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DVD Delights
So boopsie, you've been hoarding your shekels in anticipation of buying that new 6x DVD drive just so you can play 20,000 Leagues: The Journey Continues ... and now Southpeak has sunk your dreams like a torpedo in a submarine race. Fret not, true believer, for many DVD games are on the horizon, even if they aren't exactly "new" releases. Looming on the DVD frontier are a glut of adventure games that many of us probably don't even remember.
Even as some newer releases are being offered in both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM format, such as Southpeak's Dark Side of the Moon, so also is there a resurgence in older games that have been rejuvenated by the crisp video quality of DVD. Grainy full-motion video that was often blurred and unviewable now enhances rather than detracts from the game. Keep in mind that gameplay itself has not been improved, nor have the limitations of FMV been corrected, but replaying some of these games without the frustrations of reconfiguring DOS or multiple disk swapping has breathed fresh air into these oldies.
Infinite
Ventures, in association with Dynamic Media Incorporated (DMI), plans to release
the entire three-volume series of Sherlock
Holmes Consulting Detective on DVD. These games are to be marketed
as interactive DVD video in that most DVD players only allow you to watch movies,
but these DVDs can be played using only your DVD remote control. They are compatible
with all DVD video players displaying the DVD logo. It was a real treat to kick
back in my recliner and play the first volume on my 36-inch television screen.
It doesn't get any easier than this.
The convenience of playing Sherlock on your DVD player is greatly offset when you attempt to save your game. Saving is easy enough, but since you will not be saving to your hard drive, the game uses a convoluted password system that requires you to record a lengthy series of symbols. Lose the piece of paper that you wrote your symbols on (not that I did--ahem) and you're up the creek without a violin.
All
three volumes of SHCD each contain three original, interactive mysteries.
Full-motion video sequences that allow you to question suspects and examine clues
are interspersed with hint-giving newspaper articles, a directory of names and
locations in London, a notepad through which you can visit advisors and the Baker
Street Irregulars, and a judge's gavel where you can offer your solution for the
case. Finally, your casebook offers the familiar options: save current game, replay
opening scene, etc.
The first volume (which we will review next month) has three cases: The Case of the Mummy's Curse, The Case of the Tin Soldier, and The Case of the Mystified Murderess. All of the Sherlock Holmes characters are used by arrangement with Dame Jean Conan Doyle. The second volume will present The Case of the Two Lions, The Case of the Pilfered Paintings, and The Case of the Murdered Munitions Magnate. Volume 3 has The Case of the Solicitous Solicitor, The Case of the Banker's Final Debt, and The Case of the Thames Murders. If you are a fan of Holmes, a lover of interactive mysteries, or just want to test your deductive reasoning, then these volumes are a must-have for your collection.
Not content to relax with their Consulting Detective series, DMI is also rereleasing an old favorite of mine--Dracula Unleashed. This game is an interactive DVD horror movie based on the classic legend. I have tried for years to complete this sucker, without success, but the excellent trailer included on the SHCD Volume 1 has me itching to once again follow the grisly trail of decapitated corpses and blood-drenched streets.
On
the lighter side, Canadian-based Digital
Leisure has also gone the rerelease route following their original, award-winning
DVD/CD-ROM, Tender Loving Care. Don Bluth's classic Dragon's Lair I
and II and Space Ace have already been released. All three are available
either for your DVD player or your DVD-ROM for your computer. As with the Sherlock
Holmes games, all movements are controlled via your remote control. These excellent
reissues have been completely remastered for DVD and look better now than they
did during their initial release over ten years ago! For those fumble-fingered
few who, like myself, have been attempting for years to complete these games,
the opportunity to view them in their entirety, without having to make any of
the moves, is available. Other bonuses included on these DVDs include interviews
with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, the creators and animation directors, and "works
in progress" versions of the games that has been provided from the artists'
personal archives. These additions are what put DVD products head and shoulders
above anything that can be offered on CD-ROM. Next to released by Digital Leisure
is A Fork in the Tale, considered by some to be a masterpiece and by others
the nadir of full-motion video.
As we are beginning to discover, full-motion video was a concept ahead of its time. Its worse enemy, disk swapping, has been eliminated by DVD's increased storage capacity. Large publishers like Cryo are also jumping on the DVD bandwagon, as they have started to release many of their multi-disk games in both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM format. Though games made exclusively for DVD are a concept that has yet to catch on, largely due to the scarcity of gamers owning DVD-ROMs, it very well could be the adventure gamer's saving grace as the elimination of disk swapping and better video quality expel two of the most vehement complaints nonadventure gamers have toward FMV games.