MediEvil is an action-adventurehack and slashvideo game developed by SCE Studio Cambridge and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The game is set in the medieval Kingdom of Gallowmere and centres around the charlatan protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque, as he makes an attempt to stop antagonist Zarok's invasion of the kingdom whilst simultaneously redeeming himself.
Development began in 1995 at Millennium Interactive in Cambridge under the working title of Dead Man Dan. The visuals are heavily influenced by Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Originally conceived as an arcade-style shooter for platforms such as Windows and the Sega Saturn, Sony's purchase of SCE Cambridge Studio evolved the game into a PlayStation title. The game received mostly positive praise from critics upon release, with praise including its blend of Halloween themed visuals, but was criticised for its controls and cumbersome camera work.
The game takes place across a variety of levels, many of which require certain objectives to be performed to progress. Sir Daniel Fortesque can use a variety of weapons, consisting of close range weapons such as swords and clubs to long range weapons such as crossbows.[2] Many can be charged for a powerful attack and some, such as the club, can be used to access areas that are otherwise inaccessible. When not possessing any items, Dan is able to rip his arm off and use it for both melee and ranged attacks.[3] Dan can equip a shield alongside weapons for defence, but each type of shield has a limited amount of strength and are therefore best used sparingly. Throughout the game, Dan can visit gargoyle heads of two varieties: green ones offer Dan information while blue ones allow Dan to buy services or ammunition by using the treasures he finds.[citation needed]
Dan's health is determined by a health bar, which reduces when Dan is hit. It will deplete completely if Dan drowns or falls from a great height. If Dan runs out of health, the game will end.[2] Dan can extend his maximum health by collecting Life Bottles, which will automatically refill his health bar if it drops to zero. Also hidden throughout the game are Life Vials and Life Fountains that replenish Dan's health and fill any empty Life Bottles Dan has.[4] In each level, there is a hidden Chalice of Souls which can be collected if the player has dispatched enough enemies (some Chalices are awarded via other means). Certain enemies have no soul and therefore do not count while the levels "The Sleeping Village" and "The Haunted Ruins" include NPCs with "good souls" that will reduce the Chalice percentage if killed. If the player clears a level with a Chalice in hand, Dan is warped to the Hall of Heroes, where he can speak to a hero who will give him rewards, such as weapons. If the player finishes the game with all the Chalices, the true ending is revealed.[2]
Plot
In the year 1286, an evil sorcerer named Zarok plotted to take over the kingdom of Gallowmere with his undead army.[5] It is told in legend that the champion, Sir Daniel Fortesque, led the King of Gallowmere's army to victory and managed to kill Zarok before he succumbed to his mortal wounds.[6][5] In reality, however, Dan was struck down by the first arrow fired in the battle, with the king choosing to cover it up and declare Dan the "Hero of Gallowmere".[5] Zarok, meanwhile, went into hiding.[5] 100 years later, Zarok reappears, casting a spell over Gallowmere to plunge it into eternal night, awaken his undead army and steal the souls of the living.[6] However, in the process, he unwittingly revives Dan, who has over time become a skeletal corpse, missing his jaw which fell off and the left eye he lost in the battle of Gallowmere.[6] Having been unable to ascend to the fabled Hall of Heroes for his ignoble death, Dan uses this opportunity to defeat Zarok, save Gallowmere and earn his place as a true hero.[7]
As Dan travels across Gallowmere, fighting his way through Zarok's hordes and confronting all manner of beasts, he soon arrives at Zarok's lair, fighting off Zarok's skeletal personal guard using the souls of his old allies retrieved by collecting the Chalices.[7] After also managing to defeat Zarok's champion, Lord Kardok, (who also died from being struck in the eye in the battle of Gallowmere by Dan's crossbowman and second in command, Canny Tim) Zarok turns into a powerful monster (form of a dragon), but Dan manages to defeat him.[8] As Zarok uses his last breath to cause his lair to collapse in an attempt to take Dan with him (inadvertently crushing himself in the process), Dan escapes and Zarok's magical influence over the land is thwarted, thus restoring the souls back to the living and putting the dead back to rest.[9][10] With the magic cast on him also wearing off as a result, Dan returns to his burial chamber where he once again enters eternal slumber.[10] If the player has managed to collect all the Chalices, Dan will ascend to the Hall of Heroes, where he is hailed as the rightful Hero of Gallowmere.[11]
Development
Development of MediEvil began in late 1995 at independent developer Millennium Interactive in Cambridge.[12] Chris Sorrell, previously known for the James Pond series of games, created the original concept for MediEvil and served as the game's creative director.[13] Sorrell joined Millennium, with whom he had been working with for a while, after completing James Pond 3. When asked what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to work with someone on the visual side. Jason Wilson, who would be the designer and a writer for the game, met up with Sorrell and began working on MediEvil.[12]
Don't care about graphics! Do care about processes!
