You know, after seeing quite a few "YouTube" vids and reading quite a few reviews, I have to wonder what in the Hell everyone's problem with this game actually is? May be it's just that I saw the game on release, but this game was awesome when it came out. I keep hearing all this Blah, blah, blah about how this PC FPS at the time was better and how that PC FPS was better at the time and Yabba, Yadda, Yadda! I never really did see why people try and do that considering that the PC Gaming Market and the Console Gaming Market are two totally different things. Not as much these days, but back then, especially so. I guess I could understand if you were comparing a "Port" of a PC game to the 3DO. Great example is that you can call DOOM on the 3DO a steaming pile of crap compared to the PC version. Yeah, that makes sense. Still, this crap has to stop.
Escape From Monster Manor is not a bad game. Considering the Playstation and Saturn were still quite awhile away at the time, what all did it have for competition on other consoles? Escape was something new on consoles. Yes, I know the floor and ceilings are missing textures. But I love the textures on the walls. The characters look outstanding and I love the sound effects and music. Great stuff. The cheesy guy that narrartes the game too is a pretty slick touch too. Not sure what the problem is here. Anyone else got opinions?
Escape From Monster Manor
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T2KFreeker
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Escape From Monster Manor
This is a stick up! Put all of your 3DO games in the bag and nobody gets hurt!
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Austin
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I don't have a huge problem with the game, and I do enjoy it. I think part of the reason people may 'knock it today is that it's extremely simplistic, even for the time. One weapon with little to no actual powerups that effect gameplay? Meh. The cheese factor does not help much, either, like the announcer as well as the tunes that have goofy "screams" in the background.
My biggest complaints, personally, come in the form of the poorly designed mazes. They get pretty monotonous. Thankfully there is a map feature, but the levels can be so cluttered that I find myself relying on it.
I do agree that the visuals are nice for what they are (as you mentioned, the textures and the characters), and the game runs at a smooth framerate, lending it to play well even today. The enemies animate very well and the way your hand changes as you get damaged is a neat touch.
Personally, I would never recommend Monster Manor over Wolfenstein 3D on the 3DO (yes, I suppose it's simplistic as well, but executed so much better), but still, I think it's a worthwhile title to have on the system. This is especially when considering it's one of the smoothest running games available on it. I didn't play it first until 2002 or so, and even then I was impressed with by how fluid it played.
I haven't really watched or read any reviews of it, but I can see where someone might take a flawed aspect or two and run with it, painting the game as completely worthless. We obviously know that is not the case, but it's not perfect either.
My biggest complaints, personally, come in the form of the poorly designed mazes. They get pretty monotonous. Thankfully there is a map feature, but the levels can be so cluttered that I find myself relying on it.
I do agree that the visuals are nice for what they are (as you mentioned, the textures and the characters), and the game runs at a smooth framerate, lending it to play well even today. The enemies animate very well and the way your hand changes as you get damaged is a neat touch.
Personally, I would never recommend Monster Manor over Wolfenstein 3D on the 3DO (yes, I suppose it's simplistic as well, but executed so much better), but still, I think it's a worthwhile title to have on the system. This is especially when considering it's one of the smoothest running games available on it. I didn't play it first until 2002 or so, and even then I was impressed with by how fluid it played.
I haven't really watched or read any reviews of it, but I can see where someone might take a flawed aspect or two and run with it, painting the game as completely worthless. We obviously know that is not the case, but it's not perfect either.
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T2KFreeker
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Yeah, I can see your points. The ting is, I played this game when it first came out and it did have that "Man, this is spooky" factor. Not scare the piss out of you like Resident Evil did, but it is a pretty creepy dame at times. I also would not recommend the game over Wolfenstein,l but then again, Wolfenstein is a classic and available on so many platforms. I always liked this game because it was a 3DO exclusive. Very cool.Austin wrote:I don't have a huge problem with the game, and I do enjoy it. I think part of the reason people may 'knock it today is that it's extremely simplistic, even for the time. One weapon with little to no actual powerups that effect gameplay? Meh. The cheese factor does not help much, either, like the announcer as well as the tunes that have goofy "screams" in the background.
My biggest complaints, personally, come in the form of the poorly designed mazes. They get pretty monotonous. Thankfully there is a map feature, but the levels can be so cluttered that I find myself relying on it.
I do agree that the visuals are nice for what they are (as you mentioned, the textures and the characters), and the game runs at a smooth framerate, lending it to play well even today. The enemies animate very well and the way your hand changes as you get damaged is a neat touch.
Personally, I would never recommend Monster Manor over Wolfenstein 3D on the 3DO (yes, I suppose it's simplistic as well, but executed so much better), but still, I think it's a worthwhile title to have on the system. This is especially when considering it's one of the smoothest running games available on it. I didn't play it first until 2002 or so, and even then I was impressed with by how fluid it played.
I haven't really watched or read any reviews of it, but I can see where someone might take a flawed aspect or two and run with it, painting the game as completely worthless. We obviously know that is not the case, but it's not perfect either.
This is a stick up! Put all of your 3DO games in the bag and nobody gets hurt!
