PlayStation 2

Kuon

I have a confession to make. I love survival horror games almost as much as I love (*gasp*) adventures! Yes, it’s true, and I try not to miss any chance to play any game from this sub-genre that I can lay my hands on. There are several different aspects that survival horror games focus on. Some focus on the story (Silent Hill 2), some on the action (Resident Evil 4), some bring in RPG elements (Parasite Eve) but all have a thing in common: horror. But although most of those games do pretty good on the horror part for the average crowd, very few are those who can really creep out a hardcore horror fan. Fatal Frame 2 was one of the few and is now joined by Kuon!

A decidedly different, darker offering from the developers of the popular military sci-fi Armored Core series, Agetec's Kuon is rooted in the centuries-old kwaidan form of Japanese folk/horror tales. If you prefer your games spooky, old-school, and very Japanese -- this includes bleak mysticism, pale girls in traditional garb, dimly-lit environments, creepy little singing children, and enough ambient gore to paint the walls -- then you'll find something to like in this evocative horror game.

Haunted mansions are a horror staple, and Kuon adds its own twist to the usual formula by plunking that mansion in the Japanese past, pitting its priestess protagonists against a mysterious infestation of twisted humanoid creatures. There are some chilling moments to be had, and a whole lot of blood is spilled, but Kuon is largely bereft of impact. It's inhibited by ponderous combat controls, its repetitious nature, and an overall lack of depth.

The familiar nature, combined with the lousy hit detection and the fact that character lip sync wasn't even attempted will probably put off the majority of gamers. But survival horror devotees may dig the eerie story and solid graphics. Like Japanese horror movies, this one is an acquired taste.

Everyone loves a good scare, so it’s not surprising that ‘horror’ games remain popular; no matter how many times people proclaim the genre dead, it just keeps coming back for more new sequels and retreads. As with the adventure genre or the latest Madonna CD, reinvention is the key to keeping this particular dead horse animated.

By all rights, Kuon should be a lot better than it is. It's been nearly a decade since Resident Evil lurched onto the scene and turned the budding survival horror genre hinted at by Alone in the Dark and Darkseed into a minor phenomenon. And in that time, a lot of advances have been made in the artform. You wouldn't know it to play Kuon, though. It has a few moments of inspiration, but by and large it doesn't do much to differentiate itself from Chris Redfield's original journey to Raccoon City.

Kuon semblait intéressant, mais c’est finalement loin d’être le cas. C’est rare que je me lasse aussi rapidement d’un jeu de ce genre, mais là je n’ai pas du tout adhéré. Voici un jeu « mou du genou » où les développeurs n’ont pas compris que la violence ne masquerait pas les défauts. Allez, un petit somme et au lit !

Onimusha might well represent the most successful foray made by any game into the surreal world of traditional Japanese Kwaidan storytelling. However, behind every favourite there tends to be an underdog, a role Kuon quietly adopts. It's a position that would take a great deal of work to escape.

Wicker baskets and singing tots with bowl cuts are supposed to be the pulmonary kickstarters in this yawn-inducing hunt and fetch-style shocker from the same team behind the Armored Core series and Echo Night: Beyond. Choosing between two kimono-garbed sorceresses, you explore the grounds of a derelict manor, stumble over corpses, toss fireballs at demons, and sick wolves after Gollum lookalikes as you try to figure out what kind of hoodoo your bad exorcist daddy's been up to. Drably paced, rife with sloppy game design choices, and possessing nary a hint of originality, Kuon distinguishes itself from most genre offerings with, well nothing, really.