Sexy bloodsucker battles sleuthing scholar

In yet another PC adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Frogwares has created some interesting twists on a beloved tale. You take the role of Van Helsing, vampire hunter, on the bloody trail of Count Dracula. The game begins in London, where Van Helsing has just received a letter from Jonathan Harker.

Dracula: Origin is plenty dark and gory; the game is rated T, and there's certainly a lot of blood and gore (including graphic torture, mutilation and satanic rituals). The game's locations (London, Vienna, Cairo, Transylvania) sparkle and really add depth to the story; puzzle-wise, you spend a large amount of time in Cairo exploring the market, museum, and several residences. Sadly, the section in Transylvania felt more like a tacked-on afterthought. The ending is super-brief, but I enjoyed it.

Graphics: the prerendered backgrounds are generally very intricately rendered, with period touches (detailed paintings, tapestries, etc.). The character animations are somewhat less successful; Van Helsing's movements are wooden (this is a third-person perspective, so you're watching Van Helsing move *a lot*). The cutscenes are beautiful, though. Lip synching is somewhat off in cutscenes, but it's generally not a distraction. The load screens are more of a watercolor wash instead of rendered (and load times are short).

Sound: the background music is generally unobtrusive, with a piano-based score that includes fear-drenched organ and quivering strings from time to time. For some reason, the music in Cairo reminded me strongly of Big Fish's soundtrack to their Blood Ties game. Sound effects are very good. It's obvious that English was the second language; there are some subtitles in particularly that don't mesh with the recorded dialogue. Also, Van Helsing got on my nerves; his melodramatic, gasped "Closed!" at finding doors locked was grating.

Gameplay: Dracula: Origin is an inventory-based game. You only pick up what you need, and it's generally pretty obvious what goes where (although some solutions are a bit of a stretch). There are several puzzle varieties including decoding, sliders, logic puzzles, and find-the-items. The game leans towards the easy side, with plenty of hand-holding; on many occasions, I longed for a more difficult solution. It would have been nice if two different difficulty levels had been included (beginner and advanced), but I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzles.

Are there some shortcuts in design and graphics that I found annoying? Yes. But Dracula: Origin looks great, plays well, and is certainly one of the better-looking adventure games to come out recently. Because of its intuitive puzzles, this is a perfect first game for those new to adventure gaming. And fans of vampire lore will find plenty to sink their fangs into as well.