“Haunt,” for the Xbox 360, was released Jan. 18 on Xbox live for 800 points, about $10. It’s a single player game played from a first person perspective.

At first glance, Haunt looks like a Kinect game for little kids. Basically, you find yourself walking around a dark mansion with a flashlight, going room to room.  You hold your arm out like there’s an actual flashlight in it and anywhere you move your arm, that’s where the light will go. Your guide is a ghost named Benjamin who is trapped in the many paintings that decorate the mansion. He is able to possess any of the paintings and he serves as your guide and a source for tips.

The object of the game is to help Benjamin gather all the missing pieces of a machine he’s building. They just so happen to be scattered around the mansion.

The game was a little slow in the beginning, just walking around and collecting things. Then, all of a sudden, I’m fighting ghosts. At first, all I could do was dodge them. For instance, they would just attack me and move on.  Then I graduated from that and was able to punch and kick at them.  I have to admit it was fun beating the ghosts and it sort of felt like a work out.

The story line isn’t scary, so you don’t have to worry about it creeping you out. At best, there are a couple moments where it might startle you.

The one thing I hate was that the Kinect sensors are so temperamental that if you are too close or too far away it doesn’t pick up your movements. So when the ghosts were attacking all I could do was stand there. That makes the game a little frustrating, but once I found the perfect spot the game was more enjoyable. Benjamin was funny and the ghosts at times had their own personality.

This may not be as fun or as challenging as other games, but I’ll definitely play it again.

3/5 stars