Azrael's Tear

Last updated
Azrael's Tear
Azrael'stear.jpg
Developer(s) Intelligent Games
Publisher(s) Mindscape
Designer(s) Ken Haywood, Richard Guy
Programmer(s) Martin Fermor
Composer(s) Kerry Minnear, Ray Shulman
Platform(s) MS-DOS
Release
  • EU: August 26, 1996 [1]
  • NA: October 4, 1996 [2]
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single player

Azrael's Tear is a 1996 first-person adventure game that presents an eschatological conspiracy fiction narrative about a futuristic Grail Quest. It was published by Mindscape and developed by Intelligent Games.

Contents

Plot

The game is set in the period from early December 2012 to Christmas Day 2015. The player assumes the role of a highly skilled professional grave robber/archaeologist known as a "raptor", who has come to raid a massive 12th-century underground complex recently found in Wick, Caithness, Scotland. The existence of the cavern is not publicly known. The player character has come in response to rumors, spreading within their criminal community, to the effect that the site may conceal the Holy Grail. The player character's history is not detailed in the game. This could be said to echo the Abrahamic message that God will accept any firm and sincere repentance, regardless of the petitioner's origin or past.

Development

Ken Haywood produced the original concept for the game and worked with Intelligent Games's own Richard Guy on the final design. The original design called for a Myst -style pre-rendered environment. As development progressed, the team switched to real-time 3D. The game features music written by Ray Shulman and Kerry Minnear, both former members of Gentle Giant.

As well as implementing proper real-time 3D in both environments and actors with full texture mapping, a major feat that was achieved back when most adventure games were exclusively two-dimensional or used pre-rendered elements for its backgrounds, Azrael's Tear is also the first adventure game to employ this technology, only preceded by Under a Killing Moon (1994) by two years, although the latter had its digital characters portrayed in full-motion video.

Reception

Both GameSpot and Next Generation commented that the control interface is highly counterintuitive, especially the inverted cursor movement, and cannot be changed. [3] [4] GameSpot reviewer Tal Blevins opined that the game is otherwise well-worth playing, citing the atmospheric music, entertaining story, and good integration of the puzzles into the plot. He was particularly pleased with the graphic design, remarking that "the game is steeped in shadow that hides a subtle richness; it may take several game sessions for you to truly appreciate the brilliant artistic design included." [3] The Next Generation reviewer agreed that the story is gripping but was somewhat less impressed, summarizing, "Azrael's Tear brings adventure, high-resolution graphics, and a smattering of action to what is essentially a Myst clone, adding a little life - just a little - to a genre that sorely needs it." [4] Nicholas Petreley of InfoWorld wrote, "Azrael's Tear is not a crowd-pleaser, and I'm grateful for it. It is for those people who like to lose themselves in an entirely different world. If you're among that camp, prepare to enter the world of Azrael's Tear and rarely come up for air." [8]

Andy Butcher reviewed Azrael's Tear for Arcane magazine, rating it a 7 out of 10 overall. [5] Butcher comments that "If you take the time to get into it [...] Azrael's Tear is atmospheric and extremely satisfying." [5]

In a 2002 retrospective review for Just Adventure , Michael Necasek commented, "The story of Azrael's Tear revolves around props far from unusual in adventure games: the Holy Grail, the Knights Templar, secret conspiracies to rule the world. These all are almost clichés. But like other good games ( Gabriel Knight 3 comes to mind), Azrael's Tear manages to explain them with unexpected twists." [6]

Azrael's Tear was not a commercial success. However, project leader Matthew Stibbe said in a presentation on the history of games that it is the only game he produced that got fan mail. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Heroes</span> 1984 superhero role-playing game

Golden Heroes is a British superhero role-playing game that was originally written and published on an amateur basis in 1981, and then republished in a more complete and professional form by Games Workshop in 1984.