–Dave Burrows, explaining the studio's development process in a retrospective "post-mortem"[14]
According to Sorrell, the first design proposal for the game had the working title ‘Dead Man Dan’ and described a game that was initially a fusion of Capcom's Ghost'n Goblins combined with the art style of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.[13] As development progressed, lead artist Wilson pushed the game into more of a Zeldarole playing game-influenced direction as opposed to the original arcade-style concept. Looking to attract a major publishing deal, Millennium Interactive initially began working on multiple platforms including Windows and the Sega Saturn before giving Sony of Europe a working demo of the game. Impressed by the progress, Sony signed MediEvil to be an exclusive PlayStation game and commissioned SCE Cambridge Studio as Sony's second studio in the United Kingdom, after Psygnosis.[13] During the production of the demo, there was a programmer for each platform.[12] Millennium was having financial difficulties and wanted to secure a publisher quickly. Sega and Microsoft were also interested in the game.[12]
SCE Cambridge wanted the game to possess a unique lead character, thus Sorrell worked with script doctor Martin Pond whilst creating an expansive backstory for the lead protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque. Pond came up with the idea that Sir Daniel could have been a pompous failure in life whose reincarnation was his one shot at redemption.[13][15] This idea, along with the player-character's unusual appearance, turned appealing to some sectors of the gaming community, as lead designer Wilson later recalled that female gamers considered Sir Daniel to be endearing, and was considered a sex symbol in France.[15]
Sony's acquisition of SCE Cambridge (which occurred within six months of Sony agreeing to publish the game[12]) helped ease financial strain on the project, but did not assist the studio's inexperience with making 3D games.[15] The takeover was also "quite intimidating" to Sorrell and Wilson, who had not held conferences. Sorrell stated the concept of conferences was "totally alien".[12] He felt that the game started to feel like a major project after a few meetings.[12]
Sorrell admitted in a retrospective interview that MediEvil presented "a mountain of challenges", since they, as many other developers at the time, were new to 3D gaming. He also admitted that some members of the team spent long nights without sleeping in order to finish the game on time.[15] He described it as "a huge learning project" for the team.[12] During development, the Cambridge team played beta versions of successful platformers such as Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot which helped them understand how they might solve some challenges in building a 3D action game for the first time.[13][15]
Sony requested that MediEvil should support the PlayStation analogue controller, which Sorrell described as a "particularly fortuitous event" as it allowed them to capture much more fluidity and intuitiveness within the game. New concepts such as camera and character control presented many drawbacks and required the team to try out a number of approaches before settling on solutions that seemed to work. The team finally settled on the concept that MediEvil would support both analogue and digital camera-related controls for balance reasons.[15] Sorrell stated that a spline camera view was the first attempt, but he disliked it due to the lack of freedom for the player to feel as if he was exploring. It was then changed to a free-form camera view, which "just worked".[16] There were also many levels and ideas from the original concept that the team were forced to remove due to time or budget constraints. There was intended to be a platform-oriented section of the game where the player would control the worm that lived in Daniel's skull. Concept art and a separate level was created for this section, but it never materialised into the game.[17]
Humour drove the game forward for Sony Cambridge Studio. Jokes were reflections on how the team operated. Sorrell explained that the humour was a "happy accident", and that he used it only when he thought it appropriate. Wilson said that the team were "youthful and silly", and they liked horror films and comedy. He thought the humour was "a natural extension of our personalities".[12]
The 2005 PlayStation Portable re-imagining MediEvil: Resurrection used parts of the MediEvil score, along with original elements composed by Bob & Barn that was performed by a live orchestra and choir.[19] An album was made from this music and signed copies can be purchased from the artists' website.[20]
Marketing and release
Sorrell explained that, during the marketing campaign, the team were frequently asked to go to graveyards for photo-shoots. These usually went without incident, but on one occasion a vicar asked them why they were filming on church property. They lied by telling him that they were students filming a documentary on churches.[15] Marketing campaigns also incorporated Sony Cambridge Studio's humour.[16]
MediEvil was first released in North America and Europe in October 1998.[21] The Japanese version, titled MediEvil: Yomigaetta Gallowmere no Yūsha,[lower-alpha 1] was released on 17 June 1999.[22] The character of Fortesque proved unpopular there, because they considered the idea of a skeleton being the protagonist strange.[15] The game was later released with C-12: Final Resistance in a two-disc pack on 9 May 2003.[23] It was also re-released on the PlayStation Network in 2007.[24] In 2011, MediEvil was ported to Android, although it is only compatible with PlayStation-certified devices such as the Sony Xperia Play.[25][26]
