Clock Tower 3 Member Review for the PS2

Clock Tower 3 takes the whole idea of Clock Tower to a whole new level- with graphics superior to its predecessors, exiling the point-and-click movement and commands and even battles against the bad guys.

Going with its typical theme of  taking a teenage girl and thrusting her into a place filled with terror and murder, you play as 14-year-old Alyssa (go figure, they must have a thing for the name Alyssa since the main character in Clock Tower 2 was named Alyssa as well) who returns home after receiving a strange letter from her mother, only to find a strange man there. After a while, she will end up in some other place in the past in a town that seems to be deserted, except for a girl who gets whacked in the head by a crazy guy with a sledgehammer. And the story goes on from there.

The assailants are pretty creepy. The first guy, Sledgehammer, as he is referred to, is a huge man with arms like tree trunks, somewhat tanned skin, tattered clothes and what looks like an executioner's cap over his face. Not to mention the massive sledgehammer he uses to try and splatter your brains all over the place. He jumps out at you a time or two, each time scared the bejezus out of me the first time I played it. The chapter with this maniac is probably the scariest, as Alyssa doesn't know what's going on and is actually terrified of this guy (who wouldn't be...?!) The second assailant (subordinates, to be precise), the Corroder, wears a gas mask and sprays sulfuric acid at people... in my opinion, this guy is probably the scariest of the bunch, but at the same  time, the funniest, due to the way he walks, talks, and everything. Plus the way he screams when you douse him with Holy Water. The location also helps out with the creepiness that this psycho brings with him. However, down the road, the scariness begins to diminish- the subordinates are just as crazy, but Alyssa is no where near as scared. She barely acts afraid of the Scissor Twins.

There are some major unrealistic things about this game. One thing being that Alyssa doesn't run very fast. I don't know about you, but if there was some crazy guy trying to kill me with a sledgehammer, disembowel me with an axe, or burn me with acid, I'd be haulin' by behind outta there. The second thing is the IQ of the subordinates. They apparently aren't very bright, as you can hide behind a fish tank in Scenario 3, the subordinate will look directly at the fish tank (for those of you who don't know, a fish tank is made of GLASS AND CAN EASILY BE SEEN THROUGH... pardon my sarcasm), and is somehow still dazzled and clueless to your whereabouts. And a majority of the places are out in the open. And the Subordinates never catch on. Sometimes they will find you though- whether it's because of Alyssa panicking or they just know... I have never returned  to the house in the 1st scenario and been able to hide behind the curtain without Sledgehammer bursting in the front door, pointing his hammer at me and saying "You're mine now!" At least the makers weren't that dumb that they would never find you.

If you can ignore the unrealistic parts, the stupidity of the Subordinates, and handle the steadily dwindling scariness, the story is actually pretty good... and this is actually a good game. Could have been done better though.