Escape from Monster Manor

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.

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.

The game's main developer was Leo Schwab.{{cite news | last = Matthews | first= Will | date = December 2013 | title = Ahead of its Time: A 3DO Retrospective | work = Retro Gamer | issue = 122 | page = 26 | publisher = Imagine Publishing}} A computing and programming prodigy, Schwab was best known for his Amiga screen hacks and animations during the mid-late 1980s{{cite magazine | author=Skelton, Mindy | date=March 1988 | title=Leo Schwab Is Just Having Fun | issue=19 | pages=47–9 | magazine=.info | publisher=Info Publications Ltd | url=https://archive.org/details/Info_Issue_19_1988-03_Info_Publications_US/page/n45/ | accessdate=July 16, 2022}} and for developing Disney Presents: The Animation Studio for Silent Software in 1990.{{cite magazine | author=Schenck, Ben | date=March 1991 | title=Graphics | issue=37 | pages=20–3| magazine=.info | publisher=Info Publications Ltd | url=https://archive.org/details/info_Issue_37_1991-03.info_Publications_US/page/n19/ | accessdate=July 16, 2022}}{{cite magazine | author=Means, Ben and Jean | date=December 1990 | title=Interview with Leo Schwab, Creator of Disney's The Animation Studio| issue=124 | page=A8 | magazine=Compute! | publisher=ABC Publishing | url=https://archive.org/details/1990-12-compute-magazine/page/n133/ | accessdate=July 16, 2022}} Schwab joined Electronic Arts head Trip Hawkins when the latter founded The 3DO Company for the release of the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.{{cite magazine | author=Times Roman | date=April 1994 | volume=2 |number=3 | page=8 | title=The Outside World | magazine=Amiga News | publisher=Portable Computing International | url=https://archive.org/details/Amiga_News_Vol._02_No._03_1993-04_Portable_Computing_International_US/page/n7/ | accessdate=July 16, 2022}} 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.Schwab, Leo (September 24, 2012). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR_-E-UCsf0 Let's Play – Monster Manor], YouTube. Retrieved December 19, 2013. The game's source code was released onto GitHub under the MIT License on August 7, 2022,[https://github.com/ewhac/EFMM-3DO Escape from Monster Manor - GitHub] with an accompanying live stream on YouTube by original developer Leo Schwab.{{cite AV media|last=Schwab |first=Leo |date=7 August 2022 |title=Escape from Monster Manor: A Source Code Walkthrough |medium=Podcast |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPwZBXAq4-4 |access-date=11 August 2022 |publisher=YouTube}}

{{Video game reviews

|Allgame = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Geoffrey Douglas|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=17102&tab=review|title=Escape From Monster Manor – Review|work=AllGame|publisher=All Media Network|year=1998|access-date=2020-05-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114234038/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=17102&tab=review|archive-date=2014-11-14|url-status=live}}

|Dragon = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Petersen|first=Sandy|author-link=Sandy Petersen|url=https://annarchive.com/files/Drmg204.pdf|title=Eye of the Monitor – Escape from Monster Manor|magazine=Dragon|issue=204|publisher=TSR, Inc.|date=April 1994|pages=61–62|access-date=2020-05-24}}

|Edge = 5/10{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/Edge_UK_007#page/n78/mode/1up|title=Testscreen – Escape from Monster Manor|magazine=Edge|issue=7|publisher=Future Publishing|date=April 1994|page=79}}

|EGM = 6.75/10{{cite magazine|last1=Semrad|first1=Ed|last2=Carpenter|first2=Danyon|last3=Manuel|first3=Al|last4=Williams|first4=Ken|url=https://archive.org/stream/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_56#page/n37/mode/1up|title=Review Crew – Monster Manor|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|issue=56|publisher=Sendai Publishing|date=March 1994|page=38}}

