Graphics

Graphics and Sound

Ghost Master is designed as an Xbox/PC game, so we didn’t expect the fanciest of graphics and our suspicions were confirmed. Ghost Master does, however, make the best of what it has. The haunting locations are designed splendidly, as if a real architect was involved. Houses are laid out in a natural fashion and are populated with furniture in a typical fashion. There may not be enough electronic objects as there are in a real house, but this seems to be mostly a balance issue to keep ghosts with electrical fetters at least somewhat restricted.

I wonder why THAT'S emotional :D

Cacophony is loud and annoying

Haha gotcha

Animations of characters and ghosts are smooth and generally believable but sorely lack variety. There are clearly missing features that could have been implemented. A human who was scared out of the house and is walking back in will only occasionally tip-toe, and they don’t sneak enough. There’s no peering around corners or other more subtle behaviors that indicate unrest. Humans will react to many things the way you’d expect them to – strange, subtle smells or odd but non-threatening noises will draw them in like moths to a flame.

Sound effects are mostly of background importance. They lend atmosphere to the game but aren’t of primary importance. There is an English-speaking narrator but the characters mostly speak Sims-esque nonsense with what seems to be an occasional word of English thrown in that helps give the player a gist of meaning. The most important ideas can be found in floating bubbles over the character’s heads, which should go over great with Sims players used to translating Wrightian hieroglyphics.

Interfaced

The interface is absolutely remarkable for the simple fact that it works perfectly with the PC and has absolutely no console stink left on it. Considering the problems that so many other ported or simultaneously developed console and PC games have, this is quite an achievement.

Siren Song sucks 'em in

Fog you

Another emotional ground spot

It’s not perfect, of course – it’s particularly annoying to hear a restless spirit’s story every time you click it on the screen rather than its icon, but that’s an example of the small nitpicks that take away from a generally clean design. Your ghosts are listed on the left side of the screen, the mortals on the right and your available plasma up top. The terror, madness and belief ratings of each mortal are readily available and the game offers gratuitous but fun ‘view’ and ‘POV’ modes which either track a character in cinematic mode or switch to first-person mode, complete with breathing pattern and a heartbeat. Did I say gratuitous? Make that wonderfully gratuitous. Walking into a high-level terror that pulls a Spooky Surprise power, while in first-person mode, then hearing the heart pounding immediately after is remarkably gratifying.