Waxworks (computer game)

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Waxworks is a 1992 Horrorsoft first-person dungeon crawl style RPG and is only the spiritual sequel to Elvira II: The Jaws Of Cerberus since Elvira is not present in this game. It was originally an Amiga game but was also released for DOS. It is infamous for its still-startling depictions of gore (in 256 colors no less!) and its difficult (to some) gameplay.

1 Plot
2 Gameplay
3 Controversy
4 Credits
5 Trivia
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Your uncle dies and leaves you with his Waxworks and a crystal ball. He then tells you that you must rid the family of a curse put upon you by a witch. To do this you must use the Waxworks to travel through 5 time periods/locations; The Pyramids, The Cemetery, London (featuring Jack The Ripper), The Mines (infested with evil aliens) and the Witch's Lair. If you can survive the horrors you come across, you will be able to rid the family of its curse for future generations.

[edit] Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to Might And Magic III: Isles Of Terra and other first-person dungeon crawl style RPG games. You mainly move around a series of tight corridors using a bitmap sprite-based point-and-click interface picking up items, solving puzzles, and engaging in combat with various horrific creatures such as zombies. The combat is unique in the fact that players can target individual body parts such as head and arms. An interesting twist is that you lose all experience points and weapons once you exit the current level, ensuring a fresh challenge for each waxworks.

The Museum is the level hub, levels can be completed in a non-linear fashion. Screen from Amiga version.

[edit] Controversy

The game is extremely violent and gory within the general combat and also in the highly detailed 'death' scenes (reminiscent of the graphics in Snatcher but more photo-realistic as opposed to anime or manga style). Some of scenes depict such things as a woman with her throat slit, decapitations, disembowelments and more. Some corpses even have exposed breasts although the gore may negate any titillation. The game also does quite a good job at creating an unsettling atmosphere with its ominous music, sound effects and macabre graphics. This can potentially cause some players to have nightmares related to the game. This game was released with a warning label that stated that you must be 18 or older to play it. Since it was released before RSAC or the ESRB existed, the game does not have an official rating but it most likely would have received a Mature ESRB rating, even today.

[edit] Credits

Produced By: Mark Wallace, Todd Thorson, Michael Woodroffe, Alan Bridgman, Simon Woodroffe
Associate Producer: David M. Friedland
Assistant Producer: Tricia Woodroffe
Story: Richard Moran
Designers: Michael Woodroffe, Alan Bridgman, Simon Woodroffe
Graphics: Paul Drummond, Kevin Preston, Maria Drummond, Jef Wall
Music: Jezz Woodroffe
Sound Effects:John Canfield
Testers: Sylvia Parry, Daniel Carter, Steven Graziano, Harry James
Special Thanks: Glen Williams, Tammy Williams

[edit] Trivia

This was Horrorsoft's last game before they became Adventuresoft, a company renowned for their Simon The Sorcerer series.
This game uses the AGOS engine, which is a modified version of the AberMUD 5 engine.
There is also a unrelated C64 game called Waxworks, it is also a first-person dungeon crawl but does not share the same plot and is not made by the same company.
By examining the sample names in the extracted Protracker music files, it is revealed that the drum instrument samples were provided by a Kawai R50 drum machine.