Realms of the Haunting

                 Reviewed By William McCole

A while ago I was visiting my local Currys (it had just opened)
and found Realms of the Haunting at an amazingly low price.  Nuff
said, I bought it!

The basic plot of ROTH is that you take the role of Adam Randall.
Your father's death led you to a remote Cornish village called
Helston. After receiving a bizarre package from one of your
father's friends in the clergy, you are pulled into an adventure
involving forces gathering in the Parish of St Michael's (not the
shop, the other one!)

ROTH is based on the many beliefs of the Apocalypse. It is
technically a horror adventure, and at times can be quite chilling
(treading on squelchy dead rats!) but is not really gross. It's
rated as an 11+ by ELSPA, so it can't be that bad.

The game itself is very well made, the graphics are excellent, not
only the terrain and lighting, but the creatures and objects
themselves, and the FMV is good quality and interesting. The plot
is exceptional, involving demons and other worlds, but not being
baffling in its intricacy. The puzzles are challenging, but the
difficult ones are well spaced out and the easy ones are not too
easy as to be trivial.

Despite being on 4 CDs, the actual CD swapping is few and far
between. The game is split into 20 chapters linked by FMV.
Initially you are alone in a huge house with no weapons, but soon
you acquire a Colt gun and find a typing typewriter (without a
ribbon!). There are many objects to pick up and view, some of
which are red herrings but most can be used in some way. Despite
the 'point & click' style interface, some of the items can be
difficult to find.

There is also a lot of combat in the game, some can be avoided but
there are many occasions where you just have to kill your
assailant, be it skeleton, gargoyle or demon. Most combat involves
shooting the bad guys at a distance, but a sword is available if
you want to get close in (or save ammo!)

I would strongly recommend ROTH to anyone who likes graphical
adventures, as ROTH is absorbing in the extreme. It will keep the
best of adventurers working for the best part of 2 months, and
mere mortals up to 6 months, but it's well worth persevering with!
Despite having now completed the game, I would definitely play
ROTH again, if only for the great videos and plot.










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