Clock Tower (1996 video game)

This article is about the 1996 PlayStation game. For for the 1995 Super Famicom game, see Clock Tower (1995 video game). For the game released as "Clock Tower II" outside Japan, see Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within.
Clock Tower

North American cover art
Developer(s) Human Entertainment
Publisher(s)

ASCII Entertainment

  • JP Human Entertainment
Director(s) Hifumi Kono
Programmer(s) Masaki Higuchi
Artist(s) Yoichiro Shimazaki
Composer(s) Kouji Niikura
Series Clock Tower
Platform(s) PlayStation
Release date(s)
  • JP December 13, 1996
  • NA October 1, 1997
  • EU February 1998
Genre(s) Point-and-click adventure, survival horror
Mode(s) Single-player

Clock Tower, released in Japan as Clock Tower 2,[lower-alpha 1] is a survival horror point-and-click adventure game developed by Human Entertainment and released for the PlayStation in 1996. It is the second game in the Clock Tower series after the original Clock Tower, which was released exclusively in Japan for the Super Famicom one year prior. The story takes place in Norway and follows a variety of characters as they attempt to survive the return of Scissorman and uncover the mystery of his seemingly immortal state. The scenarios encountered and endings vary widely based upon the player's actions.

Clock Tower was one of the first games developed by Human Entertainment to utilize a 3D graphics engine. The team experimented with camera angles and sound with director Hifumi Kono focusing on the game's "material" more-so than the game design. The game received mixed reviews from critics. The atmosphere and storyline were well received although most other aspects were found to be mediocre. Clock Tower's pace was found to be especially slow compared with other PlayStation games of the time, which influenced critics to recommend the game only for point-and-click adventure fans.

Gameplay

Jennifer is directed to examine a computer after the player clicked on it

Clock Tower is a point-and-click adventure game with 3D graphics.[1][2] The player may use a PlayStation controller or mouse to move the cursor on the screen.[3] The cursor will change shape when placed over certain objects, which the player can click to interact with. Clicking in any location will guide the player character in that direction. Moving the cursor to the top of the screen will reveal the player's inventory. Clicking an item and then clicking an object on the screen will use the item on that object or in that location. Some items such as keys are used automatically when clicked.[4]

Each character has three levels of strength. The strength level is indicated by the cursor which will either be white, flashing yellow, or red. Strength will decrease after extreme actions or being attacked by the game's enemy, Scissorman, and recovers with time.[5] When the character's life is being threatened, the cursor will blink red, indicating panic mode. If the character is being chased, click points are only effective on objects that will make Scissorman retreat.[4] In escape mode, actions do not lower strength and recovery is suspended.[5] This mode stays active until Scissorman is somehow forced to retreat.[4] If the player's strength reaches zero, then it is game over and the player must continue from the last room they entered with one level of strength.[5]

The game features four scenarios including the prologue. The actions during the prologue determine who will be the central character in the story, either Jennifer Simpson or Helen Maxwell. The scenarios and player characters that follow are determined by the player's actions. There are five different endings per heroine depending on how the scenarios progress. After each scenario is a save screen and an intermission mode that allows the player to explore without the threat of Scissorman. During the intermission, the player can have conversations with various characters. The next scenario will begin after the required conditions of the intermission are met.[6]

Plot

After the events of Clock Tower (1995), Jennifer Simpson was adopted by Helen Maxwell, an assistant professor of criminal psychology in Oslo, Norway. She begins undergoing treatment at a university research building in order to learn more about the Scissorman murder case and help her cope with her trauma. Over a year has passed, and now a series of brutal murders have made headline news. It appears that the Scissorman has returned. Having heard the details of Jennifer's original encounters with the Scissorman, Helen begins searching for information that could put an end to the seemingly immortal killer.[7] The scenarios that follow, including the player characters and settings, are vastly different depending on player actions throughout the game.[6]

Development and release

The Clock Tower development team was the first at Human Entertainment to utilize a 3D graphics engine, although team veterans preferred to have used 2D graphics instead. Director Hifumi Kono was pleased with the 3D engine, as it allowed him to use camera angles effectively. Capcom's Resident Evil was announced during development with visuals that impressed the team, challenging them to develop higher quality graphics.[8] According to Kono, Clock Tower was developed with a "material comes first" mindset, as opposed to the "game system" given priority with the "material" superimposed on top. The team used 3D graphics and extensive animation as they sought to portray murders as real as possible in both normal and surreal settings. The music was composed with a theme of "noise and silence", placing sounds in obscure places and not playing sound when there should be some.[9]

