I first saw this game at ECTS last year. I had just finished playing L'Amerzone, a game that was very similar in it's execution, being based on the pre-rendered, 360 degree veiwpoint made famous by the early Zork games and more recently by Riven. When presented with this type of game control system, most people go 'ewwww'. Personally, I'm a bit of a fan. Unlike other games that rely on 3D engines of great complexity - and hence high-end PC's with dedicated 3D accelerator cards - these games make use of the sort of 3D rendering power most home users will never have access to to create scenes of incredible beauty. And sicne they are pre-rendered, they can be displayed in realtime even on low-specification computers. The technology is only just coming into existence whereby developers can create believable adventure or RPG worlds in the first person without using pre-rendered screens. System Shock 2 and Deus Ex are probably the best examples currently around, although there are others in the pipeline.

But games like Riven, Atlantis (One and Two), Reah and Dracula: Ressurection rely on a different style of gameplay. For a start, you're playing a defined character whose statistics you can't change. And you're in environment where the puzzles are the most important part of the game rather than character building or Non-player Character interaction. Generally you can't die (although there are some exceptions, such as at the end of Riven), leaving you to focus your attention on the exploratory and puzzle sides of the game, and to enjoy the story as it unfolds. For most of these games are very heavily story-based, and are often referred to as interactive fiction.

Put simply, this game is an extension of Bram Stoker's Dracula story. Set 7 years after the events in the original, it tells of Dracula's resurrection from the dead and his calling of Mina from London back to his castle. At the end of the book (and even the most recent movie of the same name) Mina has been 'infected' with the blood of the Vampire, but since Dracula has supposedly been destroyed, she doesn't become one of the undead. With Dracula's rise, she starts to feel an intense attraction calling her back to Dracula's castle and leaves whilst Jonathion is away on business. Jonathon, concerned for his wife, immediately sets out to rescue her.

You take the part of Jonathon as he arrives outside the Crown, the local inn. Immediately obvious is the sheer beauty of the scenery. Moving the mouse around will spin the scene around on the spot, and unlike a lot of similar games, the view doesn't appear stretched, chopped or tacked together to create the spherical view. The designers have spent a very long time ensuring that the game environment is consistent throughout, and being set in winter, everything is shrouded in snow. Control is very simple, with the cursor in the center of the screen changing shape to indicate whether a movement or action can be performed. For example, if the cursor changes into a magnifying glass, then you have the option of looking a little closer at a particular part of the scenery. At other times, it will change to a set of gears indicating that an action can be performed, but that you need a particular object.

Interaction with other characters can provide additional information about what you need to do to complete the game. Each section of dialogue is accompanied by a piece of Full Motion Video, with the characters suitably animated, although you can bypass this if you inadvertantly repeat a section of dialogue. One thing I did notice about all the embedded dialogue and motion video is that the quality, unlike many of this genre's predecessors, was of almost the same level of details as the prerendered fixed scenes, meaning the transition from static to movement was a lot less jarring than in other games, and the blurring inherent in most compression algorithmns was almost non-existent.

You will need to speak to the various characters a number of times, since as you explore their words will reveal more of the story to you, giving you clues to other objects you may need. And in a couple of instances, you will find an object that may require further explanation, so when you return and talk to the Landlady for example, she may have more to say on a particular subject, or something entirely new to add.

To progress through the game you will need to solve a number of puzzles, from straight item collection to character misdirection, and you will find yourself visiting most areas of the game more than once. Because of the way the puzzles are structured and woven into the storyline, you will find as you progress that certain paths through the game become unavailable to you, giving you more puzzles to solve. Some of the puzzles are very simple, such as moving a lamp from one place to another, lighting a formerly dark alcove.

The game is split into three distinct acts, each act seperated by a mini movie which serves to move the story along and add some more intrigue to the plot. The first act introduces you to the game as a whole, filling you in on the basics of the story and introducing you to the control system and the way of interacting with the game. The second act serves as an introduction to the more subtle elements of the game, and is conversely harder to complete. The third and final act is the most difficult of all, however that really is to be expected. Despite being split into these three acts, the game still feels like a single, complete whole rather than three distinct parts, which adds to the immersiveness of the game as a whole.

Dracula: The Resurrection is most certainly not a game for everyone, and the slow pace, pre-rendered screens and scripted interaction will not be most peoples cup of tea. At it's heart it is a simple adventure game built around a cohesive story where you are left to fill in the gaps in whatever manner you like. That said, it's not a particularly long game, and unlike other titles will only take perhaps a day or two to complete. If you like this type of game, then it's a nice addition to your collection, but my score reflects the fact that most people won't be that keen on this game, nor others like it.