Though the game is unlikely to be released outside of Japan, we still wanted to give you our final verdict on this infamous scare-a-thon.

In late January 2008, at a press conference held in Japan by Tecmo, it was revealed that the next instalment in the horror-filled Fatal Frame series would be hitting Wii. This meant that the series would be straying away from its home on PS2 and Xbox and onto Nintendo’s newest console.

Perhaps even more a shock was that the game was to be a major collaborative effort for Temco. Nintendo would publish the game in Japan and lend some help on the development side. Grasshopper Manufacture’s Goichi Suda, commonly referred to as Suda 51 among his fans, would help with the development of the game as well. It was announced that Fatal Frame IV would be hitting Japanese retailers sometime during the summer to coincide with the popular Japanese tradition of telling ghost stories.

The plot is a typically spooky affair; every ten years a special ceremony is held at a sacred shrine on Rougetsu Island, located south of Japan’s largest island, Honshu. One year though, something bizarre occurred. During a very traditional Japanese concert, five girls mysteriously vanished without a trace. Little did people know, the five girls were in fact being held hostage in a haunted house on Rougetsu Island.

Eventually a police officer by the name of Choushiro Kirishima managed to rescue the girls from Rougetsu Island and return them to their homes. During the time the girls had suffered from a unique type of amnesia; everything about their abduction was forgotten, however all other memories remained intact. Though the amnesia affected the girls’ emotions, they seemed to have settled down after they moved away from the haunted island. Years passed and the girls remained blinded about the incident.

Ten years later two of the girls, Marie Shinomiya and Tomoe Nanamura, die in a brutal manner. The remaining survivors believe that their death is linked to their childhood abductions on Rougetsu Island. Wanting to unravel the mysteries of their past and the deaths of the two girls, two of the remaining girls, Misaki Aso and Madoka Tsukimori, return to Rougetsu Island, only to once again go missing.

The remaining girl, Ruka Minazuki, is the only survivor who can remember something about their ordeal. She remembers both a melody and a group of musicians being surrounded by a circle of masked men and a masked woman, dancing as if though they had been possessed by a spirit. Also hoping to unravel her foggy past, she too sets out to Rougetsu Island to try and find Misaki Aso and Madoka Tsukimori and to try and clear things up a little. Ruka Minazuki’s mother, Sayaka Minazuki, requests that Choushiro Kirishima follow Ruka to protect her if something happens. Hoping to dig up some pieces of their past, Ruka sets out to Rougetsu Island with Choushiro Kirishima following behind her.

Once Ruka Minazuki arrives on Rougetsu Island, Ruka discovers that there is something horribly wrong about the mansion. Shrouded in darkness, Ruka explores only to discover that it’s full of ghosts, intent on abducting her. Armed with nothing but a flashlight Ruka navigates the haunted mansion’s hallways and rooms, often being spied upon by the ghosts.

Some ghosts will stare at her and then run away to another room while others will rush at her at full speed. Past Fatal Frame games have made people shiver in fear and Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is certainly no exception. Most of the rooms are enclosed and dark; combine this with the random ghost appearances and you have a game that creates an extreme and intense feel of horror and claustrophobia.

While on her expedition around the mansion, Ruka manages to discover the camera obscura, her only chance to rid the mansion of the bone-chilling ghosts. Taking a picture of a ghost will put an end to its insane reign of threats, and will also net her some points. Most ghosts won’t be gone after one quick flash though – after one shot, they’ll disappear and often reappear right behind you. Before you know it, you’re under attack. Certain gestures with the Wii Remote will help get the foul creature off you. The points you earn during play can be redeemed for film and items at any save point found throughout the game.

In addition to ridding the mansion of the restless spirits, advanced players can also attempt to acquire a large quantity of points from each shot through a point source known as the Fatal Frame. To acquire a Fatal Frame, players will need to wait until the ghost lunges at you before you take the picture. By getting a high quality Fatal Frame, the photo will be saved for future viewing. Again, this style of play is packed with tension; waiting for the ghost to lunge is quite scary at times, so we'd advise that you play with the lights on and a spare pair of underpants at the ready.

To make combat even easier, one of the playable characters in the game (Ruka and Choushiro Kirishima are just two of them) can upgrade the camera obscura by obtaining blue gems scattered around the house. By using the power of these blue gems, the camera will become even more powerful and has a speedier reload time. Besides this, there is also special film scattered throughout the game that will make the camera even stronger. Like regular film, it comes in limited quantities.

When you think about it, the Wii Remote would seem like a perfect tool in order to represent a flashlight. For some strange reason, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse doesn’t utilize the Wii Remote’s IR pointer. Instead, you manipulate characters by using the nunchuk, and wherever Ruka is facing is where the flashlight will shine. To do a quick 180-spin, a gesture with the Wii Remote and nunchuk will allow you to execute that move.

Perhaps the main idea for Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was to provide a survival horror game that is as realistic as possible. Judging from what we’ve played, the developers have hit the nail right on the head. Just by watching some gameplay, people will feel petrified and scared. The eerie feel of the game’s beautifully executed CGI sequences and the spooky sounds heard whilst traversing the house all add to the horror level.

Hardcore gamers finally got what they wanted – a game that will frighten casual gamers to death! Then again, this game may even be too spooky for hardest of the hardcore. While it's not looking good for a US and EU release at present, we have our fingers firmly crossed that it will happen so that gamers elsewhere in the world can unravel the mysteries of Rougetsu Island and get scared witless.