Ju-On The Grudge – Wii Review

Reviewed by Sam Atkins on November 16, 2009

Ju-On The Grudge - Wii Review  | read this item

When considering a movie tie in, game developers have two choices. Make a direct replication or a suitable accompaniment to the source material. Inspired by the both the original Ju-On movie, and recent remake The Grudge, Ju-On The Grudge sets out to be a fright simulator, rather than a full videogame adaptation. Does this awkward transition pay off, or are players left wondering what the point is?

Armed with a flashlight, you play as a series of individuals, each of which are haunted by demos of the past. Never extending more than this, the motives behind each character’s actions are never fully developed. It seems that it was more important to distinguish between the settings you explore in each chapter of the game, rather than the story behind it. This separated structure means that despite none of the stories directly linking to each other, the game retains a linear progression throughout. When compared to say Alone in the Dark, which featured a set of chapters that could be skipped and chosen from at any point, the archaic nature of progression places the game in the frustrating end of horror genre.

This progression remains the same for each of the 5 chapters in Ju-On The Grudge. You find yourself alone in a dark environment; find batteries for your torch; search for the key to unlock the next section of the area; rinse and repeat. Items you require to complete the stage flow as you approach them, while secrets are hidden around the repetitive objects that litter each chapter. Your goal at all times is to find the key required to unlock the rest of the level, with this formula changing very rarely; finding a power breaker for a lift for example. The design of the 5 chapters on offer here alter only in the way they look, though even I found it hard to distinguish between the apartment complex, the hospital and the factory.

At times it can feel like you are playing through the same stage multiple times, made even worse by the lack of content in each chapter. With no chapters stretching past the 20 minute mark, all in all a play through without dying should take no more than 1 hour. This is simply too short, especially for a game where replay value amounts to a second player shaking the Wii remote randomly in an attempt to scare each other. You won’t die often while playing the game, failing the short quick time events the game throws round certain doors being the main cause of this , your main way to ‘fail’ a stage is running out of batteries in your torch. This is when The Grudge will come and get you-just like the film then! There simply is not enough content here for your money’s worth.

In terms of tech, Ju-On The Grudge holds up fairly well at points, thanks to the clever decision to have most textures fully in darkness until you walk up to them, and the atmosphere is suitable for the inspiration. That said, up close most of the environments look grainy, with what looks like a smeared section of colour across them. In terms of sound, it’s much the same thing, with sounds that you would expect used in conjunction with awkward replacements, such as the echoed footsteps that accompany your every twitch. It won’t make you feel ashamed to be a Wii gamer, but in the same way, you won’t feel too proud.

In short, Ju-On The Grudge is a pointless approximation at a movie tie-in, the name alone being pretty much all there is similar between the two interpretations. If you are looking for scares on Wii, you can do much better than this badly constructed, tiny, poorly executed game. It’s not all bad, it can look great at times, and there are some briefs moments of terror, but paying full price for a game with this amount of content would be a big mistake. Let’s hope that those who do play Ju-On The Grudge don’t end up bearing a major Grudge in the process.

Tags: Horror, Ju-On The Grudge, Movie Tie-in, Rising Star Games, Wii review