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The Haunted Mansion is an action-adventure game released by High Voltage Software in 2003. The game is based off the Disney attraction of the same name and was released as a tie-in with the 2003 film based on said ride, though the game's plot is unrelated to the film.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay follows a fairly linear path in which the player must collect souls as they explore the mansion, with each room or door having a specifically required number of souls. The various hallways give the player access to a large number of rooms, as well as save points in the form of grandfather clocks. As the player traverses these hallways, they will always encounter enemies which opposes the player's ability to clear rooms permanently of enemies.
Once the player has found and entered a new room, the lights will be out and their main goal is to find the power switch and turn on the lights. Each room will offer a variety of challenges through fighting increasingly difficult enemies and providing unique problem-solving opportunities and puzzles. The enemies the player encounters begin as simple ghosts and small spiders, but will progressively become more difficult deeper into the mansion. Oftentimes, a new enemy is unlocked after having fought them as a "mini-boss" in a particular room. These enemies are extremely varied in style: a giant spider which will shoot webs and pull in Zeke, Banshees which scream and deal damage from a distance, Gargoyles which pull smaller skeletons out of the ground to swarm and defeat the player, and more.
Using their lantern, the player will fight the enemies with various attacks that they unlock from collecting the souls gems present throughout the mansion. Starting with a weak but fast attack, the player will slowly gain a charge shot, as well as an area of effect attack which are then all progressively upgraded a second time to more powerful versions. Additionally, the player has a "bravery" bar which represents their health, and throughout the mansion's rooms the player can find bottles of potions (called "Bravery Tonic") to restore it. Additionally, the player can collect permanent upgrades to their maximum bravery as well as playing cards which will provide one bonus life for every 10 collected. When the player's bravery bar is depleted, instead of returning a previous save, a life will be consumed and Zeke will be restored to full health.
The room design throughout the mansion uses a variety of mechanics, but is often rooted in a 3d platforming aspect. There are many examples of this, such as rooms where the bookcases will move around or float, and the player must make a series of jumps in order to successfully reach the light switch. A more unique example is seen in the Observatory in which the player looks through the telescope and is transported in to space, having to make a series of jumps in low gravity traversing various pieces of rubble.
When not focusing on platforming, the player can expect to see very unique puzzles or challenges such as being shrunk down and placed onto a billiards table, while a ghostly hand takes shots at them with the cue ball. The player then uses this to their advantage to successfully hit all the other billiards balls into pockets in order to escape this puzzle and continue on. Another example could be the kitchen, in which a stack of plates is steadily flinging themselves at the player. The player must then position themselves so the plates break various bottles of alcohol, at the end igniting and following the trail of alcohol to the fireplace which then lights the room.
The mansion is often set up in a way where the player can access up to 4 rooms at a time, and while collecting the souls from each room they will receive fragments of death certificates, which would be presented to the six friendly ghosts. After having collected all these fragments, they will then have enough souls to access a room in which they encounter a difficult puzzle or combat scenario. Upon completion of this scenario, the main villain will appear and fight Zeke, disappearing after Zeke has drained his health bar. After his temporary defeat of the villain, the friendly ghost will appear and Zeke will present the death certificate to them. A brief cutscene will then occur in which the ghost will present Zeke with a new soul gem, unlocking a new type of attack with his lantern and providing 100 extra souls.
This gameplay cycle will repeat until Zeke has collected all 6 soul gems (with the sixth being embedded in a ring), which allows him access to the final boss room. The final battle consists of 2 phases which function very similarly. As the main villain has turned himself into a worm-like creature by stealing the soul gems, Zeke puts his companion's crystal ball into the lantern and unlocks a special rapid fire shot which will fire just by holding down the attack button. The villain will steadily launch fireballs at Zeke, and lean down to bite him if the player comes within range. After taking enough damage, the villain will then begin to reveal the gem on his abdomen, which will begin to charge and fire a deadly beam attack that can deal more than half the player's health. In order to stop this the player must target the gem, dealing extra damage as well as preventing the damaging attack. After having depleted the villain's health bar, the floor will break and the player will find themselves in lava filled cavern, having to jump from platform to platform around the villain. Additionally, the villain now has 2 extra attacks: he has 3 large tentacles which he will raise up and then slam down, and a sweeping fire breath. After the player has successfully dodged the attacks, and destroyed the villain, a cutscene will ensue and the game ends.
Plot[]
A Renaissance influenced nineteenth century mansion located in a bayou nearby New Orleans, Louisiana was a happy home to a family (presumably the Gracey family) until Atticus Thorn, leader of an evil cult known as the Order of Shadows, terrorized the mansion, causing the family to abandon the home. Thorn corrupted many of the resident ghosts of the mansion, transforming others into evil spirits to serve his will.
On October 17, 1879, a young man named Ezekiel "Zeke" Holloway is searching for a job, when he is misled by a newspaper advertisement about being a caretaker for the mansion. Making the decision to take the job, he journeys to the mansion, only to faint upon arrival when he is greeted by six friendly ghosts, who are Atticus Thorn's slaves. Awakening, a spirit in a crystal ball named Madame Leota informs him that Atticus Thorn has trapped 999 souls in the mansion as part of his attempt to take over the Afterlife and should be sent into the Depths of the Afterdeath. She also informs him on how to use the Beacon of Souls, a magic lantern that fires bolts of light to fight off evil spirits. Leota also says that the Beacon is used to destroy the evil for good.
Zeke's Story[]
Ezekiel Halloway is a Louisiana young man desperately searching for work after the Civil War. Zeke grew up as an orphan, living with several caretakers throughout the years and is finally on his own. Zeke always felt lonely but had been used to it due to his parents' deaths. His father had died in the Civil War and his mother had gone missing shortly after. Zeke had to learn to fend for himself by his own ways. He'd always dreamed to become a writer and has written much but is stumped on what to write about in his current story. Zeke had always written about thrilling personal experiences yet hasn't had one in quite some time. Upon entering the mansion he discovers he has a story on his hands. That is- should he survive.
Organizations[]
Throughout the mansion, Zeke uncovers lost entries of the chronicles of Atticus Thorn. As Zeke reads these, he learns that Atticus is the leader of a group entitled the Order of Shadows. The purpose of the Order of Shadows is to find the Beacon of Souls along with the legendary Soul Gems and use its powers to suck souls from the living and use their energy to conquer the Land of the Living as well as the realm of the dead, soon leaving nothing but food for worms.These chronicles date from 1342 to 1867, indicating Thorn's state of undead. Another league is the Brotherhood of Souls, of which Madame Leota joined after being tricked by Thorn into joining the Order of Shadows and then realizing their deceptions. The purpose of the Brotherhood is to use any passed on soul energy for good and keep the Beacon safe from Thorn and his Order. As mentioned in one of Thorn's chronicles, "The Beacon had traveled through the valleys of Spain", the Beacon has been passed through regions of the Brotherhood all throughout the entire world.
External links[]
- The Haunted Mansion at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The Haunted Mansion at GameFAQs