Dracula Unleashed

Last updated
Dracula Unleashed
Dracula Unleashed.jpg
DOS cover art
Developer(s) ICOM Simulations
Publisher(s) Viacom New Media
Sega (Sega CD)
Director(s) Mike Plant
Producer(s) David Marsh
Designer(s) Anthony Sherman
David Marsh
Karl Roelofs
Katherine Tootelian
Programmer(s) Fred Allen
Artist(s) Katherine Tootelian
Writer(s) Anthony Sherman
Andrew Greenberg
William Bridges
Composer(s) Byte-Size Sound
Platform(s) DOS, Macintosh, Sega CD, DVD
Release1993
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Dracula Unleashed is a 1993 video game created by ICOM Simulations and published by Viacom New Media for the DOS, Macintosh and Sega CD platforms.

Contents

It was one of the earliest titles to make heavy use of full-motion video as an integral part of the gameplay. Other contemporary titles utilizing full-motion video include Night Trap , Sewer Shark and Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective .

Plot

The player assumes the identity of a young Texas businessman named Alexander Morris, who has come to London during the winter of 1899 to research the strange surroundings involving his brother Quincey's death 10 years earlier. In the process, he meets an English woman named Annisette Bowen and becomes engaged to marry her.

Due largely to their "extremely close relationship", Quincey's good friend, Lord Arthur Holmwood, has proposed Alexander's induction into the mysterious and exclusive Hades Club. However, Alexander Morris soon discovers a part of his brother's life he had no knowledge of: Quincey Morris was part of a group which destroyed the legendary vampire, Count Dracula.

As Alexander Morris, the player must travel to specific locations in London at certain times with certain items gathered throughout Morris' travels in order to gather clues about the events which occur during the game and achieve victory over Dracula.

Alexander's inquires lead him to learn that a vampire known as the "bloofer lady" has been sighted in London, who he later identifies as a friend of Annisette whose husband was also a member of the Hades Club. Alexander and his allies manage to kill the bloofer lady at her funeral with a stake but discover that Dracula has kidnapped Annisette and taken her to the Hades Club which are revealed to be responsible for Dracula's resurrection. At the Club, Alexander learns that Dracula had killed Holmwood months before his arrival and has been impersonating him ever since. The Count attacks Annisette and Alexander until they manage to uncover several wall mounted crucifixes, causing the room to cave in and impale Dracula with a beam, destroying him.

DVD

In 2002, Infinite Ventures, Inc. released the game on DVD. The game is identical in play, but uses full-screen, DVD-quality video. It also has a "behind the scenes" featurette, as well as some audio bloopers.

There are some minor differences between the DVD version and the Sega CD and PC versions:

Development

The game had a budget of more than $2 million. [1]

Parental advisory

When it was released for the Sega CD, it was given an MA-13 label by the Videogame Rating Council. The game has a spooky atmosphere and musical score, along with some images of blood and a campy bookstore owner. It was also reviewed by BBFC and attributed a 15 rating.

Reception

Computer Gaming World in January 1994 called the PC version of Dracula Unleashed ICOM Simulations's "most compelling interactive adventure yet" and "the most effective 'interactive movie' to date". The reviewer compared it to Dark Shadows and MacVenture games such as Uninvited , and approved of the improvements on the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective series' graphics and user interface. He concluded that "computer and theater have been brought one step closer together". [2] In April 1994 the magazine said that players "can count on many hours of haunting play ... Live actors and sets add a strong cinematic realism", with "memorably creepy performances throughout", recommending the game to "anyone with more than a passing interest in the horror genre". [3] GamePro gave the Sega CD version a positive review. They criticized that the slow-moving cursor and long load times can make the game painfully slow, but highly praised the audio, gameplay, and "well-acted and nicely staged video", especially the "eerie" dream sequences. [4] Electronic Gaming Monthly commented that despite the full motion video being excessively grainy, the riveting storyline and "excellent" soundtrack keep the player invested in the game. They scored it a 7.25 out of 10. [5]

Related Research Articles

Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information during cutscenes, games that are primarily presented through FMVs are referred to as full-motion video games or interactive movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Van Helsing</span> Fictional character created by Bram Stoker

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc.", indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. He is a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist, and metaphysician. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire slayer, monster hunter and the arch-nemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypal parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction. Some later works tell new stories about Van Helsing, while others, such as Dracula (2020) and I Woke Up a Vampire (2023) have characters that are his descendants.

An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.

<i>Star Wars: Rebel Assault</i> 1993 video game

Star Wars: Rebel Assault is a 1993 rail shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts for DOS, Macintosh, Sega CD and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer systems, set in the Star Wars universe. It is the first CD-ROM-only game to be published by LucasArts. The game's story focuses on a young pilot called Rookie One as they are trained by, and subsequently fights for, the Rebel Alliance in the Galactic Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quincey Morris</span> Fictional character created by Bram Stoker

Quincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic novel Dracula.

