| The Hound of Shadow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Eldritch Games |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Producer(s) | Joss Ellis |
| Designer(s) |
|
| Programmer(s) | Mike Lewis |
| Artist(s) | Carl Cropley |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Interactive fiction |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Hound of Shadow is an interactive fiction illustrated text adventure game created by Eldritch Games and published by Electronic Arts in 1989. [1]
The Hound of Shadows was developed by the British studio Eldritch Games as the first in a planned series of linked adventures called the Timeline series, in which players would be able to migrate their protagonist from game to game. The Hound of Shadows was published by Electronic Arts in 1989, with versions for the Amiga, [2] Atari ST, [1] and DOS.
Although Eldritch Games created more games in the same horror investigation milieu — Daughter of Serpents (1992) and The Scroll (1995) — the concept of a continuing Timeline series was never fulfilled.
Loosely based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft, the game is set in London during the 1920s, and incorporates historical elements such as the character of Elizabeth Báthory.
The player can choose a pregenerated character, but otherwise must first create a character, choosing gender, economic class, occupation, age, skills, and nationality (English or American). As reviewer John Scott noted, these all have an influence on the game. For example, a woman character will be refused service in a pub, in keeping with English alcohol laws of the 1920s, and a character with military service in World War I will be more prone to mental disabilities that are exacerbated by dabbling with the dark forces at work in the game. [3]
The game starts with the player's character being taken to a seance. Although the medium is clearly a fake, he is suddenly possessed, and in a woman's voice, warns the person sitting next to the player's character that he bears the mark of the Hound of Shadow. From there, the player and the "marked" person must investigate what this means before it is too late, and take action to prevent a tragic end. [4]
In the December 1989 edition of ST Format (Issue 5), Gary Barrett found the parser to be very limited, saying, "It seems to have a very limited vocabulary and only a vague grasp of the English language." He also noted the lack of any sound in the game, but he did find the written descriptions of surroundings "both lengthy and atmospheric." He concluded by giving the game an overall score of 90%, saying, "Other than its poor parser it's an excellent game that should give you plenty of sleepless nights: when you're not up playing it, it will be on your mind..." [5]
In the March 1990 edition of ACE (Issue 30), Chris Elliot noted several problems with the programming that led to endless loops that were difficult to break out of. He also became frustrated with the parser, noting that commands that work at the start of the game do not work later. He concluded by giving the game a below average grade of only 65%, saying "many improvements and refinements are required [...] In the end, frustration with the system outweighed my desire to solve the plot puzzles." [4]
In the May 1990 edition of Games International (Issue 14), John Scott called this program "A cracker of an adventure for Lovecraft fans." He noted that during the character generation process, "One of the beauties of this game is that the skills do make a difference as the story unfolds." Although Scott found the story got off to a "promising start", he noted that problems quickly added up due to "one of the worst parsers I have seen in an adventure game." He used the example of trying in vain to read a book by typing "Read book", but finally being allowed to read the book if he typed in the exact title of the book. He commented "This is inexcusable in an adventure written in 1989." He also noted that the sepia-toned graphics added nothing to the game, and the game itself suffered for lack of any sound effects or music. He concluded by giving the game an average rating of 7 out of 10 for gameplay and a poor rating of only 5 out of 10 for graphics. [3]
Shadow of the Beast is a platform game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Amiga, and was later ported to many other systems. The game was known for its graphics, with many colours on screen and up to twelve levels of parallax scrolling backdrops, and for its atmospheric score composed by David Whittaker that used high-quality instrument samples.
Wonder Boy in Monster Land, known by its original arcade release as Wonder Boy: Monster Land, is a platform video game developed by Westone Bit Entertainment and released by Sega in Japanese arcades in 1987 and for the Master System in 1988, with a number of other home computer and console ports following. The game is the sequel to the 1986 game Wonder Boy and takes place eleven years after the events in the previous game. After enjoying over a decade of peace on Wonder Land following the defeat of the evil King by Tom-Tom, later bestowed the title "Wonder Boy", a fire-breathing dragon called the MEKA dragon appeared; he and his minions conquered Wonder Land, turning it into "Monster Land". The people, helpless due to their lack of fighting skill, call for Wonder Boy, now a teenager, to destroy the monsters and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players control Wonder Boy through twelve linear levels as he makes his way through Monster Land to find and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players earn gold by defeating enemies and buy weapons, armor, footwear, magic, and other items to help along the way.
Curse of the Azure Bonds is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box adventure computer games, continuing the events after the first part, Pool of Radiance.
Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail is a graphic adventure game released in 1990 by Sierra On-Line. It was the first game in the Conquests series designed by Christy Marx and her husband Peter Ledger. The only other game in the series was 1991's Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood. Marx did the majority of the design work while Ledger created the game and package art.