<i>Myst</i> 1993 video game

Myst is an adventure video game designed by Rand and Robyn Miller. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and first released in 1993 for the Macintosh. In the game, the player travels via a special book to a mysterious island called Myst. The player interacts with objects and traverses the environment by clicking on pre-rendered imagery. Solving puzzles allows the player to travel to other worlds ("Ages"), which reveal the backstory of the game's characters and help the player make the choice of whom to aid.

<i>Riven</i> 1997 video game

Riven: The Sequel to Myst is a puzzle adventure video game, the second in the Myst series of games. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Red Orb Entertainment, a division of Broderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released for Mac and Windows personal computers on October 31, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM in 1998. Riven was also ported to several other platforms. The story of Riven is set after the events of Myst. Having been rescued from the efforts of his sons, Atrus enlists the help of the player character to free his wife from his power-hungry father, Gehn. Riven takes place almost entirely on the Age of Riven, a world slowly falling apart due to Gehn's destructive rule.

<i>Crusader: No Remorse</i> 1995 video game

Crusader: No Remorse is an action game developed by Origin Systems and published by Electronic Arts. It was first released in 1995 for MS-DOS, with the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn ports following in 1997. Set in a dystopian future 22nd century, the game centers on The Captain, a special ops officer and supersoldier, who defects from the tyrannical world government, the World Economic Consortium (WEC), and joins the Resistance rebels.

<i>Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest</i> 1995 video game

Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest is a turn-based strategy game developed and published by New World Computing in 1995 for DOS. A spin-off of New World Computing's Might and Magic series of role-playing video games, the success of Heroes of Might and Magic led to a number of sequels.

<i>Time Gate: Knights Chase</i> 1995 video game

Time Gate: Knight's Chase, or simply Knight's Chase, is a puzzle-solving video game by Infogrames Multimedia released in 1995 for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows, the latter being a SVGA version released exclusively in North America. It was also released for Mac OS in 1997.

<i>Chaos Overlords</i> 1996 video game

Chaos Overlords is a turn-based strategy computer game developed by Stick Man Games and published by New World Computing for Microsoft Windows and classic Mac OS in 1996. Chaos Overlords was re-released for Windows in downloadable format by GOG.com in May, 2013.

<i>Amber: Journeys Beyond</i> 1996 video game

Amber: Journeys Beyond is an American computer game released in 1996 for Apple Macintosh computers and Windows 95. It is the only game produced by Hue Forest Entertainment, founded by Frank and Susan Wimmer.

<i>Lighthouse: The Dark Being</i> 1996 video game

Lighthouse: The Dark Being is an adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It was the first and only game designed by Sierra On-Line art director Jon Bock.

<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard</i> 1998 video game

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Klingon Honor Guard is a 1998 first-person shooter set in the universe of Star Trek during the time of The Next Generation. The game was developed by MicroProse, using the Unreal game engine. The critical response to the title was generally positive with praise for the graphics, but mixed opinions of the level design.

<i>Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster</i> 1995 video game

Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster is a point-and-click adventure video game that stars Tim Curry as Dr. Frankenstein, and has the player controlling a newly created Frankenstein monster. Other cast members include Robert Rothrock as the voice of the monster, Rebecca Wink as villager Sara, and Amanda Fuller as Gabrielle, the monster's daughter. It used full motion video clips and 3D CGI graphics similar to Myst. The game was developed by Amazing Media and published by Interplay Entertainment Corp for the PC in 1995 and for the Sega Saturn in 1997. The game was given a "Teen" rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, but was originally rated as K-A. A port for the Atari Jaguar was in development but never released.

