The Steam page for GMedia’s Edgar Allan Poe’s Interactive Horror: 1995 Edition has gone live. It faithfully restores Inscape’s cult classic game, The Dark Eye. GMedia describes the original title as an avant-garde masterpiece, one of the most unique and disturbing experiences of the CD-Rom era. The restoration brings the uncanny stop-motion nightmare of the mid-’90s to contemporary systems, and this new version doesn’t compromise its original, raw, and psychological aesthetic. Edgar Allan Poe’s Interactive Horror: 1995 Edition will launch for PC.
The Dark Eye/Edgar Allan Poe’s Interactive Horror: 1995 Edition is a surreal first-person point-and-click adventure game adaptation of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and Berenice. Instead of each story being separate, the game weaves them together into an original narrative that allows players to see into the minds of both the murderer and the victim. The game’s visual style combined claymation, stop-motion puppetry, and distorted video. The heavy atmosphere is complemented by the vocal performance of Beat Generation icon William S. Burroughs and a score by Thomas Dolby.
Here are the game’s key features, via GMedia:
- The Authentic The Dark Eye Experience: A faithful re-release of the cult classic, preserving the original aspect ratio, multimedia interface, and unpolished aesthetic.
- Literary Horror: Fully interactive adaptations of Poe’s most twisted works, exploring themes of obsession, guilt, and madness.
- Dual Perspectives: A unique narrative mechanic allowing players to experience the stories as both the perpetrator committing the deed and the victim suffering the consequences.
- Star-Studded Audio: Featuring the haunting voice narration of William S. Burroughs and an atmospheric score by Thomas Dolby.
- Surreal Visuals: A disturbing mix of claymation (puppetry) and live-action video that defined the experimental era of 90s gaming.
I raised my eyebrow at the name change, as it goes from something simple to something more complex and mouthy, but Arjun Mehra (Publishing Manager at GMedia) has issued the following statement regarding the change:
“Bringing Inscape’s multimedia masterpiece back to modern screens has been a labour of love, but it also came with unique challenges. The decision to retire the original title, The Dark Eye, was made after careful consideration of the current global trademark landscape. Due to overlapping trademark registrations with other long-standing franchises in the market, we needed a fresh identity to ensure a smooth global distribution. We chose a title that places the legendary author front and centre. Edgar Allan Poe’s Interactive Horror immediately conveys the game’s literary roots to a new generation of players, while the ‘1995 Edition’ subtitle serves as a promise to our veteran fans: the name may be new, but the nightmare remains exactly as you remember it — unaltered, uncensored, and authentically 1995.”
Developed by Inscape and GMedia, and published by GMedia, Edgar Allan Poe’s Interactive Horror: 1995 Edition will be released for PC via Steam soon.
Buy the hottest games with Amazon.
By purchasing from this link, you support DDNet.
Each sale earns us a small commission.
