Shadowgate: MacVenture Series

Ya know, when I grew up a couple of my friends had Macs. On this day I feel even worse for them now than I did back then. I'm so glad I went Win 3.1 instead! This game only succeeds in reminding you never to buy an Apple product!

Shadowgate is the third, and arguably the most popular, game in the four-part MacVenture point and click series from the mid-to-late 80's. Originally released for both Macintosh (1987) and Apple IIGS systems (1989), this infamously difficult horror-fantasy title found itself ported to several other systems over the years; including Amiga, DOS, NES, Windows, Gameboy Color, and Pocket PC. Much like the two Deja Vu games that came both before and after it, Shadowgate also spawned a couple of sequels; Beyond Shadowgate for the Turbo Grafx CD in 1993, and Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. However, neither of these latter entries have left their initial birthright consoles. Shadowgate did manage to become the first, and so far the only, MacVenture game to get a remake as well. Compared to its predecessors, The Uninvited and Deja Vu, Shadowgate manages to be a little more sparse on the side of storytelling. Basically, you're a warrior who has magically been whirled away by the wizard Lakmir, to Castle Shadowgate to defeat a Behemoth that has been raised by an evil wizard. The plot is further expanded through the novel, Before Shadowgate, and also a comic book, Shadowgate Saga: Raven; good luck finding them in this day and age, though. It would've been nice if PDF copies of these stories were included in this Steam re-release, just so players can have access to the full lore in modern times. The writing style is also a far more lackluster than previous entries in the MacVenture series, and much of the deep atmosphere has been lost due to that. Moreover, the puzzles in this release are some of the hardest and most demanding of the small franchise. The way that items must be used can be trickier, and death is an adversary that's easy to get to know well. Gone is the invisible time limit from The Uninvited, instead replaced by a somewhat more forgiving system that involves torches. Though don't take quarter-step into "more forgiving" territory too lightheartedly, there are a limited amount of torches scattered throughout the game, and each action depletes their burn time; this includes picking up and dropping items. If a torch goes out before you light another, you can inadvertently force yourself into a dead end as you will die if you click around in the dark. If you're in a room with a candle or another torch, you can use them to light a new one for yourself if you have one on hand. If you screw up and run out of torches, you'll be unable to progress. In the end, Shadowgate feels a bit less rewarding to both play and complete when compared to the titles that came before it. This feeling is driven by the reduction in writing prowess; which has definitely taken a few leaps back in terms of quality. This title does not feel like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, nor does it have any particular atmosphere to it at all for the most part, and almost all of the charm is gone. Additionally, most of the sound effects are grating to the ears. With all of that said, there are some clear progressive steps made for the original time period when it comes to visual effects; the flashing screens when lightning is striking is an amazing touch for a game from 1987. If you're a hardcore point and click fan, this one may appeal to you, but for most gamers this one is a pass. [h1]Rating: [b]3.0/5.0[/b] - Average, can take it or leave it.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore

In my ongoing and likely futile effort to write a Steam review for every game in my library (#352 out of 612)... it's time for Shadowgate: MacVenture Series If ever there was an argument for against the necessity of remasters instead of proper remakes, the MacVenture series is it. I can't quite call Shadowgate unplayable—it's not, not literally, but... very nearly so. It's a very, very dated game that is very, very difficult to get into—even for fans of the highly idiosyncratic point-and-click adventure genre. Simply put, it's too dated to properly enjoy without a heaping helping of nostalgia—and even then, I'm not convinced. The lack of audio remains a pretty severe detriment, but at least there's a color option with this one. And then there's the other big problem in the fact that the game's UI emulates the look of an old Apple PC, so unless you know that hardware well, you're likely to find the interface extremely clumsy and unintuitive. I love adventure games, I do, but I have to acknowledge that this is a genre that can very much be hit-or-miss, and the MacVenture games are total misses.

