Horror Point and Click Adventure
The Dark Eye is a point and click adventure game, similar in style to the popular game Myst. I personally love point and click adventure games, as I grew up playing them as a child. To begin with, if you are a fan of this sort of genre game, you will most likely enjoy this game. The Dark Eye is a horror game, but unlike any other horror game I have played before. The first thing upon starting this game is noticing the unusual use of graphics. For a game that was made in 1995, it is pretty impressive in my opinion, and quickly reminds you of the days when games were comparable to a form of art. The setting of the game is presumably set around the 1800's due to the furniture, buildings and clothes people are wearing throughout the game. The Dark Eye also often references past medical quackery such as phrenology that are a common theme throughout the game. The second thing you will immediately notice in the game, is the unusual use of film sequences and animation throughout the game. This may turn some modern day hardcore gamers off the game, as at first there actually seems to be something wrong with the other characters. Very lifelike in appearance , the characters have very comical faces at first glance, especially for what is meant to be a horror game. This from what I found is due to the unusual use of claymation and stop motion. I have never played any video game, where claymation and stop motion was used at all, so this was quite an unusual experience in itself. So if you are a fan of those sort of techniques used in older films before CGI was all the rage, "The Dark Eye" is definitely worth checking out. The game storyline revolves around the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. I have not read much of his work, but I do know many readers who worship him as a writer. It was sad to see Edgar Allen Poe's most well known poem "The Raven" was not used in the game, however, it does still have references to the poem. It is also very unusual for a game to revolve around the works and life of a writer (not taking Tom Clancy games into account). To me The Dark Eye was a rare gem, even though it does have it's faults, yet it feels very ahead of it's time. The Dark Eye may be hard to get working on modern day computers, as you need an old version of Quicktime and need to run it in a dos box, but if you can get your hands on it, and get it running; it is definitely worth trying this one out.
