Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy

"An extremely fun and innovative game"

Of Light and Darkness is an incredibly unique game. I am yet to play any game that is quite like it. However it does have its flaws.

The Story: Your job is to save the human race. Yep, you heard me, save the human race. You play The Chosen One, and you job is too defeat Gar Hob, Dark Lord of the 7th Millennium (played quite well by James Woods, who also voiced Hades in the Disney version of Hercules). Gar Hob has set up a sort of game you must win in order to save the fate of the world as we know it.
At the beginning of each level a small court session will go on, but you will see no one, only hear various voices such as the judge, bailiff, and Gar Hob. If any of this confuses you when you buy the game a manual with the stories of The Chosen One and the story of Gar Hob and Angel Gemini is included to clear things up. Score:10

Game Play: You must ''redeem'' characters known as ''apparitions'' which are basically floating masks. In order to redeem them you must discover what their sin and their color is. Then you go to their sin room and ''flash'' an orb or many orbs to make their color. If you are successful the apparition shall appear in the room and let out a blood curdling howl, and you shall hear the judge, apparition, and Gar Hob all speaking for a few brief seconds. You should keep in mind the game is in real time so you will often need to hurry, or it's game over. In order to help you move around more quickly there are trans-portals which can warp you to various locations. This can also help when an angry apparition or apparitions corner you for stealing their artifacts. Score:9

Originality: I can guarantee in your life time you will probably never see any game quite like this. The game may have it's ups and downs but it's definitely still one of the most creative games on the market today, if a bit complicated. In essence this game is almost a combination of a game and a movie, complete with 2 actors (James Woods and Lolita Davidovich). You really get to know and understand the characters unlike any other game I've played. Score:10

Graphics: The graphics to this game are flat out amazing. They were all specially hand drawn by artist Gil Bruvel, and he did an amazing job. The view of the environment you get when you go down the first elevator is especially fantastic. Everything is well detailed, whether it be the freakish Jack in the Box you see in the beginning or the screaming face of an apparition after being redeemed. Score:10

Sound: This game has some incredible sounds. The voices of various characters are clear and crisp. Many of the sound effects are great as well. The sequences for doors opening and closing are done extremely well and all the machinery sounds like it could be in the room with you. The music constantly playing in the background will give you chills up and down your spine, adding greatly to the suspense of the game and its environment. Score:9

Control: The controls to the game are pretty easy. Nearly everything can be done using either the mouse or ''hot keys''. When a hand appears over an object you can pick it up by left clicking. When you see feet left click and you move in that direction. In order to access your inventory you right-click and then select the object(s) you want. To use the object you press the space bar. This can be tiring at times, especially if you're in a hurry and mis-click, but overall it is quite easy to use. Score:8

Replay: This is the games only major drawback. There is little replay value unless you want to see all the apparitions (you almost definitely won't the first time through the game). Other than that since the game is basically a real time puzzler with only one character to use you most likely won't want to play it again for a few weeks or months. Score:3

Overall: I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes puzzle games, or really just gaming in general. You can probably find it for a relatively cheap price, and the puzzles are guaranteed to take you weeks to figure out unless you use an FAQ.

OVERALL SCORE:9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/01, Updated 06/24/01