[h1]Limitations ruin the fun[/h1] The look and feel of this will certainly appeal to oldschool adventure gamers of the '80s, with its colour pixel graphics and mode of gameplay, which involves you using/combining objects to solve puzzles. But the game itself kills the fun and exploration for the player, [b]by insisting you always have a burning torch in your inventory, else you die[/b]. (You are exploring a cave system so it's presumably pitch-black inside.) You find more torches as you explore more rooms, but they are extremely limited in number, and existing lit torches only last a while before extinguishing, and sometimes without warning. There are a few areas of the game which are already lit and you therefore do not need a torch, but if your flame somehow extinguishes there and you do not have anymore spare torches with you, then you're as good as dead too, because as soon as you leave that area, it will be dark again and you automatically die. Combine this with the fact that your inventory space is limited (so you can only carry several objects at a time), and you will soon see that [b]the primary focus of the game becomes managing your remaining torches and what items you choose to carry with you as you move around[/b]. [b]There is no freedom at all in gameplay in this regard[/b] - you are punished for not knowing exactly what to do next or where to go, since [b]you can make no mistakes[/b], as whatever time you waste figuring out stuff means you die, since your torches will start to extinguish one by one and you will eventually run out of them. [b]What a terrible way to structure a game, especially one which hinges on exploration, adventure, and creative thinking.[/b] Because of this torch limitation, I found myself constantly having to check a walkthrough to figure out exactly what I needed to do next. I had at first tried to play the game without hints, but after >40 playthroughs and still dying due to my torches running out, I gave up. And that's not all. [b]Not every interactive object in each room lights up when you click on it, so you may sometimes think it cannot be interacted with[/b]. Some examples: [spoiler]the secret area behind the waterfall, some hidden doors, indents for inserting objects, etc[/spoiler]. It was only when I checked the walkthrough that I discovered, "Ohhh, so I could actually use my item on [i]that[/i] thing! Why didn't it light up like all the other interactive elements of the room when I clicked on it then?!" While I much enjoyed the look and feel of this game and the sense of nostalgia it brought, actually playing it was an exercise in frustration and tedium because of the points I mentioned above. Most likely the only way you'll complete this game is via strictly following a walkthrough. [url=store.steampowered.com/app/343810/The_Uninvited_MacVenture_Series/]The Uninvited[/url] in this same series also suffers from a similar problem in that you have a limited amount of time to complete the game, but even that one was nowhere as constricting and punishing as this one in terms of gameplay. If you're looking for a really good oldschool adventure game (albeit with an RPG component to it) to sink your teeth into, I recommend checking out [url=store.steampowered.com/app/293880/Dark_Scavenger/]Dark Scavenger[/url], which is also here on Steam, instead.

An all time favorite classic.

Bad remaster. Torches go out way, way too fast. For me there was also no music at all - nothing, so you wouldn't even know when your torch is about to go out. For people who are not familiar with Shadowgate, this will be an absolute nightmare to play through, if not impossible. UI is a terrible design in all honesty 3/10 (2 of them being for Nostalgia) don't bother purchasing

This series has been around for eons, so I'll keep it short and sweet. I'm old. I loved these games growing up. I still do. I don't mind shelling out a few extra bucks for the nostalgia. The game functions. That's all I need. The end.

i played this game as a kid and was able to get pretty far. now, not so much. Its been such a joy to relearn and play again.

Unlike the Deja Vu games, I think Shadowgate is worth going back to for more than just a cursory glance into the past. It still shows its age, of course. Its puzzles are obtuse and convoluted. Yet it still held my interest in a way the Deja Vu games couldn’t. If you’re interested in any of the MacVenture games, try this one.

Unfortunately this seems to be a javascript recreation that borders on unplayable. I know it's Javascript because if you right click it brings up a context menu with the text missing where one of the options loads the source for the room you are in. There's also no music, and something is messed up so the torches extinguish in less than a minute of play, with no audio cue for the fact that you are about to be locked out of playing the game unless you made it to a room with a candle. I feel like it wouldn't be too hard to shove this into a mac or Apple IIGS emulator and call it a day, but instead I can't really recommend wasting your time or money on this version.