Haunting Ground - Capcom's Newest Survival Horror Game on PS2

[JFo]

I know from this post that the usual suspects are interested in this title, so I figured it deserved it's own discussion thread.

 

IGN posted some impressions of the latest build last week, and it sounds like this game is coming together quite nicely. Here's a little of what they had to say:

 

What intrigues me most about Haunting Ground, though, is its interesting gameplay mechanics. Unlike the aforementioned Resident Evil, Haunting Ground equips Fiona with plenty of interesting maneuvers to help her through the terror. She can run, search, and use items just as everybody else always has, but she also has a nice little swift kick that can break destructible objects and solve a number of puzzles. Fiona is also at the mercy of an interesting panic system that changes the way you perceive the world around you the longer that she's in a dangerous situation. The more frightened that she becomes, the harder she is to control; and likewise, the color scheme and clarity of the screen deforms and changes to reflect her reactions.

 

I have very high hopes for this game for two reasons. First, it's a survival horror game made by Capcom, and if Resident Evil 4 is any indication, they know how to do that genre as well as anyone on the planet. Second, I'm excited about it because it just sounds like it's so different from the vast majority of games in the genre. Sure, you're still stuck in a spooky mansion and there are numerous puzzles to solve and monsters to overcome, but n this game, your character is almost completely helpless. In a horror game, I love it when I feel like my character is completely vulnerable and can die at a moment's notice from something jumping out of the shadows or the dread you feel as you approach a door that you know leads to something utterly dreadful. If Haunting Ground can do that, I'll be very pleased indeed.

 

Oh, and the idea of befriending and training a dog to protect you sounds like it could be a cool gameplay mechanic. It will be interesting to see how that turns out. At the very least, I'm just happy that the dog's name isn't Nibbles.

[EnemaEms]

My girlfriend and I are in the middle of playing Clock Tower 3 and Haunting Grounds gameplay sounds like an upgraded version of Clock Tower 3's gameplay. That's enough to make me interested.

 

-Dean-

[Carlucci]

Here's Game Informer's Hand's On Preview.

 

This guy didn't like it so much. There's some screenshots and movies too.

 

Carlos.

[Romier S]

My girlfriend and I are in the middle of playing Clock Tower 3 and Haunting Grounds gameplay sounds like an upgraded version of Clock Tower 3's gameplay.

Considering the game is being developed by the same development team as Clock Tower 3 that shouldn't come as much of a suprise Dean.

[EnemaEms]

Thanks for pointing that out Capt. Obvious.

 

-Dean-

[Romier S]

Thanks for pointing that out Capt. Obvious.

I'm not the one making the comparisons Frodo.

[EnemaEms]

I think your Midichlorians are making your attitude coarse....like sand.

 

-Dean-

[Whooter]

You two should just kiss and get it over with.

[EnemaEms]

I would but Romier likes to use tongue. :barf

 

-Dean-

[Angry the Clown]

I've been quite interested in this since it showed up on the Capcom preview DVD with the Resident Evil4 issue of Famitsu last year. Eurogamer has given the PAL version a good review here which is worth reading. It's out here tomorrow. For ?24.99 at Amazon UK I may pick it up sooner than intended, though I really ought be a good boy and push myself to work through a backlog of games I still need to finish.

 

Daniel

[JFo]

Thanks for the review, Daniel. It was a good read.

 

I watched some of in-game movies from the Japanese import over at IGN yesterday, just to get a feel for what the gameplay is sort of like. From what I can tell, it looks very similar to the old Resident Evil games. There's a fixed camera angle and what appear to be spin-in-place tank controls. It wouldn't surprise me if you pushed up on the control stick to move either. The big difference is that you spend a lot of time running away from that Hunchback wannabe instead of blowing past him with a gun. I still like the idea behind the game and will probably check it out in a few weeks when it's released here in the States.

[Romier S]

I did end up buying Haunting Ground a few days ago. I've somewhat neglected the game though since I'm still in the evil thrall of Guild Wars but I got to play last night for about an hour and enjoyed what I saw. Feels very similiar to Clock Tower 3 for anyone that's played that game. Haunting Ground is also progressive scan which is a nice plus. :tu

 

I'll definitely be playing some more tonight though and I'll add some thoughts here when I get a little further.

[JFo]

As my avatar would suggest, I picked up Haunting Ground today. I've played for about three and a half hours now, and I'm really having a hard time putting it down and going to bed. Naturally, that's a good sign for how I feel about this title. The graphics look quite nice (in progressive scan!), the sound is better than I expected (Dolby Pro-Logic II!), and the gameplay is fun and unique.

 

You definitely have to get into a different frame of mind to play this one. Fionna makes any of the characters from the Resident Evil or Silent Hill series look like fucking Uruk-hai ready to go into battle. I mean, the girl is afraid of moths for Christ sakes. It's a good thing I haven't run into any creature that calls Silent Hill its home. It would probably be an instant game over.

 

And yet, that's what I like about it. There's really a sense that you're being stalked, and the fear comes from the fact that all you can really do is run away and hide. The possibility of getting stuck and panicking is very real, especially if you're not completely familiar with the layout of a certain area. This makes for some tense moments, as you won't always know when or where our big bad guy is going to show up next.

 

At any rate, those are my initial impressions for Haunting Ground. I'm looking forward to playing through the rest of this as soon as possible.