<i>Silpheed</i> 1986 video game

Silpheed is a video game developed by Game Arts and designed by Takeshi Miyaji. It made its debut on the Japanese PC-8801 in 1986, and was ported to the Fujitsu FM-7 and DOS formats soon after. It was later remade for the Sega CD and has a sequel called Silpheed: The Lost Planet for the PlayStation 2.

<i>Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective</i> 1991 video game

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a full-motion video game released in 1991. It is based on a tabletop game-gamebook hybrid of the same name first published in 1981, and features the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony Imagesoft</span> Former American video game publisher

Sony Imagesoft Inc. was an American video game publisher that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and initially named CSG Imagesoft Inc. Their focus at the beginning was on marketing games exclusively for Nintendo consoles.

<i>Bram Stokers Dracula</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1993 video game released for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Game Boy, Master System, Sega CD, Game Gear, MS-DOS, and Amiga. It is based on the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula which in turn is based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Most versions are platform games. The Sega CD and Amiga releases are beat 'em ups, and the MS-DOS version is a first-person shooter. The Amiga version was released in 1994 for North America and Europe. A CD-ROM version for MS-DOS compatible operating systems was released in 1995.

Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family and is Mina Murray's best friend. Early in the story, Lucy gets proposed to by three suitors, Arthur Holmwood, John Seward, and Quincey Morris, on the same day. Turning the latter two down due to already being in love with Arthur, she accepts his proposal. Before getting the chance to marry, Lucy becomes Count Dracula's first English victim, and despite Seward contacting Abraham Van Helsing for help, she transforms into a vampire. Following her return as a vampire and attacks on children—dubbed the "Bloofer Lady" by them—she is eventually cornered into her crypt by Van Helsing and her suitors who destroy her, putting her soul to rest.

<i>Dracula, the Musical</i> 2001 American musical by Frank Wildhorn

Dracula, the Musical is a musical based on the original 1897 Victorian novel by Bram Stoker. The score is by Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics and book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ICOM Simulations</span> American software company

ICOM Simulations, Inc. was a software company based in Wheeling, Illinois. It is best known for creating the MacVenture series of adventure games including Shadowgate.

<i>Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. II</i> 1992 video game

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. II is a full motion video computer game released for the Mega-CD, TurboGrafx-CD, Mac OS, VIS and DOS. The game is based around the adventures of the titular character, detective Sherlock Holmes, and his assistant, Dr. John Watson.

<i>Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold</i> 1992 video game

Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold is a live-action laserdisc video game produced by American Laser Games, released for the arcade, Sega CD, 3DO, CD-i and DOS, the first release being in 1992; the quality of the video is the lowest on Sega CD. A sequel to the moderately popular Mad Dog McCree, the game abandoned the rather simple style of the original, introducing elements that can be considered "Hollywood", including dynamic shootout scenes and in-game music, as opposed to the original's almost complete lack thereof. Like the first game, the player follows the storyline and is required to quickly shoot certain enemies to proceed on the quest. The game was re-released by Digital Leisure in 2003 on DVD-Video and again in 2009 on the Wii as part of the Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack, a compilation that also includes the first Mad Dog game as well as The Last Bounty Hunter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Holmwood</span> Character in Bram Stokers novel Dracula

Arthur "Art" Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

<i>Count Dracula</i> (1977 film) 1977 British TV film by Gerald Savory

Count Dracula is a British television adaptation of the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Produced by the BBC, it first aired on BBC 2 on 22 December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book. Directed by Philip Saville from a screenplay by Gerald Savory, it stars Louis Jourdan as Count Dracula and Frank Finlay as Professor Van Helsing.

<i>Dracula</i> (miniseries) 2002 Italian television miniseries

Dracula, also known as Dracula's Curse, is a 2002 Italian horror miniseries written and directed by Roger Young and starring Patrick Bergin, Giancarlo Giannini and Stefania Rocca. It is based on the 1897 novel of the same name by Bram Stoker, though it updates the events of the novel to the present day.

David R. Marsh is an American video game designer known for his work supporting the intellectual properties that used to belong to ICOM Simulations, and creating the MacVenture game Shadowgate. As of 2012, he recently founded a new game development company called Zojoi, LLC with plans to release new, remastered and revised versions of games created by him and Karl Roelofs when they were at ICOM Simulations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Roelofs</span> American video game developer (born 1964)

Karl Roelofs is an American video game developer known for creating the MacVenture game Shadowgate. He is a co-founder of the video game development company Zojoi, LLC with Dave Marsh.

<i>Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine</i> 1994 video game

Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine is a video game developed and published by Rocket Science Games for the Sega CD in 1994 and MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1995.

References

  1. ↑ Schwabach, Bob (November 7, 1993). "Custom keys can simplify your board". The Arizona Republic . p. 90. Retrieved January 10, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Miller, Chuck (January 1994). "Unleashing The Undead". Computer Gaming World. pp. 98, 100.
  3. ↑ "Invasion Of The Data Stashers". Computer Gaming World. April 1994. pp. 20–42.
  4. ↑ "ProReview: Dracula Unleashed". GamePro . No. 57. IDG. April 1994. p. 38.
  5. ↑ "Review Crew: Dracula Unleashed". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 57. EGM Media, LLC. April 1994. p. 40.
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.