Even after reaching adulthood, Clock Tower is one of the most horrifying gaming experiences I have ever had.
For those of you out there who have not heard of the Clock Tower series you may be surprised that this is not the first. Much like the Final Fantasy series, the original Clock Tower did not make it over-seas. So this game is truly known as 'Clock Tower 2.' Thankfully, this game is able to stand on its own, since it pretty much clears up everything we missed from the first installment.
Clock Tower gives you the choice of playing between 2 different main characters. Helen Maxwell, Jennifers' adoptive guardian; is choice by default, but if you meet certain requirements in the prologue, you can also play as Jennifer Simpson. The young girl who survived the first mass murders. These two characters will determine how the story plays out and each have five unique endings. That totals as ten different endings for this game, so the replay value is pretty high. Not to mention the few unlockables.
Choosing a character is the least of your problems in Clock Tower. For once the Prologue is over you will be greeted by one of the most horrifyingly-hilarious villains in gaming history, 'Scissorman.' Although at first people will laugh at this nick-name, I can assure you it's nothing compared to actually being chased by him.
Clock Tower is an investigation game at its core. You click on things and look for clues, much like a PC game. In fact, Clock Tower is one of the few games on the Playstation 1 console that offers the use of the Playstation 1 Mouse. Although, this is not required to play. Clicking on things is almost just as easy with the controller and the game only uses two buttons anyway. Pressing 'X' will cause the character to move in the direction of where you currently have the on-screen cursor pointed. Double-tapping 'X' will cause your protagonist to run. Although running is a bit flawed since repeated-tapping will only cause your character to act a fool on the screen, by walk-running, walk-running. So understanding this poor mechanic is key to survival. The only other button you will be using is square. Square is the Panic-Button. This isn't used as often as the 'X' button, but is arguably more important. Whenever your character comes to close to Scissorman they will freeze up and thus introducing, 'Panic Mode.' During 'Panic Mode,' the cursor will flash red and all movement is restricted as you mash the square button to help your character out of a sticky situation. You can only use your Panic-Attack twice, unless your stamina (determined by cursor-color) indicates otherwise.
Point and Click adventures have never been my type of genre, however; this game manages to keep things interesting, since you never know where Scissorman is waiting for you. Even if you think you know where he is, truth be told...you will never really know. Scissorman has random behavior patterns. Which means, even if you play the game fully with one character, that does not mean you will meet him in the same spot next time.
Throughout the game you will find many items as you look for clues on how to stop Scissorman once and for all. You will come across many characters, some suspicious and some....not so much. There is total of 4 playable characters (excluding, the Prologue character) and 4 different scenarios. The choices made during the game, will determine not only your ending but if you will get the chance to see these other creepy scenarios. Keep in mind, at no time while investigating, will you be safe from Scissorman. You will enter 'Escape Mode' many times before the end of this game and although sometimes it is annoying to have to drop everything to run and hide, the fear of being forced into sometimes unknown territory will make your toes curl. Scissorman is very persistent and will stop at nothing to make sure you do not uncover the secrets of his past. If you are looking around or simply just standing in one place, Scissorman is on to you and the best piece of advice I can give to any newcomer is, "Keep moving!"
Final Notes:
Clock Tower is by far one of the most interesting games I have come across in my life as a gamer. Even though this game is plagued with many flaws, such as the lost in translation voice-acting and dialogue, or the hellish difficulty level. However, regardless of the flaws, Clock Tower stands the test of time as one of the most unique games ever made and will haunt you for years after you set the controller down. With that said, Clock Tower is a recommendable game for anyone. Casual, or hardcore, this game will have you covering your friends mouth as you question, if they too; just heard the distant sound of those over-sized garden shears.