''Dracula Unleashed'' is a 1993
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
game created by
ICOM Simulations
ICOM Simulations, Inc. (later known as Rabid Entertainment) was a software company based in Wheeling, Illinois. It is best known for creating the MacVenture series of adventure games including ''Shadowgate''.
Following the foundation in 1981 a n ...
and published by
Viacom New Media Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
for the
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicatio ...
,
Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
and
Sega CD
The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...
platforms.
It was one of the earliest titles to make heavy use of
full-motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...
as an integral part of the gameplay. Other contemporary titles utilizing full-motion video include ''
Night Trap
''Night Trap'' is a 1992 interactive movie developed by Digital Pictures and published by Sega for the Sega CD. Presented primarily through full-motion video (FMV), ''Night Trap'' tasks the player to observe teenage girls having a sleepover vi ...
'', ''
Sewer Shark
''Sewer Shark'' is a first-person rail shooter video game, and is the first on a home console to use full motion video for its primary gameplay. It was originally slated to be the flagship product in Hasbro's Control-Vision video game system, w ...
'' and ''
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective''.
Plot
The player assumes the identity of a young
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
businessman named Alexander Morris, who has come to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
during the
winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...
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
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...
Arthur Holmwood
Arthur "Art" Holmwood (later Lord Godalming) is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula''.
In the novel
Holmwood is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same d ...
, has proposed Alexander's induction into the mysterious and exclusive
Hades
Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
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
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
,
Count Dracula
Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...
.
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.
DVD
In 2002, Infinite Ventures, Inc. released the game on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
. 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:
* The woodblock carving-style still graphics displayed as backgrounds in many locations and during several exposition scenes in the Sega CD version are not present in the DVD version.
* The Sega CD version had several different carriage driver phrases, spoken whenever the carriage was used to change locations. These are not present in the DVD version. However, some of the lines can still be heard being performed in the bloopers.
* In the PC and Sega CD versions it is possible to be arrested at night when spying on a character at the bookstore. The DVD does not include this, possibly because the event happens at random in the other versions and because of the lengthy save-game procedure in the DVD version. The scene is included as an extra on the DVD.
* During the intro and ending credits as well as some climactic points in the story, the PC and Sega CD versions included
Carl Orff
Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata ''Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education.
Life
Early life
Car ...
's "
O Fortuna
"O Fortuna" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem which is part of the collection known as the ''Carmina Burana'', written early in the 13th century. It is a complaint about Fortuna, the inexorable fate that rules both gods and mortals in Roman and ...
" as a music cue. The DVD version has replaced these cues with a synthesized variation on the tune.
* During some scenes in the game, the PC and Sega CD versions would cut away to still illustrations, particularly when someone is describing a past event. The DVD version does not cut away in the same scenes.
Development
The game had a budget of more than $2 million.
Parental advisory
When it was released for the Sega CD, it was given an MA-13 label by the
Videogame Rating Council
The Videogame Rating Council (V.R.C.) was introduced by Sega of America in 1993 to rate all video games that were released for sale in the United States and Canada on the Sega Master System, Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD, 32X, and Pico. The rating h ...
. 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
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
and attributed a 15 rating.
Reception
''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
'' 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
''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport ...
'' and
MacVenture
The MacVenture games comprise a series of four adventure games introducing a characteristic menu-based point-and-click interface. They were originally developed for the Apple Macintosh by ICOM Simulations:
#''Déjà Vu'' (1985)
#'' Uninvited'' (19 ...
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".
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".
''
GamePro
Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
'' 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. ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'' 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.
References
External links
''Dracula Unleashed''at
MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...
{{Dracula
1993 video games
1990s horror video games
DOS games
DVD interactive technology
Full motion video based games
ICOM Simulations games
Interactive movie video games
Classic Mac OS games
Sega CD games
Video games based on Dracula
Video games developed in the United States
Video games set in London
Video games set in 1899