Brain Dead 13

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Overview

  • Full Name: Brain Dead 13
  • Code:
  • Type: Interactive movie
  • Developer: ReadySoft
  • Publisher: ReadySoft
  • Language: English
  • Release Date: 1996
  • Region: NA
  • Barcode: 092667650285
  • Local Title:
  • Rarity: 1
  • Notes: The first disc of the 3DO version comes in two different releases: the original, which is labeled simply "Disc 1", and a version labeled "Disc 1 (v1.1)". The v1.1 disc fixes a bug which sometimes causes the game to crash during Vivi's funeral salon in the original release.

Overview

In Brain Dead 13, the player takes on the role of a young computer expert who one day is called to fix a computer at some scary castle and in no time flat, finds himself in trouble.

It is up to the player to use the complex moves of an interactive movie to escape from the castle. This animated adventure is basically based on the player's judgment on which direction you think the character might go, and if the player guesses wrong, death.

Game Play

Brain Dead 13 is an interactive movie game reminiscent of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace that uses full motion video (FMV) to present the story and gameplay, which consists entirely of quick time events, where players assume the role of Lance Galahad in order to defeat Dr. Nero Neurosis from conquering the world at his castle and its residents as the main objective. During gameplay, exploration is freer than in most previously released interactive movie games, with most rooms linked to crossroads that leaves the route for finding the Brain Chamber up to the players. Even crossroads are done as quick time events. Failure to choose a path as soon as Lance reaches a crossroads and to use the other actions as well as choosing the dangerous path results in the game displaying the failure scenes, in which Lance is killed by Fritz or by his other enemies or obstacles or he falls to his doom. The death scenes are often rather violent, but over-the-top in their cartoony approach. However, the player has infinite lives, and after the death sequence, there is a revival sequence, where Lance revives in ways that depend on which scene he was killed in.

Synopsis

Plot

Lance, a young computer expert, is called to fix a computer at a scary, dilapidated castle. After repairing a large super-computer, Lance learns that his client, the disembodied brain of Dr. Nero Neurosis, has a diabolical plan to take over the world. He quickly finds himself in trouble, being chased around the castle by Dr. Nero Neurosis's psychotic servant Fritz. The player must guide Lance through the castle in order to defeat Dr. Neurosis and escape with his life.

Characters

  • Lance Galahad is a young computer expert and a human player character. He has long red hair covered by a baseball cap and is an avid video game junkie. He also has a bit of a smart mouth. Lance is voiced by Riccardo Durante.
  • Dr. Nero Neurosis is a mad doctor, now a disembodied brain, whose villainous goal is to rule the world. He sends Fritz off to kill Lance at the beginning of the game, so that the reason is because of insulting him by calling him "average" (though he was planning to kill Lance from the beginning anyway simply to avoid paying for his repair job). Voiced by Dave Quesnelle.
  • Fritz is a hunchbacked little imp with hooks for hands who carries an array of his deadly gadgets that he uses to kill Lance. His apparent lack of brains doesn't prevent him from being a lethal adversary. Lance is pursued by him throughout the game. He is Dr. Neurosis' "pet" and diligently follows all orders given to him. He is voiced by Joe Giampapa, though Fritz doesn't speak in any languages at all, but only in grunts and gibberish.
  • Vivi is a curvaceous, vampiric vixen with a Southern belle accent who runs a "funeral salon". It is generally an excuse for her to dismember or suck the blood of unwary or unwilling patrons, like Lance. Voiced by June Brown.
  • Moose is a big, dumb, Frankenstein's Monster-like giant, who spouts various sports phrases and wields a baseball bat and a football. Moose is encountered as one of the seven "boss" sequences. Voiced by Blayne Burnside.
  • Evil Left Iris and Evil Right Iris are two sister witches who, in their own separate room, try to have Lance "for dinner".

Lance also comes across many other creatures (like man-eating vines, a giant centipede, the Yeti, the Slasher, the marionette, the librarian, the gator cook, etc.) out to kill him in the various dungeons, cellars, rooms, hallways and labyrinth garden in the castle.


Reception

The 3DO received "mixed or average reviews". The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly lauded the game as one of the best of the FMV quick-time event games, thanks to its non-linear gameplay and forgiving difficulty (in that it does not require split-second timing and gives the player unlimited continues). They particularly praised the 3DO version's high quality video and quick loading times, and said the game's one flaw is that it has no replay value. A review in GamePro, in contrast, said the game "is nowhere near as good as Dragon's Lair or Space Ace" and that the 3DO version feels like an unfinished game due to its glitches and control, though they concurred on the high quality of the video.

