Clock Tower

Overview

Clock Tower, titled Clock Tower 2 in Japan, is the sequel to Clock Tower: The First Fear and was developed by Human Entertainment in 1996 for the PlayStation. ASCII Entertainment released Clock Tower in North America a year later in 1997 and in Europe in 1998.

Story

Clock Tower takes place one year after the events of The First Fear. Jennifer Simpson has been adopted by Helen Maxwell and is receiving psychological treatment in Oslo, the capital of Norway, because of the horrors she experienced in the first game. The rest of Clock Tower's plot revolves around the mysteries of another survivor from the first game named Edward and the re-emergence of the Scissor Man.

There are 10 different endings in Clock Tower, 5 for Jennifer and 5 for Helen. The player's actions and the character he/she is playing as in the final scenario, decides which ending the player will receive.

Gameplay

Clock Tower uses a Point and Click system that is found in many games of its era and genre. The user interface for Clock Tower was simplified from the original Super Famicom game, Clock Tower: The First Fear, in order to have better interaction in the game. One aspect of Clock Tower's plot that affects overall gameplay is the main antagonist, Scissor Man, who appears randomly and chases the player throughout the game. The player will have to hide, find objects, and solve puzzles in order to protect his/herself from Scissor Man. If Scissor Man attacks the player, the character will enter panic mode, in which he/she must mash the panic button in order to escape, with failure to do so (or low health) leading to a game over.

The player controls a different character in each of Clock Tower's three separate scenarios. Samuel Barton is controlled in the prologue, Jennifer or Helen Maxwell in the first scenario, and either Nolan, Stan, or Helen in the final scenario. Between each scenario the player can explore a world map and gather clues in the town before going to the next level.

Playable Characters

• Jennifer Simpson: The main character from the first Clock Tower game.
• Samuel Barton: A professor of criminal psychology that is investigating the Clock Tower Case.
• Helen Maxwell: Samuel Barton's assistant, who is also curious about the Clock Tower Case.
• Nolan Campbell: A tabloid newspaper reporter.
• Stan Gotts: An assistant-inspector who is investigating the Clock Tower Case with the police.

Trivia

• Clock Tower uses the ASCII Grip V, a one-handed Playstation controller used mainly for point and click RPG's. The controller features all of the buttons present on a normal Playstation controller and looks similar to the Wii's Nunchuck.

• The character Jennifer Simpson is actually modeled after famed actress Jennifer Connelly.