MediEvil

This article is about the PlayStation game. For the Medieval period, see Middle Ages.

MediEvil
Cover art
Developer(s)	SCE Cambridge Studio
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Chris Sorrell
Producer(s)	Chris Sorrell
Artist(s)	Jason Wilson
Writer(s)	Jason Wilson Martin Pond
Composer(s)	Andrew Barnabas Paul Arnold
Series	MediEvil
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release	NA: December 21, 2006 (PSN) PAL: July 26, 2007 (PSN) JP: November 28, 2007 (PSN)
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

MediEvil, is a Gothic horror-comedy action-adventure game developed by SCE Cambridge Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for the PlayStation. It was released in Europe and North America in October 1998 and in Japan in June 1999. It came on a Twin Pack CD bundled with C-12: Final Resistance in 2003 . The game was later re-released on PlayStation Network in 2007. The game was followed by a sequel, MediEvil 2, in 2000, and a PlayStation Portable reimagining in 2005 titled MediEvil: Resurrection.

Gameplay

MediEvil is an adventure game in which players control Sir Daniel Fortesque, a skeletal knight brought back to life by the dark magic of an evil scorcerer named Zarok. The game takes place across a variety of levels, many of which require certain objectives to be performed in order to progress. Dan can use a variety of weapons, consisting of close range weapons such as swords and clubs and long range weapons such as crossbows. Many of these weapons can be charged for a powerful attack and some weapons, such as the club, can be used to access areas that are otherwise inaccessible. When not possessing any items, Dan is able to rip his own arm off and use it for both melee and ranged attacks and perform a shield dash, although it is the weakest weapon available. Dan can also use a shield to defend against attacks, though they can only take so much damage before breaking. Throughout the game, Dan can visit gargoyle heads of two varieties, green ones which offers Dan information and blue merchant gargoyles where Dan can buy services or more ammo using treasure he finds.

Dan's health is determined by a single life bar, which reduces when Dan is hit (it will deplete completely if Dan drowns or falls from a great height). If Dan completely runs out of life, the game will end. Dan can extend his maximum life by collecting Life Bottles, which will automatically refill his life bar if it drops to zero. Also littered throughout the game are Life Vials and Life Fountains that can replenish Dan's life and fill up any empty Life Bottles Dan has. In each level, there is a hidden Chalice of Souls, which can be collected if the player fills it with enough souls from defeated enemies (some Chalices are awarded via other means). If the player clears a level with the Chalice in hand, Dan is warped to the Hall of Heroes, where he can speak to a legendary hero who will give Dan a reward such as a new weapon. If the player finishes the game with all the Chalices, the game's true ending is viewed.

Plot

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 however, 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 awaken 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. 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.

As Dan travels across Gallowmere, fighting his way through Zarok's hordes and confronting all manners of beasts, he soon arrives at Zarok's lair, fighting off Zarok's skeletal warriors using the souls of his old allies retrieved by collecting the Chalices. After also managing to defeat Zarok's champion, Lord Kardok, Zarok turns into a powerful monster, but Dan manages to defeat him. As Zarok uses his last breath to cause his lair to collapse, Dan escapes and Zarok's magical influence over the land is thwarted, restoring the souls back to the living and putting the dead back to rest. 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. If the player has managed to collect all the Chalices, Dan will ascend to the Hall of Heroes, where is hailed as the rightful Hero of Gallowmere.

Development

Development of MediEvil started in 1995 at independent developer Millennium Interactive. Chris Sorrell, the games director, said that the first design proposal for the game had the working title ‘Dead Man Dan’ and described a game that was a fusion of Capcom's Ghost'n Goblins with the art style of Tim Burton– especially the look and feel of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Both cases were things that he was a huge fan of back in the mid ’90s. Lead artist Jason Wilson shared his interest in dark, gothic influenced artwork and they worked together to define the look and feel of the game. In addition to bringing together a brand new team – none of whom had really made a 3D game of this scale before – they were in ‘sell’ mode almost from day one, with the future of the studio riding on their ability to attract a major publishing deal as quickly as possible. They were initially working on multiple platforms including Windows and Sega Saturn as well as PlayStation before finally having the chance to pitch an early demo to Sony, who were so impressed with their work that they bought the whole studio in order to have the team work exclusively for Sony.

Jason Wilson designed the art and set the visual style. During the project he also became the lead designer owning to his experience in game design on previous titles. He pushed the game into more of a Zelda-like direction and added many details to the story of the world and its characters, as well as writing the preliminary scripts and working on the VO recordings.

Sorrell said that MediEvil presented a mountain of challenges due to the fact that, like many other developers at the time, they were still very new to 3D gaming. Things like camera and character control presented many interesting new challenges and required the team to try out a number of approaches before settling on solutions that seemed to work. Even so, he said that the game still came very close to the original concept and he was most proud of how the team pulled together to finish the game without compromising on the quirky attention to detail or scope of the game.

Reception

MediEvil received positive reviews upon its release and was commercially successful, later being re-released as a Platinum title. IGN heralded it as "...a fun game and one of PlayStation's classics". Other awards include:

• Best PlayStation Game - Gaming Expo
• Best Platinum Seller 1999 - Official PlayStation Magazine
• Gold Award - Official PlayStation Magazine
• Silver Award - Monthly Games
• Token Prize - Network Games

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack of the game was composed by Paul Arnold and Andrew Barnabas, the musical duo more commonly known as "Bob & Barn". Chris Sorrell, the game's director, asked them to compose a Danny Elfman-style score, similar to those of Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Batman Returns. The music was created using electronic synthesizers to simulate an entire orchestra and organ. The 2005 PlayStation Portable reimagining MediEvil: Resurrection used parts of the MediEvil score, along with original elements composed by Bob & Barn and performed by a live orchestra and choir. An album was made from this music and signed copies can be purchased from the artists' website.

Appearances in other games

Dan appears as a playable golfer in Hot Shots Golf 2 and is playable in the fighting game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Also, the PSP launch game WipEout Pure, which was released alongside MediEvil: Resurrection, features a MediEvil-styled ship that was built by the team at Sony Cambridge. The PS2 game Ghosthunter, which was also developed by SCE Cambridge Studio, features a reference to Sir Daniel in the form of a character named Colonel Fortesque and also contains several medieval scenarios and undead knights which were implanted to provide a visual connection to the MediEvil series.

External links

• MediEvil at MobyGames
• MediEvil at GameRankings