Act: Halloween [by Jadeware]

Game Review: Halloween
Release: 31 July 2002
Genre: Arkanoid
Developer: Jadeware
System Requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP, DirectX5, Intel/AMD 400mhz, OpenGL compatible 3D Video Card, 64MB RAM
Price: $7.00

The game “Halloween” is a perfect example of how if you’re good at something you should stick with it. Jadeware has become adept at creating classic 2D games like Android and the Ultranium series; both well polished titles that are simple and fun to play. With the release of Halloween, the developer has ventured outside that field of expertise and thrown their hat into the overcrowded first person shooter market. This is Jadware’s first true 3D game and was likely developed as a learning experience but begs the question, should users be expected to pay for what is essentially a buggy “student” project?

In the game Halloween you must navigate through 11 levels (9 standard, 2 bonus) and collect letters to spell the word “Halloween” in order to complete each one. Additionally you must kill off a set number of each type of creature as instructed at the start of the level. You are limited to 4 different weapons; mace, crossbow, tromblon (shotgun?) and the bomb gun and there are only 4 different types of monsters.

Completing each level is a race against the timer and it doesn’t matter how often you die. Whenever a creature kills the player or (more likely) you fall into a lava pit the level simply restarts at the beginning, retaining any letters collected so far. I really wish there was more I could say in description of the game play but honestly that’s all there is to it. Halloween would have been an impressive accomplishment six years ago but doesn’t stand up well in graphics or game play compared to even budget ware FPS titles today.

Graphics: 4
I must preface this by noting that I was unable to increase the resolution, change the bit-depth or gamma levels without crashing the game and my computer. Jadeware have been good about responding to bug notifications on their bulletin board so those who encounter such problems will likely be able to have the developer investigate it for them.

All of the levels in Halloween look alike. The textures and level design are not varied enough and the since there are only 4 different weapons and creatures it reinforces that lack of variety. I respect that the developers took the time to write their engine from scratch but unfortunately Halloween is graphically unable to differentiate itself from a 15-minute tutorial done in 3D Game Studio.

Sound: 7
The music is very well done although it played so choppy in game that I was forced to turn it off. The creature sound effects are also good and heighten the tension of the game. In fact, ambient sound may be Halloween’s saving grace.

Game Play: 4
Game play revolves around wandering the hallways looking for letters and falling into lava pits due to the twitchy controls while the enemy AI consists of walking in circles or charging straight at you. While the monsters do move fairly quickly they offer no real challenge as all of them take about 2 hits from any weapon to kill. Not once in all of my plays did a creature ever kill me but I did fall into lava pits endlessly. Some of the level designs and puzzles are clever but they’ve all been done before in other (better) first person shooters.

Options: 2
The usual options for any first person shooter are present from sound mixing to texture and display quality. However, any attempts to adjust these resulted in a complete crash of my computer and a quick look on the Jadeware bulletin board shows I’m not the only one having these kinds of problems.

There don’t appear to be any options for changing the nature of the game itself such as difficulty or speed and there’s no mention of any extras or bonuses to offer replay value.

Concept: 5
I’m not sure if this is the first game of its type to have you collect letters to form a word as a part of the challenge but it doesn’t feel all that original. Otherwise Halloween achieves all of the minimum technical requirements for a first person shooter but exceeds at none of them and offers nothing new to the equation.

Fun: 5
For what it’s worth the atmosphere has a sufficient level of creepiness. At times the game effectively gives the feeling of a carnival funhouse ride with its claustrophobic hallways and the constant wailing of the various creatures. To be sure, there are some tense moments to be found here but it just isn’t enough to stand out in any way.

Overall: 5
So is Halloween a complete train wreck of a game? Well, no.

I try to have a lenient outlook when reviewing shareware because it’s tough enough for these developers to get any recognition without being dumped on by reviewers. I really do wish I could offer a better review here. The $7 price tag makes this game’s flaws a little easier to digest but not much. As far as I can tell this is a “me too” first person shooter produced as a learning exercise and being sold as a poorly tested beta.

If Jadeware had provided even one element in Halloween that was innovative or added something new to the FPS genre then I likely would have been more generous. Shareware gamers will readily overlook shoddy graphics and the occasional bug if you can still deliver a good time. In the end Halloween broke the cardinal rule of game development; you can suffer from any shortcomings you want but the love of god, just don’t bore me. Added: May 22nd 2003
Reviewer: Kyle Nau
Score:
Related Link: Jadeware Website
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Language: english