Having garnered many rave reviews from movie critics while performing solidly at the box-office since its July 21st theatrical release, Monster House is a must-see summer movie for the whole family. Thanks to THQ and developer Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M), the movie license has been put to good use in the new Monster House videogame, which, surprisingly enough, delivers a fun and engaging survival-horror-style action adventure experience that will surely satisfy movie fans and younger, casual gamers alike.

Remaining true to the movie plot, the Monster House game follows the tale of three young friends, DJ, Jenny and Chowder, as they venture into old man Nebbercracker's house one fateful Halloween night. DJ lives across the street from the house and has long suspected that something inexplicably strange goes on there, as anything that seems to get near it disappears, even people. So he and his pals decide to get to the bottom of this, and upon entering the house they are instantly greeted by the solution to their mystery - the house itself is alive and eats anything and everything that steps foot in its domain. Therefore, it's up to the three young friends to band together and destroy the 'monster house' for good, rescuing the neighborhood from its threat. The only problem is that the three get separated soon after entering the house, so each must go at it alone in order to make it out alive and save the day all at the same time.

Monster House does a superb job of replicating the key moments of the movie, with the game's story and presentation being its most prominent selling points. Graphically, you'll find better looking games than this on the Gamecube, no doubt, but even so, Monster House puts on a great visual show. The artistic style of the movie is flawlessly recreated across the board, with faithfully modeled and crisply detailed characters and environments, and commendable lighting and shadowing effects that accurately set the mood. But what the game does best of all is create a haunting atmosphere, and it does so with some truly spectacular audio design. Environmental ambiance is spot-on, with the house's constant groans and creaks conveying the sense with great success that it's alive and always watching you every step of the way. The eerie soundtrack is also a standout, as are the voiceovers that are actually performed by the three leading actors from the movie - Mitchel Musso as DJ, Sam Lerner as Chowder and Spencer Locke as Jenny. All three do a splendid job of reprising their roles from film and voicing their in-game counterparts, although for some reason I occasionally picked up an odd, tinny echoing sound during some of the voiced cut scenes that distracted me a bit. But minus this small blip, the game's audio is remarkable.

In exploring this spooky "monster house", the game has you alternating control of each of the three characters as they navigate its dangerous hallways through nine total chapters and about five to six hours of play at the most. Yes, the game is on the short side, but thankfully there are some hidden monkey toys to go back and collect, unlockable concept art and an old-school side-scrolling arcade mini-game pulled from the movie entitled 'Thou Art Dead.' None of these are overwhelming additions, but they do extend the lifespan enough to keep you interested after completing the game.

Monster House's gameplay is best described as a casual gamer's survival-horror action adventure game, as it pulls heavy influence from games like the Resident Evil titles, yet it does so in a more family-friendly, accessible manner. Frankly, Monster House draws many elements to its gameplay specifically from Resident Evil 4, most clearly seen in the game's similar methodical character movement mechanics, context-sensitive action system for jumping gaps and climbing ledges, and camera system, which places the player view behind the back and over the right shoulder of the character being controlled. As with the more mature survival-horror games, the slow moving controls in Monster House won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I personally found them accessible and responsive.

From there the game is basically a standard third-person action adventure affair. Armed with pump-action water guns, DJ, Jenny and Chowder journey through narrow corridors and cramped rooms, squirting various innards of the house that come to life and attack, such as TVs, lamps, chairs, furnaces, pipes and flying books. Environments and enemy types are noticeably limited in variety and scope, so there are moments of repetition and tedium that set in from time to time; however, these slow points are outweighed by the occasional boss fight, block or key-fetching puzzle, quick-button interactive cut scenes (another RE4 inspiration) and entertaining core gameplay that combine to do more than enough to keep you engaged. The game's difficulty level is also a little more challenging than I've seen from movie tie-ins, but although I appreciate that fact, I think some players on the lower age spectrum of the game's target audience may find certain segments a little too tough - not overbearing, but enough to become frustrating on occasion.

Each of the three playable characters also presents unique abilities during play, with mildly upgradeable water guns to boot. DJ, for starters, has a standard water gun that can spray a steady stream and a flash camera special attack that is useful for stunning swarms of enemies before they surround you. Jenny, on the other hand, has a machine-gun-like water pistol that fires rapid squirts of H2O, along with a slingshot that allows her to launch marbles to break padlocks or take out monsters from a distance. Then finally there is Chowder, who devastates all challengers with a water shotgun fully equipped with a special water balloon grenade launcher attack. Combat with all three still feels essentially the same despite these differences though, which is a disappointment.

Interestingly, the game also introduces subtle stealth-oriented touches into the mix that come into play based on your interaction with the house and its contents. When you are simply moving around, the house remains subdued, just waiting to come alive at a moment's notice, yet once you begin breaking objects or get caught in one of the window's inward-looking spotlights, the house awakens from its short slumber and attacks. This element is more prevalent early on though, because as the game progresses it seems that the house remains provoked no matter what you do.

THQ has been doing a commendable job with its movie-based games so far this summer and Monster House is just another feather to stick in its cap. Like many movie games, it lacks the shiny coat of polish that major game productions bring to the table, but for its intended audience, Monster House rises above much of its competition to deliver a fun game that is faithful in every way to its license. If you have seen and enjoyed the movie, or just want an accessible survival-horror adventure game to get started with, then this should certainly fulfill your gaming needs, and apart from the slightly challenging gameplay, it's just perfect for the little squirts!

Reviewed by Matt Litten for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).