Extreme Exorcisms premise is as simple as it gets in theory. Exorcise ghosts from haunted locations. But the ghosts you are trying to exorcise are your former self which is a unique twist. You start each level against a haunted chair. That's right I said a haunted chair. Once you have defeated the possessed furniture the second round begins. Now this is where things get interesting. This ghost appears with a crown on its head of follows the exact path you have just taken a few seconds ago. Not only does it mimic your movements but it also fires any weapons you had previously shot. Once this ghost is exorcised another round begins but now there are two ghosts of your former self. The new ghost now wears the crown and follows the last path you took against the first ghost. Every round pits you against a version of your former self so you can imagine this gets hectic very, very quickly as the screen gets swamped with more ghosts and bullets.
From here on in things start to get complicated or strategic depending on your point of view. You cannot just blindly shoot during a level anymore. You have to try and plan out your moves carefully otherwise you will just be overwhelmed. With this in mind the later levels became increasingly manic and planning is your only chance of getting through any of the later levels. Trying to keep to the corners and not using any projectile weaponry is a great tactic but that will only get you so far. Bunched together ghosts are a lot easier to kill compared to ghosts that are running all over the place shooting bullets, rockets or fireballs everywhere. One saving grace is your ability to carry three weapons at once which can drastically alter the way you approach a level. Melee weapons can be used very strategically to begin with but to rely on them alone is suicide.
You main goal is to kill the ghost wearing the crown. You will be rewarded for killing any of the other ghosts but I would always concentrate on the ghost with the crown on later levels so you can finish the level quicker, especially on later levels. To help you along the way every time you complete eight levels or so an exorcism weapon appears which let's you completely remove any ghosts permanently from any future rounds and believe me you will need it.There aren't many modes on offer here either. Arcade Mode only gives you five levels in random rooms and your main goal is to find a secret altar in the cellar which let's you fight a boss. This is an endless mode where you only have three lives to play with. The ghosts just continue to appear in level after level and in theory this mode could last forever. You must achieve a minimum score to progress to the next room but from my time with the game they are easily achieved. The boss fight is truly punishing though and it's one of those moments in gaming that made me want to throw my controller through the TV.
There is multiplayer but unfortunately it's only four player local deathmatches and with only one controller I wasn't able to give it a go. The challenge mode is a real challenge mode does exactly what it sounds like. It sets time limits, weapon and scores that must be adhered to. This mode also supports local multiplayer. One really annoying aspect of the multiplayer is that you need to play it to unlock better weapons so I was unable to unlock anything. With no online multiplayer available there is a huge chunk of game that's not available to anyone without a spare controller and that's unforgivable. Maybe it's time I invested in a new controller because more and more ID@Xbox games are including local multiplayer/co-op in their games and totally ignoring online multiplayer.
Extreme Exorcisms lack of replayability due in part of its lack of online multiplayer leaves a bad taste in the mouth. What should have been an enjoyable game like Super Time Force soon becomes boring. This will quickly become one of those games that I will jump into for five minutes once in a blue moon which is a shame because I am sure online multiplayer would be time we'll spent.
Review copy supplied by XCN.
Game: Extreme Exorcism.
Genre: Platformer.
Developer: Golden Ruby Games.
Publisher: Ripstone Limited.
Platform(s): Xbox One.