|
I’ve been playing more than my fair share of licensed titles lately, and just about all of them were exactly what I expected going in: run-of-the-mill tie-ins that ran out of steam less than a few hours in. Needless to say, I felt little to no anticipation when Monster House arrived at my door step. Though I can honestly say that it’s much better than I thought it would be and is perhaps the best licensed game I’ve played in quite a while, it’s still a solid reminder of just how far these types of releases have yet to go to overcome their much-deserved stigma.
I know, you’re thinking “best licensed game = jumbo shrimp.” It doesn’t sound impressive, to be sure, for someone to make such a statement, but once I booted up Monster House, it actually managed to entertain me, if only for a short while. The whole ordeal takes less than six hours from start to finish, and while that may seem like far too little to warrant a purchase, there’s enough here for a rental, at least.
Things deviate little from the movie’s plot, and you get to control all three youngsters on their quest to rid their neighborhood of a horrible man-eating house. Armed with the meanest water guns money can buy, they’ll let no manner of furniture stop them from their intended goal. Personally, I’m under the impression that all the contents of this house are composed of the worst quality of compressed wood, as everything folds far to quickly under the systematic spurts of our youthful trio. As they explore the house, collecting keys and other goodies, the evil manor throws everything including the kitchen sink their way (bet you didn’t see that one coming!).
If you were to base your opinion on presentation alone, Monster House would probably make your top ten list for children’s games. THQ has done an great job of recreating all the atmosphere and tension of the film, and things look and sound excellent on the aging PS2. Real-time cut scenes move the plot along, and no prior knowledge of the movie is required to understand what’s going on. I love how well the sound and visuals blend together to offer the right type of spooky ambiance, and I mean Scooby-Doo spooky, not Silent Hill spooky, which is what you’re shooting for in a title like this.
Unfortunately (you knew it was coming, eventually), that’s where the good ends and the bad takes over. I guess the house’s evil was more than even THQ could bear. Action is repetitive, and there’s only a small contingent of enemies to face. I’m not going to necessarily hold this against Monster House, considering that its target audience probably won’t even notice or care, but older gamers will definitely tire of fighting chairs and lamps, and while the puzzle elements are much more coherent than the car-batteries-in-a-statue-at-city-hall head scratchers made famous by Resident Evil, they’re still uninspired. At one point, I actually had to backtrack across a whole three rooms to find a ladder hook! Please, not so hard!
Again, your little brother or sister won’t mind it too much. They will, however, take issue with the fact that Monster House bears too much in common with the water guns so prominently featured as the weapon of choice by the main characters. It starts out strong, only to get weaker the more you demand from it. The most glaring flaw is that combat is hindered by a camera that jumps all over the place at even the slightest twitch and lacks a total inability to aim either up or down. Yep, you can’t aim at any angle, which severely cripples your fighting ability. Furthermore, the lock-on system is touch-and-go, and some objects (like those darn books) don’t even register until they’re right on top of you.
Tack on the repetitive level design of the house, the infrequent save spots, and just the overall tedium of it all; and you’ve a game that’s good for only a few hours: exactly how long it lasts. To try and extend its shelf life, THQ has included a sort of arcade tribute called Thou Art Dead which is fun for a while, but quickly loses its luster, like the rest of the product. There’s just not enough to keep you coming back, not even the art gallery or other extras. THQ had a great opportunity (and a great engine) to make something that transcended the source material, and they fumbled the ball where it counts most: gameplay. No wonder this house is so angry.
|
