High spirits
It’s a ghost vs ghost special as we review two haunting-themed games.
Boo! DiD we scare you? it’s our Halloween Surprise Special, with the surprise being that it’s nowhere near Halloween!
Seriously though, we just wanted to talk about two different ghost haunting games. The first is Haunt The House: Terrortown, a recent release on the PC. The other comes all the way back from 2003, and is known as Ghost Master.
So, let’s see what kinds of tricks and treats lie in these titles.
haunt the house: Terrortown
The humans in town have gotten uppity as of late, disturbing the supernatural forces that slumber in the dark. What’s a ghost to do? Why, teach those puny mortals a lesson, of course — by scaring the living daylights out of them!
in Terrortown, you’re a lone ghost who has gotten tired of all those noisy humans. You scare them off by flying into houses, possessing environmental objects and making said objects do creepy things.
The concept and gameplay mechanics of Terrortown are easy to grasp, but the real draw is the creative visuals. Possess a mannequin, for example, and you can make it dance unnaturally or spookily chase nearby humans.
As you scare more humans, the tension in the house rises, allowing you to execute even more creative scares. Ever wanted to make the bones of a T-rex dance creepily? Now you can!
Additionally, the developers use a very distinct art style reminiscent of old cartoons, and it’s just a really nice touch that makes the game more memorable.
Giving up the ghost
Unfortunately, great visuals may be the game’s only strong point. We appreciate the many creative ways we can see objects being possessed, but here’s the problem: it’s all effectively the same.
You’d think, from the open level design and varied array of environmental objects, that Terrortown is a sandbox puzzle game, like the early Hitman games. (Except here you’re the dead guy.) Perhaps you need to flood the bathroom by possessing the sink, and then create a shocking trap by possessing the light bulb.
Nope! All your moves do the exact same thing — scare humans — and nothing else.
in fact, we’ve cleared entire levels rather quickly just by possessing an object that can make a loud noise (say, a thunderclap) and using that move non-stop. That’s not even a ghost of a challenge!
Even when you consider that Terrortown is supposed to be an arcade-styled time attack (i.e. make all the humans run away in as little time as possible) the gameplay mechanics are underwhelming — there’s just no skill required.
it’s a trick
We don’t mean to sound harsh with Terrortown, but it comes so close to being a really fun game that it’s frustrating. We want to recommend the game just for the graphics and animation, but dangit, a game needs some challenge!
our overall recommendation is to play the original Haunt The House (minus the Terrortown suffix) which is available online. Try this: bit.ly/ ULa29W.
if you enjoy the fast, arcade-style gameplay and want more of the same, then we can happily point you towards Terrortown.
it’s a shame that Terrortown doesn’t really live up to its potential, because the concept of scaring the living crap out of mortals has amazing appeal. if only there was a game that added some challenge without removing the irrepressible joy of being an invisible prankster.
if only there was a game called...
Ghost master
The humans in town have gotten uppity as of late, disturbing the supernatural forces that slumber in the dark. Yes, the story is so similar, we could just copy paste the opening of the previous game here.
Ghost Master originally came out in 2003, and it’s basically the exact opposite of Terrortown. its graphics look like recycled ectoplasm, but its gameplay — oh, the things you can do!
in Ghost Master you control a team of spooks sent on haunting missions in the human world. The variety of ghosts and missions in this game — and the ways you can play with them — is to die for.
For a start, the ghosts you recruit each have their own history and powers, and to complete your missions you need to know how they work together.
Spooks and Gremlins, for example, are early harassment units that can unnerve humans by clanking chains and cutting off the lights. As the mortals become uneasy, your Plasm (i.e. ghost power) increases, allowing you to field your heavy hitters, such as Spectres that can
My possessions: possess mortals.
Humans standing in a protected anti-ghost zone? Lure them out with a Wisp’s Hypnotic image, or use a Trickster’s Trojan Gift to sneak your ghosts into their sanctuary. There are many, many ways to use your ghosts on the map.
Missions possible
What kind of maps, you ask? How about a cabin in the woods (as in Evil Dead), or a quaint village terrorised by a headless horseman? Ghost Master is both a parody and love letter to horror movie tropes, and it’s never more apparent than when it throws the Ghostbreakers to challenge your team. (You didn’t think this game was a walk in a park, did you?)
Some missions are straight-forward haunting levels, while others require puzzle-solving finesse. one such level is the Calamityville Horror, where you need to subtly lead humans to discover dead bodies hidden throughout the house... without having them run off in terror. (Again, see previous paragraph: not a walk in the park.)
No matter what the mission though, Ghost Master offers you a multitude of ways to reach your objectives and different kinds of challenges to always keep you on your spooky toes.
it’s a treat
it’s safe to say that Ghost Master
is seeing what you can do by has great level design, but wait, it gets better! The humans that populate the maps have actual, honest to goodness personalities.
They go about their business, partying with friends or exploring spooky shacks, and many of the puzzle aspects of Ghost Master require you to understand how these characters react to supernatural situations. After a while, you might even grow attached to these puny mortals.
What we’re saying is that, while commanding your ghost team feels like a strategy game, watching the humans live their lives is a lot like playing The Sims. The fact that you can terrorise said humans and drive them to madness in a variety of different ways is just an added bonus.
Actually, that sums it up: Ghost Master is The Sims for creative sociopaths. We can’t think of a better recommendation!
End game
if you can, we’d recommend that you try both games. Terrortown might have problems, but at least it makes an effort to be creative.
However, if you only have space for one haunt-em-up in your game library, then absolutely, positively get Ghost Master. This was a game that kept us entertained during our misspent youth, and it’s a game we keep coming back to just to find creative new ways to screw around with the sanity of mortals.
Talking about a game that came out more than a decade ago feels a bit like digging up the dead, but it suits the theme. if anything, it shows that really good games just don’t die.