Space Rogue is a space flight simulation video game developed by Origin Systems and published by Origin Systems, Wave Brain, and Night Dive Studios. The game was released in 1989 for Apple II and Commodore 64; the series was later ported to DOS, Macintosh, Amiga, and Atari ST. The game was also released in the Japanese language for PC-9801, X68000, and FM Towns. The FM Towns version had its intro remade with slight animations and new illustrations, along with scrolling Japanese text, and exclusive CD quality background music. Taking place within the Far Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, Space Rogue's main story revolves around the player character's efforts to pursue a career and undertake long-range goals beyond his immediate mission.
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur is an illustrated interactive fiction video game written by Bob Bates and published by Infocom in 1989. It was released for the Apple II, Amiga, Macintosh, and IBM PC compatibles. Atypically for an Infocom product, it shows illustrations of locations, characters and objects within the game. It is Infocom's thirty-fourth game and is the second of two Infocom games developed by Challenge using Infocom's development tools.
The Pawn is an interactive fiction game for the Sinclair QL written by Rob Steggles of Magnetic Scrolls and published by Sinclair Research in 1985. In 1986, graphics were added and the game was released for additional home computers by Rainbird.
Xenon 2: Megablast is a 1989 shoot 'em up video game developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Image Works for the Amiga and Atari ST. It was later converted to the Master System, PC-98, X68000, Mega Drive, Commodore CDTV, Game Boy, Acorn Archimedes and Atari Jaguar platforms. The game is a sequel to Xenon and takes place a millennium after the previous title. The goal of the game is to destroy a series of bombs planted throughout history by the Xenites, the vengeful antagonists of the first game.
There have been several video games based on the 1991 film Hook. A side-scrolling platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Game Boy was released in the United States in February 1992. Subsequent side-scrolling platform games were released for the Commodore 64 and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and an arcade beat ‘em up by Irem later in 1992, followed by versions for the Sega CD, Sega Genesis, and Sega's handheld Game Gear console in 1993.
Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon is a 1989 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line, and the third game in the Space Quest series. Players assume the role of Roger Wilco, a lowly space janitor, who becomes involved in rescuing a pair of computer programmers from a sinister video game company. The game received positive reviews from critics, and contributed further to the series' commercial success for Sierra. A sequel, Space Quest IV, was released in 1991.
Police Quest II: The Vengeance is a 1988 police procedural adventure video game developed and published by Jim Walls and Sierra On-Line. It is the second installment in the Police Quest series. The game continues the story of police officer Sonny Bonds as he attempts to apprehend an escaped convict.
Wonderland is an interactive fiction game developed by Magnetic Scrolls and published in 1990 by Virgin Games.
Scapeghost is a text adventure published by Level 9 Computing in 1989. It was the last text adventure game released by the company.
Pool of Radiance is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms campaign settings of Dungeons & Dragons; it was the first Dungeons & Dragons video game series to be based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules.
Transylvania is an adventure video game published by Penguin Software. It was released for the Apple II in 1982 followed by ports to the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64. A Mac conversion was published in 1984, then versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS in 1985.
Legend of the Sword is a 1988 fantasy interactive fiction video game developed by Silicon Soft and published by Rainbird Software for the Atari ST. Ports for the Amiga and MS-DOS were released later. A Macintosh version was expected to release shortly after the Atari ST version but was never released. A sequel, The Final Battle, was released in 1990.
Sex Vixens from Space is an erotic interactive fiction game developed and self-published by Free Spirit Software and originally released in 1988 for the Commodore 64 and Apple II as part of the compilation Sex And Violence Vol. 1. It was released as a standalone game, with the addition of graphics, in November 1988 for DOS and Amiga and in 1989 for the Atari ST. Sex Vixens was inspired by the 1974 sexploitation film Flesh Gordon. The game was panned by reviewers.
Das Stundenglas is a German text adventure game published in 1990 by Software 2000 and developed by Weltenschmiede, and released for Amiga, Atari ST and DOS. Das Stundenglas is part of a text adventure trilogy; it is succeeded by Die Kathedrale (1991) and Hexuma (1992). The trilogy lacks an overarching plot, and in each entry the setting, role of the protagonist, and goal differ between each game. Games in the trilogy do not require knowledge of the other entries and may be played as standalone games.
Planet of Lust is a 1989 erotic text adventure game developed and self-published by Free Spirit Software, and released for Commodore 64, DOS, Atari ST, and Amiga. The Amiga version of Planet of Lust was released in Europe in April 1989. Planet of Lust is the second game in the Brad Stallion series; it is preceded by Sex Vixens from Space (1988), and succeeded by Bride of the Robot (1989) and Sex Olympics (1991).
Bride of the Robot is a 1989 erotic text adventure game developed and self-published by Free Spirit Software and released for the Amiga and Atari ST. The Amiga version of Bride of the Robot was published in Europe in June 1989 by CSJ Computersoft. Bride of the Robot is the third entry in the Brad Stallion series, and is preceded by Sex Vixens from Space (1989) and Planet of Lust (1989), and succeeded by Sex Olympics (1991).