Ecstatica Andrew Spencer / Psygnosis 1994

Ecstatica is one of the most unique and compelling action/adventures ever made, but also one of the most controversial due to its nonchalant depiction of violence and nudity. You are a lone traveler who stopped to pick up new supplies at Tirich, a small 10th century village, only to discover that a demon has been unleashed, and is going on a killing rampage. The local sorcerer's maid, Ecstatica, lies in a deep trance possessed by the demon. A few survivors give you some clues as to what has been happening and how to go about rescuing the maiden. You have a choice of playing as a male or female character, although the choice of female character is evidently an afterthought, since you will be referred to as a "he" throughout the game and chased by well-endowed women. Ecstatica uses a novel "ellipsoid" technology to animate charactes, which results in very realistic movements that are a step up from the polygonal characters of Alone in The Dark. One of the game's strongest points is the strong enemy AI. Monsters are surprisingly intelligent: they will seek you out, ambush you, and either try to subjugate or kill you. There are a few different weapons you can use, but you will die frequently because combat controls take some getting used to, and monsters are smart enough to gang up on you. Although its emphasis in clearly on action, Ecstatica is at heart an adventure game in that there are puzzles you must solve in order to progress, even if they are physical ones such as figuring out a way to get to a door that is out of reach. In contrast to Alone in The Dark, you can only carry one inventory item at a time, so you will need to wander around the village, trying to find use for the item in hand before picking up another (you can drop it, though). What makes Ecstatica controversial is the depictions of some scenes that are sacrilegious, vulgar and violent. For instance, you will need to steal a holy relic from a church, and monks may die during the course of the game. Your male character will also take a few opportunities to pee, and witness scenes of tortures and full frontal nudity. Despite the short length, there are many delightful animations and novel gameplay elements in here to please fans of action adventures. In 1997, a Windows version was released with better graphics and support for resolution 640x480
Screenshots
Full Demo 6MB (@ Juego Viejo)
Reviews
Full Demo (@ Fajnegry)
Windows Screenshots
ISO Demo 41MB (uploaded by Scaryfun)
Windows version Video
13x1.44 Floppy ISO Demo 17MB (uploaded by Molitor)
Full Demo with DOSBox 38MB (uploaded by The Collection Chamber)
Windows Clone ISO Demo 182MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Portable Windows Patched Full Demo (runs on modern o/s) 105MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


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