Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus

Last updated

Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus
Elvira 2 The Jaws of Cerberus Cover.jpg
Atari ST cover art
Developer(s) Horror Soft
Publisher(s) Accolade
Producer(s) Mark Wallace
Designer(s) Michael Woodroffe
Alan Bridgman
Simon Woodroffe
Artist(s) Paul Drummond
Kevin Preston
Maria Drummond
Composer(s) Jezz Woodroffe
Philip Nixon
Engine AberMUD (modified)
Platform(s) Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
Release1992
Genre(s) Adventure, role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus is the second game in the Elvira series of horror adventure/role-playing video games. It was developed by Horror Soft and published by Accolade in 1992. The game is a sequel to 1990's Elvira: Mistress of the Dark . It was followed by Waxworks, which can be considered its spiritual sequel.[ by whom? ]

Contents

Plot

The main character is Elvira's boyfriend, whose mission is to save Elvira, captured by the demon Cerberus who wants to use her magical power for his own aims. The player seeks Elvira in a horror movie studio where the props and movie sets have turned into actual monstrosities, apparently as a result of building the studio on haunted grounds.

Gameplay

In-game screenshot. The player meets the janitor in the studio basement - one of the few friendly characters in the game. Elvira 2 The Jaws of Cerberus Screenshot.png
In-game screenshot. The player meets the janitor in the studio basement - one of the few friendly characters in the game.

Gameplay in Elvira II takes place in first-person perspective. The player can move forward and backward, or turn right, left or back by clicking on one of the arrows in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Rather than being truly 3D, the game simulates the player's view by using a large amount of 2D images which depict the rooms and corridors from various spots and angles; due to this, the player's freedom is somewhat limited - in many rooms, it's impossible to look to the side, for example.

Out of the four areas in the game (the main studio building and the three movie sets), two of them (main building and Studio 2 - the haunted house) have more adventure elements, focusing mainly on collecting useful items and problem-solving, while the others (Studio 1 and 3 - set in insect-filled caverns and a dungeon, respectively) are similar to a classic dungeon crawl.

The magic system was unique at the time as the player could cast magic spells using the items found around the studio (which meant that the game was very much a loot and explore type game). The recipe for the spell indicated what sort of item would be required in order to cast it (a glass item, or an inflammable liquid for example) and the player would have to come up with an item matching that description. In the examples given the glass object could be anything from a glass bottle to a glass ashtray, whilst the inflammable liquid would be a spray or a bottle of alcohol.

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1992 in Dragon #180 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. The reviewers felt the game was "truly engrossing, exciting, and jam-packed with horror! From the opening screens, you'll be on the edge of your seat trying to rescue the beloved Elvira. This is a “must” purchase!" [1] Scorpia of Computer Gaming World in 1992 was unable to finish Elvira II because of unwinnable elements that occurred without warning, and a flawed save feature that would have forced her to replay most of the story. She concluded that the game was "a grave disappointment". [3] In 1993 she called the game "surprisingly bad ... best avoided", "an incredibly tedious hack'n'slash" with "poorly designed adventure puzzles". [4]

The One gave the Amiga version of Elvira II an overall score of 77%, calling the gory graphics "excellent" and the UI "reasonably intuitive to use". The One criticises exploration in Elvira II, expressing their annoyance in regard to sideways movement, stating "for example, if you want to go to the right, you have to spin though 90 degrees and move forward - two actions where one would have been more user-friendly." [2] The One also criticises the number of disks and amount of disk swapping, noting that Elvira II spans seven disks, and calls it "a decent RPG, marred by excessive disk loading and swapping - there are occasions when the loading takes up more time than the action" and furthermore calls Elvira II "A large role playing game with small, but significant design faults". [2] The One concludes their review by stating that Elvira II has "plenty of monsters, good combat and magic systems, and a large landscape to explore, there's plenty to keep you entertained." [2]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<i>Companions of Xanth</i> 1993 video game

Companions of Xanth is an adventure game published in 1993 by Legend Entertainment.

<i>Chaos Strikes Back</i> 1989 video game

Chaos Strikes Back is an expansion and sequel to Dungeon Master, the earlier 3D role-playing video game. Chaos Strikes Back was released in 1989 and is also available on several platforms. It uses the same engine as Dungeon Master, with new graphics and a new, far more challenging, dungeon.

Artworx was a Naples, Florida software company that produced and supported a line of computer games from 1981 to 2015. It is named after the founder's given name. At first the company published a variety of games, including titles in adventure and arcade-action genres, but were later best known for a strip poker series.

<i>Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World</i> 1988 video game

Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World is a role-playing video game developed and published by New World Computing in 1988. It is the sequel to Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum.

<i>A Prehistoric Tale</i> 1990 video game

A Prehistoric Tale is a platform video game developed by The Lost Boys and published by Thalion Software. It was released for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990.

