Clock Tower 3 - Dumb. Dumber. Dumbest.

Ive been trying to get through this game for a bit on my PS2 and quite frankly its been a tough one. Not because the game is difficult but more because of how effing stupid it is on all counts. Did the creative team get fired for this like the Sonic creative team did after Sonic 2006? They should have. Let me explain.

First off, lets go back a load to the SNES era and the first Clock Tower game. Here a girl (Jennifer) and several friends were adopted by a seemingly kind lady called Mrs Barrows. Cue creepy stuff happening, her friends going missing and then Jennifer herself being chased by a psychopath named 'Sissorman'. I wont say anything else in case anyone does want to play this but it stands out mainly as one of the first real examples of a survival horror videogame, tension is high, scares are aplenty and as such it never left Japan outside of ROM translations online. Its well worth finding it if you are looking for a quick game and some fun scares.

Fast-Forward and on the Playstation we have Clock Tower (Or Clock Tower 2 in Japan) which looks very early Ps1 ugly, features Jennifer vs a new Sissorman and is basically everything you expect a sequel to be. Then Clock Tower 2 arrives (Or Clock Tower: Ghost Head in Japan) and again is early Ps1 ugly but this time has no connection to the other games, has multiple moments where a bad ending is just chucked at you because you forgot to do something hours ago and it sucks.

Anyway NOW we hit Clock Tower 3, the first on the Ps2 and the only one by Capcom, this time playing as schoolgirl Alyssa (Nothing to do with Silent Hill) and once again, there is no relation to any of the other games plot-wise. Gameplay-wise, if you have ever played a Resident Evil game, you know pretty much what you are in for from the camera-angles, weird puzzle-piece puzzles in places weird puzzle-piece puzzles shouldn't be and random cheap scares aplenty.

Unlike Resident Evil however, there is very little in the way to defend yourself in this game, in every main area you will be chased by the villain everywhere from room to room, even popping up in the usually safe 'Save rooms' making things tricky. There is also no life bar, instead you have a Sanity meter. If Alyssa is hit or knocked or scared, the meter goes down, hiding recovers said meter as well as using different 'Sanity-recovery' items. Should that meter hit rock bottom however Alyssa turns into a nervous wreck, falling over everywhere and one last hit and she's dead.

The game however is full of issues gameplay-wise. Firstly is just general movement, while running about everywhere is all well and good, stairs are the biggest issue here. Alyssa seems to move to a near standstill when running up and down them while the enemies chasing her have no such speed issues and will happily beat down during these moments.

The worse issue though is just the constant back and forth, each area has a whole load of boring and badly designed puzzles, all designed around dragging key items from place to place and designed around loads and loads of backtracking. Its just plain dull, boring and irritating to go through the same area repeatedly.

The boss-battles are also a big issue, at the end of each chapter, Alyssa can defeat these 'Villains' by using a magical bow and arrow. The whole sequences feel forced and are no fun to play whatsoever with enemies pulling out insta-death moves at a moments notice and the arrows, unless fully charged, doing naff all damage.

Lets bring out that final issue though, the one that really makes this game 'Special' in a way. Its the plot. Basically right at the start Alyssa gets told not to return home on her birthday as she will be in danger otherwise. Alyssa heads home for her birthday (Strike one). There she meets a creepy old man who pretty much spells out 'Oh hi, I killed your mum, you are probably next'. Instead of leaving the house and getting the police, she stays and tries to find out where Mum is (Strike two).

The worst bit is later on, finding out the main villain's plot revolves around Alyssa being there in that house, on that one day, at one specific time. The place isn't locked up, several characters come and go throughout the game and yet STILL Alyssa stays to find Mum, knowing full well that by staying at home, she's risking the main villains plot working and then him in turn destroying the world as we know it (Strike three and ya out!).

Like I said. Dumb. Dumber. Dumbest. I hope I never have to touch this game ever again.