Sep 12, 2006  Rule of Rose is a horror adventure game set in 1930.

Why is Rule of Rose so rare? Well, less one week after its release, it was banned in the UK.

Bear in mind, games such as Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil have some of the most violent and sexually explicit content you can find in games, so what makes this one so bad? In a word: ChildrenSet in England in the 1930’s, you play as Jennifer, a 19-year-old orphan (?) on her way to her new home. Along the way, she gets dropped off near an old mansion and is led there by a young boy. Once inside, she is accosted by a group of young girls, calling themselves the Red Crayon Aristocrat society.

They invite her to join their society, but in doing so, Jennifer may end up losing her sanity or even her lifeSo, spoiler alert: This is a survival horror game.It’s one thing to depict violence and sexuality in a game, but it is quite another to do so with little children. Having said that, the game only implies childhood sexuality, it is never said or shown explicitly (thankfully).

The most sexually explicit scene seems to have been removed from the game, but can be found in the trailer. In it, one of the girls, Diana, curtesies to Jennifer. She raises her skirt, smiling wider and wider as she lifts it higher and higher before it eventually cuts to another scene. This is, admittedly, quite disturbing, and is just a sample of the tone of the entire game.What is particularly disturbing about Rule of Rose, what really gets under your skin while you’re playing it, is that the children are acting almost exactly as you would expect them to act if there were no adults around for an extended period of time. It has a strong Lord of the Flies vibe about it.

They establish their own society and live by rules that are based on whims, and are therefore ever-changing.Plus, they’re kids. And kids are china-doll-standing-at-the-top-of-the-stairs creepyThe majority of the game actually takes place on an airship, not the mansion (which we later find out to be an orphanage).

You pass out early on in the game before being buried alive, and wake up on this airship for reasons unknown. Once there, you must appease the Aristocrat club by delivering gifts in each chapter. This makes up the majority of the gameplay, exploring the very expansive airship, fighting off child demons and tracking down these gifts to present to the girls. After which, they will reward you by torturing you in a manner that really merits the description of ‘horrific’.For those familiar with survival horror, I can already hear the weary groans.

Exploring a huge map, looking for tiny objects?! Where’s the fun in that? Well fear not, for you have a companion in the form of an adorable labrador named Brown.

Rescuing him early on in the game, you can present Brown with small, seemingly irrelevant, objects. He will take in their scent and then follow the trail to find a related object. This eliminates a lot of needless exploring and actually makes the game quite straightforward. You are often given a random item at the very beginning of each chapter which will, inevitably, lead you to whatever you are supposed to be looking for.This brings us to some of the flaws that Rule of Rose absolutely revels in. There isn’t really a lot of incentive to explore the enormous airship or the orphanage. There are some useless items that will lead you to bonus items such as sweets (whichgive you health.?) or extra weapons if you send Brown to find them.

However, these aren’t really necessary as the game itself is quite simple and straightforward.What drives the player is the complexly layered but wonderfully compelling story. So, why explore any of these extra areas when they add nothing to the experience?

At one point, when I wasn’t given an item to begin with, I explored some of the areas that I hadn’t been to. This included a few engine rooms, some luggage rooms and the airship cockpit. None of these rooms were very interesting, or had anything in them to pick up, which begs the question: What’s the point?The other major issue is with the combat. As mentioned, you will occasionally have to fight some demon children.

These children look a lot like Christoper Nolan’s interpretation of the Scarecrow, albeit vertically challenged incarnations. However, it is in their movements that make them so eerie. They jump and latch onto you, much like a child would to an adult when they want to play.

This makes it very unsettling, and even more so when up to three children can latch onto you at once. Other enemies include humanized animals (i.e.

Child sized pigs and rats that stand on two legs), which are equally disturbing. The best way to deal with these creatures is simply to run away from them, which is generally quite easy to do. HoweverOccasionally you are forced to fight, at which point you will discover that the combat system is the weakest part of the game. The connection between your weapons and your enemies seems to defy time and space. You might deploy a perfect smack onto a small child’s skull, but the game does not always register this. Similarly, you may be standing several feet away from an enemy, but they may be able to knock you down with one glitch-happy swing. Annoyingly, there are some enemies that will keep swinging at you while you’re down meaning that, if you get hit once, you’re pretty much dead.A pivotal moment, which largely defines the game as a whole, occurs when you fight the Unmarried Mermaid boss.

This encounter was almost a deal breaker, yet simultaneously the biggest incentive for me to continue playing the game. The fight takes place in a small bedroom and, as such, whether or not you will be hit is very much a roll of the dice. Trial and error was the only way to proceed, and it was very frustrating to have to continuously watch my character fall to her death when it wasn’t my fault.

Yet, I restarted time and again because the boss herself was such a fascinating character. She is a previous victim of the Red Crayon society, a young girl who has had her legs lashed together forcefully to resemble a fish tail. She has clearly been thrashed mercilessly before you arrive, and she attacks by vomiting on you while crying.This may very well be the most controversial enemy in any videogame ever made.With the exception of bosses and enemies in the final chapter, almost all fights can be avoided. Gameplay, therefore, boils down to putting up with the odd fight, and a series of fetch quests.

It can get a little repetitive, but in small doses, you will hardly notice.On a side note, the exact same comment applies to the soundtrack. For the majority of the game, you are treated to some haunting violin music, which suits the tone of the game perfectly. However, hearing the same tune for twenty minutes or half an hour straight gets irritating quickly.Ironically, it is the controversy that keeps the game going, the story that keeps you hooked, and the cut-scenes that reward you.

Zoo Empire Go wild with this sensational sims game! Start from scratch to create your very own customized zoo! Choose animals, build exhibits, hire and manage employees, and keep your visitors happy as the money pours in. Use your cash for more attractions and upgrades as you build the best zoo the world has ever seen! Zoo empire download.

This is why the game was banned and, oddly, it is the most appealing feature. The graphics are beautiful to behold, the art design very grimly idiosyncratic. Every time a gift is presented, something bad happens. These ‘punishments’ or worse yet ‘rewards’, utterly demonize children, epitomizing what makes them so terrifying in horror. While each girl is sinister in their own way, there are two standouts.The first is Meg, the brains of the malicious outfit. She devises the methods of torturing Jennifer, but when she is angry, she puts her through the most gruesome punishment in the whole game:. (Those sensitive to insects and claustrophobia should probably not watch this clip).The other stand-out is Amanda.

She is almost on the same level as Jennifer, as she is trying to get into the Aristocrat society as well. A large and ugly girl, she naturally has issues with self-confidence. It is with her that we are given the most evidence of a child becoming unhinged, as she clearly hates everyone in the game, but acts almost subservient to them in an effort to be popular. From a psychological point of view, her character is as fascinating as it is disturbing. Her most interesting yet disturbing scenes involve and.Rule of Rose would have made a phenomenal 10/10 film. It has a powerful storyline that can be read a number of ways, twisted yet thought-provoking characters, and some grotesquely beautiful imagery.

Unfortunately, bad gameplay decisions and glitchy AI holds it back. Having played it once, there is little incentive to trudge through the expansive halls with the wonky enemies again. Although at 8 hours (much of which is made up of the terrific cut scenes), and broken up nicely into 10 chapters, it gets the pacing and length just right.