Frogwares is reaching out to develop more
adventure-themed games, and this is one of the lead titles for that direction.
Dracula: Origins comes along more than a century after Bram Stoker first
created the character of Dracula, and the game tries to stay in that
outline — versus other forays into blood-feeding such as Anne Rice’s popular
“Lestat” take on such entities. Both were portrayed as sexy and impelling
creatures, but as different as night and day (poor choice of words, I know).
The other cast of (Stoker’s) characters are present as well. The gallery
includes the missing Jonathan Harker, Van
Helsing, Mina Harker
and a collection of interactive characters that exist only to be food — or help.
Your journey
begins as Van Helsing, the good-guy nemesis of the
glamorous vampire. You are looking for Jonathan and keeping Mina from becoming
part of Dracula’s stable of sirens. So far, following the
book pretty well. That’s about it on the similarities. This is a point-and-click adventure, like many that have come before it over the years. Though
not first-person like a Myst, it basically
puts you in the same puzzling situations, with the addition of colorful
characters to move you along. You know the drill: go into a vague room, poke
around at objects, and try to uncover/collect goodies to help you on your
mission. Save everything you can, because you know you’ll need it sooner or
later. Some items may not make any sense, but later on, the oddest items
become golden grails. If poking around is not your thing, then hit the Space
bar — and everything “hidden” in the room is highlighted for your convenience.
That’s good … as I’d hate to be challenged by having to work for my
rewards. That can speed things up, considerably.
You will
experience the obligatory spooky rooms and situations to get you in the mood,
but the scenery changes drastically as you travel to Cairo and Vienna. Such
excursions make things refreshing, and with good timing. To get there from
here, you will have to solve puzzles or otherwise take not-so-subtle hints
from characters you encounter. The puzzles are the most … well, puzzling. Some work
well in the situation, while others seem randomly dropped in from another
game. You will need collected items from inventory, or just your brain a la
Professor Layton, in some cases. By design, things are made easier at
times by the shear quality of the environment. There’s nothing worse than
trying to solve a puzzle — when you can’t even find a door. Aside from the hints
offered up by the characters, some of these will really test you, which can be
a blessing or annoyance, depending upon your ability (and patience). If the
puzzles were more consistent and predictable like in other games, you could
get a feeling of comfort and know what to expect. However, if you have a
weakness in the brain-buster type of quandaries, you may be in for a rough
time. It was a constant feeling of euphoria and frustration. The complex,
use-your-logic type encounters seemed to come at the times when I was least in
the mood for them. Hence, it is not predictable. For the sake of it shaking
things up in the game, I’ll remark that as a positive factor, but it
didn’t always feel that way!
The audio in
the game offers a lot of pleasant seasoning. The music fits the situation
you’re in, and the background noises will keep you in the mood for mystery.
The whole game is designed to be an experience, so such factors have to work
for that to be pulled off, and it does work. Only the sleepy or stiff voice
acting stands out as a negative distraction.
The visuals
are very rich and detailed. Though not too graphical in the gore-factor, there
is enough blood and dust to feed your eyes. Rooms have good light and shadow,
and the outsides feel right — though not as open as you might wish. It’s not a
wide-open world like Assassin’s Creed, after all. You may be on a
designed path of structure, but it’s lavish enough to not bore you, or take
away from the situation with pixel oddities or lazy shading.
The
quirkiness of the puzzle challenges increases as the game closes. You’re going
to have to use your wits and common sense, so gathering goodies can only get
you so far. You need the inventory, but not everything in your bag of tricks
is going to get you through. There’s tension and frustration, but a good
balance of each. Brain busting obstacles are easier to handle — when the journey
is laid out in a good format. That objective is mostly achieved.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The
game starts with a gentle, brooding introduction and offers hints right away.
It’s very intuitive, and the ability to reveal objects by merely pressing a key
is almost too easy. You can try to play it without that “cheat,” but it’s too
much of a temptation if speed is your motivation. That’s a shame, as it takes
away from the pace and interest in exploring an area that you might not
appreciate unless you have to be more methodical.
Graphics: 8.0
It’s
a lush, detailed game to play. As a hint for what you’re in for: it comes on
three disks. That’s a lot of data. Some of the scenes are underappreciated,
due to not being “forced” to poke and hunt around a room due to the short-cut
to highlight objects. Dracula is not as I imagined him to be, but I am glad
they did not stick to any one vision of him (Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Oldman,
etc.) in an attempt to make him match what other media has portrayed. So, I
appreciate that his appearance was almost a let-down. He’s not winning any
beauty contests, which deflates the whole romance, seduction angle of the
book. Detailed blood stained rooms and lavish costumes make up for individual
(visual) character flaws.
Sound: 7.5
The
music is subtle and tailored for every situation. In Egypt, you will hear
Middle Eastern-themed music, as defined by the stereotype that we all believe
represents that locale. The mood sounds and environmental audio further
enhances things in a positive manner, while the voice acting can be too rigid
and scripted. The reality factor is very hit and
miss with the character interaction.
Difficulty: Medium
If not for the
random riddle-esque puzzles tossed in, the game
would almost be easy. That space-bar reveal is an
Achilles heel that takes a lot of wind out of the sails. That simplicity is
made up for by puzzles that test more of your problem solving skill, and not
so much what you have in your bag of goodies.
Concept: 6.0
Frogware’s recent
“Sherlock Holmes” releases foreshadow any mystery about their direction with
old-world visuals and concepts. Dracula’s been around for more than a century,
so the source material is not new. Other games have come and gone with various
vampire themes, but this still has a place of its own due to the visuals and
not stooping to be a slasher game or otherwise
something it is not.
Overall: 7.5
Dracula lives on and on. He is retooled for new generations and tastes, but
the core material is strictly within Bram Stoker’s novel. Dracula: Origins
by the title, leads one to think that they are going to do the game using the
book as a compass. However, there are a lot of alterations that allow it to
stand apart, yet it remains confusing since the title and main characters are
aligned with the novel. It’s a fun and engaging plot that only gets stale when
you stare at a puzzle too long. If you don’t let the “too easy” inventory
search option take away from the experience, you can get a lot out of the
game. However, it is not one that you will feel like revisiting unless you
want to do it for the sole purpose of speed … or taking
the time to absorb the detailed visuals that took a lot of effort. I imagine
Dracula will rise from the digital dead again, and
maybe provide some more challenge in the future.
