Necronomicon: The Gateway to Beyond

The Good
Necronomicon has only two redeeming qualities: the storyline and puzzles.

The plot centers around resurrecting the spirits of an Ancient race of black magic sorcerers. Finding the clues about them involves reading old texts and alchemy formulas and piecing together the mystery that surrounds necromancy.

Puzzles include intricate and elaborate locks which require more than keys to open, as well as finding the ingredients and procedures for actually raising a spirit.

The Bad
There are at least 3 mazes that twist and turn so badly that they cannot be mapped. In addition, there are several timed sequences that seem to be added simply to lengthen gameplay.

The theme of the game is dark and gloomy, but the actual graphics in the game are sometimes so dismal that it hinders you. Character graphics are a bit blocky and unnatural, with the exception of the main character, William. Sometimes a character with a full set of teeth in one scene will be needing dentures the next time you meet him.

Players who have played either of the Dracula games (Last Sanctuary and Resurrection) will recognize the interface, which is identical in this game. But it definitely needs improvement. For instance, the inventory screens are so graphically intense that my mouse cursor "hung" many times. There are only 8 game save slots and there is no option for subtitles. Dialog is spoken very quickly and softly most of the time and is hard to understand. (Subtitles would have helped here.) While navigating a section, the directional cursor choices are too close together causing the player to be more apt to die due to a misplaced click.

The music, although an original score, is nothing out of the ordinary. Sound effects are only average. When starting the game, the player must always insert the first CD. Otherwise there is no disk swapping required.

The Bottom Line
A traditional point-and-click adventure game, Necronomicon is proported to be "better than" the previous Dracula games. Unfortunately it falls far short of the mark. It's dark subject may appeal to some, but most players will be annoyed by the many mazes and timed sequences.