Previous Next

Gerry Dangridge moved into a quiet neighbourhood so he could get a good day's sleep. The night shift can be tough, but his neighbours just won't let him rest (not that Gerry really wants to rest in peace). He can't understand why they're bothering him; he's just a regular all-American guy. He doesn't like foreign food - especially with garlic - and he likes his stake rare - as rarely as possible. [That's enough vampire puns! - Ed]

Frightnight is one of the best dressed games I've seen for a while. The backgrounds, drawn by Steve Bak, are particularly nice, although I think Gerry's taste in decor leaves a little to be desired. Habitat obviously hasn't reached Transylvania yet. Each of the screens are packed with delightful little details. Eerie portraits, bubbling test tubes and grotesque gargoyles are all lovingly crafted and colourfully drawn to create a spectacular setting. This works a treat.

In contrast, the idea behind the game couldn't be more simple. Your nosy neighbours may be a pain, but they're also a fresh supply of blood. If they don't want to donate, then you'll just have to bleed them dry anyway. The trouble is though, it you let them cross you - your future will look distinctly un-rosary. Aaargh!

That was a close one. I nearly lost control completely there. So there's nothing more for Gerry to do other than to wander around the house looking for victims. When you find a likely-looking one and have sidled alongside him, you'll find yourself flung into a pounce and giving him a love bite he'll never forget. Thwarting your progress are the things they'll throw at you (bibles, holy water, the usual stuff), ghosts which pursue you and hands of ectoplasm that pop up through the floorboards. It's not particularly easy to survive for any length of time, but there's not a lot of skill involved in it either. The best you can do is to remember the most direct path between each snack and to spend as little time as possible on the more awkward screens.

There's not a lot of point in taking Frightnight seriously. Microdeal seemed to have expended all their energy on creating impressive sound and graphics, leaving the gameplay to take a definite back seat. My advice is to sit back and enjoy the show. For instance, every time you finish draining the blood of another hapless intruder, Gerry turns to give you a wicked toothy grin and to let out a huge vampiric belch. Beyond this level of mild amusement, there's not a lot else to the game. A shame really, because a lot of effort has obviously been put into creating it, and, because of its over-simplicity, I don't think I'll be booting it up very often.

The music certainly deserves an honourable mention. The original score with its howling wolves and other little bits enhances the atmosphere enormously, but the really nice touches are the snippets of 'The Death March' that are thrown in from time to time and the playing of 'There's No Place Like Home' every time you return to the screen with your coffin on. Frightnight is a laugh, but don't expect it to keep you up all night.