Some reload more quickly while others drastically increase the damage dealt to all spirits that the picture encompasses. Don’t worry though, it packs a serious punch, especially if it’s making use of a higher quality film. Handguns and shotguns are useless against the foes you’ll face on your adventure, so you’re equipped with a camera obscura instead. I had assumed there would be healing and plot items, but lenses and different types of film were a pleasant surprise that I wasn’t prepared for as a newbie to the series.įilm, as you likely assumed, is your ammunition when bullets just won’t do. The most unexpected part of The Maiden of Black Water for me was the variety of upgrades for your camera. It’s capable of both revealing items hidden to the mundane world and utterly ruining an otherwise dangerous spirit’s day. It’s important to note that it’s not just any camera though, it’s a camera obscura, and it has the power to not only observe but affect the supernatural. Even better, once you’ve defeated these ghosts, you can reach out and touch them to see a short cinematic that lets fills you in on the last moments of their lives.įatal Frame has always revolved around exploring places of tragedy armed with nothing but a camera and this one is no different in that regard. There’s nothing quite like quietly exploring when some angry lady hanging from a rope materializes and forcefully attempts to make you suffer the same fate or a victim of a car accident crawls out from underneath a car screaming about his legs. You’ll often read multiple entries regarding them before you encounter them and every one of them was exciting to finally see. These ghosts are frequent encounters, though the most thrilling ones are always the unique entities that have a particularly dark past. The Maiden of Black Water has us take on the role of three unlucky souls whose fates will tie them to a mountain haunted by hundreds of vengeful spirits. Even though its original release was seven years ago now, I feel as if this is just the gateway that many need to pull them into the venerable series. That said, The Maiden of Black Water performs admirably in capturing the feel of the classic survival horror titles while adapting to the requirements of more modern gaming.
Of course, this is mostly due to access as my PlayStation 2 bit the dust years ago, but I’ll get there someday! My fellow horror enthusiast and girlfriend has been raving about them for years but the stars just haven’t aligned as of yet.
I’ll come clean and say that I’m a flawed survival horror fan as I’ve never played the legendary Fatal Frame series before The Maiden of Black Water. Your camera is the only thing that’s going to save you in this ghostly survival horror experience.