Inspired by the works
of Edgar Allen Poe, The Dark Eye is a descent into
the madness and mayhem of one man’s twisted world. More of an experience
than a game as you explore the minds of murderers, madmen and their
terrified victims as almost every animate and inanimate object you
touch draws you deeper into new levels of intrigue and horror. And
what is it precisely that instigates this journey? A sniff of paint
thinner.
The incredible 3D animated
stop-motion characters that populate the multiple story paths are
so lifelike and quirky that you can easily imagine them having a separate
life outside of this game. Four separate stories cross paths numerous
times and are eventually resolved in one satisfying, yet troubling,
conclusion. The Dark Eye features the voice of legendary
author William S. Burroughs and features memorable characters developed
by animator Doug Beswick, who also worked on The Addams Family
and Aliens movies.
How scary is The Dark
Eye? (Major spoiler ahead!) It has the power to so involve that
you forget you are playing a game. One of the multiple story lines
concerns a woman who has a sleeping sickness and, mistakenly diagnosed
as dead, is buried alive. As you are occupying the character’s body,
you are not aware of your desperate situation. All we as the player
see is a pitch-black monitor screen, and all we as the player hear
is our fingernails scratching the inside of the coffin. It was right
at this point of realizing that I was buried alive that my son entered
the dark computer room and, since I was wearing headphones, tapped
me on the shoulder. There is still to this day an indentation in the
ceiling from my head.
JA
reviewer Ray Ivey had this say about The Dark Eye, “If you’re in the mood for some blood-chilling interactive
Poe action, get your mitts on a copy of this game. Play this twisted
little masterpiece with the lights off. I dare you. Unfortunately,
I think you’ll have to find a used copy of The Dark Eye,
because the game’s producer, Inscape, seems to be … nevermore.”
Publisher:
Inscape Developer: Inscape Release Date: November 1995 Platform: PC/Windows
Macintosh
2.