Magazine Reviews

Name Date Region Rating Notes
SuperGamePower Apr 96
96% A Ready Soft, fabricante de Dragon's Lair, lança um game monstruoso. Em Brain Dead você tem de desvendar os mistérios de uma mansão mal assombrada antes que os monstros matem você de rir. Você pode seguir por onde quiser. Mas nem todo caminho leva a um final feliz e um comando errado pode levá-lo a mortes estranhas, como ser atravessado por uma bruxa, ou estrangulado pela língua de um sapão. Se a morte é assim, imagine a ressureição. Os gráficos são puro desenho animado e a voz dos monstros deixa tudo mais divertido ainda!
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)* Apr 96
76% For those players out there who just couldn't get enough of games such as Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, full-motion video is back in Braindead 13. I've never been a big fan of these types of games, however this title is not only the quickest loading i've ever seen, however the graphics on the 3DO are nearly flawless. Very clear and colorful. Not too much replay value here, though, but the humor throughout the game seems to make it all worth while when you make the wrong decision.
GameFan Magazine* May 96
73% Inherently I dislike these games with a vengeance. From Space Ace to Dragon's Lair, I'd always been more content to watch them than play them. ReadySoft however, has made a game that looks so cool, it's forced me to take a step back and re-evaluate the genre. Refinements in the way the game plays, simplifying it to a degree, makes BD13 surprisingly playable. While I doubt I'll ever embrace the genre whole-heartedly, I do like this game.
Video Games* Feb 96
62% Den Witz von Braindead 13 machen zweifelsohne die Todesarten aus, mit denen Ihr nach einem falschen oder späten Kommando abtretet. Hier haben sich die Entwickler eine Menge einfallen lassen. Allerdings ist das mit den “tausend Toden“ keineswegs übertrieben, und deshalb werdet Ihr auch die zahlreichen “Behandlungsmethoden“ vom fiesen Fritz bald auswendig kennen. Dazu kommt, daß das Schloß stellenweise zweigeteilt ist und Ihr durch identische, jedoch spiegelverkehrte Szenarien hetzt. Dadurch wird der Ablauf öfter unlogisch und Ihr verliert die Orientierung. Bei mir hinterläßt das Spiel durch die recycleten Scenen einen recht sparsamen Eindruck. Dazu kommt die magere Story. Ich hatte schon immer Schwierigkeiten, interaktive Filme als Videospiel anzusehen, aber Braindead 13 ist keineswegs besser als seine Vorgänger, im Gegenteil.
3DO Magazine* Apr 96
60% Three CDs are jampacked with gobsmacking cartoon graphics in an extremely funny and challenging FMV extravaganza. Older players will soon tire of its limitations, but youngsters will love the graphics and the non-linear gameplay is surprisingly sophisticated for this genre.
  • - Need review page

Other Versions

Brain Dead 13 was first released for the MS-DOS computers by ReadySoft in North America on 15 December 1995 and later in Europe of the same year by Empire Interactive. The game was later ported to Microsoft Windows and Macintosh computers in 1996, while the Atari Jaguar CD conversion were also released during the same year as with the two aforementioned PC releases. The PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions were launched in 1996 as well, with the Japanese releases of both ports being published by Coconuts Japan Entertainment. In 1997, the title was also converted to the CD-i by International Creative Digital Image and published exclusively in Europe by Philips Interactive Media.

The first run of the PlayStation version freezes during startup, making it completely unplayable; as with the 3DO Disc 1, it was succeeded by a working version of the game. European and Japanese releases of the game were given a highly selective dubbing, which retains all non-verbal voice acting from the original actors, even when it appears in the same clip with verbal voice acting. For instance, in the original intro sequence Lance says "Wah ha ha! I'm game!", while the "I'm game!" line is dubbed over with a Japanese translation on the Japanese PlayStation and Saturn versions, but the laughter from the original voice actor is retained. The CD-i version, despite being shipped on a single disc, uses the DVC (digital video cartridge) for high quality MPEG compression and better video quality.

On 8 October 2010, Brain Dead 13 was ported to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch via the App Store, and later upgraded from Version 1.0 to Version 1.1 on 1 December of the same year, which added support for iOS 3.0 and 4.2 and fixed various bugs. In the iOS port the screen turns black for a split second after making a move in certain scenes when Lance looks around, or after failing to make a choice. Also, button icons appear on the corners of the touch screen in an L-shape, with the "Menu" icon on the top left corner, the directional arrow icon on the bottom left, and the circular action button icon on the bottom right; the player can change or toggle the button icons any which way or size via "Settings", as well as turning the audio or visual move guide (which allows the player to quickly press an appropriate button as soon as it lights up in certain areas, making things easier) on or off. However, the icons vanish during death scenes and resurrection scenes, depriving the player of the ability to pause the game during death scenes or to skip resurrection scenes like in the MS-DOS original or all other game console versions. The iOS port, which does not require any CDs, has higher video resolution than any of the earlier versions.

