Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy explained

Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy
Developer:Tribal Dreams
Publisher:Interplay Entertainment
Director:David Riordan
Producer:Brian F. Christian
Designer:Cliff Johnson
Programmer:Eric Whelpley
Artist:Todd J. Camasta
Wes Burian
Gil Bruvel
Composer:Steve Gutheinz
Kenneth Melville
Platforms:Microsoft Windows
Genre:Point-and-click adventure
Modes:Single-player

Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy, also known as simply Of Light and Darkness, is a first-person point-and-click adventure video game developed by Tribal Dreams and published by Interplay Entertainment in 1998.

Plot and gameplay

Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy is a point-and-click adventure game.[1] The player's goal in the game is to prevent a global apocalypse by redeeming the cursed spirits that are attempting to start various possible disasters. Once all possible disasters are prevented, by redeeming all the spirits, the player must defeat the dark lord Gar Hob.

Development

The game was published by Interplay Entertainment and developed by Tribal Dreams. The game featured art by Gil Bruvel, an award-winning artist.[2] Of Light and Darkness ran on the EDEN engine, developed by Heartland Enterprises.[1] The game was displayed at the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June. Its visuals were created by Gil Bruvel, a surrealist fine artist from France.[3] It also appeared at E3 1997.[4]

Actors Lolita Davidovich and James Woods did voice lines and motion capture for the game. Davidovich played the character Angel Gemini while Woods played the role of Gar Hob.[5]

Release

Before its original release, retailers such as Costco announced they would be refusing to carry the game due to its box art. Made by Bruvel, it featured the character Angel Gemini nude in a fetal position. Interplay's Vice President of sales Kim Motika criticized the decision, finding it hard to comprehend retailers selling games like Tomb Raider and claiming Of Light and Darknesss box art is too provocative. Members of Interplay did, however, say that their ad campaign could have turned off family oriented chains.[6] [7] [8] In December 2016, the game was re-released on GOG.com.[9]

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Next Generation said of the game, "Imagine combining the realtime elements of The Last Express and the graphic style of Zork Nemesis with the play mechanics of Myst. It's an intriguing idea, but not one that will keep anyone sitting in front of a computer for more than a day or two." Aaron Curtiss from Los Angeles Times praised the visuals, calling "The Village of the Damned" area "a psychotic Disneyland".[10]

The game was a major commercial flop.[11]

In 2012, Complex called the ending of the game one of the worst endings for a video game.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Of Light and Darkness Preview [date mislabeled as "March 2, 2004"] ]. Hudak . Chris . May 1, 1996 . GameSpot . . https://web.archive.org/web/20041229013130/http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/oflightanddarkness/preview_2560267.html . December 29, 2004 . live . August 27, 2021.
  2. Light Shines Darkly . Hudak . Chris . January 1, 1997 . . . January 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161222071906/https://www.wired.com/1997/01/light-shines-darkly/ . December 22, 2016 . live.
  3. Web site: E3 Adventure & Role Playing Games (Page 16) . CGSP staff . 1996 . The Adventure Vault . Strategy Plus, Inc. . https://web.archive.org/web/19970615083222/http://www.cdmag.com/adventure_vault/e3_adventure/page17.html . June 15, 1997 . dead . August 27, 2021.
  4. Web site: E3 Coverage (Day 3) . CGSP staff . 1997 . . Strategy Plus, Inc. . https://web.archive.org/web/20050209071853/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/002/105/e3_day3_part2.html . February 9, 2005 . dead.
  5. Web site: Woods and Davidovich finish work for Interplay . Ocampo . James . 1998 . Computer Games Strategy Plus . Strategy Plus, Inc. . https://web.archive.org/web/20040121050814/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/009/194/light_and_darkness.html . January 21, 2004 . dead.
  6. Web site: Of Light and Darkness Box Too Provocative for Some [date mislabeled as "April 28, 2000"] ]. Dunkin . Alan . February 23, 1998 . GameSpot . Fandom . https://web.archive.org/web/19990220153153/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_02/23_lightbox/index.html . February 20, 1999 . live . August 27, 2021.
  7. News: No Risque Business . Huffstutter . P.J. . February 23, 1998 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20210827155843/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-23-fi-22114-story.html . August 27, 2021 . live . September 6, 2023.
  8. The Man Who Knows . . . 63 . May 1998 . 28 . August 27, 2021.
  9. Obscure Adventure 'Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy' Released on GOG . Estrada . Marcus . December 29, 2016 . Hardcore Gamer . https://web.archive.org/web/20210827155845/https://hardcoregamer.com/news/obscure-adventure-of-light-and-darkness-the-prophecy-released-on-gog/241530/ . August 27, 2021 . live . September 6, 2023.
  10. News: 'Light and Darkness' Is Ultimately Brilliant . Curtiss . Aaron . September 7, 1998 . Los Angeles Times . https://web.archive.org/web/20151001090227/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/sep/07/business/fi-20307 . October 1, 2015 . live . August 27, 2021.
  11. News: Violence Not Wanted: Can't We Play Nice? . Gornstein . Leslie . . . December 10, 1998 . C01.
  12. Web site: The 50 Worst Video Game Endings . Rougeau . Michael . February 21, 2012 . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20141207161337/https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2012/02/the-50-worst-video-game-endings/of-light-and-darkness-the-prophecy . December 7, 2014 . live . September 6, 2023.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.