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Ghost Master

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8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 12 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Empire Interactive

Developer: Sick Puppies

Genre(s): Real-Time Strategy

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: August 23, 2003

Summary

Grim spectres, mischievous gremlins, howling banshees, things that go bump in the night... and that's just your starting team! As an afterlife civil servant sent to Gravenville by the Haunter Committee, frighten lowly mortals from their homes and places of work in a game that puts you in charge of legions of ghosts, ghouls and spirits! Your mission: manage resources to scare and manipulate people, then discover the secrets behind Gravenville... [Empire Interactive]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Electric Playground Preview IGN Preview Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

G4 TV

One of the most creative and enjoyable games to come around in a long time. Its mixture of creativity, solid gameplay, and sense of humor make it a game to die for.

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ActionTrip

Ghost Master turned out to be a successful mixture of various genres, which establishes excellent gameplay mechanics and presents an extremely challenging experience.

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Adrenaline Vault

It's a fantastic game especially if you are into strategy puzzlers. Even if you’re not, it’s still a terribly addictive venture that’s easy to pick up and you’ll find yourself haunting with the best of them in no time flat.

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GameZone

Another great feature of this game is the mission varieties to mix up the action and the open-ended style of gameplay throughout a few Acts.

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PC Gamer

Lighthearted humor and creative story elements are unveiled at every turn, pushing this simulation to the head of its genre. [Dec 2003, p.96]

GameSpot

It's a great novelty, first of all, but it's also a real success in terms of gameplay, thanks to outstanding scenario design and an irreverent sense of humor.

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Gamer's Hell

Graphically, Ghost Master is beautiful. Unlike the original Sims game, Ghost Master boasts a totally 3D engine, which allows you to rotate 360 degrees around the locations, zoom in and out, tilt the camera, and change between floors quickly and easily.

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GameSpy

You'll even be willing to endure the frustration of restarting the mission just because you want to try another ghost and see if it works better.

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Deeko

It’s funny, filled with strategy and humor, has fantastic graphics and sound and is an easy game to learn thanks to the splendid tutorial.

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Armchair Empire

Although it doesn’t have the replay value of "The Sims," Ghost Master provides a ghoulishly great gamine experience while it lasts.

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FiringSquad

The only thing really missing from Ghost Master is the wow factor. There's no feeling of ever being overwhelmed with how cool the game is, nor do you 'wake up' from a Ghost Master marathon at 6am and realize you have to shower for work, because there's no chance of having a Ghost Master marathon.

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Play Magazine

Keeping an eye on your ectoplasm levels, terrified humans, and enthusiastic ghost troops isn't easy, but watching a sorority house empty out faster than a theater showing "Gigli" is more than just a little fun and satisfying. [Nov 2003, p.96]

Gamers' Temple

Ghost Master can be frighteningly fun, but lacks the substance to make everyone a believer.

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Game Over Online

With the variety of ghosts and ghostly powers, there are many ways to complete missions, and so even though you could probably finish the campaign in well under 10 hours, there’s lots of room for re-playability, and you might find Ghost Master haunting your hard drive for weeks to come.

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Four Fat Chicks

If you've ever wanted to enter the puerile world of your Sims with a team of bizarre spirits, then this is the game for you.

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Cheat Code Central

Ghost Master is all about death, and it works. It combines RTS, RPG and action elements and will bring to mind games such as "The Sims" and "Monsters Inc." with a healthy dose of "Scary Movie's" irreverent sense of humor.

GamePro

Ghost Master's truly bloodcurdling flaw is its lack of customization options: There are no character creator, level editor, or multiplayer options.

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Gamenikki

A borderline purchase, mainly pushed over the edge because it's quite fun and inventive.

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Yahoo! Games

Sick Puppies' Ghost Master has turned the whole horror genre on its head, though, and come up with an ingenious anti-mix of "The Sims" and "Beetlejuice"... An original and entertaining idea that has been excellently implemented.

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Game Chronicles

Once you master the learning curve and are able to manipulate and organize your team of ghosts effectively Ghost Master becomes more of a chore or at best an exercise in puzzle solving.

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RealGamer

The gameplay is easy to master and there were no evident bugs in the game. The only thing we could’ve asked for is a little more variation to the overall game.

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Game Informer

Staggeringly addictive at the outset, but starts to get repetitive a few hours in. A really excellent start and worth the money, but it leaves me salivating for a sequel. [Nov 2003, p.174]

Computer Gaming World

Clever, stylish, and fun to watch, but it's a little too hard to control. [Nov 2003, p.144]

IGN

Despite its strong personality and impressive presentation, Ghost Master isn't so formidible with the lights turned on.

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Computer Games Magazine

While it's incredibly playable and entertaining for 10 hours or so, it's also limiting and linear. [Nov 2003, p.99]

Eurogamer

For all its ambition and the obvious effort put into creating a fun and somewhat original title, Ghost Master doesn't have a lot of life in it past the initial novelty of scaring the crap out of people.

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Frictionless Insight

The major sense of Ghost Master is not one of powerlessness, but one of controlled possibility. Although you can’t throw together any old team and expect to beat every level, the number of ghosts, powers and potential solutions to most problems make it unlikely that any two players will experience Ghost Master in quite the same way.

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PC Format

The puzzle elements are more like extremely simple exercises that you have to complete, rather than challenging problems that need solving, and the same is sadly true for the strategy.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Steven B. gave it a4:
Good idea, but badly deployed. The game feels very limited, and some points is almost impossible to complete levels. The final level is basically impossible unless you have 3 or 4 days to waste waiting for the perfect moment to complete the set sequence of your ghosts needed to finishes the level. You will get some enjoyment out of the game, but it will eventually become rather monotonous and boring.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Great game, good graphics and overall good gameplay.

Laura B. gave it a 10:
This game is GREAT and im not kidding.

Rob R. gave it a 6:
Ghost Master was pretty fun for a couple hours, but the repetitive gameplay bored me after that. The environments are reminiscent of "The Sims" but overall somewhat bland, except for the ghosts' power animations, which are pretty cool. I had some serious framerate problems in crowded levels (such as the police station) despite my system's high specs, which made the game hard to control. Look for it in a bargain bin...

Stephen gave it a 7:
Needs a nudity cheat or something.

Zahru R. gave it a 9:
uuuuuhhhhh !!! this game ROCKS, you will looooove this GHOST ^_^

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Ghost Master

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