<i>Conspiracy X</i> Tabletop role-playing game

Conspiracy X is a role-playing game (RPG) originally released by New Millennium Entertainment in 1996, and since revised and released by several publishers including Steve Jackson Games and Eden Studios, Inc. In all versions, the setting posits that aliens are insiduously taking over the world, reminiscent of The X-Files.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intelligent Games</span> Defunct British video game developer

Intelligent Games Ltd was a British video game developer based in London. The company was established in 1988 as The Intelligent Games Co. by Matthew Stibbe, who was studying at Pembroke College in Oxford. Following his graduation and the releases of 'Nam 1965–1975 and Imperium, Stibbe relocated to London in 1992, where he incorporated Intelligent Games in 1993. He hired Imperium producer Kevin Shrapnell as director of development, who aimed for the company to develop "hit-driven, brand-led" games, among them a series of PGA Tour games and a tie-in to the film Waterworld. The latter attracted Westwood Studios, which worked with Intelligent Games on Dune 2000 and expansions for Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Relocating multiple times within London, Intelligent Games grew to 65 employees by 1999. That year, Westwood was unsuccessful in acquiring Intelligent Games but inspired Stibbe to want to leave the company. He sold it to Shrapnell, Cuss, and Neil Jones in June 2000 and departed that same year. Intelligent Games continued producing games, eventually eyeing the mobile and console markets, until running out of money in 2002. The company closed and all assets were liquidated in December 2002.

<i>Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail</i> 1996 video game

Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail is an adventure game created by 7th Level in 1996 for Windows. The game is based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and was the second of three Monty Python games created by 7th Level.

<i>Drowned God</i> 1996 science fiction adventure game

Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages is a 1996 science fiction adventure game developed by Epic Multimedia Group and published by Inscape. The game propounds the conspiracy theory that all of human history is a lie and that the human race's development and evolution were aided by extraterrestrials. The player attempts to uncover the truth through the course of the game by traveling to a variety of different worlds, interacting with historical and fictional characters, and solving puzzles.

<i>DeathKeep</i> 1995 video game

DeathKeep is a 1995 video game based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was released on the 3DO platform, and later converted to the PC. The game is a sequel to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Slayer.

<i>Nemesis: The Wizardry Adventure</i> 1996 video game

Nemesis: The Wizardry Adventure is a 1996 adventure and role-playing video game developed and published by Sir-Tech. It is a spin-off of the Wizardry series of games. Ports for Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows were released in Japan in 1998.

<i>Druid: Daemons of the Mind</i> 1995 video game

Druid: Daemons of the Mind is an action role-playing video game developed by British studio Synthetic Dimensions and published by Sir-Tech for MS-DOS. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Sega Saturn by Koei in Japan.

<i>Conspiracy X Game Masters Screen</i> Tabletop role-playing game supplement

Conspiracy X Game Master's Screen is a supplement published by Eden Studios in 1996 for the modern-era role-playing game Conspiracy X.

<i>Giovanni Chronicles</i> Role-playing game supplements

Giovanni Chronicles is a series of adventure modules by White Wolf Publishing for their tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. The series spans four books: Giovanni Chronicles: The Last Supper (1995), Giovanni Chronicles II: Blood & Fire (1996), Giovanni Chronicles III: The Sun Has Set (1998), and Giovanni Chronicles IV: Nuova Malattia (1999).

References

  1. ↑ "Online Gaming Review". Archived from the original on 1996-10-19. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  2. ↑ "Online Gaming Review". 1997-02-27. Archived from the original on 1997-02-27. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  3. 1 2 3 Blevins, Tal (November 5, 1996). "Azrael's Tear - GameSpot". GameSpot . Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Azrael's Tear". Next Generation . No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 182.
  5. 1 2 3 Butcher, Andy (May 1996). "Games Reviews". Arcane (6). Future Publishing: 72.
  6. 1 2 Necasek, Michael (April 9, 2002). "Throwback Thursday: Azrael's Tear". Just Adventure . Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Olafson, Peter (July 1996). "Azrael's Tear". PC Games. Archived from the original on 1996-10-18. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  8. ↑ Petreley, Nicholas (November 25, 1996). "Down to the Wire; The Mystique of the Holy Grail is a powerful Nemesis to doing work". InfoWorld . 18 (48): 82.
  9. ↑ Stibbe, Matthew. "Azrael's Tear: the best adventure game you've never heard of". GeekBoss. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.