PixlBit

October, 2010...A dreadful month...a haunting month. I made my way out one stormy night and I found the scariest thing imaginable. It's time to review you guessed it Boo! Haunted House.

In Haunted House Wii, the game takes place 30 years after the original Haunted House protagonist was implied to have mysteriously vanished inside the mansion. Now, his grandchildren are searching for him inside the mansion.

Well Haunted House is a good title for children. Unfortunately, the gameplay is a bit too repetitive. It's an unimaginative remake  that seriously lacks content, and its shallow gameplay certainly won't satisfy fans of the original...whatever fans it had. It's not enough that it's dull and confusing but you'll basically fight suicidal ghosts in a well-lit house.

Haunted House is an over-the-head action-adventure title. You must make it through the levels of the house, collecting goodies and outsmarting ghouls along the way. The trick to the game is light; there are light sources hidden in the cabinets and drawers of the mansion, and you would be wise to keep track of your inventory. Cell phones, candles, torches and matches all provide temporary light; this not only helps to see one's surroundings better, but they help to light up fireplace checkpoints and take out enemies. You must search around for keys to get further into the house, too; these and bonus collectibles are stashed away all over the place.

However, one won't know where the matches are stowed away or where the keys happen to be. It's a game of stop-and-go; while navigating a maze-like mansion, you will have to stop every couple of seconds to either evade a spooky ghost (usually by shaking the Wii Remote to have It let go of the protagonist) or search yet another chest. Even with the liberal placing of fireplace checkpoints, the game's slow pace can be the most boring thing on the planet.

Another thing is there's not enough here to justify spending a great deal of time with the game. The enemy designs aren't too impressive, nor are the character models themselves. The game also only has like two or three pieces of music: Title screen music, level music, and boss music. Also it's extremely repetitive.

At the time...for 20 bucks...it was a decent enough experience in short spurts. Like I said earlier, I could easily see this being a game for youngsters. But for anyone else...I wouldn't bother.

Score: 4/10- Some decent cartoony visuals. Co-op is alright, and motion controls are okay. It's the best game I reviewed so far isn't terrible in any aspect, but it's so god awfully boring there is just no fun to be had.

Alright that's out of the way. What's up next?

But I just reviewed Haunted House! Why do I need a simulator!?!? *Bangs head off desk*