JudyMJK's Full Review: Realms of the Haunting for Windows
ROTH was one of the best games I've ever played! I found this surprising because I'm a die-hard adventure game fan, and this game has a large component of action gaming. Despite that, the story and characters were so compelling that I immediately became engrossed in the game.
The atmosphere of the game was intense and realistic to the point that I found myself actually hesitating to open the next door or turn the next corner because I didn't know what I would find! There were many challenging puzzles, and the acting in the digital video sequences was so good that I actually began to care what happened to the characters.
The central character of the story is Adam Randall, whose father has recently died. Adam is left with some pieces of what appears to be a broken amulet, as well as questions about what really happened to his father. Then he begins to have strange and disturbing dreams. He decides to travel to the house where his father last lived in an effort to learn more about the amulet and about his father's death. He also hopes to gain some insight into his strange dreams.
When Adam arrives at the house, he has no idea what he is looking for or exactly why he is there. He soon learns that his father's spirit is trapped by some evil force, and that this evil is threatening to enter the world. In some way that he doesn't understand, Adam is the key to preventing this.
The game is a combination of digital video sequences and first person perspective action. In the video sequences, Adam interacts with various characters who give him the information and guidance that he needs to understand what his "mission" actually is. What makes this game so compelling is this gradual discovery process that you experience with Adam as the game progresses.
In the action portion of the game, you (as Adam) move through a house filled with numerous rooms and strange chambers. You collect various items, some of which you need to advance further in the game, and some of which you will need once your mission has been made clear. You will also find platforms that are actually gateways to other realms that you must visit. There are so many areas to explore that the game consists of twenty chapters. Accomplishing all you can in one area will advance you to the next chapter.
ROTH is both an adventure and an action game. You can adjust the difficulty of both the puzzle solving and the arcade aspect of the game when you begin a new game. I think that action gamers would actually find this game great fun, because there are SOOOO many monsters to destroy! There are different weapons to use, and you can be killed if you don't watch your life points.
These are exactly the aspects of the game that I didn't enjoy, which is why I find it surprising that I still consider this one of the best games I ever played. I set the arcade aspect of the game on easy, but I still encountered dozens of monsters. I have to be honest and say that the only reason I was able to finish this game is because of the excellent walkthrough that I found on www.game-revolution.com. I didn't use the walkthrough for the puzzles, but it was VERY helpful when it came to giving the best strategy to kill the monsters without sustaining too much personal damage.
This was the kind of game that I could sit down to play, and when I looked away from the screen I would find that two or three hours had gone by. In my book, that's the sign of a really great game!
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