Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: April 23, 2001

As is shown by the recent success of Clive Barker’s Undying, horror still sells well on the personal computer. A lot of modern scary entertainment, such as that represented by Stephen King novels and the Blair Witch movies, rely almost exclusively on shock and surprise; nonetheless, there is still sustained interest in traditional gothic horror, relying more on a considerably more predictable motif of haunting fear. Into this last category falls the French-made Dracula: The Last Sanctuary from Dreamcatcher Interactive, a sequel to Dracula Resurrection from the same company. This classic adventure-puzzle game, released for both the PC and the Mac, is firmly located within the MYST tradition.

Dracula: The Last Sanctuary is naturally quite reminiscent of Dracula Resurrection, with a connection so tight that the second begins with an ending cutscene from the first. Some later settings also look identical to those in the initial effort, and once again you play the role of Jonathan Harker trying to save his love Mina from Dracula. But Dreamcatcher has clearly listened to user feedback: this second release takes a lot more time to finish than its overly short predecessor, and it has more places to explore than just the three settings in the first. Moreover, unlike the original where you hardly interacted with Dracula at all (he just lurked menacingly in the background), in this sequel the best known vampire of all time is now more directly at center stage from beginning to end.

The story is pretty standard stuff for this genre. You begin by watching Harker save Mina and transport her from Dracula’s castle in Transylvania. Harker then takes her to London, but he quickly realizes the Dracula is not far behind. Along the way you encounter a seemingly unending series of demon-possessed vampire creatures, including werewolves right off the bat, which you dispatch with traditional devices such as a wooden stake or a silver bullet. Because Dracula and his henchmen capture Mina early on, you find yourself once more pursuing them. Predictably, Harker tracks Dracula back to the vampire’s Transylvania castle and his last sanctuary for the final confrontation. Dracula’s dragon ring plays a role in this story, but it is not as continuously pivotal as in the first release. Overall, the plot is not tightly linked to the original Bram Stoker novel and does not display either much novelty or many surprising plot twists.

As you proceed, you meet 20 of the most gnarled and unforgettable characters you could possible imagine. The appearance of each person is never normal, just as in Dracula Resurrection, and most frequently is downright repulsive. In most cases, you can just about sense what a character is like by looking at how they look and what their mannerisms are, rather than by waiting to hear what they say; a full feeling of angst is what you experience in each case. Each person has a unique personality and way of expressing emotion. You are drawn inescapably into caring about the story through the characters, despite the triteness of the plot, especially when two characters who help Jonathan Harker (Dr. Seward and Hopkins) end up dying before the end. But Dracula: The Last Sanctuary incorporates relatively little dialog and character interaction into the gameplay, especially in comparison to chatty adventure offerings such as LucasArts’ Grim Fandango.