The game received positive reviews from critics upon release. It received an aggregate score of 80 percent from GameRankings[27] and was mostly praised for its Halloween-influenced atmosphere by many critics.[32][3]IGN's Chris Roper praised the game's sense of humour and unique presentation, but was skeptical about the game's "sloppy" controls and disjointed level designs, noting that the game's graphics did not age well over time as compared to the PSP remake which offered superior graphics and gameplay.[32]Game Revolution similarly praised the humour but criticised the game for being too straightforward and "easy to master", noting that the graphics and gameplay were slightly inferior to that of Banjo-Kazooie,[30]Edge's reviewer believed the game is "well crafted in some respects, underdeveloped in others": the "ingenious" feel was praised, but many levels were felt to be simple cases of maze navigation.[29] The reviewer of Computer and Video Games criticised the game's repetitiveness, but said it "looks nice, and plays OK".[28] The reviewer of Next Generation liked the dark humour, but complained about the camera, saying it does not smoothly keep up with the character. The conclusion was that MediEvil merely repeated what had already been done.[33]Joystick's reviewer thought that MediEvil would be a new whim for players.[35]
The music and atmosphere were the mostly praised aspects of the game. Many reviewers compared the visuals to be similar to Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Joe Fielder of GameSpot credited MediEvil for its original look and number of unique puzzles, but criticised the camera work, summarising that a "tighter camera control" would have been a necessity.[31] Randy Nelson of IGN considered the game to be a homage to Capcom's Ghosts & Goblins, stating that the game took too many inspirations from others and not enough innovation was put into it to make it "unique". Nelson praised the environment of the game but considered the gameplay to be best suited for "a mindless hack-'n-slash romp".[2]
The Android version was described as "rather expensive" by Damien McFerran of Know Your Mobile, but he praised the humour and the amount of content, which he said made the game stand out from other 3D action games on Android.[26]
Sales
The game has been re-released as a "PlayStation Platinum" title in 1999, meaning it sold at least 400,000 copies in Europe.[37]
Remakes
In 2005, a "reimagining" was released on the PlayStation Portable under the title MediEvil: Resurrection. The gameplay is similar, but there are several additional minigames and plot elements.
An eponymous PlayStation 4remake was released in 2019. It was developed by American studio Other Ocean Emeryville.[38] The original 1998 game can be unlocked in the remake by completing special objectives.
Notes
↑ MediEvil: Yomigaetta Gallowmere no Yūsha (メディーバル 〜甦ったガロメアの勇者〜)
Related Research Articles
Spice World is a music video game starring English pop girl group the Spice Girls as animated characters. It was developed by SCE Studios Soho and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation.
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is a Japanese-American video game and digital entertainment company, subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game consoles and products. It is also the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its equity investments.
MediEvil is an action-adventure hack and slash series of games developed by SCE Studio Cambridge and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series revolves around an undead charlatan knight, Sir Daniel Fortesque, as he attempts to restore peace to the fictional Kingdom of Gallowmere whilst simultaneously redeeming himself. The first entry in the series, MediEvil, was released for the PlayStation in 1998 and was re-released on the PlayStation Network in 2007. Its direct sequel, MediEvil 2, was released for the PlayStation in 2000. The first game received two remakes, MediEvil: Resurrection for the PlayStation Portable in 2005 and MediEvil for the PlayStation 4 in 2019.
God of War is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). First released for the PlayStation 2 on March 22, 2005, the game is the first installment in the God of War series and the third chronologically. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior who serves the Olympian gods. The goddess Athena tasks Kratos with killing Ares, the God of War and Kratos' former mentor who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. As Ares besieges Athens out of hatred for Athena, Kratos embarks on a quest to find the one object capable of stopping the god once and for all: Pandora's Box.
Space Station Silicon Valley is a platform video game developed by DMA Design and published by Take-Two Interactive. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in October 1998. An adaptation of the game for Game Boy Color was developed by Tarantula Studios and released in 1999. A PlayStation port, developed by Runecraft, was released in 2000, under the name Evo's Space Adventures. Players control Evo, a robot reduced to a crawling microchip after a ship crash, and are tasked with taking control of animals to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.
