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Adventure games have always had a soft spot in our hearts, so when two new adventure titles landed on our desks we couldn’t wait to get into them. You’ll be able to find the other game, Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis in due course. Back to the task at hand; will Dracula Origin be something you can sink your teeth into or will it leave you with a dodgy aftertaste?
The game starts out by introducing the main character, Professor Van Helsing (not related to the film). Stereotypically, he’s working hard to find one of his students; Jonathan Harker, who has fallen into the evil grasp of Dracula. Fearing for the life of your fiancée Mina, you rush over to her place to protect her. Unsurprisingly ,it seems that Dracula has taken an interest in Mina, because she looks like his long lost love and needs her body to bring his beloved back from the dead. The game takes place in a variety of settings such as London, Cairo, Vienna and then Transylvania, as you try and find a way to save Mina and defeat Dracula. Unlike [Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis] other games, you’re in a third person viewpoint, which lets you have a better look of your surroundings. It’s also nice to note that Frogwares have upped the user-friendliness with the control system which allows the game to be played with one hand (on the mouse). It’s helpful for those who aren’t familiar with the genre. Pressing space bar will light up objects that you can interact with. It vastly improves the problem solving process. It’s a great feature that every adventure game should include. Obviously veterans will avoid this feature, but when you’re ultra stuck, it saves you from jumping back and forth on Google to see what you’re supposed to do next. The puzzles themselves seem to fit the game well, blending with the story line. Like the majority of adventure games, a lot of the puzzles required you to mix and match items that you have in your inventory.  The graphics in Dracula: Origin are decent, but don’t expect any HD fanciness. The majority of locations are a tad small, leading to some frustration when attempting to collect items in a cramped space. The advantage of this is attention to detail. The developers have obviously reduced the scale to cater for more realistic, better looking environments. Instead of having large set pieces to look at (with nothing in), we’ve got a concentrated design choice on our hands. The voice acting is solid and really brings depth to the characters. Dracula is a particularly strong performance, with a layer of deep evil that is brilliantly conveyed. Regrettably, we’re sad to report that Van Helsing wasn’t as strong with a lot of phrases used over and over. It does get irritating after a while. The music is good, giving more depth to the game and increases the immersion. It’s a sufficient attempt and neither grinds nor excels. Overall, Dracula Origin is a good adventure game and does accommodate newer players. While the general consensus is that adventure games are an ‘old genre’ that’ll never come back as ‘blockbusters,’ they still do produce an experience that gets the gamer thinking. If you’re a fan of the genre you will probably love a fresh IP to play, but hate the fact that the game isn’t challenging enough. Neither is it a particularly long game but the genre doesn’t need epics at the moment. Newcomers to the game will enjoy the genre and hopefully continue to buy more adventure games. Score: 7/10
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