Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness

Developer/Publisher: Wanadoo Publications, France Telecom Multimedia, and Index+
Projected Release Date: TBD
Platform:    DVD-ROM

By Harriet Gurganus

Download Necronomicon Movie (42 MB)
(Save to a temporary directory, unzip to a temporary directory, then run file Necronomicon.exe)

Screenshots from the movie:
   

The original Necronomicon ("Book of Dead Names") by Alhazred is not, as believed by many, a sorcerer's spell-book. It was conceived as a history and therefore "a book of things now dead and gone." An alternative definition is "the book of the customs of the dead." This Necronomicon was written in 730 A.D. in seven volumes and runs to over 700 pages in its Latin edition.

Now, move ahead in time to the 1900s and to one of horror fiction's greats, H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), whose work is regarded as the precursor to science fiction. His stories explore mysteries of the occult sciences and travel through the imagination into the core of the soul. The first modern reference to the Necronomicon occurred when Lovecraft's The Hound appeared in the February 1924 issue of Weird Tales. "There are many Lovecraft fans who believe that his Necronomicon is an archetype of occult books. That is, that the book somehow exists in some Platonic sense, like a 'perfect' circle. They are of the opinion that Lovecraft somehow tapped into some higher plane of consciousness and drew upon it for his creations. And they bolster their argument by pointing out his frequent references to his fantastic dreams." Whatever the Necronomicon is or wherever it originated is superfluous for the purpose of this preview. But it is the perfect foil for those among us who aspire to flights of fantasy in a world totally unlike our own where even the slightest whisper can make the hair on the back of the neck stand at attention.

You will begin Necronomicon, the game, in 1927 in Pawtuxet, on the east coast of the United States. It is a hot summer night. And the life of your character, William H. Stanton, suddenly takes a terrifying turn. What secret is haunting his childhood friend Edgar, whose personality has recently undergone a radical change? Your task will be to determine the cause of the alarming transformation. Could it be linked to mysterious occult experiments performed by Edgar's uncle, Gregor Phillipus Herschell, who was an alchemist? You would like not to believe that as you are in modern times, 1927, and Herschell died in 1771. Pawtuxet villagers tell of the alchemists' attempts to bring back the dead from their quiet(?) resting places. What fiendish secrets still lurk in his subterranean laboratory? And what do the formulas of the Necronomicon mean? And for heaven's sake, what is happening to Edgar? Perhaps Heaven is not the place to look for that answer.

The player's adventure will be punctuated with traps and puzzles. As you continue on your quest, you will be immersed into sumptuous 3D scenery that supports 360-degree navigation (Warp-type 360-degree vision). Your mission will begin with exploration of the different locations in Pawtuxet village. You will question inhabitants of the village, communicate with the dead, discover Gregor's motive for bringing the dead back to life, study the Necronomicon, and finally penetrate the world of the Ancient Ones to prevent their return to earth.

When you play this game, you will find:

• Approximately 30 hours of gameplay
• Four game levels
• Twenty characters
• Forty sets
• Two inventories
• A map of the area
• Ten possible causes of "game over"
• An original stereo soundtrack

Lovecraft may be gone, but he is certainly not forgotten. His books live on, just as vibrant as they were when he wrote them, and his fans are loyal and legion. His posthumous influence is considerable, and this game may be just one more star in his literary career. I sincerely hope that is the case.