Dracula Unleashed
Encyclopedia
Dracula Unleashed is a 1993 video
game created by ICOM Simulations
and published by Viacom
for the Sega CD and DOS
platforms.
It was one of the earliest titles to make heavy use of full-motion video as an integral part of the gameplay. Other contemporary titles utilizing full-motion video include Night Trap
, Sewer Shark
and Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
.
businessman named Alexander Morris. Morris who has come to London, England
during the winter
of 1899 to reasurch the strage soroundings involving his brother, Quincey's (which you might remember from the cult movie Bram Stoker's "Dracula") death 10 years earlier. But meets an English woman
named Annisette Bowen and becomes distracted and engaged to be married too.
Due largely to their "extremely close relationship", Quincey's good friend, Lord
Arthur Holmwood
, has proposed Alexander's induction into the mysterious and exclusive Hades
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
, Count Dracula
.
As Alexander Morris, the player must travel to specific locations in London at certain times with certain items you've gathered throughout your travels in hand to gather clues about the events which occur during the game and achieve victory over Dracula.
, making it accessible to a new home market. The game is identical in play, but the advantages of the new format allow for full-screen, DVD-quality video. Furthermore, the game is playable in any DVD-compatible player, to include game consoles like the PlayStation 2
and Xbox
. It also has a "behind the scenes" featurette, as well as some audio bloopers. With the closing of Infinite Ventures Inc however, this DVD has gone out of print and is now a very rare item to find.
There are some minor differences between the DVD version and the Sega CD and PC versions:
. This would be similar to a PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America
. The game has a spooky atmosphere and musical score, along with some images of blood and a very effeminate bookstore owner. However, it is not up to the level of typical R-rated horror films.
It was also reviewed by BBFC and attributed a 15 rating.
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
game created by ICOM Simulations
ICOM Simulations
ICOM Simulations 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 1983 a number of game titles for the Panasonic JR-200 were produced...
and published by Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
for the Sega CD and DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
platforms.
It was one of the earliest titles to make heavy use of full-motion video as an integral part of the gameplay. Other contemporary titles utilizing full-motion video include Night Trap
Night Trap
Night Trap is a video game that was released in North America on October 15, 1992 originally for the Sega Mega-CD. It was filmed over a three week period in 1987 for an unreleased game entitled "Scene of the Crime"...
, Sewer Shark
Sewer Shark
Sewer Shark is a first-person rail shooter game, the first video game for a game console to use full-motion video for its primary gameplay. It was originally slated to be the flagship product in Hasbro's NEMO video game system, which would use VHS tapes as its medium. However, Hasbro cancelled the...
and Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a full motion video based video game predicated on a book-based game of the same name. It was first developed by ICOM Simulations for the FM Towns computer and later ported to DOS, Apple Macintosh, Commodore CDTV, TurboGrafx-CD and Sega CD with all versions...
.
Story
In Dracula Unleashed, the player assumes the identity of a young TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
businessman named Alexander Morris. Morris who has come to London, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
of 1899 to reasurch the strage soroundings involving his brother, Quincey's (which you might remember from the cult movie Bram Stoker's "Dracula") death 10 years earlier. But meets an English woman
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
named Annisette Bowen and becomes distracted and engaged to be married too.
Due largely to their "extremely close relationship", Quincey's good friend, Lord
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same day — Quincey Morris and Doctor John Seward...
, has proposed Alexander's induction into the mysterious and exclusive Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
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
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
, Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
.
As Alexander Morris, the player must travel to specific locations in London at certain times with certain items you've gathered throughout your travels in hand to gather clues about the events which occur during the game and achieve victory over Dracula.
Criticism
Dracula Unleashed was a part of the new wave of video-based video games released in the early 1990s, when the gaming industry was moving toward interactive movies. This trend eventually ended because of generally poor acting and low production quality. A major reason for the latter was largely due to the technical restrictions of the hardware at the time which limited interactivity and the quality of the video. The Sega CD, for example, was limited to a palette of 512 colors and only 64 colors could appear on the screen at any one time.DVD
In 2002, Infinite Ventures, Inc. released the game on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, making it accessible to a new home market. The game is identical in play, but the advantages of the new format allow for full-screen, DVD-quality video. Furthermore, the game is playable in any DVD-compatible player, to include game consoles like the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. It also has a "behind the scenes" featurette, as well as some audio bloopers. With the closing of Infinite Ventures Inc however, this DVD has gone out of print and is now a very rare item to find.
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, you can still hear the some of the lines being performed in the bloopers.
- In the PC and Sega CD Versions it was 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's O Fortuna as a music cue. The DVD version has replaced these cues with a synthesized variation on the tune.
- The PC and Sega CD Versions, during some scenes in the game, 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.
Parental advisory
When it was released for the Sega CD, it was given an MA-13 label by the Videogame Rating CouncilVideogame Rating Council
The Videogame Rating Council was introduced by Sega of America in 1993 to rate all video games that were released for sale in the United States on the Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega CD, and rarely, some computer games...
. This would be similar to a PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
. The game has a spooky atmosphere and musical score, along with some images of blood and a very effeminate bookstore owner. However, it is not up to the level of typical R-rated horror films.
It was also reviewed by BBFC and attributed a 15 rating.