GOG is partnering with UK publisher Funbox Media to bring its classic games to the digital distribution service, starting with Realms of the Haunting and Guilty Gear XX #Reload. Of course the latter is the PC version of #Reload, which is just the PS2 game with an extra movie in the gallery mode.
Realms of the Haunting is a cult classic that mixed first-person shooter and point & click adventure mechanics with FMV cutscenes. If you missed this back in 1997, here's your chance to catch up.
While only Realms of the Haunting is available right now for $5.99, Guilty Gear XX #Reload will be released a bit later for $5.99 as well.
[Also thanks BomberJacket for pointing us to the Realms of the Haunting bit]
Maurice Tan Maurice Tan does his Associate Editing from The Netherlands in a reality-shattering time zone. After working as a university lecturer in Psychology and Communications teaching game studies and the merits of Keyboard Cat, he now spends most of his time posting news, previews, reviews, and features about industry stuff or all things PC and strategy. He is also a connoisseur of licensed games, as long as they have achievements. Likes Deus Ex, Colonization, Mass Effect, TIE Fighter, and his iPod Touch.
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Realms of the Haunting is one of those classical FPS that the newer generation has overlooked or has never heard of it. I wouldn't mind a RotH Remake, made by Irrational Games ^_^
Realms of the Haunting is bloody genius and was way ahead of its time. Check it out if you liked Call of Cthulhu: DCotE, Penumbra/Amnesia or Clive Barker's Undying. Okay, it's not exactly scary like those games but it's a great, underrated, horror game all the same.
I'd never gotten to play RotH back in the day, and while I'd bought old games before, getting them to run was always a heartache and sometimes never panned out at all.
That said, I poured most of last night into Realms of the Haunting. If nothing else it knows how to keep things interesting by constantly changing up environments (which are AMAZING) and throwing puzzles and exploration in. FPS controls are kinda iffy by today's standards and can't be altered, but combat has thus far been forgiving enough that it hasn't mattered. One interesting thing I've never seen before is that you can aim and shoot with the mouse, but it doesn't move the camera; that's controlled Duke Nukem style. It's also got some neat visual tricks up its sleeve; 2D statues have multiple sprites for different viewing angles (they're not always facing you) and the water dripping down from the ceiling never ceases to impress.
I first saw this game in a PC gaming magazine back in '97, and the screenshots blew my mind. It's one of two games from my childhood that captured my imagination but that I could never find the names of. Last year I embarked on a quest to find the titles going off nothing but my memories of the screenshots. The other game was Derrat Sorcerum, a mediocre and obscure Mac adventure game. Now that I have found my holy grail, I shall drink mightily from it. MIGHTILY I SAY!
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Contest:
7:00 PM on 04.05.2011 | 
Great game. Although I never managed to play through it. :(
I'd never gotten to play RotH back in the day, and while I'd bought old games before, getting them to run was always a heartache and sometimes never panned out at all.
That said, I poured most of last night into Realms of the Haunting. If nothing else it knows how to keep things interesting by constantly changing up environments (which are AMAZING) and throwing puzzles and exploration in. FPS controls are kinda iffy by today's standards and can't be altered, but combat has thus far been forgiving enough that it hasn't mattered. One interesting thing I've never seen before is that you can aim and shoot with the mouse, but it doesn't move the camera; that's controlled Duke Nukem style. It's also got some neat visual tricks up its sleeve; 2D statues have multiple sprites for different viewing angles (they're not always facing you) and the water dripping down from the ceiling never ceases to impress.
I first saw this game in a PC gaming magazine back in '97, and the screenshots blew my mind. It's one of two games from my childhood that captured my imagination but that I could never find the names of. Last year I embarked on a quest to find the titles going off nothing but my memories of the screenshots. The other game was Derrat Sorcerum, a mediocre and obscure Mac adventure game. Now that I have found my holy grail, I shall drink mightily from it. MIGHTILY I SAY!