Customer Reviews

Dr. Chaos

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Considering the hardware restraints and censorship issues of the NES, it was very difficult to make a game approaching anything resembling scary. Taking everything into consideration, Dr. Chaos on the NES came as close to a genuine effort at a survival horror game as can be expected. True, it would be hard to convey horror on an 8 bit system even if censorsip wasn't an issue, but as it is, Dr. Chaos has several things going for it. The setting is familiar, as are the enemies (a decrepit mansion filled with rats and monsters) and the action is presented from a side view. However, enter a door and things get interesting. The view switches to first-person, and the player moves a cursor around the room to explore with commands: "get," "go," open," and "hit," to aquire items and weapons. The player can use a compass to tell which direction they are facing, and can move from room to room. The trick is, though, because the good Doctor's experiments have rearranged the mansion, the layout of these rooms is different EVERY TIME. The game can be saved via password, but the experience is completely random. Further complicating things, the player must navigate these rooms to find secret passages to the boss monsters, and the key items they hold. Worse still, when a door or cabinet is opened, there is a chance a monster will pop out and chase the player out of the room and into the side-scrolling corridor, where they must be beaten. If you aren't prepared for it, (and you rarely are, as there is no warning) this can be startling.

Its true the graphics aren't especially strong, and the action can be standard fare. Where the game shines is in the exploration part, where you never know what to expect, and the atmosphere is more tense. The music does a decent job of conveying the urgency and tension of most of the scenes, and particularly noteworthy are the main theme and boss themes. In fact, the intro screen is one of the best parts of the game---watch it and see.

Much has been said of the poor design of the monsters in the game. It is average, and even though better is out there, it could be a lot worse. The fighting mechanics of the game are solid; no particular nuances or difficulties can be found, though your protagonist does tend to be a bit on the faint-hearted side.

Dr. Chaos is a large game, and fans of adventure games will find a long oddysey ahead of them, as well as more than a few surprises. Because of the unique nature of the two scenes---the side-scrolling adventure and the exploration scenes---it is an NES game with a unique flavor, made more so because of the horror motif. Resident Evil it isn't, but anyone looking for Resident Evil on the NES should be directed to Capcom's "Sweet Home," a game that came later and was never released in the states anyway. For everyone else, Dr. Chaos is a great bargain and a unique title for the NES.


THE GOOD: Room exploration is tense and different every time, varied game scenes break up monotony, music ranges from good to very good, much longer than average NES game, saved via password, horror theme is maintained throughout


THE BAD: monster design could be better, graphics could be better, randomization of exploration makes it difficult to strategize, main character is somewhat weak