User Reviews (1 - 11 of 16)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Once you get going, you just can't stop

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: March 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is the kind of game you wouldn't expect to be on a game system. When I think of Xbox, I think of fighting, killing, and running. I don't think of this excelent strategy game.

The graphics are phenomonal. It makes you feel that you are in the rooms you are playing in. They just surprised me. Enough said. The graphics are the best I've ever seen. (I only own nine Xbox games though)

The controls can be mastered in 15 minutes. It's not like some other games that buttons do multiple things at different points inthe game. Each button does one action throughout the entire game.

The gameplay is what I focus buying games on, and this is why I bought it. You control a young man named Zeke Holloway. You must first turn on the lights in the room. You need skill to figure out the puzzles to get to the light though. They are extremely hard. Once you've turned the lights on, you must locate souls hidden in objects such as chairs, tables, and plants. Then you must suck them into your special lantern. This isn't hard because the objects the souls are in are pulsing in and out. Then you have to Find the next room to open and repeat the process. You have to do the same thing in each room, but the rooms and puzzles are so different, you just won't get bored. There is actually some fighting in this game. You shoot light from your lantern to kill ghosts, spiders, and more. Although the game is rated T for violence, parents this game is suitable for all. The violence really isn't violent.

To sum it up, I love this game. It really makes your mind work hard. If you don't like strategy, this game isn't for you. This game is packed with fun. I recommend renting this game before you buy it, because it appeals to some, and some won't like it. This is the best game I have ever played, and it was a good choice for me.

REALLY FUN!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: November 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

WOW, this game is sooo cool. I've been waiting to play this game for sooooo long, i know what your thinkin, u think this game is cool lookin but may stink, thats what i thought,WRONG!!! I rented this game today and i love it, tooo bad my friend has it at his house.Heres why it's cool.

GAMEPLAY: Really cool, in the beginning, you may think, man, i cant believe i rented/bought this game, but after the first hall, it gets so fun, u have to solve certain puzzles to find ghosts then catch them, THATS REALLY FUN, trust me, dont think so, rent it.

SOUND: Not much sound except ghosts makin funny voices or music once in a while.

CONTROL: The controls are really easy and can easily be mastered

GRAPHICS: The graphics are really good, not the best, but really really good.

ENDING STATEMENT: Trust me, if your a puzzle/adventure game, this game is callin you, if your an action/shooter game, pass this one up, its not for you......BUY IT, im going to soon.

Possibly my favorite game for the Xbox

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is terrific. Apart from one or two graphic anomalies (no game is perfect) and two significant omissions from the documentation, the only negative thing I can say is that it's too short (about 17 hours on easy level). It's beautiful, fun, funny, and just a great experience. This is one of my favorite games for the Xbox.

(The important omissions are that you can strafe (step sideways) and back up without turning, each by holding the left trigger and moving the left thumbstick; and, you get 100 souls each time you get a gem, so you can open two doors marked 170 when you've only collected 70. Those two tidbits might be in the documentation, but I didn't catch them when I quickly read through, and they're important.)

I found this game to have just the right mix of goofiness, scariness, and challenging obstacles to be fun. Most of the time, you're trying to solve puzzles and get past/around/over/through things, but sometimes you have to shoot your way through monsters and evil spirits. However, the shooting isn't really the point: the threats are mostly just part of the atmosphere, and your arsenal consists of just one "weapon" with a few upgrades along the way.

The graphics are awesome, the sound just right (except for the pause music which will drive you insane if you listen to it too long), and the game play smooth. If you like platform- and puzzle-style games with a little goofiness, a little fear, a good dose of the supernatural, and lots of puzzles, this game is the game for you.

And by the way, my family played through on the easy level all together, and the scary stuff wasn't too much for my four-year-old... as long as we kept reminding her it wasn't real, just a drawing. Yet for adults, a couple of images are too creepy or disconcerting to laugh off completely or easily forget.

I just wish it was twice as long. For the price, I'd expect more than 25 or 30 areas. But it's so much fun, we're already playing through it again on the next higher skill level...

9.4 out of 10.

Fun, but not 11th Hour

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was hoping for a game like 11th Hour or Fools Errand. This game is more arcade like, but the puzzles are fun. Turns out I'm liking the game more and more as I play it. I do get tired of shooting the ghosts that come at you from all driections, I've got plenty of shooters to do that.
The basics of the game are that you are hired by the good ghosts of the mansion to get rid of the evil spirtis. You go from room to room solving puzzles in order to capture free spriits that allow you to gain access to other parts of the mansion. Along the way evil spirits and creatures attempt to do you harm.
The graphics and sound are very well done. Its easy to just pickup and play a room, save and go do other things, or you can sit for a few hours and work the game.
Definitely worth a rent, but good puzzle games are so few and far between, give it a purchase so we can all enjoy more titles in the future.

Better than the movie

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Skip the movie and play this game instead! It's absolutely fantastic and should hold much appeal for people of all ages. The graveyard singers are a hoot and so is the pause music. Really reminds me of classic Disney entertainment. Watch out though, the chess game is NOT what it seems!!!

Buy It

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: October 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This one is great! 4 out of 5 stars. Camera, gameplay and graphics are really good. They seemed to have mastered camera control and the gameplay is a modified shoot-em up. The graphics are clean, crisp and very detailed (windows are quite amazing).
The only cons are that they need more music in the game and while the ghosts are neat looking they dont seem to have that Marc Davis drawing style applied.
Buy this if you are a HM fan. Buy this if you are a fan of haunted house games that have a GhostBusterish way of snagging the ghosts. The Haunted Mansion is a visual Treat.

Like Playing The Ride

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I played/finished the game. It's a lot of fun, and captured the creepy feel of the Disney ride very well. You'll recognize various rooms and props from the ride (the stretching room, the dining room; the floating candleabra, the grandfather clock with the crooked pendulum). Of course, to fill out the game, there are several areas that weren't in the ride, such as the children's room and the attic. Many of the puzzles or puzzle-like situations are very well done and quite original. Some of my favorites were two different parts where you are temporarily shrunk, and find yourself having to get through a maze of children's blocks while balancing on a marble (much like "marble madness"), and the other where you are on the pool table (discussed in other reviews, so I won't recount it here); also, a seemingly tiny room has walls that move as you approach them, so you can only see about 10 square feet of the otherwise huge room at any one time. As with the Disney ride, there is also a little humor weaved in, and the overall product was a lot of fun.

Good for Haunted Mansion fans

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game a while ago after returning from Tokyo Disney. I'm a fan of the Haunted Mansion ride. This game captures more of the feel than the movie did and provides good entertainment value. The puzzles are well though out and graphics work well. Overall a good buy for children and adults alike.

It becomes a chore after a while

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: January 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

At first, it's fun finding ways to get to that light switch and light up a room and yadda yadda, yadda. Sure, when it's fun, creative puzzles that take a few moments. However, after a while it just ranks up there with doing your math homework and eating your broccoli. A heinous chore. Some of the puzzles in Haunted Mansion were just frusterating, and not in the fun way. More like a half hour ordeal when your not fighting any monsters, just figuring out which way to point some frigging mirrors.

In the end, if you have a Game Cube or have a friend who does, rent Luigis Mansion. Same principal, but a lot more fun. The ghosts are tougher to catch, but you don't have to deal with those ridiculous little puzzles. Otherwise, leave the Ghost Busting to Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd.

This is hard but fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is an awesome game! It is challenging and it makes you think! Overall it is a lot of fun !! : )

Review Page: 1 2 Next 

Actions