Disclaimer: Just Adventure would like to acknowledge that the developers of Inherent Evil hold themselves, and not Headgames, fully responsible for any bugs that exist in the present version of Inherent Evil. Just Adventure apologizes for any misunderstandings that may have been caused by our review.

Chapter 1: The Good

Headgames, a division of Activision, is infamous for its mass-marketing of games geared toward the general public. Wal-Mart, Electronics Boutique, and CompUSA are but a few of the merchants carrying Extreme Rodeo, Frisbee Golf, and Cabelo's Big Game Hunter III. Scoff if you will, but the bottom line is that many major publishers would give their eyeteeth to acquire the shelf space that Headgames has procured through their aggressive pricing policies of $24.99 or lower per title. In fact, the average Headgames release shows more of a profit than such "classics" as Grim Fandango. What, then, possessed Headgames to distribute Inherent Evil: The Haunted Hotel--an adventure game? Maybe it is attempting to improve its image.

Just Adventure has long maintained that the adventure genre will be revived through the most unlikely sources. There will not be any one game that will be responsible, but rather a rebuilding of the fan base through the video consoles and the steady support of the core adventurers who now exist ... and maybe, just maybe, through the thousands of newcomers to the genre who will purchase Inherent Evil only because of its suggested $19.99 retail price. Whatever it takes. Now, for a chance of pace, Just Adventure would like to welcome a guest reviewer who will share his thoughts on Inherent Evil.

Inherent Evil (from the tape recordings of E. Carnby, Jr.)

After father's last paranormal adventure (soon to be chronicled as Alone in the Dark 4), he quietly retired, and I have decided to fill his shoes. My first case involves a haunted hotel located in upstate New York. Brother had gone to search for brother and now both are presumed missing. The Reed Hotel itself has an interesting history. Twenty years ago it was purchased and restored by Gerald and Sara Reed. Along with their children, Frank 4 and Kyle 1, they lived in and eventually made the hotel a huge success. But on the night of June 23, 1978 as the hotel celebrated its one hundred year anniversary--something happened. Several hundred guests, including the owners, disappeared. The only know survivors were the Reed children, who had been lowered from a bedroom window by their mother. All little Frank could remember was his mother's whisper ... "Something bad is coming." Twenty years later, something possessed an adult Frank to attempt to reopen the hotel. All was going fine until the night his brother Kyle received a strange phone call that prompted him to set out to investigate Frank's doings in the hotel.

I was supplied with a key to the front entrance, and as I entered I found the hotel empty and forlorn. A cold chill enveloped me as a desolate, disembodied voice seemed to whisper for help from inside the ornate walls of the foyer. Finding nothing downstairs, I then climbed the stairs to the second floor where ...

Yikes! The tape seems to end here. I hope Ed Jr. is okay ... wherever he is! Well, let us pick up from Ed's truncated entry. Inherent Evil truly contains some genuine scares. Some scenes are reminiscent of the film The Haunting (the original, not the remake), as the creators were ingenious enough to allow the hotel's architecture to play a large role in the horror factor. The hotel is presented in what have become commonly known as Myst-like, photorealistic graphics, but believe me there is not a twiddleware puzzle in this game. In fact, the hotel's locked safes and a chessboard are the basis for a great running gag. The majority of the puzzles are well-integrated into the storyline, and you never feel as though they were added on as an afterthought to flesh out the story. There is a lot of point-and-click pixel hunting that can at times be frustrating, but every puzzle solution was logical and believable. The majority of the puzzles are actually very easy; locating the item you need for the solution is usually the larger problem. The developers have increased the difficulty of the puzzles by having objects mysteriously appear in places were they earlier were not. There is a reasonable explanation as to why an inventory item would now be in a drawer that was empty two chapters earlier--but to explain would reveal a key plot twist (plus I would have to kill you). The music and sound effects are always appropriately "scary"--in fact they remind me a lot of The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour--but a word of advice to the developers: less can be more. Using music at key points of discovery or exploration rather than for the entire game would add immensely to the "scare factor," and as for the elevator music, it was funny the first time, but the next 2,873 times I rode the elevator, it was annoying.

I was having a rollicking good time playing IE with the lights out until chapter 6. That is when It reared its ugly head, the bane of all adventure games, the nightmare that haunts all men who have no sense of direction--the maze. Granted, this maze is a bit different from others we have encountered, and granted, this maze actually makes sense in the context of the story, but it is still a maze. I wipe this evil thing from my memory and forgive the developers as this is their first commercial release.

