LUIGI’S MANSION 3 / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: NINTENDO / PLATFORM: SWITCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Luigi is back for his third instalment, and this time he’s brought a friend…
If you’re unfamiliar with the series, Luigi’s Mansion isn’t a platform game like the Mario games he came from, but more of puzzle exploration sort of thing. Instead of jumping, Luigi’s abilities all come from his Poltergust (like a spooky vacuum cleaner) – it can inhale, exhale, fire a plunger and flash lights. It also has the ability to create a replica of Luigi called Gooigi. Gooigi has the same abilities as Luigi, except he can pass through bars but is destroyed by water.
A lot of the fun comes from the game’s physics. Most objects can be vacuumed up or broken, and each room is littered with secrets and wads of cash. Each floor of the mansion has a number of hidden gems that are particularly challenging to find and will keep you playing long after you’ve finished the 15-hour main story.
The game also offers a number of multiplayer modes. For starters you can play the entire game co-op, with one person taking control of Gooigi. Then there’s the Scarescraper mode, which consists of up to eight people playing online, working together in a sort of horde mode. Finally there’s the Screampark, which consists of a trio of two vs two mini-games which are simple but decent.
The game is full of charm and one of (if not the) best looking games on the Switch. It’s full of humour and cutscenes are often laugh of loud funny, reminiscent of the the old silent Lego game cutscenes.
As a single player experience, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a fun game but it lacks a massive amount of diversity early on and can get a bit repetitive, especially if you insist on sucking up every bit of cash you can find. Just like his brother’s games, the game is at its best in the later levels when the difficulty ramps up a bit. As for multiplayer games, it’s probably the must fun co-op game on Switch; it’ll have you screaming at your inexperienced friend as they get to grips with the controls.
