A Renaissance influenced nineteenth-century antebellum/Dutch colonial revival mansion located in a bayou nearby New Orleans, Louisiana was a happy home to a family as well as friendly resident ghosts until evil forces known as the Order of Shadows, led by Atticus Thorn, terrorized the mansion including the family, causing them to abandon the home and forcing all the resident ghosts of the mansion to serve his wills. Renowned author Ezekiel Halloway, who is also known as Zeke, spent most of his life in orphanages after his father's death and his mother's disappearance during the Civil War. Sometime later, he went on his own to pursue a career; his true passion was writing as he always dreamed of becoming an author. His desperation in a search for a job to help finance his passion leads him to discover a misleading newspaper advertisement about being a caretaker for the aforementioned mansion. Making the decision to take the job, he journeys to the mansion on October 17, 1879. Upon examining the mansion on arrival, he is greeted by six friendly ghosts, who are Atticus Thorn's slaves, causing him to faint in horror. When he awakes a spirit in a crystal ball named Madame Leota informs him that Atticus Thorn has trapped 999 souls in the mansion as part of his attempt to take over the Afterlife and should be sent into the Depths of the Afterdeath. She also informs him of how to use the Beacon of Souls: a magic lantern that fires bolts of light to fight off evil spirits. Leota also says that the Beacon is used to destroy the evil for good. Despite his fears, Zeke agrees to help them and is given the weapon. He travels around the mansion, freeing shriveled ghosts and collecting legendary Soul Gems—the items that power up the Beacon—from the friendly ghosts. During the course of the events, Atticus Thorn, whom Zeke fights four times, watches with sadistic delight. After fighting dozens of enemies, Zeke eventually gains a pirate's ring that unlocks a passageway to the Vault of Shadows, Atticus Thorn's secret lair behind a painting in the Foyer. Atticus reveals his plan to take over both the Afterlife and the Land of the Living, and he steals the Beacon of Souls from Zeke. Zeke and Leota then face off against Thorn's true form: a giant, worm-like creature. After Atticus dies, Zeke emerges victorious and is thanked by the friendly ghosts. The Haunted Mansion is finally returned to light, and the 999 spirits are set free and move on to heaven. Zeke is employed as the caretaker of the estate and continues to live in harmony with the remaining ghosts along with Madame Leota. He then pursues his dream as a writer and a recognized author under Leota's and the other ghosts' guidance later on.
Gameplay
In this game, the player's aim is to travel over 27 room levels as the main hero Zeke. Along the way, the player must capture 999 ghosts in each level. It came armed with a magical lantern called the Beacon of Souls to shoot the enemies without being hit. If Zeke tried to lose his bravery health meter after he is getting a single hit by the enemies while the player keeps an eye out on the picture of Zeke's facial expressions, he will "die" to lose his life rather than he has a few more of his lives whenever the player collected all ten deck of cards to gain an extra life. If the player loses all the lives, it's officially a "game over" and they'll have to start all over by loading the saved game data. The player also moves about the mansion environment, solves puzzles and restores light to rooms. The game features 24 unique puzzles, a dozen enemies and 20-plus ghosts recognizable from the ride.
Reception
The game received "average" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave the PlayStation 2 version a score of three sevens and one eight for a total of 29 out of 40.
