Publisher: The Adventure Company
Developer: Frogwares
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Pentium IV 1.5 GHz or equivalent; 512 MB RAM; 2.5 GB hard drive space
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Smith

Irish author Bram Stoker wrote 12 novels and a handful of short stories, but his most recognized work is “Dracula,” a tale of adventure and bloodlust that has spawned countless adaptations since its publication in 1897. The newest addition to the vampire canon is Dracula: Origin, a point-and-click adventure game from Frogwares, Dreamcatcher and The Adventure Company that takes some of the characters from Stoker’s book and places them in new peril.

The story opens in the London apartment of Professor Abraham Van Helsing. He receives a letter from an old friend, Jonathan Harker, who writes that he has become the latest victim of Count Dracula, the legendary vampire whom Van Helsing has been pursuing for some time. Recent events suggest that Dracula has come to London, and further investigation reveals that the undead Count is searching for an ancient manuscript that could be used to resurrect his first love. When the professor learns that the lovely Mina is targeted to be the vessel for the spirit of the vampire’s long-dead lover, he sets out to find and destroy the bloodthirsty Count, tracking him to Cairo, Vienna and eventually, Transylvania.

Dracula: Origin ships on three CDs, which is curious since the DVD drive has become standard equipment on the modern PC. This requires you to watch the monitor for a prompt to swap disks, making the installation process take a bit longer than normal. Fortunately, the game offers a slide show to keep you occupied while the disks are loading.

The designers clearly have a macabre sense of humor. After starting the game, the first image you see is Dracula lounging on a sofa with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and a come-hither look on his face. The main menu screen is a shaped like a headstone and offers the usual collection of options. Most notable is the unusual number of video and audio settings that can be tweaked, including antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, and texture and shadow quality. There are also separate sliders for music, dialog, effects and ambiance volumes. Most action games don’t offer this level of customization, so this is unique for a member of the adventure genre.