Can we put an obscure game in the lofty JA Hall of Fame? Just watch us.

The Dark Eye is that rarest of adventure games: one that is so creative and distinctive that it simply can't be compared to any other title.

The brainchild of a madman named Russell Lees, The Dark Eye is based on Edgar Allen Poe stories, and the miracle of The Dark Eye is that it actually captures the creepy feeling of the Master's work.

The graphics are beautiful in this point-and-click, slideshow, first-person game. The characters are empty-eyed puppets designed by artist Bruce Heavin, and their static quality adds immeasurably to the disturbing atmosphere.

The game uses three classic Poe stories: "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Cask of Amantillado," and "Berenice." It also uses as a framing device an original story (by Lees) that is a very effective Poe pastiche.

What makes experiencing Poe's stories so bloodcurdling is that you go through each one twice--once as the victim, and once as the victimizer. I can't even begin to tell you how this messes with your mind.

The sequence near the end of "The Tell-Tale Heart," when the police are unwittingly pushing your character to the breaking point, is one of the most brilliant sequences in any game I've ever played.

The game isn't for everyone, because it has no puzzles in the traditional sense. It's more of a macabre ceremony or ritual that the player move through. It's very experimental, which of course is a pretty dirty term in the adventure game genre. But this time the experiment truly pays off.

I played this game in one long, fevered sitting, and I have never forgotten it. Trust me, this hard-to-find title is worth the search.

System Requirements:

PC:
486/33
8 MB RAM
2X CD-ROM drive
Sound board
Windows 3.1 or Windows 95

Macintosh:
System 7.1 or higher
68030 33 MHz or faster
2X CD-ROM drive (300 k/sec)
Thousands of colors at 640x480
8 MB RAM