Customer Reviews

Microids: Dracula III [Old Version]

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

 

 

I played the previous installments of the Dracula games so I knew what to expect in the gameplay. This is a basic point and click game where you go around having to solve problems to advance the plotline. There is substantially more dialogue in this game to include a choice in your questions and answers though what you choose to say has no effect on the direction of the game. Some of the dialogue can drag on and you get to the point where you just want to move forward.

Like previous games, some of the puzzles are just incredibly frustrating and don't make any sense. Some of these puzzles require long bouts of trial and error. Or you can find an online guide to show you how to get through.

Possibly spoilers below

The plotline starts off pretty strong; you're a priest who served in WWI and you are sent to investigate the possibly canonization of a nurse in a remote Romanian village. As you investigate you find odd occurances and something bigger going on. Eventually, you are put on the path of the Dragon which will lead you to Dracula.

Most of the plotline takes place in this little village and while it's fun to explore, it would have been nice to send you to more locations. You do visit a deserted cave-prison in Turkey and a professor's office in Budapest but aside from that, the game is situated in this little town of Vladoviste. As with previous games in this series, you are very limited in where you can go and what you can do. For instance, you are confined to four main streets in Vladoviste and only two buildings. You can venture out towards a ruined castle or up to a creepy graveyard but here you are limited in what you can do and see.

The plotline could have been thicker; why not send the player to other locations? Why not allow the player to search more areas? And there is almost zero action in this game where as in previous games you had to battle monsters and other villians.

The last part of the game to me was underwhelming. You face off against Dracula in a series of questions and you have to give the correct answer. Here again it's simple trial and error until you get all the answers correct and then it moves to a cut-scene. Not really all that spectacular except for the fate of the player.

The historical background into Dracula and the interwar years was interesting and that's where the game is strong but aside from that, this is likely a game I won't play again.

The scenery was good, the plotline started off strong and sputtered and the puzzles lost their fun early as it became tedious after a short while.

Not a bad game but not one I would likely play again.

I really enjoyed this game, and indeed it is my favorite Dracula game thus far. The graphics are rather dark, moody but look gorgeous with fairly smooth movement between scenes. The characters were quite appealing and well developed, with non-intrusive voicing. The cut sequences were actually fun to watch and contributed to the over all feel of the game. The controls are pretty much intuitive and completely mouse driven. While the puzzles and clues are challenging, at no point did I feel completely locked out by one of those impossible puzzles.

While I expected a typical Dracula story, the storyline is actually quite interesting-- more along the lines of a murder mystery-- with a priest as the protagonist. I found myself up all night playing because I was engaged in the story and because I fealt that I actually learned a few things about Vlad Tepes and Transylvania. Indeed, it was almost more like reading a book than actually playing a game. I also rather enjoyed having a full text version of Dracula in my inventory.

Microids Dracula 3: Path of the Dragon is the sequel to its two earlier games Microids: Dracula 1 & 2 DJC. The protagonist is Father Arno Moriani, a priest sent by the Vatican to investigate a local Transylvanian doctor who is slated for sainthood. But his seemingly simple investigation into the good doctor takes several unpredictable twists, and he soon finds himself plunged headfirst into a world of shadowy vampires, a battle that threatens not only his faith but also his life.

The main failing of the game is the *absence* of vampires; you only deal directly with the title character at the very end of a long and tiring journey. The rest of the time, you're researching obscure texts, closely examining artwork, and leafing through hefty tomes of Romanian history that deal with the origins of Dracula, or Vlad Tepes. There are also undercurrents of WWII even though the game is set in 1920 (yep, evil Nazis and bad German accents!). There are only a handful of characters, but the ones you do interact with are generally fleshed out, with unique personalities and solid voicework.

The puzzles themselves are some of the better ones I've seen in the last few years; there's a wide variety of strategy board games, locks, word puzzles, and inventory-based puzzles. Phlebotomy takes up a large part of the game; if you're squeamish, you probably won't go for the graphic how-to on drawing your own blood several times ("now all that's left is to push the needle deep into the vein!"), or poring over cells under a microscope. Generally, the solutions are quite obvious, although one of the end puzzles requires careful observation and piecing together clues collected throughout the game. One of the features which could have been better utilized was the Bible passages; whenever your character is stressed out (you'll hear his heart beating loudly), you can flip open the Bible to an underlined passage that is directly related to the situation at hand. This action isn't necessary, however, and could have been made a more central element directly related to protecting Father Arno's faith (and sanity).

The graphics are lushly drawn, bringing to life the war-torn village with its bombed-out buildings. Ghostly howls ricochet down the empty streets. The lushness of Budapest is a direct contrast to war-ravaged Romania, and you visit rural Turkey as well. Character animations are effective, and the cutscenes are downright gorgeous, with a hazy, dreamlike quality (you're able to replay videos through the gallery feature on the main menu). The only disappointment was the ending; after so many hours of research and daring escapes, the final confrontation was brief and disappointing. The end cinematics were great, though, and leave openings for future installments. Overall, this is a solidly crafted adventure with loads of atmosphere and political intrigue, but sadly, little of the title character.

How wrong can someone go when the price is so cheap and the game gives you hours of fun and challenge. Even though it is an older game the graphics are great and the story line moves along to tell the story.

