Enjoyable horror-themed dungeon crawler
For those who have never been introduced to the charms of Elvira, she was a sort of B-movie horror TV show host whose cult popularity was enough to warrant a few games based on her likeness. These include the horror RPGs, Mistress of the Dark and Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus and due to Waxworks' similarities it is considered a spiritual successor to these earlier games. This is is dungeon crawler, like Dungeon Master or Eye of the Beholder, but with a stronger sense of horror and which sees players exploring a series of claustrophobic corridors, engaging in real-time combat with the various denizens and solving puzzles. The backstory explains all this as being due to your family's dark history which involves witchcraft, chickens and ancient curses and which basically means you have to use the family's collection of waxworks to travel through time to locations including Ancient Egypt, Victorian London and other assorted spooky places to right this terrible wrong. Gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has played a traditional action RPG, with experience points, weapon upgrades and the like all making an appearance and which are all implemented reasonably well and with a few variations on the established conventions. There isn't a great deal of customisation or depth here though so hardcore RPGs beware. Visually, the game is slightly dated but holds up pretty well with environments that are suitably creepy and atmospheric and monsters that are both imaginative and pretty terrifying at times. The story is fairly cheesy but is entertaining enough so when combined with the solid combat and puzzles, this makes for a fun experience. Just don't expect Elvira herself to make an appearance.
