Game:

Heart of Darkness (1998)

Duration: 12:28

354 views

9

Heart of Darkness is a cinematic platformer game developed by Amazing Studio and published by Infogrames/Interplay in 1998. It is completely unrelated to the Joseph Conrad novel of the same name.

The game places players in the role of a child named Andy as he attempts to rescue his dog who has been kidnapped by shadow-like spectres. The game has about half an hour of storytelling cinematic sequences, thousands of 2D animated frames, and uses pre-rendered background scenery. The player progresses through the game's linear storyline by navigating various environments and solving puzzles, all whilst attempting to keep Andy from being killed by evil shadows, hungry wildlife, and perilous obstacles. Along with basic movement, such as running, jumping, and climbing, certain sections of the game give Andy additional abilities. The plasma cannon allows Andy to shoot lightning at shadows in order to disintegrate them. The special powers, which can also be used offensively against enemies, can additionally be used to grow and destroy trees born from seeds. The player has unlimited tries, with Andy returning to the most recent checkpoint when he is killed.

The game was supervised by game developer Éric Chahi, known for Another World, this time with a team of artists and developers. The game also features an original score by film and television composer Bruce Broughton. Chahi admitted in 2007 that the 6-year development of Heart of Darkness had completely exhausted him. After the game's completion, he took a hiatus on game development and pursued travelling and other interests. He made a return to the games industry in 2011 with the release of From Dust.

In a 2015 interview with Eurogamer, Éric Chahi said Heart of Darkness was one of his most difficult projects due to the transitions "from working alone to working with a team in the context where the industry was really changing with the CD-Rom coming, the PC and with 3D arriving." Virgin Interactive dropped funding for the project in December 1996, but the team chose to persevere with making the game. Frederic Savoir explained that "we couldn't throw away four years of our life. We didn't care what it took." After nine months of work without funding, the game was demoed at the September 1997 European Computer Trade Show, leading Interplay to adopt it.