I'm surprised how well this game manages to look like a typical rare game.
I think all the reviews of this game are wrong.
The game is a lot of fun and even though it has repetitive gameplay it manages to be like a good game.
if this game had been released on a nintendo console,
surely everyone would have bought it, because this game wasn't microsoft's fault, but rare's.
is almost the perfect soiel for me.
I'm really confused by all the hate this game had,it's actually a really good game with amusing mechanics, an ok/kinda good graphic for the time and a lot of passion put into it. There are tons of different monsters and challenges that this game mixes together in an always well-thought way that makes the gameplay never really boring or still, and the fact that you can pick up/break almost every object in every room makes it feel like the world is actually real, and not just some kind of "wallpaper" put around you punching skeletons. One of the things that make this game special is the worldbuilding: the world around you is both dark and colourful at the same time,and often there are some kind of "joke scenarios" that could even make you laugh by how incredibly out and in place they are at the same time (for example,the dancing room. I love the dancing room).
The only thing that can be annoying at times is the camera,which can become pretty confusing in some of the later stages of the game,but it's mostly fine for the rest of it.
Come on, they made quick time events before it was cool, and not even in an annoying way! what do you expect more from a 2003 game?
The linear gameplay, camera system and shortness of the game make this not a title for everyone, but it still warrants a glance just to witness the goodness that is Rare.
What could have been a shining example of spooky fun ends up being Microsoft's answer to Nintendo's "Luigi's Mansion"; like that game it takes a well-tested team and results in a short but attractive and spookily cute game with strange play mechanics that never quite works right.
Overall the greatest disappointments is the lack of any sense of exploration or accoplishment. And although the mansion is packed with wonders, there's no feeling of discovery since the game manoeuvres you neatly from one room to the next. It adds up to a world in which you never feel truly connected. [Christmas 2003, p.111]
Dont Pay attention to Bad Reviews this is a Classic for the original xbox its a very fun game story is no the best but the gameplay and the music, its awesome!!!
I can´t understand all the hate Grabbed By The Ghoulies had to face. Certainly this is by far not the best game the cult studio Rare has published, but it´s a lot of fun! Especially the atmosphere is odd and convincing. The gameplay and graphics take getting used to but playing Grabbed By The Ghoulies with some friends and beer guarantees a hilarious evening!
What happened to Rare? I mean this game is fine but we made critical acclaimed games but now rare get mixed reviews and their games to be strange and generic.
Giving this game a 10 and then describing general aspects of the game as mediocre or repetitive makes no sense to me. This game is mediocre in areas, outright bad in others. The combat in this game is quite bad. All the combat is relegated to the right thumb stick. Why? Who knows. Why is this a problem? Because other than using the A button to pick up weapons, the face buttons do absolutely nothing. This an essentially a 3D brawler set in a spooky mansion, but you have nothing in the way of mobility. There’s no side-hop, there’s no block, there’s nothing. The game at times gives you different gun-type weapons, but they either spray or shoot projectiles, and both control the same way. They’re okay, but there’s only so much that they can do to break up the 100 rooms of repetition you face. Neither do the restrictions occasionally put in each room really keep things fresh, because in the end you’re always just pushing the right thumb stick to some enemy, and that’s it. That’s the game. Are there puzzles then to break up the monotony of this barebones combat? No, but we got everyone’s favorite game mechanic: QTEs! Yep, their way of breaking up the combat is that occasionally some random SOMETHING will give Cooper a “super shock” and the way to avoid losing some HP is by hitting the face buttons in a certain order quickly. It’s not fun. Really no part of this game is for very long. The story is completely inconsequential and is IMO the most transparent window dressing to just go VERY LINEARLY from room to room. To be clear, there is NO exploration in this game. You go from Room 1 to Room 100 in exactly that order with no variance whatsoever. I beat the game in 4.5 hours collecting all the Rare books along the way, so fortunately it’s not a very long experience. This feels like a $15 game that would have shown up on Steam 10 years later and no one would have cared about it. Instead you have these other people here on MC who were the poor souls who got this as a Christmas or birthday gift and have tried to convince themselves that this game is anything more than what it really is: a barebones (wink) brawler with no standout mechanics or characters or personality to speak of.
SummaryDo you dare step into a haunted house full of dancing zombies, cursed mummies, and boxing skeletons? Grabbed by the Ghoulies tests your courage as you play as Cooper, a kid on a mission to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. She's trapped somewhere in the ominous Ghoulhaven Hall, which is rife with monsters, traps, and scares. But don't wor...