and how to stop him.
Initially the story and a few other elements in the game are confusing if you haven’t played the original. Thankfully, there is a translated ROM on the internet which is worth downloading.
It’s a typical horror movie plotline, but the story may unfold in 10 different endings—five for each playable character—depending on your actions and choices. Each ending and the events leading to them are all very entertaining. The replay value of this game is very high.
If you’ve always wanted to play in a slasher film, then this is your game. There isn’t actual combat. You aren’t meant to kill Scissorman. The point is to escape from him alive, or to hide. It truly put the “survival” in survival horror—something that not many other games have done. With only a few actions at your disposal, your performance is based mainly on reaction time and how easily you scare.
Occasionally, you have the option to defend yourself against Scissorman using certain items you find. If he catches you, there’s a way to escape him once or twice. If he catches you three times, you’re dead.
You have to solve a wide variety of puzzles, which are actually challenging and at the same time, easy to understand. I wouldn’t say they are a cake walk, but they aren’t extremely complicated either. They seem to be the perfect balance.
The game isn’t as good looking as Resident Evil. It’s even more polygonal and cruder in its visuals, but it actually helps to enhance the game, as it makes many things look far more disturbing than they really are.
The music is the big appeal of the game. Every piece of music in the game is creepy and very atmospheric, particularly the music that plays during chase sequences is quite memorable. I can easily say that this could be one of the greatest soundtracks in horror game history. The sound effects are good too, making the game very immersive and realistic and compensating for the poor graphics. But like Resident Evil, the voice acting and writing is horrible and can’t be taken seriously at all.
Clock Tower is one of the scariest games I’ve ever played. Just turn off the lights, plug in the headphones and enjoy one of the creepiest experiences in gaming. It may be rare, but if you find a copy, buy it—it’s one of the best horror games ever made.