MediEvil: Resurrection is a 2005 gothic action-adventure game developed by SCE Studio Cambridge and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. It is a re-imagining of the first installment in the series, MediEvil. It was first released as a launch title in September 2005 in North America and Europe. The game is set in the medieval Kingdom of Gallowmere and centres around the charlatan protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque, as he makes an attempt to stop antagonist Zarok's invasion of the kingdom whilst simultaneously redeeming himself. The game also features a variety of voice talents, including Tom Baker as the narrator and the Grim Reaper.
Psygnosis Limited was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ellis, and David Lawson, the company initially became known for well-received games on the Atari ST and Amiga. In 1993, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and began developing games for the original PlayStation. It later became a part of SCE Worldwide Studios. The company was the oldest and second largest development house within SCE's European stable of developers, and became best known for franchises such as Lemmings, Wipeout, Formula One, and Colony Wars.
MediEvil 2 is a 2000 action-adventure game developed by SCE Cambridge Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the second instalment of the MediEvil series and a sequel to MediEvil. Taking place 500 years after the events of the first game, it follows series' protagonist Sir Daniel Fortesque's revival in Victorian-era London as he attempts to stop sorcerer Lord Palethorn and Jack the Ripper's plans to terrorise the city by raising the dead.
Rogue Galaxy is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was released in Japan in December 2005, in North America in January 2007, and in most European countries and Australia in September of the same year. A director's cut of the game was released in Japan in March 2007, which includes all of the added features and improvements made for the North American and European localizations.
Spawn: The Eternal is an action-adventure video game developed by Sony Interactive Studios America and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation, based on the comic book character Spawn created by Todd McFarlane and produced by Image Comics. It was released on December 9, 1997 in North America and received poor reviews. When played on a CD player, the disc would be revealed to contain a lengthy audio interview with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane.
Guerrilla Cambridge was a British video game developer based in Cambridge, England. The studio was founded under Sony Computer Entertainment in July 1997 through the buyout of the game development division of CyberLife Technology. In 2010, SCE Studio Cambridge was restructured as a sister studio to Guerrilla Games under the name Guerrilla Cambridge and shut down in 2017. The studio is best known for developing the MediEvil series.
Dark Cloud is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Originally intended as a launch title for the system in March 2000, the game was eventually released in Japan in December 2000, in North America in May 2001, and in Europe in September. A spiritual sequel, Dark Chronicle, was released in Japan in 2002 and worldwide the following year.
Media Molecule Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 2006 by Mark Healey, Alex Evans, David Smith, and Kareem Ettouney, Sony Computer Entertainment acquired the firm in 2010. It became part of SCE Worldwide Studios. The company is best known for developing the LittleBigPlanet series, 2013's Tearaway, and 2020's Dreams for PlayStation consoles.
PaRappa the Rapper is a rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was originally released in Japan in 1996 and worldwide in 1997. Created by music producer Masaya Matsuura in collaboration with artist Rodney Greenblat, the game features unique visual design and rap-based gameplay and is considered to be the first true rhythm game. It was ported to the PlayStation Portable in 2006 in celebration of its 10-year anniversary. A remastered version of the original PlayStation game was released for PlayStation 4 in 2017 for the game's twentieth anniversary.
LittleBigPlanet is a puzzle-platform game for the PlayStation Portable developed by SCE Studio Cambridge in conjunction with Media Molecule and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. An addition to the LittleBigPlanet franchise made for the PSP, featuring a brand new story mode. It was released on 17 November 2009 in North America and 20 November 2009 in PAL regions. The game's servers have been shut down since July 30, 2016.
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em up games also employ a third-person perspective, the TPS genre is distinguished by having the game presented with the player's avatar as a primary focus of the camera's view.
PlayStation Studios is a division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was established as SCE Worldwide Studios in September 2005 and rebranded as PlayStation Studios in 2020.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a 2012 crossover fighting game developed by SuperBot Entertainment, in conjunction with Bluepoint Games, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It features various characters drawn from different PlayStation video game franchises competing against each other in multiplayer battles. The game was released in November 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita video game consoles.
Until Dawn is a 2015 interactive drama horror game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players assume control of eight young adults who have to survive on Blackwood Mountain when their lives are threatened. The game features a butterfly effect system in which players must make choices that may change the story. All playable characters can survive or die, depending on the choices made. Players explore the environment from a third-person perspective and find clues that may help solve the mystery.
MediEvil is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Other Ocean Emeryville and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The player controls the protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque, through a series of levels, using various weapons to fight enemies as well as encountering various non-playable characters. It is a remake of MediEvil, which was originally developed by British video game developer SCE Cambridge Studio and released for the PlayStation in 1998.
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.
