Dracula Unleashed (Sega CD) Playthrough
3Playthrough of Viacom New Media's 1993 interactive FMV adventure game for the Sega CD, Dracula Unleashed.
Dracula Unleashed for the Sega CD is an interactive movie-style adventure game released in the early 1990s. Set in Victorian-era London, the game places players in the role of Alexander Morris, the brother of Quincey Morris, a character who died fighting Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s original novel. Alexander arrives in London to investigate his brother's mysterious death and soon becomes entangled in a new plot involving the return of the infamous vampire.
The gameplay unfolds through a series of full-motion video sequences, a hallmark of many Sega CD titles. Players navigate the story by visiting various locations, interacting with characters, and selecting actions or items from a menu-based interface. The core mechanic revolves around being in the right place at the right time, as certain events only occur at specific points in the game’s internal clock. This time-based progression adds a layer of strategy and encourages multiple playthroughs to uncover all possible events and clues.
The atmosphere of the game is dark and moody, with heavy use of foggy streets, candlelit rooms, and dramatic music to evoke a Gothic horror tone. The full-motion video features live-action actors, dressed in period costumes and performing with a theatrical flair that matches the melodramatic tone of the story. While the video quality is grainy due to the hardware limitations of the Sega CD, it contributes to the eerie and mysterious aesthetic of the game.
Dracula Unleashed combines elements of horror, mystery, and detective work, offering players a narrative-driven experience that was ambitious for its time. Despite the slow pacing and somewhat awkward interface by modern standards, the game captures the spirit of classic vampire lore and presents a cinematic take on interactive storytelling. For fans of early multimedia games and Gothic horror, it stands as a unique and atmospheric title from the Sega CD era.