Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The Vault of Darkness compilation brings together five distinct titles, each offering its own unique gameplay loop and challenges. From the twisted platforming and puzzle-solving in American McGee’s Alice to the dark, first-person spellcasting of Clive Barker’s Undying, players are treated to a wide spectrum of mechanics. This variety means that whether you’re in the mood for frantic melee combat, careful inventory management, or strategic dungeon design, there’s something here to satisfy your gaming itch.

(HEY YOU!! We hope you enjoy! We try not to run ads. So basically, this is a very expensive hobby running this site. Please consider joining us for updates, forums, and more. Network w/ us to make some cash or friends while retro gaming, and you can win some free retro games for posting. Okay, carry on 👍)

American McGee’s Alice stands out with its fast-paced melee combat and environmental puzzles. You’ll leap across warped tea parties, slice through nightmarish rabbits, and solve riddles that blend platforming with logic puzzles. Meanwhile, Undying shifts the perspective entirely, immersing you in a haunted estate where magical artifacts and eldritch horrors force you to juggle both weapons and spells. The pacing here is more deliberate, encouraging exploration and experimentation with your arsenal.

The two Dracula adventures—The Resurrection and The Last Sanctuary—lean heavily on point-and-click exploration and inventory-based puzzles. They’re a throwback to classic adventure design, where careful observation and dialogue choices determine your progress. Finally, Dungeon Keeper 2 flips the script by placing you in the role of an evil overlord, sculpting subterranean lairs, raising minions, and fending off rival heroes. Its real-time strategy mechanics are straightforward but deceptively deep, requiring you to balance resource production and defense as your dungeon expands.

Graphics

Given that these titles originally released between 1995 and 2000, The Vault of Darkness understandably wears its age on its sleeve. Textures are low-resolution by modern standards, and character models can appear blocky in tight shots. However, the compilation often benefits from widescreen support and compatibility tweaks that allow these classics to run smoothly on today’s hardware, reducing crashes and graphical glitches that plagued original installations.

American McGee’s Alice still wows with its surreal, Gothic art direction—twisted card soldiers and warped landscapes remain striking despite pixelation. Undying’s dimly lit corridors, flickering candles, and decaying walls convey horror effectively, and the limited color palette actually enhances its ominous atmosphere. The Dracula games employ painted backdrops that evoke a cinematic mood, while 3D characters move atop these scenes in a way that feels nostalgic and charming.

Dungeon Keeper 2 features the most dated visuals of the bunch, with simple geometry and repetitive textures. Yet its bright color scheme, humorous monster animations, and clear UI help it remain accessible. Across all titles, there are no sweeping remasters or high-definition overhauls, but the compilation’s modern launchers, controller support, and optional widescreen patches make revisiting these classics far more pleasant than wrestling with original CDs and DOSBox configurations.

Story

American McGee’s Alice reimagines Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland as a nightmarish realm spawned from Alice’s fractured mind. The narrative deftly balances dark humor and genuine pathos, asking players to confront twisted versions of childhood icons as metaphors for trauma and recovery. It’s a bold, adult-oriented tale that remains surprisingly heartfelt beneath its gore-splattered surface.

Clive Barker’s Undying weaves a gothic tale of betrayal and occult secrets. You assume the role of Patrick Galloway, a paranormal investigator drawn to the sinister Farraday estate. Between deciphering cryptic diaries and confronting vengeful spirits, Undying offers a slow-burn narrative that relies on atmosphere and environmental storytelling to build suspense, unveiling tragic backstories piece by piece.

The two Dracula installments refresh Bram Stoker’s legend with interactive puzzles and multiple endings based on your decisions. Resurrection casts you as a distant descendant lured into supernatural machinations, while The Last Sanctuary unfolds as a globe-trotting quest to thwart the Count’s revival. Dungeon Keeper 2 then lightens the mood with tongue-in-cheek narration from Richard Ridings, guiding your evil ambitions through a campy plot about conquering the surface world. Together, these five narratives range from macabre and introspective to outright comedic, ensuring no two playthroughs feel alike.

Overall Experience

The Vault of Darkness compilation offers incredible value for fans of classic PC gaming. With over 50 hours of diverse gameplay, it’s a treasure trove of horror, fantasy, and strategy. Installation is seamless thanks to a unified launcher, and optional quality-of-life settings—like automatic saves, customizable keybinds, and widescreen fixes—help modern audiences enjoy these titles without technical headaches.

While purists may lament the absence of full remasters, the lack of intrusive DRM and inclusion of the original soundtracks demonstrate a respectful preservation of gaming history. Whether you’re revisiting these cult classics or discovering them for the first time, The Vault of Darkness honors the spirit of each title while ensuring they remain playable on contemporary systems.

Ultimately, this compilation is more than just a set of old games—it’s a testament to the creativity and ambition of late-’90s developers. If you crave atmospheric storytelling, inventive level design, or the simple joy of retro gameplay, The Vault of Darkness delivers an engaging, nostalgia-driven package that remains relevant and entertaining today.

Retro Replay Score

null/10