Introduction:
Seems that the Dracula theme is one thing that will not perish into thin air not matter how many times people use this theme, as for Dracula to become worn out because of its extensive use, it is highly unlikely. The thing way it remains so popular is the mythical background story of eternal life that is condemned to live in the shadows of the dark, and therefore only to rule the night. That kind of thing I hope doesn’t exist as, even though the temptation of being forever young sound like an offer that you cannot refuse when thinking another way around what you could be missing is more than enough to make you think about that offer.
Gameplay:
The story of our game has reached its end of the road as this is the end of a trilogy that had quite a story behind it. The story begins with Father Arno Moriani, a priest sent to Transylvania in order to investigate the candidacy of a recently deceased doctor for sainthood. The story of the game starts here but the real story of the game only intensifies as the gameplay advances and therefore reveals some of the secrets that were probably better left unrevealed. Father Arno must pass several trails to find out the real truth behind all of this, which will test his expertise on the field of science, his knowledge in everyday life, but most importantly his faith in God Himself. The gameplay is all about talking to the right characters and finding things that you need to discover the whole truth as all of the facts that you get in this game are mostly fiction or there is too much imaginary part and too little of the truth. So Father Arno must travel from location to location through the South-East part of Europe to find the facts that he needs to bring before the Vatican. The locations in which you will be searching for items stretch from dungeons in Turkey, local places on the path from Transylvania to Budapest discovering some of the key points in the game you need to solve the mystery. Those locations that you visit once will be revisited again during your gameplay to find out some additional things that were hidden the last time you were there. This revisiting of different locations in the game will start becoming a bit boring as the locations that you must visit are clearly seen on the map of the game, but the travel to the locations is long and time consuming. There are no shortcuts to travel from one location to another in the game. This is a letdown, but considering other facts and features that the game provides the game still has a lot to offer. For example, the whole interface (the rest of it that is) is totally helpful and doesn’t give you a moment to feel uncomfortable and out of place during the game. The objective list always tells you how far you have finished it; a document list that allows you the see items that you have picked-up so far, and one of the features that I have appreciated the most is the log file of all of the conversations that have occurred in dialogues between the characters. Because we are talking about Count Dracula and the first encounter with him in the game (and the last one as far as father Arno is concerned) he encounters scenes that increase his heartbeats, preventing him to continue properly. Because of this you need to ease the heart of the priest by using your inventory in which you will find a Bible that will ease father Arno by reading it. But this is just some of the gameplay and features that await you in this game. The puzzles could easily play the key role in the game, as besides from begin very interesting and innovative these puzzles can become deadly too. There are puzzles that introduce the expertise of father’s life before he became a priest. During the war father Arno was a medic and using these skills he will combine some chemicals to come up with the desired compounds. You will also have a puzzle where father Arno will examine the nature of Vampires blood comparing it to the human’s blood, which he will extract from his veins. As for the deadly puzzles, you will have to take of these a bit more than usual as they aren’t about the fast clicking. They are made in a way that you need consider first what you will do a couple of times. If you make a mistake and you die, the game will bring you back just moments before your death as the game has no real AutoSaves option. At the end of the game you come across Dracula himself, finally, as after three parts of the game it was about time that he shows up. The opinions will be different here as the introduction of Dracula might not be as you have seen it in a movie or have pictured it in your mind.
Graphics and sound:
As for the graphics of the game, you will be frightened at times, but you will be more surprised than frightened through most of the game. The high detail of graphics that gives you the full panoramic look of the details in the game, gives you the opportunity to move around as you please. The sound follows the horrifying scenes of the graphics with additional boost of pain and misery. The level of quality of the graphics in the game will be able to show you the fear and smell of death in the air as the people of the town in which you will spend the most of the game, are terrified and fear for their life every day, with no hope left for them what so ever… Will you be able to give them hope and shed some light on this dark town find out at the end of the game when you encounter Count Dracula?
