Things that go bump in the night: a car speeding up the street just as you begin to nod off, me getting up for a wee in the dark and Atari’s latest remake of Haunted House. And this latest version is good for kids and big kids alike, mixing together the likes of Hades and Grabbed by the Ghoulies for a fun, if frustrating, spooky game.
This latest version of Haunted House takes the seminal Atari classic and puts a much more modern spin on the game. What was once regarded as the original survival horror has had a major glow-up that not only switches genre, but adds in a lot more content from that present in the original Atari 2600 version from back in 1982.
This time around, you are controlling a full avatar instead of just a pair of eyes. And the story has been expanded upon greatly. You are now in control of a group of tweens, headed up by Lyn, whose uncle has mysteriously disappeared. Travelling to his mansion to investigate, you learn of an urn that has been split into three pieces. Then, similar to the original, only be collecting these items on each floor of the mansion can you piece together the mystery of the mansion itself.
Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a roguelite if all you had to do was find these parts of the urn. Each floor is host to a wide variety of ghosts and ghouls, who you would do well to avoid. First and foremost, Haunted House retains that stealth gameplay of the first. It may seem unusual for a roguelite, but combat should only be used in exceptional circumstances; you will fare far better if you avoid detection in each room.
There are unique challenges for each room as well. Sometimes you may need to find a mystical statue and place it on its plinth before the next room unlocks. Other times you may need to destroy a number of objects before progressing. There are also rooms that are as simple as surviving for a minute while more and more enemies spawn in. Find yourself a corner and hunker down.
When forced into combat – or trying to dispatch an enemy via stealth – your main weapon is a lantern. Combat though is a fiddly process; activating a stealth kill requires you to be behind an enemy in a very specific position, waiting for the button prompt to appear. Only then can a stealth kill be initiated. If not in the precise position, you will do a regular attack that will cause the enemy to mercilessly attack you, along with others you disturb. The window for a stealth attack is frustratingly small, and often, it is not worth the risk to attempt one.
You will collect items as you wander around the spooky rooms, and these will aid you. Some can be used to distract or completely prevent an enemy from attacking for a short period. Some work better than others; an item will make an enemy go ‘berserk’ for a period of time, but even now I do not know what that actually means, and how it helps me.
This berserk affliction has also caused my game to crash when used. Unfortunately, that is just one of several issues I have encountered. I had a gameplay crash as I landed the final blow on the first boss, but thankfully Haunted House saves in between each room. There are those of you out there that may use this knowledge to your advantage and save your way through the rooms, but you’ll need to be quick if you find yourself in a pickle; death sends you back to the foyer of the mansion pretty quickly.
I have also encountered the menus appearing in a different language when returning to the foyer after an unsuccessful run, despite my language setting being English.
And then there is the rabbit enemy, that I am including in the rundown of the bugs I’ve encountered, even if I am unsure it is actually a ‘bug’. Simply put, I cannot for the life of me defeat them. You may think a bunny rabbit isn’t scary, and it isn’t, until it transforms into a huge brute that chases you down. The problem here is that it has an unbreakable shield around it in both states, and when it appears in a room requiring you to kill all enemies, it becomes impossible to progress any further in that run. I’ve tried everything to defeat it, including the berserk affliction, but that then caused the game to freeze and I had no option but to restart anyways.
When it is firing on all cylinders, Haunted House is a fun little roguelite. There are collectibles aplenty to gather, with you tasked with finding missing utensils and ingredients for the in-house chef, cats that have gone walkabout and classic Atari cartridges that give you plenty of lore into the history of Atari. It is nowhere near as deep as the recent Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (where the original Haunted House and another reimagining can be played), but offers interesting titbits nonetheless.
There are also gems and coins to collect as you venture through the rooms. Coins disappear on death and must be spent in that particular run, although another issue entirely is the infrequency that you will find the shop whilst you are playing. Gems on the other hand are used to upgrade your skills permanently, but can also be spent on sprucing up the dilapidated mansion. However, if you are focussing on these before levelling up your character, you aren’t prioritising the right things at all.
Haunted House does a lot of roguelite things right, without straying too far from the formula. But with secret rooms and basements, a healthy dose of collectibles and plenty of stuff to do in the endgame, it is a fun addition to the genre. However, several frustrating bugs really do diminish the enjoyment and these cannot be ignored.
Haunted House has potential, but it isn’t there just yet.
