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One of the main features of Clock Tower 3 is the relative lack of weapons. The main part of the game generally involves looking for clues or items to help her resolve the current stage. Any enemies Alyssa meets must be escaped from, which is largely why most of the screenshots we've included here involve Alyssa running. Allyssa runs. A lot. There are various hiding places in each stage for Alyssa to use, and once the enemy cannot find Alyssa for a certain time they will disappear for a while, only to re-emerge again minutes later. This can get a little grating when the player is busy exploring through the stage and the enemy re-appears, only to start the chase again. But it does add to the paranoia the player feels, not knowing where or when they will be in danger again, or whether they will be in a position to escape.

Sometimes hindering Alyssa's escape from enemies is her propensity to panic. Illustrated by a panic meter at the top of the screen, if Alyssa gets frightened or attacked her panic meter starts to rise. Once the meter fills up Alyssa goes into full panic mode; the screen becomes more blurry, her running becomes a lot more wild and she becomes a lot harder to control. Time away from the enemy will eventually calm her down, but it can sometimes be a struggle to do this. The result of this is that the player will start to think quite defensively, keeping in mind which hiding places are nearby. This is quite well done, as an actual person would probably do the same thing. It is also quite a different way of thinking from a lot of the games available, and certainly different from the Resident Evil games, where there are at least weapons the players can fight back with.

There are various items available to help Alyssa survive, and these can be found in different parts of the environment. Her only form of defence is holy water, which is in extremely limited supply. This however only slows the enemy down for a few seconds rather than banishing them forever, and gives Alyssa a bit more time to find a hiding place. Other items are more defensive, with items to lower the panic meter, absorb an attack and even make Alyssa temporarily invisible. However these are in short supply, and relying on them too much can cause problems later in the game.