Sitting somewhere between a prequel and retelling of Dracula, this old-fashioned point-and-click adventure will contain few surprises for those familiar with the genre. There are those enjoyable moments when you figure out a puzzle or the correct (and sometimes bizarre) combination of artefacts to succeed. Then there are the times where you’re dragging the mouse over every pixel in the hope of finding something hidden in the gloom of the – admittedly superb – backgrounds. And while these are lovely, the main characters are somewhat less so. There are a few passable cut-scenes, however, although they are let down by rather average voice acting and poor lip-synch.

Where the game does succeed is in the story itself, which is genuinely meaty, and in the sense of satisfact­ion to be had when you’ve deciphered a clue from an ancient painting or mysterious hieroglyph. The script, too, exhibits a nice line in wry humour, although it does tend to have characters launch into long expositional speeches at times. All in all, this is an enjoy­able game let down by minor issues and a too-sudden ending. Diehard Dracula fans, though, might want to add another couple of points.