Escape from Monster Manor

Escape from Monster Manor is a first-person shooter video game developed by Studio 3DO and published by Electronic Arts exclusively for the 3DO.

Escape from Monster Manor
Developer(s)	Studio 3DO
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts JP: Electronic Arts Victor[1]
Producer(s)	Stewart Bonn Trip Hawkins
Programmer(s)	Leo Schwab
Artist(s)	Stefan Henry-Biskup
Composer(s)	Robert Vieira
Platform(s)	3DO
Release	NA: 1993 EU: 1994 JP: March 26, 1994[1]
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player

The game was released as Virtual Horror: Norowarate Yakata^[a] in Japan.

Gameplay

Escape From Monster Manor is a first-person shooter where the player character explores a haunted mansion in a 3D environment, and must defeat spiders, ghosts, and other menaces to escape.^[2]

The objective of the game is to collect pieces of a sacred talisman in each stage, then make it through twelve levels to the exit to escape. Rather than having a HUD, the player's health is visible as damage to the on-screen hand and the ammunition is listed as a bar on the gun sprite.

Development and release

The game's main developer was Leo Schwab.^[3] A computing and programming prodigy, Schwab was best known for his Amiga screen hacks and animations during the mid-late 1980s^[4] and for developing Disney Presents: The Animation Studio for Silent Software in 1990.^[5][6] Schwab joined Electronic Arts head Trip Hawkins when the latter founded The 3DO Company for the release of the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.^[7] For Escape from Monster Manor, Schwab has cited Wolfenstein 3D as the chief inspiration for the game. After some months working on a different 3DO game, Schwab and his team abandoned that project and switched to the less ambitious Escape from Monster Manor so that they could have a demo to present at that year's Consumer Electronics Show.^[8] The game's source code was released onto GitHub under the MIT License on August 7, 2022,^[9] with an accompanying live stream on YouTube by original developer Leo Schwab.^[10]

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
AllGame	[11]
Dragon	[2]
Edge	5/10[12]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	6.75/10[13]
Famitsu	30/40[1]
GameFan	343/400[14]
GamePro	18.5/20[15]
3DO Magazine	[16]
Game Zero Magazine	30.5/50[17]
Génération 4	68%[18]
Joystick	73%[19]
MAN!AC	73%[20]
Video Games	67%[21]
VideoGames	8/10[22]

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a 6.75 out of 10, mentioning some minor issues with the control but overall recommending the game for its well-rendered graphics and genuinely creepy audio.^[13] GamePro praised the game's frightening graphics and audio, nerve-wracking challenge, and strafing ability.^[15] A review in Edge praised the "look and feel" of the game, but criticized the simplicity of the game design and gameplay. The game was compared unfavorably to DOOM and given a score of 5/10.^[12] The game was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon #204 by Sandy Petersen in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.^[2]

Notes

1. Japanese: バーチャルホラー 〜呪われた館〜, Hepburn: Bācharu Horā ~Norowareta Yakata~, lit. Virtual Horror: Cursed House