MediEvil is an action/adventure game released for the PlayStation in 1998. You play the role of Sir Daniel Fortesque, a knight who is resurrected from the dead to battle evil forces in the land of Gallowmere. During his life, Sir Dan was a coward but is resurrected for a second chance to prove his courage after the sorcerer Zarok returns from the grave to infect the land with evil. You, as Sir Dan, must redeem yourself by defeating Zarok and his army of monsters.
The gameplay is a mix of 3rd person action and puzzle-solving. The player must explore various levels while battling enemies and collecting items. New levels are unlocked as you progress through the game. The game world is divided into several distinct regions, each with its own theme and challenges. As you progress through the game, you unlock new weapons, magic powers, and other abilities necessary to defeat ever more difficult enemies.
One of the unique things about this game is its humor. While the theme is rather dark, the tone of the game really isn’t. There is a lot of dark humor and plenty of humorous characters. While Sir Dan may have been resurrected, he is still a skeleton. The game makes fun of this fact throughout. I guess you could classify this game as horror/comedy.
MediEvil is a 3D action game played from a 3rd person perspective. Combat is straightforward but chaotic. You will face many enemies and have a variety of weapons including a sword, crossbow, and magic spells. Perhaps the most entertaining is the ability to rip off your own arm and use it as a club. You start each level with a limited supply of life force which is replenished by defeating enemies and finding health potions. if your life force runs out, you lose a life and must restart the game from the last checkpoint.
In addition to the action, there are various puzzles to solve throughout the game. These involve doing things such as moving objects, activating switches, and finding secret paths. For some puzzles you must use specific weapons or abilities. The puzzles are generally not very complex but some do require a bit of trial and error.
For its time, MediEvil featured excellent graphics with detailed characters and environments. There are many spooky locations including haunted graveyards, scary forests, and more. However, unlike other darker themed games, this one features cartoon style graphics that give it a much more light-hearted feel. The animation of the main character is quirky and exaggerated adding to the humorous feel of the game. Due to the graphics, the game has a Nightmare Before Christmas feel to it which was intentional. In some ways it could also be seen as a 3D version of Ghost ‘N Goblins though it is not nearly as hard.
The sound a music of Medievil are also excellent. Orchestral music combined with more whimsical tunes do a good job of matching the tone of the game. Likewise, the sound effects are all well done.
MediEvil is a relatively simple game but a lot of fun to play and with a unique look and feel. If you enjoy 3D action games then this is one you should definitely try. There is also a sequel called MediEvil II, also released on the PlayStation, that you are likely to enjoy if you like this one. There have also been a couple of remakes of the original game including MediEvil: Resurrection for the PlayStation Portable and MediEvil for the PlayStation 4. While I always tend to recommend the original, the remakes remain pretty faithful to the original and are probably easier to obtain and play at this point.
