Last Half of Darkness | |
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Genre(s) | Adventure, horror |
First release | Last Half of Darkness 1989 |
Latest release | Last Half of Darkness: Society of the Serpent Moon 2011 |
Last Half of Darkness is a point and click adventure horror video game franchise that began in 1989 with the DOS "early horror adventure" [1] video game Last Half of Darkness developed by SoftLab Laboratories. [2]
Other games in the series include: Last Half of Darkness II (1992), Last Half of Darkness III (1993), Last Half of Darkness (2000), Last Half of Darkness: Shadows of the Servants (2005), Last Half of Darkness: Beyond the Spirit's Eye (2007), Tomb of Zojir: Last Half of Darkness (2009), and Last Half of Darkness: Society of the Serpent Moon (2011). The final game was published by Iceberg Interactive. [3]
Gaming Lives said that the franchise "has many fans and offers traditional horror adventure gaming with some innovative 'hands-on' puzzle features". [4]
The 2000 game Last Half of Darkness was a remake that combined the first three games in the franchise. [5]
The franchise is based around adventure game mechanics; for example the first entry allowed the player to manipulate items using four verbs: Move, Examine, Take and Operate. It is very rare in the franchise for the player to interact with other human characters. [6]
Consisting of an investigative [7] and horror-themed series of plots, the games are based inside locations such as a haunted mansion where cases must be solved.
Tomb Raider, known as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise is currently owned by CDE Entertainment; it was formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, then by Square Enix Europe after Square Enix's acquisition of Eidos in 2009 until Embracer Group purchased the intellectual property alongside Eidos in 2022. The franchise focuses on the fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins. Gameplay generally focuses on exploration, solving puzzles, navigating hostile environments filled with traps, and fighting enemies. Additional media has been developed for the franchise in the form of film adaptations, comics and novels.
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An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Alone in the Dark is a survival horror video game series originally developed by Infogrames. In most of the games, the player controls private investigator Edward Carnby, who goes to investigate a haunted house or town that is full of undead creatures.
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Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is a 2003 action-adventure game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. A Mac OS X port was developed by Beenox and published by Aspyr the same year. Acting as a direct sequel to Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles, the storyline follows Lara Croft as she attempts to clear herself of being the suspect of her former mentor Werner Von Croy's murder while investigating the activities of a black magic cult. The gameplay follows series tradition, with Lara navigating platforming environments while incorporating stealth and character growth elements.
HeR Interactive is a video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. The company was founded as a division of American Laser Games, and spun off as an independent entity. It later bought out its former parent company. The company designs, develops and publishes adventure-mystery games, most of which are based on the Nancy Drew franchise.
Atlantis: The Lost Tales is a 1997 fantasy adventure video game developed and published by Cryo Interactive Entertainment. Interplay Productions published the game in North America, where it released on September 30, 1997. The game is named after its initial and most important setting, Atlantis. It is the first in a Myst-like series, and was followed by Atlantis II, Atlantis III: The New World, Atlantis Evolution and The Secrets of Atlantis: The Sacred Legacy.
Dark Fall is a 2002 first-person psychological horror/adventure game developed and independently published for Microsoft Windows by Jonathan Boakes, under the XXv Productions label. After the independent release proved a success, with the game selling well and generating good word-of-mouth, The Adventure Company purchased the rights, releasing it worldwide in 2003 under the title Dark Fall - The Journal. The game was re-released twice in 2009. Firstly, by Boakes' own company, Darkling Room, in a limited "Pins & Needles" edition, and later by Iceberg Interactive, as part of their Adventures in Terror: British Horror Collection. The game was made available on Steam in December 2013.
The Dark Eye is a 1995 first-person psychological horror adventure game developed by Inscape and published by Warner Interactive Entertainment for Windows and Mac.
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Dark Fall: Lost Souls is a 2009 first-person psychological horror/adventure game developed by British studio Darkling Room and published by Iceberg Interactive for Microsoft Windows. It was first released for download via Steam and Darkling Room's official website in November 2009. It was subsequently released for retail in Europe in January 2010, and in North America in April. Lost Souls is the third game in the Dark Fall series, following Dark Fall (2002) and Dark Fall II: Lights Out (2004). It tells a story relatively unrelated to either, although it is set in the same location and features several of the supporting characters from the first game.
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