Dispatching ghoulies can be a lot of fun and Rare has provided several ways to eliminate them. You start out with just your fists and legs,. Cooper has a lot of nice combat moves that you can use to defeat enemies. From punches and kicks to knee and elbow drops, Cooper can hold his own. The real fun though comes in the various weapons scattered about the house.
Grabbed by the Ghoulies has two kinds of weapons, permanent and temporary. Temporary weapons are the most prevalent. You can pick up chairs, shovels, bottles, and paintings and then use them against the denizens of the house. Temporary weapons can only be used a few times before they break and you have to find another one or revert back to using your hands. Permanent weapons are rare and usually part of the storyline. These weapons are ammo based but they do recharge ammo slowly .The permanent weapons present an extra challenge as some of them will only damage one type of enemy (i.e. the holy water gun is great against the undead but just irritates imps and haunted chairs.). You can still use the weapon to bash them over the head so you are not completely helpless.
There is a third group of larger fixed weapons that are scattered throughout the game. These are part of the environments that you can use to wipe out large numbers of ghoulies at one time (items like billiards tables, dumpsters, and other items). These have to be used carefully as you only get to use them once and you don’t want to waste the opportunity.
Each room also contains a bonus book to collect. Every five books unlocks a bonus challenge which adds depth to the game. The bonus challenges are slightly different versions of some of the challenges from the game and with twenty bonus levels to unlock you’re going to have a lot to play with even after you’ve completed the game.
Also scattered throughout the game are Ms. Soupwell’s Super Soups which act as power ups. The majority of the power ups are good for you (energy boosts, weapon power-ups, instant knock-downs, etc) but some of them are negative (slow-motion, drain energy, reverse controls). They do add a lot to how you approach a room as they only last for a certain amount of time and you want to maximize their use. One of the best ones is the Minature Cooper (mini-Cooper was taken by BMW I guess), which creates a one-quarter replica of Cooper who will immediately seek out ghoulies to bash.
The graphics in
Grabbed by the Ghoulies are a case study in excellent art design. Everything in the game emanates style and wit and you can tell that the developers at Rare really took their time establishing the style of the game. Everything has a nice animated comic book feel, from the in-game graphics to the frame based transitions between rooms there is a wonderful warm feel to the game. All of the characters are well modeled and animated.
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