Okay, so I've gotten Spirit Camera and Project Zero 2 yesterday.
I'll give you my first impression of PZ2 as well as a mini review of Spirit Camera as I finished it allready:
Spirit Camera
If I had to give this a numerical score I would have to give it a 3 out of 10. The game is a technical mess. The AR implementation is ambitious but completely underused, and if you don't have daylight or a very high lumen light source, you're shit out of luck to get the Booklet to work. It works like a charm in daylight though. I tried to play this in the dark with my desk lamp, but the results were very very unstable. A large reason for that was the light gloss on the paper caused by the desk lamp. The paper itself is pretty matte, and of high quality print, but still tends to reflect light under a desklamp.
The game is also criminally short. My first playthrough took me about 3 hours. The concept presented is great, but it just remains a concept and nothing more. The same also goes for the story which feels rushed and unexplored.
The best parts are the ghost hunting AR sections. Those are simply amazing, and I cannot wait for a Project Zero game on WiiU that uses the Gamepad. This feature alone has me completely hyped for the WiiU.
I absolutely cannot recommend this game to anyone though. Not at full price at last. You can unlock some Face Raiders mini game rip offs after finishing the story quest as well as play boss battles and photography minigames (like the AR Miis) but the content on the card is simply not enough to warrant the price. If it weren't for the Booklet, this game should've been a 6 e-shop release.
If you can get it for 10 used somewhere, give it a try, as the concepts presented are very cool, but be aware that this is more like a retail proof of concept, rather than a full fledged game.
Project Zero 2
I am usually someone who absolutely enjoys horror games, movies and stories. I'm not easily scared and I simply love horror stories with some depth to them. The last game to genuinely frighten me was Silent Hill on the PS1. SH2 i thought was a beautifull dark story, but not much in the way of scary to me.
Now with these expectations and the fact that it's melting hot here in Vienna right now I fired up Project Zero 2 yesterday during a rainstorm that didn't do much to cool the air, but at least drowned out the street noises from outside.
Mind you, my Girlfriend was with me in the room, and so I set out to play it.
First of all, the controls are clunky. They are fully operational, and the game allways remains playable, but the decision to use the gyro to aim the flashlight slightly up and slightly down is puzzling. I guess the game was designed to have enemy encounters on the same plane so you only have to looks slightly down or up anyway, but it feels weird.
Otherwise the controls are responsive.
Animation is a bit stiff, but I actually don't mind it as it isn't cheap, but rather unsettling.
And that's so far my verdict on this game: It's highly unsettling. Again, I'm usually one who enjoys these games without getting scared. But this game manages to instill you with claustrophobia, anxiety and outright panic, by posing limitations and dangers on pretty much the most basic actions. Picking up an Item? Well hold the A button until your hand reaches it, or let go of the A button if you're scared enough.
Just the fact that even such an essential action like picking up an item is a potentially dangerous affair really shatters your conventional thinking of how horror games work.
Another aspect is that the gameplay in itself isn't violent. You are fighting ghosts, but the violence that led to these ghosts becoming vengefull spirits is a completely different matter. It's very well presented and genuinely intriguing to get to know more about the games story.
I was genuinely scared at times, even with my girlfriend right next to me (hiding behind the blanket when ghosts would appear). Those stupid ghost hands.
Yes the game is clunky, yes the game could use some better hardware, but holy shit it just might be the best console horror game of this gen. It's masterfully crafted and if you can stomach the controls (again fully playable, just clunky) this is a must have for horror fans, not just Wii owners.