Heart of Darkness (video game)

: "For the Joseph Conrad novel, see Heart of Darkness. For other uses, see Heart of Darkness (disambiguation)."

Infobox VG
title= Heart of Darkness


caption=
developer= Amazing Studio
publisher= Interplay
distributor=
designer= Eric Chahi
series=
engine=
version=
released= July 31 1998 (PS1)
August 31 1998 (WIN)
genre = Cinematic platformer
modes= Single player
ratings= ESRB: E (Everyone)
USK: 12+
OFLC: G8+
platforms= Microsoft Windows, PlayStation
media= 2 CD-ROMs (PS1)
1 CD-ROM (WIN)
requirements=
input=

"Heart of Darkness" is a 1998 video game by Amazing Studio and released by Interplay for Microsoft Windows-based PCs and the PlayStation. A Game Boy Advance port was announced in 2001 but never released. It is the first game to have its score recorded by an orchestra though because of delays, it was not the first to be released with a full orchestral soundtrack.

Plot

The game follows Andy, who is a regular child that hates his teacher, loves his dog Whiskey, and is afraid of the dark. One day, Andy and Whiskey head for the park. A solar eclipse occurs while they're there. During the eclipse, Whiskey is taken away by an unseen creature. Andy then rushes to his treehouse, where he keeps his inventions, and jumps inside a spaceship to find Whiskey. He takes off and finds himself in another world that's called the Darklands. Inhabited by creatures of the night and ruled over by an evil sorcerer that's known as the Master of Darkness, the Darklands are extremely dangerous. Andy must find it in himself in order to rescue Whiskey, find a way home, face his fears, and enter the world of the Heart of Darkness.

Upon crashing, Andy finds himself in a canyon on the outskirts of the Darklands. Here, his gun is eaten by a giant minion of the Master of Darkness. Andy manages to escape into the swamps, only to run into more danger while unarmed. Meanwhile, the Master of Darkness is abusing his pink servant when a winged shadow arrives with a sack that has Whiskey in it. Angered by the mistake (the shadow was supposed to capture Andy), the Master of Darkness kills the shadow and takes his anger out on his servant by throwing him at a spiked wall. However, the minion that swallowed Andy's gun appears, accidentally saving the servant, and explains Andy being in the Darklands. The Master of Darkness then orders his minions to search the Darklands for him. Deep in the swamp, Andy saves a winged creature that's named Amigo that starts to carry him to his home island, but is dazed by a fireball that was thrown from a winged shadow and drops Andy into a lake. At the bottom of the lake, Andy comes across a magic rock that grants him the power to manipulate plants and destroy enemies. After resurfacing, Andy is rescued once again by Amigo, who takes Andy back to his home and introduces him to his people. Andy wins their approval by creating an apple tree for them. The Amigos then agree to hide Andy in their village, but the shadows attack and destroy the village when night falls. However, Andy manages to slip away. After reuniting with the Amigos, Andy witnesses an Amigo fall to the evil ground, and becomes a winged shadow within contact. Andy convinces the Amigos to obtain the magic rock's power and wage war on the Master of Darkness. With their newfound powers the Amigos help Andy slip into the Master of Darkness's lair. While in there, Andy is captured and thrown into a cell with Whiskey, but manages to escape and free Whiskey without knowing it. Meanwhile, the Master of Darkness's minions have found the magic rock and bring it to the Master, who destroys it, thus draining Andy and the Amigos' powers. Unarmed once again, Andy can only run from the shadows. While fleeing, he accidentally falls into a hole and lands on top of the giant minion, who promptly swallows Andy whole. However, he is able to escape by obtaining his gun from the minion's stomach and blasting him in half from within. He then encounters the servant and forces him to help defeat the Master of Darkness and find Whiskey. The servant tells Andy that the only way to defeat the Master of Darkness is to drop the completed magic rock into the dark portal. Andy then searches for the fragments of the rock in order to reform it. He manages to obtain all but one piece, which is laying on the bridge near the portal. While Andy is fighting his way to the bridge, the servant betrays Andy by kicking Whiskey into the portal. After fighting countless shadows and dodging several fire blasts that are thrown by the Master of Darkness, Andy makes it to the bridge and obtains the final piece. The Amigos then tie up the servant and lower the rock onto the bridge, crushing the servant in the process. Ignoring the Master of Darkness's plea not to do so, claiming that everyone will get killed, Andy puts the final piece of the rock on it, thus completing it. It then falls into the portal, which begins destroying the castle and the platform that the Master of Darkness floats on. He then falls into the portal, but takes Andy with him. The two find themselves in the Heart of Darkness. Andy battles the Master of Darkness and then hears the sound of a door opening, only to sees red eyes approaching. Andy prepares to strike, but the lights come on revealing that it is Whiskey and they are in Andy's tree house...the whole thing was in Andy's imagination. Andy's mother then calls him to dinner. After being kissed goodnight by his mother, Andy plays with Whiskey a bit and then turns the nightlight off, revealing that he has conquered his fear of the dark thanks to his make-believe journey. It then shows the Amigos finding the wreckage of Andy's ship, with the servant also there tied up, being tortured and humiliated.

Gameplay

"Heart of Darkness" is a platform game in the vein of "Another World", a game also created by Eric Chahi. The player controls Andy, who has the ability to run, jump, walk, climb and somersault. In addition to this, Andy can attack or defend himself by using either a plasma gun or by throwing magic energy, depending on which section of the game is being played. The magic energy can be used to grow or destroy trees, and either weapon can be used in a variety of poses. Andy can climb up rocks, swim underwater and perform several other actions.

The game is linear. The player spends the game completing puzzles, timing movements, or simply moving in order to get to the next screen. Backtracking to previous screens is rarely required.

The game is noteworthy for the number of disturbing ways the young hero can be killed. Andy can be crushed, eaten, incinerated, drowned, and even have his back broken in numerous ways.

Creation and reception

"Heart of Darkness" took six years to develop. These years were spent creating the game's musical score, the graphics, and the FMV sequences. There was a bidding war to distribute the game which Interplay won. Other companies that bidded were Sega and Atari. Atari had plans to put the game on the Atari Jaguar CD instead of the Playstation.

The game was released to generally good reviews. The most common complaint was the short length of the game. However, the public did not show much interest, though the game managed to sell a million and a half copies.Fact|date=October 2008

External links

*moby game|id=/heart-of-darkness|name="Heart of Darkness"