Veil of Darkness - The JAVE

Point-n-Click, Adventure/RPG Horror

1993

Event Horizon Software
SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.)

Third Person

"Veil of Darkness presents some difficulties for a reviewer: it is almost impossible to classify. At first sight it looks like an RPG...but after a while it starts feeling a lot more like an adventure. But what really matters in the end is that Veil of Darkness is a neat game.

"The world is shown in isometric view similar to that employed in some of the greatest RPGs...After a while of playing however it becomes obvious that the RPG element isn't all that strong.

"You explore the nameless village (it's rather small) and soon find out that all is not well. In fact, a number of things is wrong - murders, mysterious illnesses, strange deaths, unexplained disappearances, vicious monsters...and there seems to be some sort of curse (or veil of darkness in other words) hanging over the entire valley. The place is clearly in dire need of a hero.

"Because the game is not quite an RPG...the interface is fairly simple and does not require a degree in rocket science like some RPGs...Apropos battles - they're real-time and you can't do much in the way of controlling your character. You simply click on the weapon(s) you have equipped and your alter ego will automatically attack the nearest opponent.

"One of the signs that Veil of Darkness is more an adventure game than anything else is that you can get stuck relatively easily if you miss some vital clue. The overall difficulty is not extremely high but because the game is very nonlinear and you can finish most of the quests in virtually any order, you need to keep track of many things at the same time...Another tip-off to the true genre of Veil of Darkness is that it doesn't take too long to win the game once you know what to do. It only takes some five hours to finish - but that's the second time. The first time it'll take substantially longer.

"Veil of Darkness runs in the classic VGA resolution of 320x200 with 256 colors, although parts of the game (the map and some animations) run in nonstandard higher resolution mode, probably 320x400. But naturally low resolution is nothing surprising in a game released in the first half of 1993. The sound is likewise not very stunning - no voiceovers (naturally - this is a floppy game) and in fact no digitized sounds at all, just AdLib (or possibly Roland LAPC-1) music.

"The game is not technically brilliant - but that's not what makes a great game anyway. It is easy to play and more importantly, fun to play...While Veil of Darkness is not the greatest game of all time, I did not find any serious flaws in it."