Realms of the Haunting

Only lost one star for me.. because.. the controllers are pretty akward.. BUT.. you need to play this game

It will take the controls some getting used to but other than that I am loving this Doom/haunted house/point and click/fmv blend. I never knew i needed this!

his game was ahead of its time when it came out, and was known for having fmv actors that weren't complete and absolute crap (yes they were REALLY bad back then). I believe only two games came out using this engine.

ROTH screams old school clunk in a cool but often frustrating ways. It plays as a funky mix of FPS, survival horror and point and click adventure. The graphics hold up well on their highest settings, the sound is suitable spooky and weapons have a satisfying bang to them. Monsters are creepy and otherwordly and the whole thing brings a solid atmosphere. It also features FMV story segments with choices and dialogue. The game drops you into a resident evil style mansion with puzzles to solve and nightmare creatures to shoot, and soon has you exploring the realms of heaven and hell with your arsenal and psychic sidekick. Combat is easy enough - most enemies are melee and you're fitted out with the staple pistol and shotgun, and then a series of rechargeable magical weapons. Puzzles range from basic lock and key stuff to multi step jigsaw types that sometimes end up being bizarre and unfortunately nonsensical in their solution. The game does love a maze too - normally you get maps for them but later in the game areas like Sheol are multi levelled mirrored nightmares to navigate - sometimes in pitch blackness too which just serves to make it more annoying than fun. The story is well acted and engaging, but often falls short in common sense. Characters often appear and reappear almost randomly, and on more than two occasions you're dropped back into the game with no actual clue as to what you're meant to be doing or where you're supposed to be going next. Between these instances and the often plain confusing puzzles I do admit I had to consult a walkthrough far more than I'd usually like to. At time of writing I'm currently stuck on a puzzle that omce again makes no sense, has no in-game hints, and even walkthrough authors seem to have trouble explaining, and I seem to be so close to the end of the game too. After trying just randomly hitting switches for half an hour, I may have to give up on the ending, which is a shame.

I have the original CD Jewel case version and played it many years ago. I fondly remember moments such as 'combine the face of the soul traveller' et al. So pleased when GOG released it DRM free (I had requested it on the forum). Atmospheric and scary at times, it's a pity Gremlin didn't pusue this franchise. Overall a brilliant (if dated) game. Highly recommended!