Adventure games have gone through some weird and interesting phases over the last couple of decades. Kenji Eno's 1996 3DO cult horror-adventure D arrived during the genre's tumultuous obsession with the then-revolutionary compact disc format, and as such it featured copious 3D cutscenes rendered in charmingly grainy, low-poly 3D. But there were other interesting features: the whole game took place in real-time, over a two-hour period, and if you wanted to pause or save the game and return to it later, well, you couldn't—there was no save system. D was exactly the sort of oddity that would disappear to the mists of time—and it did, except a PC version has now suddenly popped up on GOG.
We have, of course, Night Dive Studios to thank for this, the company responsible for reviving Turok, System Shock, and other neglected games in recent years. This version of D doesn't appear to make any changes to the controversial formula, but it will hopefully pave the way for Enemy Zero and D2, the next games in the trilogy.
If you're wondering what D is all about, here's the summary, taken from the GOG page:
"1997, Los Angeles. A mass murder has taken place in a hospital. The criminal is the director of the hospital, Richter Harris. He is one of America's best-known doctors, a quiet and studious man. Suddenly transformed into a mass murderer, Richter has seized a large number of hostages and barricaded himself in the hospital where the police cannot reach him. His daughter Laura hears the news and immediately drives to Los Angeles to find out what it is that made his father a murderer. Reaching the scene of the tragedy she prepares to enter the hospital...
"A macabre journey into the unknown, D leads players through a compelling horror story filled with seemingly indecipherable clues and grim surprises. As Laura, players enter into a terrifying world, where through a series of adventures and complex problem solving, they must discover the truth behind Dr. Richter Harris' mysterious murderous rampage before time runs out."
I can't find any trailers, but this video by SEGAbits offers a nice retrospective review of the game:
(Thanks, Gamasutra.)
