Gremlin's game, Realms of the Haunting, tells the story of Adam, an American bloke who is visited by a mysterious bearded priest, who gives him a package supposedly from his father. His father, it seems, had found something interesting in an old house, and was investigating it when he mysteriously died died. Adam, presumably having never seen a single horror movie in his life, decides to investigate, and takes a cab up to the old house. Surprise, surprise.. the moment he sets foot inside the house, the doors slam shut and lock behind him, leaving him all alone. Which is where you come in. Viewing things through Adam's eyes (yes, it's a 3D game), you must unravel the mysteries within and without the house, and generally save the world from impending doom. So nothing out of the ordinary there, then.


And saving the world, while never exactly an easy task, is pretty daunting; not only will you have to deal with the house, and the caverns and crypts below, but you will also have to cross to other realms and dimensions if you want to put things right. Realms of the Haunting provides a mixture of action and adventuring; as well as collecting objects to solve puzzles and problems, you'll also have to keep an army of nasties off your back. Some of them can be defeated by the application of brain-power, but most will require a good kicking before they pop their clogs. Fortunately, as you progress through the game you can get your hands on all manner of weaponry ranging from standard firearms to magically powered staffs.


Things are complicated further by the intervention of not one, but three baddies who think nothing of conjuring up nasties, leaving traps, or just giving you a whack round the head with a blunt object. You're not alone in your quest, either. Several characters pop up to give you frequently cryptic advice, and a female psychic called Rebecca joins you shortly after the second chapter, offering reasonably comprehensible advice about anything and everything you come across. Unfortunately, she's crap in a fight, but you can't have everything.


The game's storyline is relayed in a number of ways; you'll find documents and various other items that reveal more about the true nature of your question. Plus, there are a number of Full Motion Video clips, or Gremlin Digital Video clips as Gremlin pretentiously called them. The quality of these is particularly good, with not a duff actor in sight. Why is this so strange? Because while most games these days have decent voice acting, when Realms of the Haunting was first released, celebrity game voice-overs were virtually unheard of. And the storyline is very well written indeed, with various plot twists. Just when you think you've got everything figured out, something happens to shake things up. Realms of the Haunting's plot is far more interesting than some of the dial-a-plot efforts that pass for game storylines.



Most of the puzzles in the game involve collecting objects, using them on other objects, or unlocking doors, activating teleporters and so on. There are two modes in the game, Normal Mode, and Easy Mode. In Easy Mode, as long as you have the correct object to complete a puzzle in your possession, just click on the problem area, and the game will automatically select it and use it. In Normal Mode, you have to pick the object yourself. You can change between these two modes at will, and it does save ploughing your inventory and using every conceivable combination of objects. And when you have to cope with monsters as well, that's a big help.


Graphically and sonically, Realms of the Haunting was pretty good for its time, although it does look a little dated now.  It's spread over twenty chapters, each of them introducing new locations, characters and monsters. The baddies include Terror Dogs, sword wielding demons, and a character who resembles The Tall Man from Phantasm.. And they have a nasty habit of teleporting in behind you, accompanied by a horrifying roar. It's a good idea to make sure you have your weapon cocked (or whatever it is you do with magical staffs) before you enter a new area; you won't have much time, or room to maneuver when two demons come lumbering down the corridor towards you.


Realms of the Haunting's is one of the most impressive, and scariest games I've played to date, easily on a par with the Silent Hill and Resident Evil series. The mix of combat and adventure, that could have so easily been a let down, makes for an excellent game, and one that you won't finish in a hurry. If you've got an itchy trigger finger and a sharp mind, or just like things that go bump in the night, Realms of the Haunting's is well worth checking out, given that it seems to be abandonware these days. It's just a shame it never got a sequel.

(Review written by me, originally posted on GamesDomain)