AUTHOR: ICOM Simulations RELEASE: 1994 TYP: Adventure SPIELER: 1 LEVEL: - SPRACHE: Englisch WERT: 25€
Schaudererregendes Horrorspiel zum Mitmachen mit einer überraschenden kriminalistischen Lösung. Wer ist Dracula? Wo ist er? Haben Sie Mut genug, ihn zu entlarven und dadurch einige grausige Todesfälle zu verhindern? Am besten gehen Sie gleich mit Biß an die Sache heran!
Interactive gothic horror with a mystery twist. Who is Dracula? Where is he? Are you brave enough to unmask him and prevent some gruesome deaths? Better get your teeth into this one quick.
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GAMERS Ausgabe 10/1994: [Grafik: 2 Sound: 2- Gesamt: 3+]
Wer sich […] durch das Englisch nicht abschrecken läßt, wird mit diesem Spiel knisternde Spannung erleben.
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Dracula Unleashed is an interactive movie in the same vein as Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. Basically, you can choose from several locations to go to, and at each location you are shown different events through live-action video clips. Clues in the videos will point you to where you should go next. You also have an „inventory“ which you can use to affect the outcome of certain clips (for example, if you enter an asylum with the blackjack you'll be able to defend yourself against any escaped inmates, but if you don't bring the blackjack with you you'll be killed). Time is constantly moving and new events will pop up at different times of the day. In Dracula Unleashed it is the year 1899, ten years after the destruction of count Dracula chronicled in Bram Stoker's novel. You take the role of Alexander Morris, the younger brother of Texan Quincey Morris who died defeating Dracula. Alexander has come to London to investigate the circumstances of his brother's death, but became sidetracked when he fell in love with and proposed to a local girl named Annisette. Now, the dawn of a new millennium approaches and an evil force is stalking the streets of London, draining victims of their blood and transforming innocent women into bloodthirsty vampiresses. With the aide of your brother's old friends, the survivors of Dracula's evil, you must uncover the identity of this new vampire and prevent him from transforming Annisette into his queen of the night. Do not fail her, or she will personally rip your throat out. www.Mobygames.com
An FMV-based investigation game in the same vein as Sherlock Holmes (developed by the same company behind Volume II) with the added twist of the Dracula licence. Playing as the lead character arriving in London shortly after the death of your brother, you have 4 days and five nights game time to find and destroy Dracula himself. This time limit adds an extra edge to the game, and when you arrive at a location a scene that takes 2 minutes to play may eat up an hour or more of your allowance. Travelling between locations on the simplified map of London also takes time, and you even have to remember to sleep every now and then. You can run for up to 48 hours without sleep, and the length of time lost is proportional to how long you've gone without rest. Far from being an annoyance, the dreams played out in FMV whilst you sleep can give vital clues to your investigation. The scenes at each location are time-dependent and do change according to when you visit them, but thankfully you can replay the FMV as many times as you like with no penalty and important points are automatically entered in your journal to refer back to later, though this does mean it's possible to miss a vital clue and not find out until you end up totally stuck. The FMV is some of the best on the Mega-CD and the sound quality is as good as would be expected, though the lip-synching is a little off at times. What does grate is the voice acting. The lead is meant to be Texan, and his (your) accent soon becomes grating. All the other stereotypes you'd expect are present, from „English Gentleman“ and the chirpy Cockney coach driver to an unintentionally funny Austrian-German accent for Van Helsing on the help screen. If you can forgive that and you're looking for a more slow-paced, cerebral game then this is one you can sink your teeth into (sorry). This game was also released in the UK with a BBFC „15“ rating printed on the discs, and the part numbers on the CDs swapped over. www.sega-mega-cd-library.co.uk
You'd expect a CD game based on a vampire-infested 1899 London to be pretty exciting, but Dracula Unleashed is basically a slow, plodding mystery. It's played by moving a cursor around the screen and clicking on objects or icons. The idea is to collect various items and take them to the right places at the specific times, causing the storyline to unfold in the form of live-action video sequences. Unfortunately, if you miss a key event, your game will end abruptly. Fortunately you can save at any time. While Dracula Unleashed sometimes provides clues to keep you on track, the gameplay tends to be more „trial and error“ than true detective work. The story isn't very suspenseful or compelling, and there's virtually no payoff until you get three-quarters through the game. The visuals consist of grainy video clips and well-drawn illustrations. I'd have to admit that the acting is respectable for a CD game, and the characters are likeable enough. I didn't recognize any actors in the cast. The downtown scenery is convincing except for the graveyard which looks like some dirt in front of a stone wall - lame! If they would have used an actual, decrepit old graveyard, it would have raised the game's grade at least by one letter. Some of the special effects, such as the floating bodies, are very well done, but the flashing eyes look terribly fake. Dracula looks a lot like Dracula from the 1992 film, but you only see him near the end of the game. There's some gore, but the Sega CD's trademark pixelation prevents it from being particularly explicit. The sound effects are terrific, especially when you ride in the carriage, and the music is well orchestrated and creepy. The user interface could be more streamlined, but it's acceptable once you learn a few shortcuts. Dracula Unleashed is a good-looking game, but only patient gamers will be able to deal with its slow pace. www.videogamecritic.net
