When I first heard of Delaware
St. John: Midnight Manor, my thoughts
immediately turned to Amber:
Journeys Beyond and Darkfall:
Lights Out. Like the game in review, both utilized ghost hunting technology,
with the latter incorporating the remote assistance of a young woman.
So I alternated between expecting the best because I loved Amber,
and fearing the worst, because DFLO left me wanting to shove bamboo
shoots under my fingernails.

As it turns out, I didn’t need to have any expectations because
Delaware St. John stands completely on its own. Sure, the aforementioned
similarities are there as well as elements I’ve seen in other
games, but this game is refreshingly unique. “What is this
game of which you speak?” I can hear you saying. I’m
glad you asked!

Delaware
St. John: Midnight Manor is volume one
in a planned series of 10 by Big Time Games, with each
volume featuring two stories. Borrowing once again from shades of
the past, I sincerely hope this series doesn’t go the way of
The Forgotten… It Begins. Some of you may remember this 1999
game that was intended to be part of a series but was subsequently … forgotten.
It was a lack of completion that left me rending my clothing in angst—not
something I want to go through again anytime soon.

As in The Forgotten, Midnight
Manor takes place in an abandoned hotel, to which our protagonist
is led by a series of dreams. You
see, Delaware is a young man with connections of the otherworldly
kind, haunted by restless spirits who want him to investigate their
demise. You’ll see these communications first in the opening
scene, and throughout the game as the ghosts recreate events form
the past. The ghosts in Part 1 belong to hapless teenagers who came
to an unsavory end at an old hotel known as Midnight Manor. Your
mission will be to uncover the mysteries surrounding these disturbing
events, only to find that the fate of the teens is just the beginning.

Part 2 picks up right
where Part 1 leaves off, and leads to a much richer story line
involving the manor’s dark past. This is
where you discover that the missing kids are the tip of the iceberg,
and that by releasing the many souls lost over the years our young
hero is unraveling an insidious web of evil. Throughout the game,
Del is being chased by a menacing force that derives its power from
suffering, and the second story introduces lore about the Hunter
and the Protector.

But Delaware isn’t in the ghost detective biz alone. He has
a partner, a young woman named Kelly who keeps him company through
VIC, a device that allows him to send pictures and sound samples
for Kelly to analyze on her computer. At first I was afraid that
Kelly would be too chatty and distracting, but after the opening
dialogue she only chimed in a few times without prompting. There
is some good-natured banter between the two characters but it’s
mostly short and sweet.

Now, I need to mention something about the beginning of the game.
I was a bit dismayed to find that watching the opening credits was
a requirement, not an option. With most games you can use the handy
escape key or space bar to get to the good stuff. Not so with Midnight
Manor. This was especially distressing at the time, because I was
unable to change the volume for several minutes.

How this factoid may impact
you: IF you happen to begin the game at night, and IF you have
other household members sleeping in the
bedroom next to your office, and IF said office has surround sound
speakers mounted in a little circle on the walls around you, you
MAY want to consider changing the volume before you begin playing
the game. I’m just saying.

The background music
for Midnight Manor is appropriately creepy, especially the poignant
opening theme. But dusting off my memories once again, I found
the in-game music reminiscent of the Fat Man’s work. You may remember
his ubiquitous midi from such games as 7th
Guest, 11th
Hour, and the Tex Murphy series. Now, I find this music to be a bit dated, but some may consider
it nostalgic.

With all the comparisons
I’m making, it’s time to mention
what I found most unique, which was the artwork. The developer made
good use of 2D backgrounds and slide-show animation, creating imagery
that was comic-book-esque, sans the frame edges and “Pow!
Bam!”.
So when you see a flashback, you may see the characters moving, but
from point to point in freeze frame fashion. I found this interesting.
However, the slide-show movement occasionally made navigation difficult,
and I sometimes lost my bearings. This was particularly critical
during the game’s most difficult puzzle in which you had to
follow a series of directions written on the wall.

Navigation is pretty standard,
with arrows showing whether you can move forward, backward, or
side-to-side. I found one of them confusing,
however. In addition to the “exit” arrow that allows
you to back out of a close-up, there is a downward arrow that apparently
causes you to do an about face. I avoided using this one because
it was just too disorienting, but your mileage may vary.

Other familiar icons include the hand for picking things up, the
gears for performing an action or using an inventory item, and the
magnifying glass for closer examination. Many of the things you examine
seem to yield no useful results, although I suspect they may be worked
into future installations.

One
thing I’ve gotta give this game– it scared the heck out
of me a few times. To give you an idea of what this means, realize
that I sit through the scariest of movies undisturbed, while my pierced,
tattooed, head-shorn boyfriend cowers at my arm. Yeah, so that’s
making a statement, right? There have been plenty of games in which
I’ve mentally acknowledged, “that’s really creepy,” but
I was surprised by the visceral reaction to being chased by a monster.
This could be in part because the action is delivered from the monster’s
point of view. Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that
terrifies you. This was one of those times.

Of course puzzles are
the heart and soul of any adventure game, and I found these to
be well- integrated, and not terribly difficult.
Only one gave me fits, but then again I’ve never been known
for my superior navigational skills. In the end, this game is more
about solving a mystery than straining those brain cells. Oh yeah,
and being scared.

In
conclusion, I believe this game will appeal to many fans who love
a good scare and an
intriguing mystery. According to the Just
Adventure guide to
grades, earning an A means that this game should be on the shelf of every
adventure gamer. While I can’t say that with complete certainty, I
do believe that this game is solid enough to hold its own within the horror/adventure
genre, and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing the next
installments. That’s providing, of course, that Big Time Games lives
up to its promise. If they don’t, my tortured spirit may just have
to haunt them.

Final Grade: A
(find out more about our
grading system)

System Requirements:

• Win XP/ME/2000