Up until this point, Konami has held the "scariest game ever" crown with the Silent Hill series. Capcom's Resident Evil series has been losing steam ever since Silent Hill introduced a more effective style of psychological horror. In steps a new player. Tecmo, fresh off its success of Dead or Alive 3 on the Xbox, has developed Fatal Frame, an interestingly unique survival horror title that has been unfairly dubbed "Resident Evil Snap," poking fun at its gameplay similarities to the Nintendo 64 title, Pokemon Snap, thanks to the use of a camera as a weapon.

Junsei Takamine, famed novelist, was searching for material to include in his next piece. Gathering together a group of researchers, Takamine headed to Himuro mansion, a cursed several hundred years old building greatly feared by the nearby townsfolk. Several weeks after entering the mansion, Takamine and his team still have made no contact with the outside world. Hoping to scoop the rest of the world, aspiring journalist Mafuyu Hinasaki enters the mansion in search of Takamine. His sister, Miku, starts to worry when Mafuyu still has not returned after nine days. Fueled by a longing for her missing brother, Miku heads into the Himuro mansion armed with only her wits.

Fatal Frame's combat is unlike any other survival horror title out there. Instead of hording ammunition for pistols and shotguns, the only weapon that Miku will use throughout her search of Himuro mansion is an old camera used by her mother. It is no ordinary camera, of course; ancient powers locked in its lens allow it to send evil spirits to the next world. The game's interface changes to first person when the camera is used. The amount of damage caused depends how long Miku keeps the lens centered on the ghost before taking the shot (a charge meter is at the bottom) and how close it is to the camera itself.

Fatal Frame's combat is genuinely interesting, but not without its fair share of problems. When wandering the mansion, the left analog stick controls Miku's movement while the right moves the direction of her flashlight. In combat, however, the game switches the analog functions, with the left aiming the camera and right allowing Miku to strafe. None of the other controller setups bother to change this option around, making the first few hours of play frustrating. There are also several situations where extremely fast ghosts will attack Miku (e.g. floating heads) and the only reason she suffers damage is because she missed hitting it on the first run and it moves far too fast to keep up with or escape from.

The better types of shots Miku takes, the more damage and the more points Miku is awarded toward upgrading her camera. There are three basic areas that can be upgraded: Range (size of the Capture circle), Speed (time it takes for Spirit Power to charge) and Max Value (number of Spirit Charges). There are also several bonus/auxiliary functions that cost a substantial amount more, but can really aid Miku in battle. Some include pushing a spirit back or slowing down its movement. After an auxiliary function is earned, it costs one Spirit Stone each time it is used.

Fatal Frame is one of the better survival horror titles not only because of the new spin on combat, but the atmosphere. Oh God, the atmosphere. And that is meant with the most serious tone possible; there are few titles where in the first ten minutes of gameplay I am already feeling sweat form in my palms. Tecmo has succeeded where Silent Hill 2 tried to push the boundaries and the Resident Evil series has lost sight of: actually scaring the player. There are a few instances where ghosts will pop up out of nowhere for "shock factor," but the majority of Fatal Frame's tension derives from the incredible visual and audio details. Ghosts will wander the environment yelling screams of severe torment while completely ignoring Miku's presence. One moment, Miku will see a young girl strapped to a ferry boat wheel struggling to become free - and in the blink of an eye everything returns to normal. While venturing through the Himuro mansion, not only did I become paranoid, but the people watching me were slightly on end, as well.

There are scraps of torn diaries and audio tapes littered throughout the mansion. As Miku progresses in the game, each will give her a small glimpse into the truth behind the mansion and the twisted fate of Takamine's group (and potentially her brother, as well). As Miku discovers new diaries and audio tapes, she can hear how the individuals started to quickly realize there was something very wrong with the mansion and that the spirits wanted them out as soon as possible. Gradually hearing the panic in their voices increase as the feeling of impending doom sinks in is hair raisingly creepy.

I had started to lose a little faith in Tecmo over their milking of the Monster Rancher franchise and Dead or Alive 3's eerily similar feel to Dead or Alive 2. Fatal Frame, however, has made me realize the company is definitely capable of producing fresh gameplay experiences that have the ability to thrill, chill and generally scare the bejeebus out of us.