textfiles/games/REVIEWS/elvira.rev

 ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK 

 CRPG design is generally pretty conservative these days: The focus
tends to be more on the structure of the game than on splashy sound
and graphics. For some reason, game flash has been reserved
primarily for first-person games, in the style of DUNGEON MASTER. 
ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK falls into this category, and like
DUNGEON MASTER, manages to retain the positive elements of both
styles. Though it doesn't hold up to DM in terms of game complexity
and depth, it certainly exceeds it both visually and aurally. (This
review is based on the Amiga version.) 

 ELVIRA begins with a little set-piece intro, during which the
player is invariably cast into a dungeon cell, only to meet up with
the Vamp Horror Queen Herself. She proceeds to give instructions, 
after mildly insulting your prowess (your initial status in this
game is, basically, "dweeb"), and sets up the situation. Armed with
the gift of a very small knife and thoughts of helping a beautiful
woman (well, at least she's no fairy princess), you head out the
door and into the courtyard of the castle. 

 This is where the game's freshness first becomes apparent. Too many
CRPGs are stuck in the dungeon-town-wilderness model for us to
become excited about that anymore. In contrast, ELVIRA stays in one
castle, with a courtyard, a garden, an 18th-century-style shrubbery
maze, ramparts, a moat, and an awesome basement. The layout of the
territory is consistent, coherent, and small enough to keep in mind
throughout the course of play. 

 Graphics and sound are immediately impressive as well: No other
CRPG I've seen has managed to pack such detailed, professionally
drawn sights into a CRPG game. The graphics provide a rather large, 
full-screen view of the environs, and this goes a long ways toward
drawing you into ELVIRA. At certain points there are even close-up
perspectives, which help vary the way the game looks. The soundtrack
is context-relevant, and carefully composed. Sound effects include
appropriate shrieks, grunts, and groans, and a few rather
bloodcurdling screams. Despite the light tone, this ain't no
picnic. 

 This impressiveness may be a drawback for some people; ELVIRA is, 
despite its initial light-heartedness, a pretty violent game, and
the player character in particular suffers all kinds of grueling
demises, all of which are lovingly depicted. Fans of horror books
and movies won't be put off, but if you're buying this for a younger
player, be forewarned. 

 Gameplay involves extensive exploration of the area, and makes use
of an effective icon-based system. There is little in the way of
conversation, and what there is can be handled easily with the click
of a mouse button. Nothing in the way of alliances is possible, 
though certain NPCs in the game will offer important advice at
crucial junctures. 

 Most of your time and attention will be devoted, then, to
variations on hack-and-slash. ELVIRA makes no bones about this being
the central mode of the game, and it's implemented here more
effectively than in most CRPGs. Encounters with other characters are
real-time and semi-arcade-style (first-person perspective), 
involving the simulation of various dynamic weapons skills. You
start off with just a knife, but a little looting procures other
things, like ranged weapons, heavy swords, etc. Each of these can
have its own skill ratings, which improve with use. It's possible to
practice archery skills without having to fight, but all other
skills require some risk. Again, success with your weapons will
produce pretty strong positive feedback, both graphically and
sonically. (My favorite is the death of the vampiress.) 

 There's a maze and a dungeon to cope with, as well. They're worth
mapping out, as important items are to be found in them, and it's
all too easy to miss a crucial part of the territory. (You can go
back in later if you've forgotten something, but depending on how
long it takes you, you might find the item gone.) They're both
well-populated with pretty strong creatures, which makes it clear
that other less-defended parts of the game must be dealt with first
(such as the ramparts and garden). 

 There _are_ clearly defined goals in the game, fortunately. The
manual spells them out in the context of a short but nicely
conceived story. It seems that Elvira's managed to attract a bunch
of rather unsavory (and undead) guests, and needs you to rid her
castle of them. Her grandmama Emelda has been responsible for the
problem, having set up the possibility of future resurrection in a
deal with the undead. In the process of cleaning out the undead from
the castle, six keys must be found to open the chest that contains
the "Scroll of Spiritual Mastery," which controls Emelda's
resurrection. Enough mother-daughter rivalry and tension is built
into the plot to give the story an original twist. As a result, 
aggression towards female NPCs in the game is presented from a
female, rather than male, viewpoint; the reasons for killing the
cook, the vampiress, etc., spring from Elvira's needs rather than
your own. 

 As in most CRPGs, there is of course a spellcrafting and
spellcasting system. Initially, it's not possible to make your own
spells, though you're supplied with a few of them. Gathering up the
right components and bringing them to Elvira in the kitchen is
necessary in order to get the spellmaking side of the game going
(and the kitchen must be "cleansed" of interference first as
well...eek!). The recipes for various spells are included in a
booklet separate from the manual, readable only with an appropriate
strip of red acetate. This is an oddity, which makes more sense
after reading the warning about not trying these things in reality. 
I guess the game designers were afraid of lawsuits stemming from
children mixing and swallowing one of the spell concoctions
presented in the game. The red acetate thus serves as a (very) small
preventative, a software attempt at a "child-proof lid." 

 Spells are all consumables, and thus play no role in the overall
development of the character's strengths. At a certain point, spells
and ingredients will be exhausted, so conservation of both for
appropriate use is important. This is a small weakness in the game: 
There's no way of really knowing exactly what spell is needed
where, yet there's little opportunity for practicing hits and
misses. 

 So, too, the weapons, shields, and armor are all destructible, yet
for the most part there's no way of knowing when any of them will
give out. (Well, I guess the stats can be indicative of the
"strength" left in various items, at least indirectly.) You can
carry an almost endless inventory of stuff, but over time, it begins
to tire your character; there's nothing worse than finally figuring
out a particular puzzle in the game, only to find you can't make the
next step because you're too exhausted. 

 Fortunately, ELVIRA makes it relatively easy to save where you
are. The game-save process is transparent, and a number of files can
be saved to one disk (many European Amiga games only allow one save
per disk, for copy protection reasons I assume). Saving, making a
move, and then restoring from a save is one way of testing out
spells, weapons, and armor, though a bit tedious. 

 ELVIRA:MISTRESS OF THE DARK comes on five copyable floppies. Copy
protection consists of the spell manual, without which much of game
is not survivable. It runs only on Amiga 1000s, 500s, and 2000s, and
requires 1Mb of RAM to play. The interface is controlled entirely
via mouse. Hard disk installation is simple, and highly
recommended. Swapping five floppies in and out of even three floppy
drives can become burdensome, though the files are carefully
arranged on disk so that swaps occur only at unobtrusive moments. 
File loading from floppies is pretty amazing (considering the high
quality of the sound and graphics being loaded), but hard disk play
will make the pauses for loading less of an intrusion in the game. 

 I really like ELVIRA. The game is fresh, tough but pretty logical, 
and has enough variety in the gameplay to make it worth recommending
even to seasoned CRPGers. The story, characterizations, and
locations are all very thoroughly conceived, and carefully
executed. If you're looking for an intriguing introduction to the
world of CRPG gaming, you won't go wrong with ELVIRA -- even though
she might give you a hard time to begin with. 

 ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK is published and distributed by
Accolade.