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Review
Last
Half of Darkness: Shadows of the Servants
Review by Alexander Tait
May 5, 2005
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 Hands up everyone who’s
played The
7th Guest and The 11th
Hour…Yep, pretty much everyone here. Now, hands up who really
enjoyed these games…I notice a number of hands dropping. Undoubtedly
there are some genuine “did
not likes” in the adventure community but the Stauf series has really got
some bad press over the years owing to a lack of story and unrelated puzzles
to a central story or theme. But, there is a degree of hypocrisy out there. When
The 7th Guest came out, it was a triumph. What other game of 1993 has graphics
that stand readily above graphics of games released two or even three years later?
What made these games
special to me and people just like me was the atmosphere. This
was a genuine haunted house environment that
you were drawn in to-the sound and look of the game was eerie. These
games were multimedia horror movies that are unrivalled today except
in the adventure subcategory “survival horror”. Other
games have come and gone but these will always be a benchmark for
other spooky games and have a soft spot in the hearts of adventure
gamers.
 Likewise minded individuals
rejoice! Here is what the (witch) doctor ordered. Last
Half of Darkness has returned in its third incantation.
Fans may recall the previous entry, which was composed of beautiful
photorealistic images in an old mansion. More dedicated fans may
recall the 1988 DOS-based game with simple drawn graphics. Incidentally,
this game is now considered freeware by its author, so typing “last
half of darkness” in any search engine ought to find a copy
if interested. But now, the Last Half of Darkness series has embraced
updated technology and the result is Shadows of the Servants. The
graphics are rendered in 3D yet still hark back to the glory days
of adventure gaming in the 1990s. The 7th Guest fans will be immediately
at home on arrival at the mansion at the center of Shadows
of the Servants-the sweeping staircase leading upwards, the classic yet
ominous paintings on the wall…have I whetted your appetite
yet?
 Well, anyhow, is there
a story? The scene is set like this: A scientist and witchcraft
aficionado on expedition in the Brazilian rainforest,
Dr. Muretta, befriends a spider monkey, which she names Jaja. But
Jaja’s curiosity causes him to leave the expedition. He discovers
a ruined temple occupied by previously unknown primates. Jaja is
bitten by these creatures but rescued by Dr. Muretta. She returns
to her home in New Orleans, taking Jaja with her. Unbeknownst to
her, the bites infect Jaja with an evil presence, turning him into
something evil. D. Muretta is forced to put Jaja down. But evil can
not be vanquished so easily. Jaja returns from the grave repeatedly
and in a moment of haste Dr. Muretta burns the dead creature resulting
in the monkey becoming a supernatural spirit. The evil presence of
Jaja influences all residents of the estate. Particularly, this affects
Dr. Muretta’s daughter, Mira, whose mind becomes twisted over
the years, reflected in dark sketches and paintings of the weird
Brazilian primates. You arrive in the town and must eradicate the
evil…
 As you can see from the screenshots, the visuals are crisp and ghostly.
There are also added touches that make all the difference to immersion
in the game world such as flickering candles and fireflies. Creature
images are excellent but their human counterparts are like wooden
mannequins and move in a zombie-like fashion. There is no lip-synching
either. Both more realistic movement and lip-synching would have
added to the game, making the humanoids more realistic an believable.
Fortunately, there are few other humanoids in the game, so I suppose
this is a minor quibble.
Aside from the striking visuals, there is much to like. The sound
effects and music are subtle yet appropriately dark and creepy. This
is a game that most would not want to play while alone in a dark
house. Because of the darkness and absence of much ambient noise,
the developer was able to seamlessly incorporate real heart-stropping
moments. Stupid as it may sound, when I left the game and returned
to it at a later time, the same scares almost made me fall out of
my chair! Even though I had discovered them before, the design of
the game is such that you always have a purpose that drives you.
This causes you to forget about the chills that lie around the corner!
 There is a little voice
acting in the game, including voiceovers in the beginning and end
cutscenes. Some of these voices are scratchy
and distorted making them a little hard to understand. I would have
liked the option to turn text on. As well as for this reason, obviously
people who are hearing-impaired are going to struggle to hear important
information. Strangely, the designer chose to show all dialog choices
on the screen at any one time. Provided questions are asked in the
order shown, this presents no problem. It is only if you select them
out of order that it is plain that you are asking questions about
things you don’t know yet! For such a quality product, this
is a significant blunder. I am surprised that QA didn’t identify
this as a sole (ha-ha) Achilles heel in this otherwise stellar production.
 There is a high fun factor
in this game. The puzzles are on the easy side and reward keen
observation and persistence. There are
few puzzles of the “click and hope for the best” variety.
This is probably the single most rewarding aspect of the game. There
is a sense of achievement when completing a puzzle. You may be scratching
your head for a little while, but near all of the puzzles ought to
be solvable by most players. Experienced gamers may find them a little
easy but may find some worthwhile exploration as some of the puzzles
are truly unique such as some DNA puzzles.
Game design is simple point and click. Experienced and neophyte
gamers alike will find the controls intuitive and the game interface
easily accessible. Inventory items have descriptions, so no need
to try to guess what the items are. Menus are excellent-easy to read
and self-explanatory.
 I’m not going to give away the plot of the actual game but
it leads to a crescendo that is frightening and rewarding. My only
disappointment was that the conclusion seemed to come crashing down
all of a sudden and then is left hanging. At the end of the game,
you are able to wander through the game locations again but I was
left wondering whether I’d missed something or whether what
I’d seen wasn’t the end at all.
The game includes a number of bonus materials including full games,
demos, and a screensaver. These vary in quality and type. There are
flying simulators, role-playing games, and the pick of the bunch
in my mind-Death by Dark Shadows-a side scroller action adventure
reminiscent of The Bermuda Syndrome or Flashback.
The WRF
Studios website has
some very useful links to screenshots, sample videos, and a 36MB
demo. There
is a walkthrough and the most up-to-date patch. Subsequent versions
of the game include what improvements have been made. There is a
place to purchase the game (currently $19.95 plus shipping) by money
order, credit card, or PayPal.
 Most impressive, though, is WRF Studios commitment to customer service.
They invite contact by email (WRFSTUDIOS@aol.com), snail mail, and
even by phone. All orders have a 30-day money-back guarantee if customers
are not satisfied for any reason. My experience with PC support was
excellent. I had serious problems getting Shadows of the
Servants to run because of my PC configuration but Bill worked out a solution
in two days!
Not bad for a one man job-not bad at all. This is a perfect game
for a Halloween scare or for taking care of your mother-in-law when
your father-in-law is away on business! Despite some flaws, this
independent game deserves an A.
Final Grade: A
(find out more about our
grading system)
System Requirements:
- Pentium III 500MHz
processor
- Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP
- 128 MB RAM
- 32 MB DirectX 8.1-compatible
videocard
- DirectX 8.1-compatible
soundcard
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