SerpentHead Revisited Review

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SerpentHead Revisited

Review by JenApril 2003

SerpentHead Revisited is the latest in an ever-lengthening line of indie games created using the AdventureMaker game engine, the last one of note (hereabouts, anyway) being Michael Clark’s Harvest.  This engine gives these indie developers the tools to create nearly professional-level products. But they tend to all have the same look to them, what with the same cursors, the same style of inventory management, etc.

Nearly professional-level, I said. The graphics in SerpentHead Revisited certainly are passable but, with the exception of a very pretty dragon, are frankly less than spectacular. I for one don’t mind the not-eye-candy graphics as long as the gameplay is solid, especially with a one-woman or -man effort. (What’s the opposite of eye candy? Eye Brussels sprouts? Eew! These were not nearly bad enough to be called eye Brussels sprouts.  Eye peas, maybe—tolerable but not delicious.) Anyway, SerpentHead Revisited works very well in the gameplay solidity regard.

You play in the first person as a young mage named Mharim. You find yourself outside Castle SerpentHead with nothing to do but enter. One of the first things you see on entering is a note imploring you to save the land from the imminent return of the Dark Sorcerer Salorann. In order to defeat Salorann, you must decipher clues, mix potions, open magically locked doors, and ultimately retrieve the hidden Serpent Scepter, the instrument of Salorann’s eventual (we hope) demise.

One of the places you will visit is the castle’s library, which is where you learn the bulk of the game’s backstory. Kathy Salisbury, the game’s creator, has dreamed up a rich fantasy world with an extensive history in which to set her SerpentHead games (this is her second—hence, I suppose, the “Revisited” in the title; I have not played the first), and this particular game shows only a small part of it.

The entire game takes place in the 15 or so rooms of SerpentHead Castle, which itself has three stories. Navigation is a little hard to figure out due to some inconsistencies in what arrows mean what, but the castle is so small that it doesn’t take long to memorize which mouse clicks take you where.

As you begin, you have very few locations available to you, and as you progress through the game and solve its puzzles, more rooms open up to you until finally you may roam freely throughout the castle, uncovering clues, solving riddles, and finally, three or so hours later, vanquishing Salorann and wondering what you’re going to play next. This is a really short game!

I did get stuck about three times and had to resort to a walkthrough.  In only one of those instances would I never have dreamed up the solution on my own; the other times I had a good idea what to do but the execution was confusing. There is no dying or premature game-overing.

Outside of a few little nitpicks like this, SerpentHead Revisited’s puzzles are just right—the right level of challenge, the right amount of steps you must take for any one puzzle, the right balance between reading and inventory puzzles and environmental puzzles.

There is a little bit of acting in the game. Characters speak v-e-r-y slowly, but their vocal remarks are accompanied by onscreen text so that you know exactly what’s being said. Sound effects are limited and are repeated in some places, but overall they aren’t all that noticeable. There is also looping music, with several different short pieces depending on where in the castle you are.

SerpentHead Revisited costs a mere $10 after applying a coupon code supplied by Ms. Salisbury, which can be located by searching the FFC Henhouse for her post announcing the game; otherwise the cost is $19.95. After you pay you get an immediate 20 MB download of the full game. You also have the option of paying about $10 more to receive a CD containing several other of Ms. Salisbury’s games via mail. SerpentHead Revisited, for me, installed and ran flawlessly under Windows XP Pro.

All in all, I had a good time playing SerpentHead Revisited, despite its several flaws, and for $10 it was a fair deal.  I can’t honestly say I’d’ve been happy about paying the $20 for it, only because of its shortness. But Ms. Salisbury has a real flair for puzzle design and storytelling. With a little more professional polish, her games could stand shoulder to shoulder with the big-name publishers’ products. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Pharos Games Publisher: Pharos Games Release Date: March 2003

Available for: Windows

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System Requirements

Windows 95/98/Me/XP/2000

Where to Find It

Pharos Games $9.95/$19.95Prices/links current as of 04/20/03Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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