Reviewed: July 31, 2010
Reviewed by: Kyle Hilliard

Publisher
Chillingo

Developer
Anuman Interactive

Released: June 25, 2010
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1

7
8
8
7
7.5

Game Info:

  • 937 MB Download

    App Store Price: $5.99

    		•  Here we are at the end of the three part Dracula The Path of the Dragon saga, which really should have only been one long part, to be honest. Dracula The Path of the Dragon Part 3 is certainly the meatiest of the three offerings in a few respects. It is the longest, contains the most story revelations, and also has the most interesting and largest number of available puzzles. The ending occurs here and that is really the most that can be said about it. I am not one to judge a story, be it book, movie or game based solely on its ending, but I will say that this ending left something to be desired. It’s not much of a climax, and it also offers a strange and entirely out of context epilogue. Whatever it was, I’ll take it.

    Dracula The Path of the Dragon is a sort of remake of a PC game that released in 2008. I never played the original, but it seems like the players who have, will encounter many disappointments. The main difference that I can see between the PC and iPad versions of Dracula, and of let me reiterate that I have not played the original, is that a lot of content was stripped out for the touch screen adventure. I don’t think any story elements have received drastic changes, but there are entire sequences of puzzles that have been completely removed.

    The resulting game on the iPad seems to be much easier because of this. This was probably done so that the iPad players, who are generally considered a casual bunch, could play the game with as little frustration as possible. It really is not so much of a bad thing for the game to be a little easier, but I would have loved the opportunity to attempt some of the more challenging puzzles. It also would have extended the gameplay a lot, but would have also probably increased the file size of the game, which may have led to the need to a part four. I’m not happy with three parts as it is, so the decision was probably for the best.

    The story moves along at a brisk pace thanks to the lack of puzzles, which is a good thing. The puzzles were certainly the most interesting part of the game, but the character interactions and additional story occurrences were certainly worthy rewards for completing your objectives. There are a couple twists here and there, and I was always interested to see what was up next.

    The same positive and negative things I have said about parts one and two, can be directly applied here to part three. The graphics are good, but there are some awkward dated animations. The music fits well in the Dracula world, and there are a few areas with particularly excellent tunes. The voice work is poorly recorded, but well acted and totally functional. And of course the point and click adventure gameplay is perfect for the iPad. It’s so perfect in fact that other companies have taken notice and we will see Full Throttle and Grim Fandango releasing for the iPad soon! I have included the previous sentence in this review for the sole intention of starting Internet rumor about the release of those two titles. No such announcement or rumor has yet surfaced, and that is a damn shame. Maybe if a rumor starts, Lucasarts will think about it.

    Back to Dracula!

    As an entire package, parts one, two and three certainly a deliver a fun and interesting point and click adventure game for the iPad. I still think the three parts should have been delivered as one game, and I definitely stand by the suggestion that part one should have been free. In the iPhone/iPad world of gaming, $13 is a pretty large price tag to attach to any game, but in the every platform included world of gaming, you can do a lot worse for $13. Don’t invest unless you’re willing to go for the whole experience, and definitely take notice of how well a point and click game can work on the iPad. Also, don’t forget to go into the options menu and turn on the compass look mode for at least a minute or two. It’s a pretty cool little addition.