Haunting Ground (PS2, 16+)

Haunting Ground, a dark and stylish adventure with erotic undertones, is unmistakably Japanese.

Herald rating: * * *

There's a test I like to perform on video games. Without looking at who made the game, I try to pick where it has come from by the graphics and story.

Haunting Ground is Japanese from the ground up. As soon as you see the way the hair falls over the forehead of our pale female star, you know you're in for that strain of dark, erotic adventure that defines the Japanese game developers.

Haunting Ground is a horror, a sort of modern-day Hammer affair, where the tension and excitement comes from hiding and running from the various ghouls and freaks that form the cast, rather than battling them directly.

Fiona Belli is a beautiful 18-year-old British girl who wakes up in a cage in the basement of a castle. She has no idea how she got there, but flashbacks soon reveal she survived a nasty car crash that claimed her parents. She has inherited the castle, but its inhabitants aren't too keen on accommodating their new mistress.

Fiona's first task is to find some clothes, which appear in the form of a revealing corset and mini-skirt. More Japanese fetishism.

Then the chase is on as Fiona makes her way through the castle dodging an Addams Family of enemies on the way. She hides in the shadows, in boxes and cupboards to avoid them.

Once hidden, we cut to her pursuer creeping about the hallways looking for her, the ogre sniffing the air. This is the exciting part. Will she be discovered or slip away into another part of the castle?

A German shepherd called Hewie becomes an ally to Fiona and follows her obediently. The controls are relatively straightforward. A frail wee thing, Fiona can only kick and shove enemies aside.

Her stamina and panic levels fluctuate and when Fiona is in serious trouble she will often lapse into a panic attack, bouncing off the walls beyond control. It's all very stylish, highly cinematic and backed by an eerie, Tangerine Dream-type soundtrack. Slow in parts, Haunting Ground is nevertheless an intriguing game and importantly for the genre, scary as well.


* $90