Fortunately the depravity doesn't become the whole story. Rather it enhances the sense of unease and dread that so characterises Project Zero 2. The story definitely becomes more and more unsettling yet the player's focus remains with the two sisters and their destiny in a world which reveals it has a nasty fate in store for them. Suffice to say things are certainly even worse then they originally seem and the revelations that come in the game tie in very nicely with the events that the player has witnessed and influenced up until that point.

The controls in Project Zero 2 are perfectly adequate. All the various functions are well laid out over the controller and although there may be preponderance towards too many screens for this reviewers taste I never felt there was an extra layer of challenge in getting the girls to do what I wanted. Saying this, the camera can be a fickle beast at times with the viewfinder having a tendency to bob and weave too much at critical moments, with that all important viewfinder occasionally accelerating away from the target before they can be despatched. The camera deserves special mention, for while it is almost universally fixed the angles do their best to be as unconfusing as possible and navigation round the village is a fairly simple process.

The animation deserves special mention as it is wonderfully evocative. Mayu has a limp so convincing you can almost feel her discomfort and in general the animation of the two girls recreates young people's movement so well that you may wonder if there's someone with an unhealthy interest in young ladies on the animation team. Joking aside, there's a layer of artistry over the realistic animations which helps to identify the characters with their unsettling surroundings. The ghosts move in a variety of ways, most of which seem to have been specifically designed to give the player the willies. While some of them will jump across rooms at you or appear unannounced directly behind you, most prefer to steadily advance on the player in the most threatening manner.

Perhaps even more suggestive than the graphics are the sounds in Project Zero 2. The ambient is understated and restrained yet does a good enough job of making its presence know. But it's the sound effects that really freak you out. Chief among these is the camera proximity sound. Whenever a ghost approaches the camera begins to make an electronic buzzing sound. The closer they get to being in the right range for a fatal frame the higher the pitch of the noise becomes, until it reaches its climax in sharp burst of increased volume and angst. At this point you are meant to take a snap as the damage and score will be at their greatest but the noise is so downright scary that it's sudden appearance can be enough to slow reactions down just long enough for the spectre to get an attack in. Of course there are the obligatory moaning, wailing and clanking of mysterious objects that you expect from a game. The creepy audio recordings you find which reveal a little more of the story drop the temperature in the room, as do the occasional whisperings that snake out from behind walls. The thing about the sounds in Project Zero 2, like much else, is that they are not only of the highest calibre but are craftily integrated into the entire package. This makes for a game that is relentless in its aim of trying to disturb you enough that you can't take it anymore.

Project Zero 2 is to my mind the finest example yet of the survival horror genre. Even if you are not a fan of these types of games Project Zero has enough core gameplay to entertain and is devoid of the many idiosyncrasies which so often blight other examples of the genre. It is a great interactive story, in the sense that the player is dropped into this very convincing story and world and left to figure a way out to safety. If such a thing exists...

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By Sam Gibson