Inherent Evil is a commendable first-time effort by a group of Floridian adventure lovers who have formed a company called Eclipse. They have stated that this is the first part of a planned trilogy, and I for one am looking forward to the continuation of the story. IE is highly recommended for first-time adventure games and anyone who, as I do, loves horror adventure. We now turn to my good friend and fellow consummate adventure gamer, Stuart Yoder, who so eloquently graded IE as follows: I played Inherent Evil this weekend. I would give it a B-. The B is to say thanks for making an adventure game. And, the - is for making the game with some egregious flaws.

Final Grade for Inherent Evil: B-

Chapter 2: The Evil

Egregious flaws. Just as good must have evil to survive, so too are the positives of Inherent Evil offset by the negatives. The sad, and in a lot of ways revealing, part is that almost all of the negatives in IE exist not because of the developers, but because the ugly hydra of greed reared its many heads. Headgames pushed Inherent Evil out the door early in an attempt to cash in on Halloween sales. But doing so may have done the game and the adventure genre irreparable harm.

The first version of IE on the shelves does require a patch (I never used it and did not have one problem, though others have). Eclipse had the patch available on their website in record time, which was honorable on their part but also highlights that Headgames was well aware of the problem. Eclipse has promised that future versions will not need the patch. The game is broken into chapters, which actually adds a lot to the atmosphere as you feel as though you are inside a Stephen King novel. But beware! At the conclusion of the first chapter, you must enter a password to continue the game--though you are never again required to engage in this silliness. To make matters even worse, there is no save feature within the chapters. Once you complete a chapter, you can always continue to the next, but the lack of a save feature becomes frustrating as many chapters end with a life-threatening situation and if you die, you must then retrace the entire chapter step by step (though you are awarded a chance to continue through a very innovative form of tombstone roulette). My God, you must be saying to yourself by now, how could Randy (and Stu) give this game a B-? Bugs, patches, passwords, no save feature!

Something that needs explained to the gaming public is the history of the creation of Inherent Evil so that potential purchasers will understand why decisions were made to purposely release a buggy product. I ask you to now please put your hands together for Bryan Wiegele of Eclipse:

Something I need to explain is the history of Inherent Evil to let all of the users understand why the game is the way it is ...

Inherent Evil is our first title, and when it was picked up by HeadGames in 1998, there was an understanding that the title was to be the beginning of not only a trilogy of stories but also a contest. The idea was to launch a title that would keep all the purchasers (contestants) neck to neck until a time when the game was open from beginning to end, thus the "code" to unlock the whole game. Every week a code was to be released on the web site to unlock the next part of the chapter. Also, the difficulty was upped by request of the publisher to make sure the title was "very challenging" (hiding items under desks, leaving out an in-game save feature, etc.). When the contest aspect was removed, we were trapped into a "contest version" of the title because build files from the game's source had been corrupted. Only about three weeks before the release of Inherent Evil were three-week-old backup files found that enabled us to rebuild the game and make the patches that have been posted on this site. I most sincerely apologize for the frustration that people are expressing; our only intent was and is to create a good game for a good price. Rest assured, every comment and suggestion made in this column is taken to heart by the developers, after all we made this game from a love of graphic adventures ourselves. Though your feedback we will make Inherent Evil Chapter 2 a better gaming experience.

Sincerely,

Bryan Wiegele

P.S. Please let HeadGames publishing know you want a sequel ... believe me, from what we've learned during the creation of IE1, you're gonna love what we've got in store for you!

Now I ask you, who are we to blame for Inherent Evil's shortcomings? The answer is blatantly obvious. Yet, I double-dawg guarantee you that many webzines and magazines that review this game will lambaste the product, not realizing the behind-the-scenes decisions. Once again this is not fair to the adventure genre or to adventure fans. Once again we must show our support. How? First, purchase Inherent Evil. Now is the time for all of those who have whined about the exorbitant cost of new releases to put their $19.99 where their mouth is. Second, visit the Inherent Evil website, post on their message board, email Eclipse and thank them, even if you don't like IE, for making an adventure game. Finally, and most importantly, email Headgames at support@headgames.net and sincerely thank them for distributing a budget-priced adventure game like Inherent Evil. But also make it crystal clear that unless the sequel is free of bugs, that unless their marketing department shows some respect for adventure gamers by releasing a product worthy of our hard-earned dollars, then we will boycott by the thousands--and believe me--our united voice is finally being heard by the magazines and game companies.

To Bryan and the rest of the Eclipse gang--thanks for believing in the genre and putting your talents, your heart and soul into Inherent Evil--now get off your duffs and get busy on the second part of the trilogy.

System Requirements:

Pentium 100
Windows 95/98
16 MB RAM
4X CD-ROM
Soundblaster compatible card
150 MB available Hard Disk Space