A version for the Sega CD was in development and planned to be published by ReadySoft but it was never officially released, despite being advertised in magazines.

Credits

  • Directed and Produced David Quesnelle
  • Executive Producer David Foster
  • Assistant Director Dan Turner
  • Programmer Piotr Pytlik
  • Music by Brian Jack
  • Voice of Vivi June Brown
  • Voice of Moose Blayne L. Burnside
  • Voice of Lance Riccardo Durante
  • Voice of Fritz Joe Giampapa
  • Voice of The Brain, The Witches David Quesnelle
  • Storyboards Riccardo Durante, David Quesnelle
  • Production Manager Patty Beausoleil
  • Design Riccardo Durante, Richard Carl Livingston, David Quesnelle
  • Additional Design Joe Giampapa, Luc Latulippe, Evan Steacy
  • Layout Artists Michael J. Brooks, Brad Graham, Jo-Anne Graham, Chad Hicks, Ed Lee, Kent Madden, Joanne Rice, Andrew Wolf, Peter Wong
  • Additional Layout Scott Bennett, Kathleen Pepper, Brian Therriault, Ian Williams
  • Background Painting Supervisor Barbara Massey
  • Background Painters John A. Charlesworth, Ian Gregory, Kellie S. Jobson, Peter A. Lacalamita, Jay Stanners
  • Sequence Directors - Fritz's Room Joe Giampapa
  • Sequence Directors - Vivi's Room Luc Latulippe
  • Sequence Directors - Moose's Room Evan Steacy
  • Animators Joseph N. Achorn, Keith Bambury, Jee Chan Baylis, Josee Bellemare, James A. Dawkins, Trevor Deane-Freeman, James McCrimmon, Hong-Sik Kim, Jamie Mason, Mike Stevens, Phillip Williams
  • Assistants Jee Chan Baylis, Andre L. Beaulne, Lee Cadieux, Eunice Choi, Gina Ferreirra, Kevin S. Fraser, Lisa K. Harlton, Mike Helmer, Andy Knight, James McCrimmon, Mike Nichols, Wendy Parkin, Shawn Pascuttini, Michael P. Rich, Phillip F. Tiqui, Phillip Williams
  • Special Effects Dan Turner
  • Special Effects Assistants Louise Kiner, Gord Sinclair
  • Cel Painting & Checking Co-ordinator Natalie Garceau-Turner
  • Assistant Co-ordinators Louise Kiner, Mark Harris
  • Painter-Checkers Ian Ball, Mathew Knegt, Cindy Kong, Kevin Stott, Ian Williams
  • Extra Painting John A. Charlesworth, John Durno, Cheddie Garnesh, Ian Gregory, Robert Jackman, Sebastian Krupa, David Magerman (Dave Magerman), Martina McKenna, Mike Ramotar, Jay Stanners, Joe Verissimo, John Westwood, Shawn Woytowich
  • Sound Editing Michele Cook, Cindy Livingston
  • Sound Assistant David Bird
  • 3D Animation Ian Gregory
  • Computer Camera Dan Turner
  • Computer Manipulation & Composing Torin Marsden, Trent Matthews
  • Scanning Cheddie Garnesh, Ian Ball, Ian Williams
  • Promotional Graphic Design Ian Ball
  • Promotional Artwork David Quesnelle
  • Promotional Artwork Assistant Natalie Garceau-Turner
  • Technical Support Douglas Brookes, Gairy Ali
  • Mascot Finnegan
  • Image Process Programming Kavita Joshi, Simon Lai
  • Computer Assistants David Bird, Mike Boulet, David Magerman, Torin Marsden, Pejman Saifi, Joe Verissimo
  • Public Relations Manager June Brown
  • Advertising Co-ordinator Elizabeth Foster
  • Operations Manager Pamela Merkel
  • Materials Co-ordinator Kelly Bryan
  • Credit Manager Tracey Spearing-Woods
  • Accounting Sandra Wall
  • Receptionist Susan Willard, Anna Fok
  • Sales & Marketing James Jolly
  • Marketing Assistant Sam Leung
  • Warehouse Manager Peter McLaughlin
  • Warehouse Assistants James Miles, Jeyakanthan Thuraisingan


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