Review: Dracula Resurrection

Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner

Review Date: September 2, 2001

Genre: Adventure

Format: 2 CDs

Developer: France Telecom Multimedia, Canal+ Multimedia, Index

Publisher: DreamCatcher Interactive, Inc.

System Requirements: G3 processor, Mac OS 8.5.1, 64MB RAM, 8x CD ROM, 6MB 3D accelerator video card

Network Feature: No

3D Support: OpenGL

Mac OS X Compatible: No

Retail Price: $14.99

Availability: Out Now

Rating: Mature

Back when my father was teaching me to play baseball, there were three tips he'd repeat countless times:

1. Don't be afraid of the ball
2. God gave you two hands...use them
3. Follow through

It was the latter of these that proved the most useful, it was applicable to the most situations. Follow through with your throw, follow through with your swing, follow through with splitting the shortstop's lip if he doesn't get out the base line.

The developers of Dracula Resurrection could've used some of my father's advice. They forgot to follow through.

Dracula Resurrection is a recent release from one of my favorite game publishers, DreamCatcher Interactive, Inc., "The Adventure Company." As with all DreamCatcher games, Dracula Resurrection is all about graphics, puzzles and story. If the graphics are cool, the puzzles are challenging, and the story is interesting, you've got a hit. If not, you've got Phantasmagoria. Dracula Resurrection sits somewhere in between.

The adventure--inspired by Bram Stoker's classic novel--gets off to a strong start. The box pictures an extreme close-up of a blood-red tinted vampire with fangs bared; the kind of creepy image you don't want lingering in your mind after turning off the bedroom lights. This package is certainly going to send countless children screaming from the game section at CompUSA (their Macintosh area will send the rest of us screaming).

The game itself looks just as good. Utilizing Phoenix VR technology for the 360º panoramas, the visuals in Dracula Resurrection will inspire you to poetry. Movement is the average click-to-go-forward type, but each stopping point was worth at least two or three full spins before progressing. Even on my wife's 333MHz iMac, the animation was smooth, clear and fast. This is imperative in a game like Dracula Resurrection in which atmosphere is so important.

Equally impressive were the cinematic cut-scenes. The characters were wildly rendered and intricately detailed, and the camera angle would switch continuously throughout their monologues to accentuate their features. Watching these felt more like watching a Hollywood melodrama, and it was a welcome change from the static camera shots in most others computer games. Some clips were so cool that I had to dig through the files on the CD to play them again outside the game. The characters have realistic (albeit exaggerated) gestures and facial expressions, and their speeches are often accentuated with creepy chords and flashes of lightning. It's exactly what you want out of a vampire tale...unless you're a fan of Ann Rice.

I am curious, though, why the artists chose Michael Ian Black of The State (Viva Variety's Johnny Blue Jeans, to some of you) as the inspiration for the lead character. I kept waiting for him to put his butt in "...all that puddin.' "

Of course, the wonder at the graphics starts to wear down after a while, as it does in all computer games. The trouble with Dracula Resurrection is that the story starts to wear down at about the same time.

Dracula Resurrection takes place in 1904, seven years after Dracula met his fate in Bram Stoker's novel but nearly a century before Francis Ford Coppola would resurrect him in one the dorkiest movies ever made. Seems that Mina (not Godzilla's son, Minya, but just plain Mina) still gets that sweet, vampirical urge, and she flees London for Transylvania and the arms of a freshly undead Dracula. You know, it's that whole "Once you go Drac, you'll never go back" thing. Her husband (and the game's primary character), Jonathan Harker, must therefore head back once more to save her again from puncture wounds to the neck. Upon arrival, Harker races frantically to gain access to Dracula's castle. The townspeople aren't that willing to cooperate, however. The half who don't work for Dracula live in fear of those who do, so Jonathan has to listen to countless speeches about the evil in the castle and the fate of all those who enter and the doom that Dracula brings forth and blah, blah, blah.

Through both chicanery and gentle persuasion, Jonathan eventually gains access to Dracula's castle, and this is where it all fell apart for me. The urgency was suddenly gone (we never once see Mina in any danger), and the exploration wasn't quite as fun as in the village...the opposite of what I expected. Dracula's castle is extremely rundown (he's been dead for about seven years, remember), so exploring it was like walking around your grandparents' basement. A lot of gray walls, rubble in the corner, and dimly lit rooms. There was no one in the castle to place you in any danger, just some old lady named Dorko (that's not a joke...her name really is Dorko, and no, she doesn't wear big, red shoes) who needs you to run a couple of errands for her.

The puzzles in the castle, a peculiar blend of physical and metaphysical, make no sense within the context of the story...they're just there to solve. Why is Dracula messing around with crystal balls, astrological cards and enchanted curio cabinets? Why do vampires apparently have a bad habit of leaving their keys in the doors? Nope, if Dracula really wanted to kill Jonathan, you'd think he would've left behind some more difficult puzzles for him to think through.

And yes, I did say, "left behind." Soon after he gains access to the castle, Jonathan finds a note from Dracula saying that he's left for London. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Dracula does not actually appear in Dracula Resurrection, save for a couple of cut-scenes. There's no last-minute rescue and there's no final battle to the death. Indeed, the ending is so uneventful that not even Mina wakes up.

Actually, let me alter that a bit. There is a confrontation towards the end, but it's not between Jonathan and Dracula, it's between Jonathan and three scantily clad demon women who are like those girls in that Moulin Rouge video, only a lot less creepy. They dance and flit about as they threaten to kill Jonathan, and the scene is quite effective. Unfortunately, Jonathan quells them far too easily, and we're once again left to wonder why a guy like Dracula can't find good help these days. The three demon sisters do appear once more at the end of the game, the result of which is a Hollywood-style ending in that it makes very little sense but would probably move tons of toys in McDonald's Kids' Meals.

I'm not entirely sure at which audience Dracula Resurrection is aimed. It's too easy and short for hard-core adventure gamers, but its content makes it unsuitable for families. Well, most families, anyway. Some of my neighbors would probably...never mind. The game looks fantastic; the sets are spooky and the characters are wonderful in their appearance and delivery. But the puzzles are too easily solved and the story--although it starts off strongly--is ultimately unsatisfying. It does, however, leave you wanting for the sequel; a showdown with Dracula in early 1900's London could be wildly entertaining if done correctly, and there's enough in Dracula Resurrection to indicate it will be. And even if not, at only $14.99, it's less than the price of two tickets to a Hollywood vampire movie, and probably twice as entertaining.

Although DreamCatcher's website doesn't list a Mac version of the sequel, Amazon.com is currently taking orders on "Dracula: The Last Sanctuary," scheduled to ship on September 7th. If a Mac version is released, you can rest assured that Applelinks will be quick to post a review. After all, didn't my father teach me to follow through?

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