Extreme Exorcism (Xbox One) Review

Extreme Exorcism is presented in typical pixel art indie style. The colours really sell the cartoony yet exciting atmosphere, which is perfect for Halloween parties and get-togethers. The setting takes place in a generic haunted house with several different rooms to challenge and complete, such as the library, conservatory, and many more. Up to four players can join in the fun in arcade mode or can play co-operatively throughout. Although the selection of characters appears very diverse and colourful in appearance, though, they all have no differentiation in terms of gameplay. Having more characters participate in the action does not necessarily make it easier, either, but can make it harder.

This is pure classic side-scrolling arcade antics, where users must grab a weapon visible on-screen by simply making contact with it. Three weapons may be held at any one time, with all weapons attacking at once with no limitation of use. Constantly spamming the strongest looking weapons, such as the rocket launcher and shotgun, may seem like an exploitable strategy at first, yet every action done is going to be used against players collectively each following round, as every next round will add an exact cycle of the gamer's action as a ghost from the previous stage. To progress to the next round, the ghost wearing the golden crown, which was the previous cycle, must be eliminated.

An effective strategy is to avoid spamming at all costs and to try to be very precise and efficient on attacks, so as not to make the field too cluttered with constant projectiles and weapons being flung around by all the previous ghosts. This is especially critical if planning to make it far. Characters only get three hearts life, and if three hits are taken, it results in elimination from the stage. Despite it being a run-and-gun shooter, there is surprisingly a lot of strategy needed and, more so, strong memory.

Progressing through unlocks new rooms, as well as weapons to use in the battle against the "copycat" ghosts. There's only one enemy type aside from the initial demonic chair that must be eliminated to initiate the copycat cycle of ghosts. After the first hour of what seems like fun and innovative experience, however, Extreme Exorcism becomes monotonous and stale once the learning curve is satisfied. Challenge mode is a good feature to keep it more exciting since there are objectives that must be met, and don't continue until the character dies. As for the music, it is very exciting and certainly fits well with Extreme Exorcism's speed and flow. Not many music tracks are to be found, but those that are there never get dull and certainly keep the gameplay exciting as the battle against the copycat ghosts presses on, and as each round veers off into bullet-hell chaos.