That’s
it, I’m moving to France. If I must, I will force myself to eat escargot and laugh
hysterically at Jerry Lewis films. I will disavow my American citizenship and
wear a red beret. I will change my name to François. I will allow my children
to drink wine with their dinner (except it really will be grape Kool-Aid; I will
just tell them it is wine). What has forced me into this decision to no longer
masquerade as an “Ugly American”? Why the sudden swerve in nationalism?
Faust, Omikron, Outcast, and now Dracula Resurrection–all of French
origin. And these are just the cream of the crop; let’s not forget Isabelle,
Atlantis 2, or Aztec. Or The Devil Inside, Pilgrim 2, or Alone
in the Dark 4–all scheduled for release later this year and all French. What
has happened to pervert our culture so that frag-fests like Unreal Tournament
and Quake 3 Arena are considered family entertainment and cerebral
games like The Longest Journey and The Quivering cannot find a publisher?
Adventure developers have heeded the criticisms that their games were too linear,
too illogical, and too 2D and have produced nonlinear, logical 3D masterpieces–to
no avail. The North American urban myths continue that adventure games will not
sell; that adventure games are too expensive to produce; that adventure games
take too long to complete. I would guess that no one has yet to inform the French
developers and gaming public of this fact.

So
where was I? Oh yeah, Dracula Resurrection. The latest and probably the
best in a long line of adventure/horror games featuring vampires. Dracula Resurrection
is actually presented as a sequel to Bram Stoker’s novel. The opening movie
reenacts the climatic events of the 1897 novel as we watch Jonathan Harker attempt
to destroy his arch-nemesis. His weapons prove futile, though, and only the rising
sun saves Jonathan and Mina, his fiancee, from a life of eternal darkness. Seven
years pass, and we watch as Jonathan reads an unbelievable letter from Mina, now
his wife. She has been overcome by an irresistible urge, a yearning for the sexual
bloodlust of the vampire, and has returned to Transylvania. Jonathan, as we learn
through a letter he composes to his friend Seward, journeys to save his beloved,
and thus our game begins. This is not a Hammer film, though. There are no subplots,
no vampire hunters, no Christopher Lees. It is simply you, playing in a first-person
perspective as Jonathan Harker, attempting to reach Dracula’s castle and rescue
Mina. Much as the novel dripped of atmosphere over a hundred years ago, so also
does the computer game. A feeling of loneliness prevails as you wend your way
through catacombs and hidden passages. The fear of the townspeople is reflected
in their eyes and etched in their faces. The game’s creators, Jacques Simian and
Francois Villard, do not hammer you over the head with the obvious, but have instead
let loose their talent to create a world of shadows and darkness that speaks volumes.
Like a good novel, the story relies on the characters and their personalities.
Simple, but effective. Two CDs–the first covering Jonathan’s attempts to reach
the castle and the second his journey through the deserted ruins looking for his
beloved–are all that is necessary to complete your journey into darkness. A sequel
with a more elaborate plot would be the ideal follow-up, but for now this is the
perfect appetizer. Plot–B.

If
Dracula Resurrection can be said to have a weak point, it would have to
be the puzzles. Not that they are outlandish. Rather they are at times too easy.
Though to be fair, they do build in difficulty, as they should in any well-crafted
adventure game. Their simplicity is related more to the fact that when you have
a lighter in your inventory, it is used to light a candle or some other object,
not distorted into some obtuse puzzle that makes little sense. Inventory is accessed
by right-clicking on the mouse, and all items are stored in an inventory ring.
When the correct inventory item is placed over the small moving gears that denote
that a puzzle must be solved in that area, a green circle appears around the inventory
item. All inventory items magically disappear when they are no longer needed.
Some minor pixel-hunting is involved, but nothing totally frustrating. There are
a surprising number of puzzles that involve nothing more than selecting the correct
key or pulling a lever a la Tomb Raider, and a little more originality
would have been welcome. There is also one inventory item, a dragon bracelet,
that is way over-used, but better to have a few puzzles be too easy than spend
hours hunting for red herrings. As the puzzles do intensify, common sense and
a good eye for detail will dictate your success. Overall, a tad on the easy
side and a grade of B-.

The cut scenes in Dracula Resurrection, and
there are many, can only be described as jaw-dropping. You will not be pressing
the space bar to skip them. Strange as this may seem, in a game about a vampire,
your character’s death is never a factor, so many of these movies may only be
viewed once. Whether it is the more common third-person viewpoint as we watch
Jonathan’s actions as a result of our decisions or a close-up of a character’s
face, the effects are stunning. Wrinkles and pores are etched on character’s faces
like roadmaps; their weariness belies their misery. The 3D characters and animations,
created by Jerome Combe and Stephane Hamache, are eerily distinctive. From Micha
the barfly to Dorko the sorceress, these are people who relay their emotions through
their facial expressions and body movement. The in-game graphics are just as good
and are traversed by panning your cursor in any direction across the Barina Inn,
Borgo Pass, or Dracula’s Castle. Everything is mouse-controlled, and the usual
icons–an arrow, a hand–guide your choices. The panning and movies are seamless
and deservedly receive a grade of A.

One thing I cannot provide an honest
opinion on is the voice acting. Yes, I played from start to finish, but in a mix-up
due to language barriers, France-Telecom mistakenly sent me the French version
of the game. Now I did study French for four years in college, but for some reason
all I retained were the cuss words. It is a testament to the power of Dracula
Resurrection that I was still able to not only play but follow the story even
if I could not always understand the characters. So much was conveyed by the excellent
graphics that the characters speaking in their native tongue only served to enhance
the game’s atmosphere. It could be that if I had received the translated English
version, I may not have enjoyed the game as much. Music is sparse but used effectively
during climatic scenes, and the sound effects are as crisp as any I have ever
heard. The creaking of floorboards and the barmaid’s nervous cough in the inn
are unbelievably realistic. I actually thought my wife was coughing in the next
room before I realized it was coming from my left speaker. As an added bonus,
a visit to the Dracula Resurrection website has Dracula theme wallpaper,
screensavers, and Shockwave games. Documentation with the game itself is as sparse
as can be, but it really is not needed as the controls are intuitive. Saves are
limited to eight, more than enough, and are marked by the time and a snapshot
of the place you saved. Even with my slight disadvantage of playing an untranslated
version, the music, sound effects, and voice acting are all superb and graded
A-.

This game is not earth-shattering. It breaks no new ground. What
it is is a solid, atmospheric adventure game that follows a linear path and features
puzzles of increasing difficulty. The novice and the more experienced gamer can
both enjoy it on their own terms. Dracula Resurrection is currently not
available in North America, but with any luck it soon will be. We happen to know
that a few companies are interested in purchasing the distribution rights. Advertise
to the Anne Rice/Stephen King crowd and, combined with the current revival in
horror action/adventure games like Resident Evil on the Playstation and
Nocturne on the computer, this could be a title that encourages many to
attempt a pure adventure game for the first time. Virgin blood so to speak. Let’s
put a stake through the heart of the bloodthirsty for once and show our support
for a game that doesn’t suck.

Final Grade: B+

System
Requirements:

PC:
Windows
95/98
Pentium 166 (200 recommended)
32 MB RAM (64 with Win98)
Video
card
16-bit sound card
4x CD ROM drive (8x recommended).

Macintosh:

Power PC OS 8
32 MB RAM
Video card
16-bit sound card
3D accelerator
card
4X CD-ROM drive (8X recommended)