MediEvil: Resurrection

MediEvil Resurrection
Developer(s)	SCE Studio Cambridge
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Composer(s)	Andrew Barnabas, Paul Arnold
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	PlayStation Portable EU September 1, 2005 NA September 13, 2005 PlayStation Store EU May 29, 2008 NA June 26, 2008
Genre(s)	Action adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multi player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen OFLC: G8+ PEGI: 7+
Media/distribution	UMD, Download

MediEvil: Resurrection is a video game for the PlayStation Portable. It is a partial-remake of MediEvil, with a few alterations to the original storyline, such as the "Anubis Stone" sub-plot, which never appeared in the original. Many things such as level design and characters were changed drastically, and some levels were removed altogether. Also, unlike the original, there is no alternate ending; Dan still goes to the Hall of Heroes regardless of whether he collects all of the chalices. The game also features a variety of voice talent, including Tom Baker as the narrator and the Grim Reaper. It was released on September 1, 2005, in Europe and on September 13, 2005, in the United States. It was made available for download from the PlayStation Store in Europe on May 29, 2008, and in the United States on June 26, 2008.

Plot

The game starts out as a narrative, telling the player about the fictional English Kingdom of Gallowmere, set in the 13th century. The game puts the player in control of Sir Daniel Fortesque: a brave (according to him) knight who, despite his tales of gallantry, was the first to die during the battle against the evil wizard Zarok; he was hit in the eye by an arrow in the first charge of a battle with Zarok's undead armies back in 1286.

One century later, in 1386, Zarok returns, casts a spell which curses an eternal night upon Gallowmere, robs the citizens in a nearby village of their souls and awakens his undead army. Sir Dan is then woken up by Al-Zalam, a genie who Zarok robbed of his powers and cursed to reside in Dan’s skull (which shall never be lifted until Zarok dies). Unable to go to the Hall of Heroes in death due to his failures in life, Sir Fortesque sets out from his crypt to exact his revenge upon Zarok, free Al-Zalam from his head and "prove himself a true hero" now that he has been given a second chance.

After finding a way out of the cemetery, Dan comes across Death. After talking, Death tells Dan about how to defeat Zarok. He must collect all four pieces of the Anubis Stone, an artefact that was used in the battle a century ago. The first piece is buried in the same cemetery where Death was encountered. The second piece is held by the Mayor of the Sleeping village, who gets captured by Zarok and his Boiler guards and is later released by Dan. He tells Dan to find the Shadow demon claw (used to wake up the Shadow demons). The third piece is in the possession of the witch of Punpking Gorge. She wants Dan to defeat a large Jack-o-lantern like monster. The last piece is in the castle of King Peregrin. Soon, after finding all four pieces, getting through the rest of Gallowmere and making his way to the entrance of Zarok's lair, Dan goes inside, where Zarok is waiting. There, Zarok sends out his regular minions, then his champion Lord Kardok, a zombie centaur wielding a bow. Once the minions and Kardok have been beaten, he sends out his fleet of Fazgul warriors and then states that they are all immune to mortal weapons. While doing this, Dan fixes the pieces of the Stone, then holds it up to the sky. This summons the souls belonging to the soldiers who fought in the war. Seeing that they are all ghosts, their weapons will affect Zarok's warriors, so they charge straight towards them and start fighting while Dan keeps his side alive by zapping them with some of the Stone’s energy (if the player fails to do this, Zarok's side will gang up on Dan and finish him off, resulting in an immediate game over).

Once Zarok's side lose, Dan's warriors cheer while turning into health vials that Dan collects to get as much energy back as possible (he loses it while using the energy on his side). After the Fazguls fall, Zarok has nothing else left to fight Dan with. Then, Zarok taunts Dan by asking him about creatures that slither. He soon finds out that snakes scare Dan, so he transforms into a giant cobra in a last ditch effort to defeat Dan. The two fight, with Dan ending up victorious. Zarok then melts into his normal form while admitting defeat.

