Format: Advance
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Artificial Mind & Movement
Publisher: THQ

Not to be confused with Monster Hunter, Monster House is another movie game. Admittedly, this is another movie I have not seen, but I get the gist of it from playing the game. Three Children get sucked into a "monster house" that eats kids and they destroy it from within. I rolled this game on Halloween, which coincidentally, was the perfect Halloween game as well. It plays like a semi top-down dungeon crawler. If you've ever played Zelda: Link to the Past, it's basically that. You control three characters all at once in a singular avatar, and can free-switch between them with the L button. Each character has their own style of attack, health, and movement speed. The basic advancement of the game is about getting back the gear you lost when your group got sucked into the house, and then to destroy the furnace. The gameplay is similar to the dungeon gameplay in most Zelda games, where you go into a room and there are conditions for beating the room or solving a puzzle in it. Because you have three characters in this game you can get a bit cheeky with swapping to absorb more damage than you normally would in a zelda-style game. The enemies tend to be a bit ruthless however in that they will move towards you in ways that would corner you and force you to take damage. To make matters worse, they will also stay on top of you, and there is contact damage. The level designs aren't bad. They can be tight quarters sometimes and virtually impossible to dodge anything, other times the arenas are big enough to question if you even should fight or just run through. The differences between each of the characters dramatically changes their play style. All the characters have water guns in this game and each use a different style, as well as different sub-weapons. DJ the main character, starts off with a slow and rather weak shot. His charge-shot is akin to a flamethrower. His subweapons include his camera and a key, which makes him the weakest in combat. Jenny is fast on her feet and fast with her gun. Her charge-shot is a machine-gun style barrage, while also getting some unique sub-weapons; the slingshot and trash can. Chowder is the fat kid of the game. He is slow, but bulky with each health. His fighting style is slow but powerful shots, and his charge shot is a spreadshot. His subweapons are additionally beefy, he gets balloons and cold medicine which slows down enemies. There are hidden upgrades for each character's water guns throughout the game as well, and by the end of the game, DJ and Jenny are mostly interchangeable. Chowder becomes a crazy powerhouse at some point as well in one on one combat. The visuals of this game are pretty unique and good in a Halloweeny way. You can really feel the inspiration from pop media and horror media of the past. It's a nice blend of spooky and gameplay. What really brings this game together is the music tones. Each floor has it's own music-tone to it. It ranges from spooky, to tense, to unsettling, to frantic. The Bosses in the game could have been a bit better. Most of the challenge of this game comes from the enemy spam and their advanced cornering AI. Another shining aspect of this game is the dialogue. Several times the game pokes fun at the fact that it is, in fact, a video game, as well as the characters and their interactions. Once you beat the game you unlock the ruby door which lets you play the "Thou Art Dead!" minigame. You can also replay the game on a harder mode.

Hot Tips: Save 3 Sodas for the furnace fight.

All in All, This was a 9.5 scoring treat with some trickery as well. AI can be a bit daunting at times. The framerate suffered a few times in the dark rooms. The bosses are more of a pain than fun. Only 4-heal items can be held.