Clock tower 3 tries hard to be different from other survival horror titles and the result is a game that is quite hard
First things first, Clock tower 3 isn't your typical survival horror game. You get no weapons and don't really attack at all until the boss fights. All your armed with is this wimpy bottle of holy water and then sent strait into the game to fend off against serial killers. The game takes you through 5 different chapters and each chapter you have a serial killer that commited certain crimes. The whole premise is very interesting and the story is pretty good but the payoff at the end was a little off. Anyway though, these serial killers come in all shapes and sizes and you have to fend them off with this bottle of holy water until you get to the point where your armed with a bow. A lot dfferent than your typical survival horror game but that isn't a good thing.
It's interesting that for an entire game you can be armed with this while the serial killers you have to run from all have giant hammers, axes, swords and such but the serial killers are way to aggressive. They seem to pop in at the wrong times, although they do make you jump, trust me. You can't die in this game until your panic meter is full. Now this panic meter is interesting, basically every time a bad guy swings towards you or surprises you (which doesn't take that much to do) you automatically start getting your panic meter to fill. Once it reaches top you go into panic and you do some of the most ridiculous and stupid things I've ever seen in a video game. Alyssa (the main character you play) will do stupid acts such as standing there to get killed or go out of control so you can't control her to well. This does make sense, but stand there and let a guy kill you? Come on. Once you enter this panic mode, it's one hit one kill. The saving system is ok, every now and then you have a checkpoint, but that's about it, hope you save a lot.
As I said, you play as Alyssa, this 14 year old British girl who is about to turn 15 and goes home to find her mother not there and this creepy guy in a coat in her house instead. This man in the coat is a very important character in the story and without a spoiling to much, lets just say you'll wish you never met him. The whole story unfolds quite well and all these serial killers that run after you all got resurrected for a reason. Killing. Each chapter unfolds with a ghost that was killed by this serial killer and you have to get a certain item to help the ghost and then your able to fight the boss. The game is actually pretty simplistic and the puzzles are no brainers, but the AI in these serial killers are very frustrating and Alyssa is the biggest wimp ever made.
Graphically, the game looks ok. The graphics are dated, character models are decent, textures are actually pretty crisp, but the environments can get pretty boring. The game takes you from the streets of WW 2 London to a castle in old England to even your mansion. All the levels are ridiculously linear, so a walkthrough or help really isn't needed.
It's worth noting that this is one short game. One of the shortest I've ever played. Ranging in about 6 hours with absolutely no replay value makes it a tough game to recommend as a purchase. All you get for completing it is some different costumes and chances are, after the difficulty in this game, you won't want to come back. Still it's unique gameplay and different and often interesting story will make some pleased.
The voice acting in the game, you can tell is definitely British. It's all done pretty poorly and gets old quick. Plus Alyssa looks Japanese yet is British for some reason. She's got to be one of the my least favorite main characters of all time and I never thought I'd say that after Nick from True Crime streets of LA who was the biggest ass I've ever seen in a game. The musical score does kick in at the right time making for many many times you will jump. It's also oddly quiet at times too.
Along the way, you'll meet many ghosts. Each of these ghosts have to be released by giving them some kind of object. In exchange they will give you things such as lavender water which will take your fear away or an invisibility ring to well make you invisible. These are all really great, plus you can hide in certain spots from the serial killers, so it isn't all to bad. If you enter these hiding spots while in panic mode, for some insane reason, Alyssa will jump out almost automatically and shiver so you can't move her and then get killed. I know how pathetic.
All in all It's a game to look at if your a survival horror fan or just looking for a perfect rental to waste a weekend. Whatever you do though, don't purchase this game, as it just isn't worth it with it's low replay value.