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Review Information

Game Reviewed	Return to the Mansion, by KoopaKingdom
Review Author	Jack-of-All Games
Created	Apr 12 2012, 3:00 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview

First off, I would like to congratulate KoopaKingdom for improving in a better manner than I would've ever expected. Despite the lazy "thumbnail" and "screenshot", Return to the Mansion was actually quite a show that stood out from the original FPS tutorial for Game Maker nicely. Lots of things were changed for the better, including (the most important part, of course) the room design, as well as textures, HUD, sounds, etc. Taking the gun system out of the FPS tutorial, one would obviously go ahead and make something that tries to be a horror game. KoopaKingdom did just that, but to actually succeed in giving us that effect, he wisely adds in scary distant noises (When entering some rooms), dark scenery, slow stepping sounds, and even a few creepy looking ghosts. However, it's saddening to say that once the scare factor wears off, you're left with a game with no goal other than to beat your own scores by collecting things around the place. And let's just say the scare factor can wear off pretty quickly...

Pros	-It drastically changes from the FPS tutorial -Has that frightening feel
Cons	-No goal other than highscores by collecting things -It's easy for me to be no longer afraid of anything

Impressions

Gameplay 4 / 10	Right as you jump in, you're already in the mansion and ready to roam around it from the get-go. Although rather empty for a mansion, you have to go collect stuff (I've been forgetting what they were called..) while avoiding any ghosts. It was a pretty frightening experience.......for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, I immediately got used to things in the game. Plus, why is something like THIS a highscore game? Despite all the fanciness of the presentation, it doesn't reach big heights. Oh yeah. Also, he didn't change the die-once-lose-the-game rule from the FPS tutorial.
Graphics 8 / 10	The graphics are pretty remarkable. This game has very interesting textures and sprites, and the HUD is very cool. I just wish there would have been more than just empty rooms with candles and ghosts. Some furniture would've been pretty nice.
Sound 9 / 10	This was what really got me into the 5-10 minutes of horror the game was trying to offer. Luigi's steps, the distant noise, Luigi even reacting to spotting a ghost (Certain rooms), and a couple more sound bytes help add that spooky life into the atmosphere. Even if the scare factor already wore off, a very small part of it is still within me as I hear these sounds.
Replay 5 / 10	You would have to be pretty addicted with beating your highscores if you want to keep on playing this one. Then again, I guess it'd be pretty neat to see other rooms that you may not have discovered yet. But the thing is: That's all that's there to invite you back.

Final Words

It's a step in the right direction for KoopaKingdom as he has improved greatly. However, speaking of which, this seems more of an experiment with how far you can go with premade engines than an actual complete game.

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Comments

KoopaKingdom	Jun 16 2012, 11:56 PM
Thanks about the graphics and sounds.

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