[db]

Fiona is also at the mercy of an interesting panic system that changes the way you perceive the world around you the longer that she's in a dangerous situation. The more frightened that she becomes, the harder she is to control; and likewise, the color scheme and clarity of the screen deforms and changes to reflect her reactions.

Sounds similar to the "insanity" gimmick used in Eternal Darkness. Jeff, is this the case; just how similar or different are they?

[Romier S]

Sounds similar to the "insanity" gimmick used in Eternal Darkness. Jeff, is this the case; just how similar or different are they?

It's similiar, yes but also a bit different. Think of it as your character being terrified to the point of not being able to move or control her actions. It's a bit more of a gradual and predictable loss though. It will slowly become more difficult to control Fiona and if it continues to get worse she'll simply go into the fetal position and be unable to move at all for a period of time. Eternal Darkness's "insanity" meter while measureable, never gives you a clue as to what kind of is going to happen. This gives the insanity effects in ED more spontaneity and variety.

 

It is important to mention that the panic meter is a small piece of the gameplay pie in Haunting Ground (ie less important to the game than the instanity effects were to Eternal Darkness). Your companion, Hewie, along with his training are where the real focus of the game is.

 

Also, I said this earlier in the thread but anyone wanting to get an idea of how Haunting Ground handles the hiding/panic system should go out and rent/buy (it's a cheapie now) Clock Tower 3. It's by the same developer and shares many of the same gameplay mechanics (sans dog). You could of course just pick up Haunting Ground but considering how cheap it is to give Clock Tower a try, it may be a good starting point.

[EnemaEms]

I liked Clock Tower 3 at the start, but by the end of the game, I could not wait to never have to play it again. I hated the panic shit and I hated the fact that you could do nothing to the baddies except use Holy Water, but in the cutscenes you would use weapons. :

The story was really done well though and that is why I kept playing.

 

I'll eventually give Haunting Ground a rent, but I am in no hurry to since it is the same style as CT3.

 

-Dean-

[Rob B]

Watched Jeff play this last night looks like a very cool game.

 

Things I liked?

 

The Puzzles some of them that I saw were just crazy insane.

 

The fact that you have NO WEAPONS more real for the average Joe that would be in that situation.

 

The panic effects, they reminded me a bit of the hallucinations in Eternal Darkness

 

The fact the you had to keep making Hewy feel loved.

 

What I did not like?

 

Once and a while, It seemed that hewy would not do things when asked. Jeff had to keep asking over and over again even though Hewy was "fully praised"

[JFo]

just how similar or different are they?

 

Very different. In fact, I would say that they had almost nothing in common aside from the fact that they are both horror games. Eternal Darkness had a much stronger emphasis on combat than most survival horror titles. That's especially true with this one. I would also say that the puzzles are much harder and as Romier mentioned, much of the game revolves around training and befriending the dog.

 

I can tell I haven't played many video games as of late, because I devoured what was left of Haunting Ground today. Overall, I really liked it. I did get a little frustrated trying to beat the last boss, and I think the solution to some of the puzzles were a little too obscure. It was all worth it though. Fiona in a cowgirl costume.... HOT!

[Romier S]

Jeffrey sent along this photo of Fiona for your viewing pleasure...

 

She wants to be a cowgirl!

[EnemaEms]

Jeffrey sent along this photo of Fiona for your viewing pleasure...

 

She wants to be a cowgirl!

Are those the puppies you train and befriend?

 

-Dean-

[JFo]

Seeing as I enjoyed Haunting Ground so much, I decided to pick up Clock Tower 3 today for ten bucks used. I figured since everyone keeps bringing that game up when talking about this one, I'd better check it out. If there's one thing the Playstation 2 is good for at this point, it's having a boatload of good, cheap games for sale.

 

I'll post some thoughts on it after I get around to playing it.

[db]

Thanks for the info, Romier and Jeff. I always prefer an emphasis on puzzles rather than on combat, so this game might be one to get.

[James T]

I'm tempted to get this as well. I can't find it at any video rental store, so it may have to be a blind purchase.

 

But I may wait for a price drop since I'm currently busy playing San Andreas. Note: I just got a PS2 about a month ago, which explains my delay in playing San Andreas

[JFo]

It's interesting how this game seems to be polarizing people. I was just over at IGN and they named Haunting Ground their PS2 Game of the Month.

(Don't look for their review of the game, though, because they don't even have one up on their site.) Conversely, Game Informer blasted it describing it like this:

 

Capcom's promising merger of the adventure and survival horror genres doesn't weave the complex puzzle solving and rich worlds of an adventure title with the tense action and other-worldly scares of a survival horror game. Instead, Haunting Ground highlights the worst conventions of these camps and produces an experience that is unquestionably less fun than doing one's taxes.

 

Ouch! The review also ridiculed the lack of enemies, saying that within the first six hours, they encountered a total of two such beings, and didn't like the vast amount of backtracking within. Like I said, it's definitely the kind of game you have to be in the right mood for. If you think every horror game should start you off with a pistol and eventually work your way up to a rocket launcher, stay far away from this one.

[James T]

I bought this a few weeks back but only recently have been playing it. It's an awesome game! I haven't finished it yet, but I guess you can say I'm in the second act. There are scares too! I expected an atmosphere type game, but sometimes I open the door and BOOM.

 

Daniella, just creeps me out. And that NIN type music she has sends me into panic mode.

 

I'm stuck right now at the part after the water-bridge. I see the hand in the dark room, but haven't figured out what to do. I guess that's my brain telling me that I've played too much today and to take a break.