Genesis ~ Haunting, Staring Polterguy Review

Overview

Haunting is about this green ghost called Polterguy who dislikes a family known as the Sardinis for some reason and all he wants to do is scare the hell out of them all. Sounds fun eh? Well, you're in control of Polterguy, so get ready for some freakish fun!

Gameplay

The objective is to scare all the Sardinis out of their house by entering these things called "fright ems" then coming out of them to make something scare the Sardinis. These "fright ems" look like glowing orbs and appear all over the house you are in, such as furniture, the floor and even the toilet. These "fright ems" can do some pretty interesting things like turn a mat of carpet into a puddle of oozing blood. When a Sardini sees this, he or she will shows signs of being scared, like their pants coming off. After a Sardini's fear level reaches the panic stage, they run straight out of the house. Your life meter is a green ecto bar. After it runs out, you have to go into this dungeon to collect some more. As you can see, you've probably noticed how original this game is. What makes this game special is how there is that element of surprise and sneaking around unnoticed. One thing I think is missing in the game that would have made it better is how there isn't any darkness. If you thought about it, you're 10 times more likely to be scared in the dark than if you were in light (for me anyway). The most annoying thing I found in this game is when your ecto bar runs out from time to time and you get sent to a dungeon to collect more ecto. I got really sick of collecting ecto in the dungeon, it nearly put me off trying to finish this game.

8 out of 10

Graphics

The whole game takes place in a 3D isometric view in various houses and dungeons. The graphics are very detailed, all large, bright and colourful. They closely resemble the old Last Ninja games from the Commodore computers. Some of the animations look very neat as well, particularly when the Sardinis freak out when they see the fright ems. One minor bad point is how most of the house graphics are just plain colours, like the walls. But overall, the graphics are excellent.

4.5 out of 5

Sound and Music

The sound effects are very atmospheric and funny, fitting in very well with the game.

However the music tracks are repetitive, being played throughout the game and you can't turn it off (unless you have the cheat).

3 out of 5

Game Design

Throughout the game, you'll be trying to scare the Sardini's in one of their fine houses. The scene changes on screen when you go into another room. While all looks very neat exploring the houses that are like the size of mansions, you'll always get lost making it difficult sometimes to find those darn Sardinis, unless you've played the game alot previously. An optional map would have helped alot. Or to prevent the houses from being too big at one height level, there should have been more than one story for the houses. Also, it would have been nice for allowing Polterguy to go outside of the house. Imagine how much more fun it would have been; going out into the front yard or even chasing the Sardinis out in the streets! Or are ghosts only confined to the indoors?

3.75 out of 5

Longevity

(Warning: do not read this section if you actually intend to play this game)

This is one of those games where you have to finish it in one go at it. No continues or saving. You game over after you've lost all your energy trying to collect ecto in the dungeons, then you have to start all over again. To make this all worse, you don't even get rewarded with anything after you've completed the game, so your efforts are pretty much wasted (didn't mean to spoil anything!).

However, this is an OK game to come back to once in a while, especially for the kids.

1 out of 5

For: fun to scare em Sardnins, original, bright and colourful graphics, atmospheric soun effects, nice looking houses.

Against: no darkness, can get sick of collecting ecto, alot of plain colour shading, repetitive music, getting lost, game doesn't last for long.

Conclusion

A fairly good game with an original idea. Only those ecto collecting parts of the game and poor longevity prevented this game from gaining a Bronze or Silver award.