The Haunted Mansion

"Haunted that I bought this"

The reviews of IGN and Gamespot come across as a little questionable to me. A great puzzler like Egg Mania gets a lousy 5 while the biggest piece of garbage I've ever played on a current console merits a 7 (that's this game, by the way). I would never feel good about placing the Haunted Mansion on the same level as Ty 2: Bush Rescue or Pitfall: The Lost Expedition. I would feel good about putting this game under a bulldozer, however.

Graphics:
The Haunted Mansion is a decidedly cheap visual fair. The character models are rather plain and animate in extremely juvenile ways. The surroundings that our hero, Zeke, will explore are only slightly better off. Truly, nothing is very impressive, but the gritty and foreboding look is consistent. The Haunted Mansion does get the lighting right, though. It's actually a very good replication of the real thing.

Sound:
While there is plenty of voice acting, it isn't exactly terrific. Most of what is being said comes across as a cold reading. The sound effects are spookily fitting, but the music (or lack thereof) is kind of disappointing. While quietness can really improve the atmosphere of a game (such as in Ico), the Haunted Mansion's empty soundtrack leaves much for wanting. Wailing wind gets old after a while. There are the occasional ten-second fanfares and eerie melodies, but a truly gripping and provocative score would have actually boosted my final score for the game.

Gameplay:
The Haunted Mansion is a haunted mansion. You will travel through the spooky, monster-ridden hallways, only entering the different rooms when you've collected enough "lost souls." Each room becomes a distinct and isolated puzzle. The objective of each puzzle is to get to the light switch and turn it on. Once this has been accomplished, you then have to search the room for any lost souls and suck them up into your lantern (sound familiar?). What makes all this become more than just a Luigi's Mansion clone is its surreal atmosphere. Yes, I took the word directly from IGN's review, but it's definitely appropriate. When Zeke tampers with the observatory's telescope, the whole room explodes and Zeke finds himself jumping through space. In another room, Zeke will have to stand on special rugs that exchange any two of the four walls. One puzzle is that where Zeke is shrunk down to minute size and ends up in the middle of a game of pool. It is at these instances when the Haunted Mansion really takes on that unique, haunted, dreamlike quality. Unfortunately, the experience is hampered by some very glaring problems. Such as...

Controls:
Zeke wins my Worst Control for a 3D Character award, which I had previously given to Tak (and the Power of Juju). I'm sorry, Tak. I didn't mean what I said. Seriously, though, this is what ultimately ruins this game. Combat is handled by rapidly firing balls of light at monsters and ghosts via the L button. The target system rarely works, however, and pressing the L button repeatedly really wears the finger out. To get Zeke to run, you have to push the analog stick directly forward as hard as you can. Any slight deviation and Zeke starts "sneaking." This becomes really frustrating when you need to run away from something or cross a bridge before it collapses. But even when you get Zeke to run, he doesn't go very fast. I am so used to smoothly controlled characters, I honestly could not bear to play this game.

Frustration:
Even if the controls weren't so difficult, the Haunted Mansion would still have its problems. Though the enemies certainly add a degree of variation to the game, it gets really annoying having to deal with them. While trying to solve any of the many puzzles in the game, you'll have to contend with a slew of ghosts, spiders, skeletons, and even gargoyles. Most of the enemies require a lot of hits to take out, and there seems to be an endless run of them. The puzzles could have been fun, but the developers really needed to draw a line separating the puzzles from the fighting. Tackling both at once only makes me want to play something else-- like Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy.

Lasting Appeal:
A game can't have any "lasting appeal" if it can't even get you to like the game in the first three hours. Case in point.

Overall:
I don't see why anyone is going to play this game in the first place. The unfortunate T-rating is going to steer young children away, and older gamers will feel that the Disney license can't be anything worth looking into. This sounds like the perfect time to say, "Oh, what a shame." But I can't. This game stinks. I feel a little guilty giving it a 3-rating, but I didn't have any fun playing it, and that's the most important thing for a game, right? While the Haunted Mansion has a very dreamlike, fantastical atmosphere, it is mercilessly beaten down by some horrible, terrible, no good, very bad controls. The frustrating enemies (and the combat they incite) certainly don't help, either. I wasted $12 on this game so you wouldn't have to. A simple "thank you" will suffice.

Points:
+ Surreal atmosphere
+ Some clever puzzles
-- Annoying enemies
-- Flawed control
-- Flawed control

Score: 3/10

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04