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3DO Experience
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Martin III
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I didn't realize Escape From Monster Manor gets so many bad reviews. One of my favorite reviewers, The Video Game Critic gave it a positive review. If it'll make any of ya'll feel better, you can check it out here.
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FrumpleOrz
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While I haven't played Escape from Monster Manor yet, I completely understand the sentiment being expressed. The biggest issues that people have with this kind of stuff is their expectations and the simple fact that the language of games has changed a lot over the years.
It seems like people have this instinct to expect something that didn't sell too well or isn't too well known to be bad and they will find points in whatever it is that they are using/playing/watching/doing/etc. to reinforce the fact that it is bad and the lack of exposure is justified and the group thought of it being bad is true.
This seems to apply to a large portion of people's experience with 3DO, if they've even heard of it at all. I've met two people in my life that actually knew what the console was and both times, their reaction was "Why are you playing 3DO? There's nothing good on it." I understand the reaction though. Most people who have heard of it know it through retrospectives of failed consoles on the internet or old magazines or what have you, and they'll usually just cover the poor FMV games instead of talking about the legitimate good games.
On the other hand, the modern players don't have the reference point for the language used in a lot of the better games. If their first gaming console was, say, a Playstation 2, there's a WORLD of difference between what is represented. The standard "intro" level and hand-holding is completely absent from the usual 3DO games. In a game like Star Control 2, which is a huge, huge game with a lot of stuff to do, it just starts. Doesn't tell you what to do. You just go. That's not something the newer generation is going to be used to. Not that I'm an old guy or anything, I'm only 26 but even people a couple years younger than me have a completely different expectation for that kind of stuff.
It's similar to film, you know? There are people who can't watch black and white movies, regardless of how good the films are simply because the language of the movie is different without the color. A lot of people who will watch black and white flicks can't deal with the old silents as well. It's all just too foreign of a concept and it'll get mocked by the people who simply don't understand it.
Then we have the current crowd of kids who are going to be used to not having a paper manual. It's already starting with some recent 360 releases, simply because the intro and hand-holding take the necessity of the paper away. I understand it but I also think a lot of the fun of discovering the game yourself and what can be done is going to be eroded away.
WELL. That's my elitist jerk post of the week! Thanks!
It seems like people have this instinct to expect something that didn't sell too well or isn't too well known to be bad and they will find points in whatever it is that they are using/playing/watching/doing/etc. to reinforce the fact that it is bad and the lack of exposure is justified and the group thought of it being bad is true.
This seems to apply to a large portion of people's experience with 3DO, if they've even heard of it at all. I've met two people in my life that actually knew what the console was and both times, their reaction was "Why are you playing 3DO? There's nothing good on it." I understand the reaction though. Most people who have heard of it know it through retrospectives of failed consoles on the internet or old magazines or what have you, and they'll usually just cover the poor FMV games instead of talking about the legitimate good games.
On the other hand, the modern players don't have the reference point for the language used in a lot of the better games. If their first gaming console was, say, a Playstation 2, there's a WORLD of difference between what is represented. The standard "intro" level and hand-holding is completely absent from the usual 3DO games. In a game like Star Control 2, which is a huge, huge game with a lot of stuff to do, it just starts. Doesn't tell you what to do. You just go. That's not something the newer generation is going to be used to. Not that I'm an old guy or anything, I'm only 26 but even people a couple years younger than me have a completely different expectation for that kind of stuff.
It's similar to film, you know? There are people who can't watch black and white movies, regardless of how good the films are simply because the language of the movie is different without the color. A lot of people who will watch black and white flicks can't deal with the old silents as well. It's all just too foreign of a concept and it'll get mocked by the people who simply don't understand it.
Then we have the current crowd of kids who are going to be used to not having a paper manual. It's already starting with some recent 360 releases, simply because the intro and hand-holding take the necessity of the paper away. I understand it but I also think a lot of the fun of discovering the game yourself and what can be done is going to be eroded away.
WELL. That's my elitist jerk post of the week! Thanks!
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3DOKid
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This thread: http://3do.cdinteractive.co.uk/viewtopi ... highlight=
One of the developers says (in the above thread) that it was demo for CES.
One of the developers says (in the above thread) that it was demo for CES.
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T2KFreeker
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This information makes the game a little more impressive to me even then. The fact that it was originally a tech demo and they were able to successfully make a pretty good game out of it is quite impressive. I've seen that kind of thing go way wrong in the past. Pretty awesome, when you think about it.
This is a stick up! Put all of your 3DO games in the bag and nobody gets hurt!
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T2KFreeker
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The reviews that make me laugh are the ones that try and claim that Killing Time is the sequel to this. I like both games, but man, makes me wonder what in the Hell people are thinking on this other than that both games are FPS's taking place in a Haunted Mansion. Well, Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil are both Survival Horror games and both take place in Mansions with spooky stuff going on. They both must be in the same series. Oh, and Doctor Hauzer id the side story!3DOKid wrote:I agree T2k, some element of Monster Manor are very impressive. Sound, the overall smoothness of the frame rate and the baddies.
This is a stick up! Put all of your 3DO games in the bag and nobody gets hurt!
