One of the most intense games to play alone in the dark, and a cool story to boot.
Fatal Frame starts out with a little back story, regarding Himuro mansion, and gives you a little reason as to why the main character Miku would be bold enough to be wandering around a haunted old mansion in the middle of some creepy old woods. It seems that her brother has disappeared while following in the footsteps of his mentor, whom, oddly enough, has also disappeared. Miku will have to follow a trail of clues left by her brother, his mentor (and his mentor's research team), as well as spirits that are imprisoned within the mansion. What follows, is something straight out of Japanese horror novels, or movies, like Ju-on or Ringu. The story is strange and wonderful, and if you have any interest in the previously mentioned movies, you're going to fall in love with this game easily.
Story is one thing, but it's the gameplay here, that really sets Fatal Frame apart from the other games in the genre. No guns, no weapons...just a camera. Now, it's not just an ordinary camera: This camera can subdue evil spirits, and believe me, there is a lot of subduing to be done. The camera is upgradeable and is a change-up from the standard combat methods used in Silent Hill or Resident Evil. In an effort to add a bit of strategy to the gameplay, different types of film are more powerful than others. It's up to you to decide which is best for each situation. You'll want to save the more powerful types of film for some of the stronger spirits, but there are also several different stones that enhance different effects on the camera - ones that can slow down the movements of fast moving ghosts, or can stun a ghost temporarily rending them immobile and defensless. A slight drawback is that before you've completed the first half of the game, you'll pretty much have seen every type of ghost the game has to offer, which means you'll know exactly what to do and how to do it...thus providing little challenge as the game progresses. Add to this the fact that you're constantly given some terribly bland fetch quests that take up the majority of the eight or so hours you may put into the game, and you're left feeling a little frustrated and extremely bored at times.
Gameplay gripes aside, the games presentation is pretty spectacular in some areas. For instance, the first chapter in which you play as Miku's brother Mafuyu is all done in a grainy black and white, and feels appropriate in context as it's more of a flashback sequence than an actual part of the story. The character models are all relatively well done, but the animations for the player controlled characters are abysmal. Stiff walking, and awkward looking running mar what could have been a truly excellent visual presentation. The ghosts on the other hand, seem to be where all the work went. They look and move fantastically and add to the overall creepy and intense atmosphere here. The backgrounds and scenery used throughout the game are well done too, but thanks to the aforementioned fetch quests, you'll be visiting several areas more than once, and therefore may begin to notice that around the fifth time you've been through a specific area that the so-called mansion isn't exactly as vast or expansive as it could have been. Minor complaints, but something that should be noted, nonetheless.
Much like the visuals, the sound has its moments, but again, it's the ghosts and the ambience that steal the show, as Miku's inner dialogue is sometimes a little less believable, thanks to some terrible voice-acting. Tapes that you will find around the mansion featuring the voice of Mafuyu's mentor and his research team give bone-chilling recountances of their encounters within the mansion. That with the tauntings of the ghosts can certainly get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end, especially if you've got a really good surround sound system going at the time. (I highly recommend this around 3am with no lights, and no one in the house...Tecmo really put some thought into this aspect of the game).
As far as survival-horror games go, Fatal Frame isn't throwing anything too incredibly new into the mix, but I highly recommend it to any fan of the genre, as there's enough of story to keep it interesting, and for those of you who like to unlock achievements, catching all the ghosts will certainly keep you busy enough.