Last Half of Darkness: Society of the Serpent Moon 2011
Last Half of Darkness is a point and click adventure horror video game franchise that began in 1989 with the DOS "early horror adventure"[1] video game Last Half of Darkness developed by SoftLab Laboratories.[2]
Other games in the series include: Last Half of Darkness II (1992), Last Half of Darkness III (1993), Last Half of Darkness (2000), Last Half of Darkness: Shadows of the Servants (2005), Last Half of Darkness: Beyond the Spirit's Eye (2007), Tomb of Zojir: Last Half of Darkness (2009), and Last Half of Darkness: Society of the Serpent Moon (2011). The final game was published by Iceberg Interactive.[3]
Gaming Lives said that the franchise "has many fans and offers traditional horror adventure gaming with some innovative 'hands-on' puzzle features".[4]
Production
The 2000 game Last Half of Darkness was a remake that combined the first three games in the franchise.[5]
Gameplay
The franchise is based around adventure game mechanics; for example the first entry allowed the player to manipulate items using four verbs: Move, Examine, Take and Operate. It is very rare in the franchise for the player to interact with other human characters.[6]
Plot
Consisting of an investigative[7] and horror-themed series of plots, the games are based inside locations such as a haunted mansion where cases must be solved.
Critical reception
Last Half of Darkness received a 3/5 from Abandonia.[8] MyAbandonWare deemed it "one of the most obscure horror games ever made".[9] According to DocCollection, the game acquired a cult following.[10]
Last Half of Darkness II received a 2/5 from Abandonia.[8]
Last Half of Darkness: Shadows of the Servants received a B+ from GameBomers,[11] and 4/5 stars from Metzomagic.[12]
Last Half of Darkness: Beyond the Spirit's Eye received 90/100 from AdventureLantern[13] and 4/5 stars from Metzomagic.[14]
Last Half of Darkness: Tomb of Zojir received a 6/10 from Gamer.nl.[15] DiehardGamerfan wrote that "the atmosphere is spectacular, the music is chilling, the game is creepy as hell and it features some really innovative puzzles".[16] AdventureLanterm gave it 4.5/5 stars[17] while AdventureGamers gave it 3.5/5 stars.[18]
Last Half of Darkness: Society of the Serpent Moon received 3.5 stars from AdventureGamers,[19] and a B from GameBoomers.[20] Adventure Classic Gaming called it "absorbing, thrilling, and enjoyable".[21] Diehard Gamefan deemed it "solid, [and] mostly stable".[22] It received 5.5/10 from CapsuleComputers.[23]