|Fam = 30/40

|GameFan = 343/400{{cite magazine|last1=Halverson|first1=Dave|author-link1=Dave Halverson|author2=Sgt. Gamer|last3=Rickards|first3=Kelly|last4=Off|first4=Gregory|url=https://archive.org/stream/Gamefan_Vol_2_Issue_03#page/n18/mode/1up|title=Viewpoint – Monster Manor|magazine=GameFan|volume=2|issue=3|publisher=DieHard Gamers Club|date=February 1994|page=19}}

|GamePro = 18.5/20{{cite magazine|last=Tommy|first=Toxic|url=https://archive.org/stream/GamePro_Issue_057_April_1994#page/n59/mode/2up|title=ProReview: Escape from... Monster Manor|magazine=GamePro|issue=57|publisher=IDG|date=April 1994|pages=58–59}}

|rev1 = 3DO Magazine

|rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Wynne|first=Stuart|url=https://archive.org/stream/3-do-gold-01#page/38/mode/1up|title=Review: Escape from Monster Manor – A laughing skull, howling ghosts and a hanged man make for an extraordinairly packed haunted house|magazine=3DO Magazine|issue=1|type=Special Gold|publisher=Paragon Publishing|date=1995–1996|page=38}}

|rev2 = Game Zero Magazine

|rev2Score = 30.5/50{{cite web|last1=Otto|first1=Dr.|author2=R.I.P.|url=http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/final_word/3do/escape_monster_manor.html|title=The Final Word game review – Escape from Monster Manor – Electronic Arts|work=Game Zero Magazine|publisher=Game Zero|date=March 1995|access-date=2020-05-24}}

|rev3 = Génération 4

|rev3Score = 68%{{cite magazine|url=http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Generation%204/generation4_numero063/G%C3%A9n%C3%A9ration4%20063%20-%20Page%20075%20%28f%C3%A9vrier%201994%29.jpg|title=Tests Express... Escape from Monster Manor (Electronic Arts)|magazine=Génération 4|issue=63|publisher=Computec Media France|date=February 1994|page=75|lang=fr}}

|rev4 = Joystick

|rev4Score = 73%{{cite magazine|author=Lord Casque Noir|url=http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Joystick/joystick_numero046/Joystick%20046%20-%20Page%20162%20%28f%C3%A9vrier%201994%29.jpg|title=CD Tests: Escape from Monster Manor – Trop peu d'action, pas assez de décors mais une ambiance réussie|magazine=Joystick|issue=46|date=February 1994|page=162|lang=fr}}

|rev5 = MAN!AC

|rev5Score = 73%{{cite magazine|last=Forster|first=Winnie|url=https://archive.org/stream/MANIAC.N023.1995.09/MANIAC.N023.1995.09-DURiAN_Searchable#page/n49/mode/1up|title=Spiele-Tests – Monster Manor|magazine=MAN!AC|issue=23|publisher=Cybermedia|date=September 1995|page=50|lang=de}}

|rev6 = Video Games

|rev6Score = 67%{{cite magazine|last=Schneider|first=Ulf|url=https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=15920|title=Real 3DO – Reviews: Escape from Monster Manor|magazine=Video Games|issue=41|publisher=Future-Verlag|date=April 1995|page=79|lang=de}}

|rev7 = VideoGames

|rev7Score = 8/10{{cite magazine|last=Davila|first=Mike|url=https://archive.org/stream/Video_Games_The_Ultimate_Gaming_Magazine_Issue_63_April_1994#page/n76/mode/1up|title=Power Reviews: Escape from Monster Manor|magazine=VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine|issue=63|publisher=Larry Flynt Publications|date=April 1994|page=75}}

}}

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. GamePro praised the game's frightening graphics and audio, nerve-wracking challenge, and strafing ability. 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. 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.

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• {{moby game|/escape-from-monster-manor}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Escape from Monster Manor}}

Category:1990s horror video games

Category:1993 video games

Category:3DO games

Category:3DO Interactive Multiplayer-only games

Category:Commercial video games with freely available source code

Category:Electronic Arts games

Category:First-person shooters

Category:Single-player video games

Category:Sprite-based first-person shooters

Category:Video games developed in the United States

Category:Video games set in country houses

Category:Video games with 2.5D graphics