Path of the Dragon was a beautiful game, encumbered by a truckload of documents and boring dialog. At the end of the game, Arno was toting around SIXTY-NINE different documents, many containing multiple pages, including the complete text of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and the Bible. I found that aspect to be somewhat daunting. Here's my itemized review:

*****NAVIGATION:
Navigation was great. This is a first-person point-and-click game, with a nice 360 degree swivel.

*****GRAPHICS:
Beautiful atmosphere. Most of the characters are well-developed and not too hard to look at, except for the boy, the innkeeper, and the gravedigger, who were all a little disturbing.

***SOUND:
I am giving the sound three stars because I didn't really notice it. I don't remember much music, so either there wasn't any or it was subtle, which is better than inappropriate or annoying music. The voice-acting was mediocre, with a variety of out-of-place accents for Romania. The innkeeper lady will make you swear you have just walked into a homey New England B&B.

***STORY:
Ho-hum. It's amusing that the main character is a priest, and is mostly too honest to play by traditional adventure game rules, which involve grabbing anything that isn't nailed down. But only to a point - while he often requires permission before he will take something, he will easily sets aside his scruples to get the job done.

**PUZZLES:
The puzzles seemed to be either way too easy or ridiculously obscure. One of the final challenges is to whip out your several hundred pages of documents and try to compare seventeen drawings and somehow associate the remaining items in your inventory with them. Lacking that kind of perseverance, I was grateful for the walkthrough.

The last puzzle is a dialog puzzle that can only be won by tedious trial and error, or, you guessed it, a walkthrough. Remember, the SPACE bar is your friend, as it will advance you through Dracula's ramblings, which you will not want to hear more than once.

***INVENTORY:
Inventory management is intuitive, but there is none of the fun dismantling and combining items that was utilized in the "Return to Mysterious Island" games and others.

I wouldn't pass this one up, especially if you are a fan of other Kheops games. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but it was good eye candy.

If you want a game that essentially tells you what to do the whole way, then go for it. If you want a challenge, don't waste your money. Unless, of course, you want to solve an impossible puzzle towards the end of the game where you have to trace a pentagram. If you're off by a millimeter, you have to start over. EXTREMELY frustrating. I have played hundreds of adventure games. This is at the top of my "don't buy it" list. Stick with Dracula 1 and 2.

This game was a big disappointment. You don't even see Dracula until the end, and even that is not what you would expect. The graphics are good and the speech is fine. But the overall story is terrible. The puzzles do not make sense and are hard to play. If you want to make a game about Dracula, at least have him in it.

I must say I didn't have high hope for this game, after the last vampire adventure game I played was a big let down. However this game turned out to be one of the best adventure games I have played. It creates a great eerie uneasy atmosphere by never show you to much just enough to scare or surprise in a boo scare kinda way. the story is interesting and there are many plot twist to keep you interested. The ending was a surprise. the puzzles were a good mix a challenge and common sense. The graphics where amazing with decent voice acting. the character designs are perfect and a little surprising (ie Dracula when you meet him is different looking from Draculas of the past ...but it works). I highly recommend this game to any adventure gamer, People who like a good story,and fans of mystery & suspense.

First of all, I would like to say, that I am a huge fan of Dreamcatcher/Microids games. I absolutely loved the first two Dracula games, Dracula: Resurrection, and Dracula: The Last Sanctuary. That is why when I saw that there was another sequal available, I jumped at the chance to buy it. The box I purchased was a bundle which contained all three of the games together. I, at first, thought that it was a bit of a waste since I already had the first two games, but how wrong I was. It has been about 5 years since I was able to play the first game, Dracula: Resurrection. I loved playing it every Halloween, but since I had gotten computer upgrades, it wasn't compatible with my XP at the time, so I was unable to play it anymore. Well, I thought that would be the case with this version. Well, I don't know what Microids did, but not only can I play Dracula: Resurrection again on my Vista, after all these years, but it installs on my computer and can be played without the annoyance of having to switch discs. It completely installs in your computer and can be played without the disc. I love this feature. The same is true of the second game, Dracula: The Last Sanctuary. Thank you Microids for giving me back the two games I love.

Now for the review of Dracula 3. I had such high hopes for this game. But, in the end I was disappointed. It is a good game, although some of the puzzles are very difficult. My biggest disappointment is that it is truly, in no way, a sequal to the other two games. There is no connection at all, other than Dracula is in it. Dracula even looks completely different. I am very disappointed in Dreamcatcher/Microids for presenting this game as a sequal to the first two games. I would have bought it anyway, because I do enjoy most of their games, it is just, as a consumer, I hate being tricked, and that is how I feel. I wish they would have just marketed it as another game about Dracula, which is what it is. It would have made me feel a lot better about the company. But, for those who don't have an issue with this, or who have not played the first two games, you may enjoy this game. It was challenging.

first off i am not done with the game.........point and click adventure, you can look in all directions, the graphics are good and moody, the voices are good and clear, the story is boring...the puzzles are not what i was looking for, read this read that, call tons of people, its like i am an operator or something.I cant get into it..i loved dracula origins ..the best dracula game out there...and now i am spoiled...this is slow and has lots of conversations...as boring a start to a game as it gets...the makers must be 75 years old and get off on reading under a lamp for ten hours.If you love dracula then go for it and good luck not falling asleep...if you dont...i would pass