ASCII Entertainment marketed Clock Tower as one of the first "true" horror games for the PlayStation console, and claimed it had the most terrifying story ever in a video game.[10] The game was released in Japan on 13 December 1996, North America on 1 October 1997, and finally in Europe in February 1998.[11][2] It was re-released digitally on the PlayStation Network on 22 February 2012 exclusively in Japan.[12]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings72%[13]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[14]
EGM7.6/10[15][lower-alpha 2]
Famitsu30/40[16]
GamePro3.6/5[17][lower-alpha 3]
GameSpot5.8/10[1]
IGN5.5/10[2]
OPM (US)[18]
Gamezilla84/100[19]

Clock Tower holds a score of 72% on rating aggregator GameRankings.[13] The atmosphere, storyline, and full-motion video cinematics were generally well received.[14][1][2] The game offered a deep horror atmosphere that few games at the time had, with GameSpot's Glenn Rubenstein stating that it "truly feels like an interactive horror film."[1] Mark Skorupa of Gamezilla compared Scissorman favorably to slasher film villains such as Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers, and declared Clock Tower's atmosphere to rival that of any horror movie ever made.[19] The graphics, sound, voice acting, and dialogue were both praised and criticized by critics.[14][1][2]

Although the point-and-click interface was well received, the game's pace was overwhelmingly found to be slow.[14][1][2] Both Rubenstein and IGN's Jaz Rignall compared the game less favorably to more fast-paced and action oriented games on the PlayStation, including Resident Evil.[1][2] Critics recommended the game to players looking for slow-paced point-and-click adventure games, with Rignall stating that "for the vast majority of PSX players out there...buying a point and click adventure is simply not even a consideration," when compared to the rest of the PlayStation's library.[14][1][2] GamePro recommended the game to patient gamers looking for a challenge with respect to the complex storyline and puzzles.[17]

In Japan, Clock Tower 2 sold well enough to get a discounted release under "The Best" banner on March 19, 1998.[20] In 2006, GameTrailers placed Clock Tower at #10 on their "Top Ten Horror Games" list.[21]

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ Clock Tower 2 (クロックタワー2 Kurokku Tawā Sekando)
  2. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers provided scores of 8.5, 8.0, 8.0, and 6.0.
  3. ↑ GamePro provided scores of 4.0 for graphics, 3.0 for sound, 4.0 for control, and 3.5 for fun factor
References
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rubenstein, Glenn (December 30, 1997). "Clock Tower Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rignall, Jaz (October 13, 1997). "Clock Tower". IGN. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ Clock Tower instruction manual, pg. 1-2 (US, PlayStation)
  4. 1 2 3 Clock Tower instruction manual, pg. 4-5 (US, PlayStation)
  5. 1 2 3 Clock Tower instruction manual, pg. 11 (US, PlayStation)
  6. 1 2 Clock Tower instruction manual, pg. 6-7 (US, PlayStation)
  7. ↑ Clock Tower instruction manual, pg. 3 (US, PlayStation)
  8. ↑ Kemps, Heidi. "Interview: Hifumi Kono of Nude Maker and Project Scissors/NightCry - Gaming.moe". gaming.moe. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Clock Tower instruction manual, pg. 16-17 (US, PlayStation)
  10. ↑ "Clock Tower". Electronic Gaming Monthly (97): 41–44. August 1997.
  11. ↑ "クロックタワー2 | ソフトウェアカタログ | プレイステーション® オフィシャルサイト". www.jp.playstation.com. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "CLOCK TOWER 2 | ソフトウェアカタログ | プレイステーション® オフィシャルサイト". www.jp.playstation.com. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Clock Tower for PlayStation". GameRankings. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 House, Michael L. "Clock Tower (PS) - Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Clock Tower". Electronic Gaming Monthly (98): 54. September 1997.
  16. ↑ "クロックタワー２". Weekly Famitsu (418): 35. December 20, 1996.
  17. 1 2 "Clock Tower". GamePro (109). October 1997.
  18. ↑ "Clock Tower". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. 1997.
  19. 1 2 Skorup, Mark. "Clock Tower". Gamezilla. Archived from the original on 6 February 2002. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "クロックタワー2 PlayStation® the Best | ソフトウェアカタログ | プレイステーション® オフィシャルサイト". www.jp.playstation.com. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "GT Countdown Video - Top Ten Scariest Games | GameTrailers." GameTrailers. N.p., 27 Oct. 2006. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

External links

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