Developer : Sony Computer Entertainment
Release date : September 1, 2005
Synopsis :
MediEvil: Resurrection is a 2005 gothic action-adventure game developed by SCE Cambridge Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. It is a re-imagining of the first installment in the series, MediEvil. It was first released as a launch title in September 2005 in North America and Europe. The game is set in the medieval Kingdom of Gallowmere and centres around the charlatan protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque, as he makes an attempt to stop antagonist Zarok’s invasion of the kingdom whilst simultaneously redeeming himself. The game also features a variety of voice talents, including Tom Baker as the narrator and the Grim Reaper.
Development of the game began in 2003 with the original intention of releasing the game for the PlayStation 2. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe commissioned SCE Cambridge Studio to develop a launch title for the PlayStation Portable. Due to time constraints, the Cambridge studio was given only a year to develop the game, thus they decided to remake the original MediEvil. The game was met with mixed reviews upon release, with critics mainly praising the game’s humor, voice talent and graphics but was criticized for lack of innovation and cumbersome camera controls.
In the year 1286, an evil sorcerer named Zarok plotted to take over the kingdom of Gallowmere with his undead army. It is told in legend that the King of Gallowmere’s champion, Sir Daniel Fortesque, led his army to victory and managed to kill Zarok before succumbing to his mortal wounds. In reality, Dan was in fact struck down by the first arrow fired in the battle, with the king choosing to cover it up and declare Dan the “Hero of Gallowmere”. Zarok, meanwhile, was forced into hiding and was presumed dead. 100 years later, in 1386, Zarok reappears, casting a spell over Gallowmere to awake his undead army and steal the souls of the living. However, in the process, he unwittingly revives the corpse of Dan, who has over time become a skeletal corpse, missing his jaw and the eye he lost in the battle of Gallowmere. Shortly after waking up, Dan is accompanied by Al-Zalam, a genie whose powers were robbed by Zarok. Having been unable to ascend to the Hall of Heroes due to his failures in life, Dan uses this opportunity to defeat Zarok, save Gallowmere and earn his place as a true hero.
Dan journeys throughout the graveyard, mausoleum, harvest fields, forest, village, fair grounds, asylum, dockyards, marshland battlefields, Dragon Island and Peregrine Castle. Meeting Death himself, he advises Dan to find the four pieces of the Anubis Stone, a powerful necromancy artifact used by Zarok in his initial invasion, split into four pieces across the land. Dan retrieves the first piece from the tomb of an old chieftain, facing a Stained Glass Demon and the Graveyard Guardians (a pair of haunted wolf statues). Dan gets the second piece from the pumpkin witch after defeating her rogue magical pumpkin king. Looking for the second piece, Dan rescues the village mayor from an asylum’s worth of monsters, as well as the particularly maddened “Mr. Axey”; the mayor tells him that the piece was hidden in the forest, where it is placed in the hold of the shadow demons; Dan retrieves the Demon Claw artifact before Zarok can find it and unleash the shadow demons within. In the forest, he collects mold for the forest witch for directions to the third piece, facing a pair of demonettes before locating the piece in the holding place of shadow demons, though Dan must defeat them when his retrieval of the Claw results in them being freed. In the marshlands of the battle against Zarok, Dan aids Death in repairing his robotic assistant and frees his boat as well. Death agrees to ferry him to Peregrine Castle, but the castle is blocked off by volcanic rivers. At Al-Zalam’s suggestion, Dan disguises himself as a pirate to obtain a ship to journey to Dragon Island to retrieve a fireproof set of armor made of dragon scales. At the island, Dan defeats the Dragon guarding it, and Death ferrys him to Peregrine Castle. Dan recovers the final piece from the castle, where the ghost of the king tasks him with unleashing hidden floodgates connected to a dormant volcano beneath to destroy Zarok’s forces. Dan makes his way onto the Ghost Ship, where he defeats the skeletal Ghost Pirate Captain before taking the ship to Zarok’s lair.
Finally, after fighting his way through Zarok’s hordes and confronting all manners of beasts, Dan soon arrives at Zarok’s lair, fighting off Zarok’s skeletal Fazgul warriors using the souls of his old allies retrieved by collecting the Chalices alongside the Anubis Stone. After also managing to defeat Zarok’s champion and Dan’s killer, Lord Kardok, Zarok turns into a powerful, monstrous serpent, but Dan manages to defeat him. As Zarok uses his magic to destroy his lair in an effort to kill Dan (getting himself killed in the process), Dan is rescued by Al-Zalam and the two escape, leaving Zarok’s magical influence over the land thwarted. With the magic cast on him also wearing off as a result, Dan returns to his burial chamber where he once again enters eternal slumber and ascends to the Hall of Heroes, where he is hailed as the rightful Hero of Gallowmere and his hero statue is restored for redeeming himself.
Source : Wikipedia
