Grabbed by the Ghoulies

Barring any unprecedented lawsuits or absurd allegations, it’s safe to assume that no one’s ever actually been “Grabbed” by the “Ghoulies”.  But the girlfriend of this game’s protagonist would not agree as she has in fact been grabbed, bagged, and taken away into areas unknown by none other than ghoulish creeps.  Rare’s first Microsoft-monikered outing, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, is hardly the AAA title fans of the famous development team were hoping for, but that isn’t to say those people will be disappointed.  Grabbed by the Ghoulies is a spooky gambol chock full of trademark Rare humor and delicately rendered animation.  For all intents and purposes, this is a game that only Rare could have made.  Sadly, the action is far too repetitive to remain entertaining for longer than a few hours.

The story in Grabbed by the Ghoulies is far from innovative or indeed even original.  It revolves around a haunted mansion in which the game’s hero, Cooper, must overcome in order to save his recently nabbed girlfriend.  The story unfolds through a series of comic book style panels that happen to be beautifully animated, each page numbered for point of reference.  As the game seamlessly blends the progressive story elements using this unique style of storytelling, Cooper will be introduced to a bevy of different over-the-top personalities, some of which will help him in his quest to save his girl and some of which will threaten any hope of saving her.  It’s all in good fun while retaining a decidedly spooky ambiance topped off with a big slice of funny-pie.

Gameplay, like the plot, is extremely straightforward and simple.  You move Cooper around with the left analog stick, while the right analog stick allows you to pull off combo attacks.  By tapping the right analog stick in the direction of an enemy, Cooper will unleash a series of quick punches and kicks.  Holding the right analog stick in the direction of opposition performs stronger, more time-consuming, attacks.  For the most part you’ll play through the game using only the analog sticks, which drastically cuts down on thumby button-mashing and gives way to quite precise combat targeting.  The A and B buttons are used to pick up and drop weapons, respectively.  Since you’ll be using the right analog stick for pulling off attacks, the camera control is assigned to either trigger button. 

While you’ll inevitably end up using Cooper’s fists and feet as your main weapon, Grabbed by the Ghoulies is also littered with all sorts of makeshift weapons.  Chairs, books, brooms, and even hamburgers can be picked up and used to take out nearby ghoulies.  The melee weapons are strictly three-hit affairs, while ranged weapons such as the aforementioned hamburgers, don’t inflict as much damage but can be used five or six times before completely diminishing. 

The environments in Grabbed by the Ghoulies are highly interactive, at least in the sense that nearly every object in a room can be smashed to bits.  The manner in which destruction is depicted is surprisingly original.  For example, when you attack a large vase it does not simply blow up entirely, but rather realistically breaks in only the appropriate areas.  You’ll have to play the game to really understand what I’m saying here. 

The structure of the game doesn’t change from room to room (though the actual rooms that make up the various environments do differ drastically).  Essentially, each new room you enter challenges you to complete one or a few different challenges while staying within the boundaries of the changing rules.  For instance, in one room you may need to clear out seven skeletons and find the key within a set time.  Not abiding by any of the imposed rules will quickly summon death himself, the grim reaper.  While the grim reaper doesn’t necessarily ensure that you’ll die, you’ll have to make sure that he doesn’t touch you, otherwise you will … die.  Ahem.  Anyway, various icons in the upper left hand corner of the screen tell you what you need to do in each room, so it’s never a mystery.

Rare went to great lengths to make sure that every area in Grabbed by the Ghoulies is entirely unique, filled with completely original objects, and introducing new enemies on a fairly regular basis.  Watching the game unfold as a spectator is just as, if not more so, entertaining than actually playing the game yourself.  And herein lies the game’s main problem: the repetitive gameplay dynamics don’t do much to keep your hands or your mind busy or entertained.  As the difficulty ramps up on the latter levels, the tedious nature of the game becomes even more apparent.  Nevertheless, making your way through each of the game’s many uniquely furnished rooms is a treat and a half for your visual cortex.

In terms of graphics, Grabbed by the Ghoulies is a lovingly crafted work of art.  While not as technically impressive as some other Xbox games, it’s still obvious that Rare went to the extra effort of taking advantage of more than a few of the Xbox’s exclusive technical features such as pixel shading, reflection, glorious bump mapping, and soft body effects.  The cartoony layers of texture that wrap around every polygon in the game also goes a long way to endear players to the wholly unique visual presentation.  Animation is spot on, and environmental interaction is consistently impressive.  Enemies react so realistically to their environments (the possessed kamikaze chickens in particular) that it gives the proceedings a real sense of frenetic, reactionary style that is rarely seen.

The sound, too, is perfectly tweaked to compliment the action.  The various quips and audio clips used to represent the various enemies can only be described as insanely cute.  Dialogue in the game is not entirely voiced; in fact very few actual words are spoken at all.  Instead, each instance of dialogue is introduced with an appropriate gibberish sporting very applicable tone and inflection, much like past Rare games for the N64.  The soundtrack is suitable haunting, though undeniably lighthearted and while the music does a good enough job of blending into the background, you’ll still get the feeling that you’re listening to the same orchestration for the 10^th time.

Grabbed by the Ghoulies offers up an excellent visual and audio presentation while the simplistic gameplay is non-intrusive to a fault.  Younger players will certainly get quite a kick out of the game, though more refined gamers may easily get bored with the repetitive action.  But regardless of skill level, if you loved Rare’s previous efforts it goes without saying that you’d do well to check this game out, if only as an overnight rental. 

Gameplay: 7.6
The dual control stick gameplay is an interesting twist on traditional methods of control, but after the novelty wears off so too will your patience for its overly simplistic nature.

Graphics: 8.7
Trademark Rare, through and through.  The characters, environments, and objects strewn throughout the experience are the game’s main selling point.

Sound: 8.2
Excellent verbal quips and comical sound effects do a great deal to keep the experience aurally entertaining.

Difficulty: Medium
The game starts out incredibly easy but slowly works its way up to a challenging then frustrating level.

Concept: 7.1
Hmmm, girlfriend is kidnapped.  Boyfriend mounts a rescue.  And much chaos ensues.  I think I’ve heard this story before.

Overall: 7.8

If you can get over how repetitive the gameplay is you’ll certainly be in for quite a tasty treat.  This is Rare’s first Xbox attempt, cut’em some slack, yo.