Dread Dracula
by Clickgamer,
Price: $14.95
Reviewed September 2003 by LightMan
Dracula has fallen asleep for quite a while
(again) after partying all night with his zombie friends
(again) but he has recently been awakened: Someone in the
castle (probably the damn ghosts) left the TV on and 10 re-runs
of Jerry Springer were just too much, so there you have it.
Not even the coffin's double wooden protection could resist
that.
Dread Dracula, developed by CyberPlanet
Interactive and published by Clickgamer, is a nice action/adventure
game in which the objective of the
game is basically to drink the blood out of every
jar in the level in order to advance...oh, did I mention
you shouldn't get yourself killed? That's important as well.
Somewhere in between, you get the chance for an occasional
bite of a beautiful women's neck (a dream come true). After
starting up the game, you are presented with a very nice
and spooky menu screen...very cool :)
The menus and background are
really nice and spooky, with thunderstorm-like effects behind
the castle, plus a vampire that points to the selected menu
option, very appropriate and definitely setting the mood.
Before each level starts, you get a small story screen that
briefly mentions the castle division where you're at now
and unfolds a bit of the (simple) storyline. I did notice
some spelling errors, but nothing really serious. As you
get out of your coffin and begin to awaken (where's the damn
coffee?) you immediately begin your quest for blood and guess
what, room service left one right next to your bed ... err,
coffin. Bottoms up.
Gameplay is
simple, easy to pick up and quite familiar at times. In order
to open doors, you have to activate switches that are scattered
around the level. Mind that after you open some doors, and
since it IS a spooky castle, some ghosts (yes, it's true,
they do exist) are likely to chase you so that's when you
should unleash your (single?) power. There really should
be more than one weapon to handle the bad guys, but I guess
vampires don't have much money, otherwise they'd be living
on a beach in California (lots of nice female necks), not
a deserted, muddy and spooky old castle.
When you want to zap any of your enemies,
be sure to fire a little bit before they come close to you,
since your powers aren't cut out for very close contact and
you will lose some precious blood if they get to you. Sometimes,
you have to push crates to make way over some spiked areas
and other similar obstacles. I have to say, the first couple
of levels may seem a bit "slow" and slightly dull
for experienced gamers, but as the game progresses, it gets
quite busy and action creeps in quite fast.
The graphics are
nicely done and the game is pleasant to the eye. Due to the
complex dungeon layout, some areas of the level aren't immediately
visible, when there are walls covering them. In these situations,
there is nice transparency effect that allows you to easily
go through those areas. It's something really easy to spot
and you quickly become used to it.
The in-game music is
kinda groovy and very appropriate to the theme of the game,
you do feel you're in a muddy, wet castle with vampires and
all sorts of bad things flyin' around, waiting to bite your
neck...oh wait! That's our job this time...hell yeah! It
could vary a bit more though, but it is a soft and well thought
tune, so I didn't find it to become particularly annoying,
even after playing a while.
One thing that bugs me: the buttons should
be configurable. On my iPAQ 2215, the action key is mapped
to the d-pad center button, which is a pain. Another thing
is that the key to release you powers (i.e. fire) is the
same for opening doors. This means that, at times, if you're
not facing the door handles exactly right, you will end up
firing your powers needlessly and wasting precious blood.
You have the possibility of resuming the
game, which is very nice, since there are 20 levels available.
In the long run, for very experienced players, 20 levels
may be a little bit short, but until you get to the last
levels you will have plenty of action along the way...and
the game seems to be fun enough to be replayed, at least
once or twice.
Conclusion: This
is a very nice game from a genre that has very few quality
titles for the Pocket PC platform. That is probably this
game's biggest asset. Priced at $14.95, it's not exactly
cheap for 20 levels, but it's not too expensive either
for the fun and quality entertainment that it provides.
It will stay on my Pocket PC for quite a while, I'm sure
of it.
Playing Hints and Tips
When the girl is hangin' around just "waiting" to
be bitten, be patient and make sure you get in a good position,
otherwise you will end up spending more of your power, instead
of achieving a successful and tasty bite.
Not everything is what it seems, sometimes
the passageway can he "hidden" by a tall wall,
so be cunning in your quest.
Enemies sometimes show up really
fast, so make sure you're always ready to blast them into
oblivion.
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