<i>Conflict: Middle East</i> Video game

Conflict: Middle East is a 1991 video game published by Strategic Simulations.

<i>Realms</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Realms is a 1991 real-time strategy game produced by Graftgold Ltd. for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST. It was published by Virgin Games. In Realms, the player has to build cities, collect taxes, create troops and fight enemy cities and troops in order to defeat their opponents.

<i>Centurion: Defender of Rome</i> Video game

Centurion: Defender of Rome is a turn-based strategy video game with real-time battle sequences, designed by Kellyn Beck and Bits of Magic and published by Electronic Arts. Originally released for MS-DOS in 1990, the game was later ported to the Amiga and the Sega Genesis in 1991. Centurion shares much of the concept and feel with Beck's earlier game Defender of the Crown (1987).

<i>Barbarian</i> (1987 video game) 1987 video game

Barbarian is a 1987 platform game by Psygnosis. It was first developed for the Atari ST, and was ported to the Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The Amiga port was released in 1987; the others were released in 1988. The cover artwork is by fantasy artist Roger Dean.

<i>Maupiti Island</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Maupiti Island is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Lankhor. It was released in 1990 and is the sequel to Mortville Manor. The player controls Jérôme Lange, a detective who attempting to solve a crime by interacting with various characters and collecting clues while further events unveil a complex plot.

<i>Diggers</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Diggers is a puzzle video game for the Amiga CD32 in which the player takes control of a mining team excavating a planet for precious minerals.

<i>Kingmaker</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Kingmaker is a turn-based strategy game published by Avalon Hill in 1993. It was developed by American studio TM Games based on the Kingmaker board game.

<i>Rings of Medusa</i> 1989 video game

Rings of Medusa is a fantasy-themed video game developed and published by Starbyte Software for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS in 1989. The game is a hybrid of role-playing, strategy, and trading genres. It received mixed reviews.

<i>The Return of Medusa</i> 1991 video game

The Return of Medusa, also known as The Return of Medusa: Rings of Medusa II, is a 1991 role-playing video game and strategy video game hybrid developed by X-Ample and published by Starbyte Software for Amiga, Atari ST and PC DOS as a sequel to the 1989 game Rings of Medusa. A planned Commodore 64 version was cancelled.

<i>Valhalla and the Fortress of Eve</i> 1996 video game

Valhalla and the Fortress of Eve, also known as Valhalla 3, is an adventure game developed and released by Vulcan Software in 1995 for the Amiga. It was later ported to PC Windows in 2004 and to the BlackBerry mobile in 2013. It is a sequel to 1994's Valhalla and the Lord of Infinity and 1995's Valhalla: Before the War in which the protagonist King Garamond II has to rescue the kidnapped ladies from an evil witch Eve's castle and find himself a woman of his dreams.

<i>The Oath</i> (video game) 1991 video game

The Oath is a shoot 'em up video game programmed by Jonathan Small with art by Sascha Jungnickel and published by Attic Entertainment Software for the Amiga in 1991.

Vermeer is a series of strategy and business simulation video games launched in 1987 by Ariolasoft. It contained three individual games between the original launch and 2004: Vermeer (1987), Vermeer: Die Kunst zu erben (1997), and Vermeer: The Great Art Race (2004).

<i>Free D.C!</i> 1991 video game

Free D.C! is a 1991 video game published by Cineplay Interactive.

<i>Celtic Legends</i> 1991 video game

Celtic Legends is a 1991 video game published by Ubisoft.

<i>Wild Wheels</i> 1991 video game

Wild Wheels is a 1991 video game published by Ocean Software.

References

  1. 1 2 Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (April 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (180): 57–61.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Houghton, Gordon (April 1992). "Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus Review". The One. No. 43. emap Images. p.  50-51.
  3. Scorpia (March 1992). "Scorpion's Tale". Computer Gaming World. p. 36. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  4. Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  5. "Impossible to Display Scan".
  6. "ST Format (Issue 40) - November - 1992: Atari magazine scans, pdf". www.atarimania.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  7. "Amiga Reviews: Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus".
  8. ST Action 59 atarimania.com
  9. "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  10. "Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus review from Games-X 39 (Jan 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". amr.abime.net. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  11. Commodore Format Issue 24 1992 archive.org [ dead link ]
  12. "Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus review from Amiga Joker (Mar 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". amr.abime.net. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  13. "Elvira 2 review from Amiga Action 32 (May 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". amr.abime.net. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  14. "Zero Magazine Issue 29". March 1992.
  15. "Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus review from Amiga Format 34 (May 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  16. "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  17. "Kultpower.de - Die Powerplay und ASM Fan Site". www.kultpower.de. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  18. "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  19. "CU Amiga Magazine Issue 025". March 1992.
  20. Amiga Power Issue 13 archive.org [ dead link ]