Zarok then states that if he is to fail, then all shall perish and Sir Dan will never leave his lair. He then emits a shockwave with the last amount of magic he has, which makes the lair cave in and the volcano that its built over start melting everything in its path. Dan runs for his life but trips and is knocked out. Afterwards, a giant statue resembling Zarok falls on top of him.

Al-Zalam then finds out that he is finally free and powerful again, so he flies off. Dan wakes up and tries to get away, but is soon trapped on a piece of debris, slowly getting eaten away by the lava. Luckily, Al-Zalam spots Dan, grabs his hand, and takes him back to his crypt while daylight returns and the stolen souls return to the people. Once inside, Al-Zalam drops Dan, the two wave goodbye and Dan returns to his eternal rest.

Dan then gets taken to the Hall of Heroes. When he arrives, the rest of the heroes have come to life and have prepared a feast, ready for Dan’s arrival. Once Dan sits down in the chair prepared for him, one of the heroes fills up a goblet with wine; Dan then unsuccessfully drinks it, shrugging his shoulders as the wine falls through his skeletal body and lands on the floor. His transparent statue then becomes solid, and the other heroes cheer and applaud him for finally having the courage to defeat Zarok once and for all. The game then returns to the narrative, which states the epilogue and also hints towards Zarok returning in a sequel (despite the fact that there’s a new villain in the already existing sequel, Lord Palethorn), and the credits roll.

Characters

Sir Daniel Fortesque, a.k.a. Sir Dan: The captain of the guard who fell in the first wave of arrows at the Battle of Gallowmere. He was unknowingly resurrected by Zarok 100 years later and has been given a chance in death to prove himself to be the hero he never was in life. He is once again voiced by Jason Wilson in English and Kenyu Horiuchi in Japanese, as in the original game.

Zarok: Evil sorcerer who was once part of King Peregrine's retinue and was banished for meddling with the dead. Defeated at the battle of Gallowmere, he returned 100 years later to plague Gallowmere once again. He is voiced by Paul Darrow and Norio Wakamoto in the English and Japanese versions of the game, respectively.

Al-Zalam: Supposedly a powerful Genie from the east whose powers were stripped by Zarok, now a bothersome squatter in Sir Dan's skull. He offers advice to Sir Dan and tries to pull off jokes when he gets the chance.

Death: The Grim Reaper himself appears in the game. He is extremely frustrated with Zarok's raising the dead all over, making his job quite difficult. He is fond of Sir Dan and is sort of a father figure to him. He is voiced by Tom Baker in the English version of the game.

Stone Gargoyles: These normally lifeless statues come to life when approached or struck with one of Dan's weapons. The green gargoyles offer advice but generally make abusive comments towards Dan. The red gargoyles act as vendors for ammunition and repairs and do not much resemble those found in Gothic architecture, looking rather more like cartoon characters.

Canny Tim: The first hero Dan encounters in the Hall of Heroes. He gives Dan the crossbow when he first sees him and then gives him his favorite crossbow; the inventory selection calls the second crossbow the "Hero's Crossbow."

Woden the Brave: Among the first heroes encountered in the Hall of Heroes. He gives Dan the Magic Sword. You can also purchase (presumeably) another one of his weapons, Woden's Brand, in Gallowmere Plains for 8 Carnival Tokens(Obtained by completing all the minigames fully, or cheating).

Karl Sturnguard: The Sixth hero encountered in the hall of heroes, and the last if Dan collects all the chalices. He gives Dan his magical shield when he first meets him and a Life bottle when he meets Dan again.

Soundtrack

The music is split into two halves. The cues from the first half are largely reminiscent of a select number of cues from the original game (1 track from the second game was also used), with the addition of extra thematic elements to strengthen and tie them together. The other half of the music is totally original, and written exclusively for this iteration of the franchise. All the music was performed live. The orchestra consisted of around 80 players and was made up of members of the Prague Philharmonic and recorded in Prague on the Barrandov Recording Stage. In addition the score benefits from a 32 piece choir, also recorded in the same venue. This follows in the tradition of Sony Cambridge's previous orchestral game Primal which was also recorded there by the same performers.

External links

• Official MediEvil Resurrection website