Ju-On: The Grudge Review

Written by: Steve Martin Posted: 15th December 2009

Share:

Digg It

Review with a grudge.

Ju-On: The Grudge Details:

	Survival/Horror
	Nintendo Wii
	Rising Star
	Rising Star Games

16+

Out Now

Ju-On: The Grudge states clearly and with intent that it is "a fright simulator" and this is mostly true, the first time you play it anyway. Interestingly, there is also a quote on the artwork cover saying "You'll jump, laugh and cry...perfect fun!" I'll be referring back to this at a later point in the review, so keep it in mind!

This game is based on the Japanese horror series of Ju-On films, released in these parts (in an allegedly less scary form) as The Grudge. The game is split into 5 short episodes, each lasting about 15 minutes each, and putting you in the role of a new character for each level. Each time you are armed with only your torch, which must be kept topped up with batteries, which thankfully are obtainable in certain places throughout the level, running out of batteries causes a game over and means you have to start the episode from the beginning.

I found that I was constantly on the edge of my seat whilst playing thanks to some clever scare tactics, mainly by things appearing or disappearing in your peripheral vision, but there are also plenty of instant shocks that made me jump. The lonely minimalistic locations help to constantly unnerve you and with your narrow torchlight beam your only friend it is easy to be caught off guard. Graphically, the locations appear sparse and there is little to interact with making them feel a little too engineered and less natural, but this keeps the emphasize of the game on the horror. The game leads you where you need to go by using sound or visual prompts. Whilst this means that getting lost is unlikely, it can make it feel very staged just moving from one event to another and hence there seems little in the way of actual gameplay. The character models themselves are not very scary and it is really the location and the audio that helps to create the illusion of terror and dread. The bangs and clatters as well as the sound of your own heavy footsteps all help to create the feeling of loneliness and helplessness, which the whole game is trying to tap into to scare you as much as possible.

The control system also feels quite restricting with the Wii remote controlling your torch on screen and the B button making the character step forward very, very slowly, the slowness of the torch and player movement makes it a frustrating game to control, but again the slowness is required to gain the maximum amount of time to unsettle you as a player/viewer and to perform some of the scares.

Apart from walking around from one event to the other, you occasionally have to perform quick-time events to avoid the young lady who is trying to kill you, this merely boils down to, two simple things though, waggling the remote like a madman in the direction indicated to either defend yourself or run away. Or you have to keep a steady hand and keep the cross on-screen inside a moving circle, failure to perform these actions correctly results in your untimely death, thankfully they’re pretty hard not to do right.

I have to commend the developers on some top notch set-pieces within this game that feature some nice touches, like the fact that your performance in the level is judged on how much movement was detected in the remote as you played, and how they utilised the Wii remote speaker, so therefore I agree with the “you’ll jump” and “laugh” parts of the statements, but I too also agree with the “you’ll cry” part too simply because as a gamer this has no real gameplay, it’s an interactive experience but not a game, you always feel like a bystander or a tourist being herded onto the next point of interest, but the journey is so unfulfilling and tedious at times, so yes, I cry because I think this could have been so much better, and also because the character is so, so slow! Therefore, the final part of the quote “perfect fun” is the only part I don’t agree with, I’d say “fun-ish occasionally”.

Although, it is full of scares, some executed better than others, and the atmosphere created within the game really does make you feel like you are alone in this nightmare situation, there is so little in the way of gameplay, it plays more like an interactive movie rather than a game. The slowness of the player is a constant annoyance and the fact that exploration of the level is stifled because you have to keep your torch powered is disappointing. For these reasons, like a horror film, you’ll play it once then never play it again because you know what is coming and it is not scary the second time round. Therefore, I’d recommend you rent it rather than buy it.