MediEvil is a 1998 action-adventure game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The game is set in the medieval Kingdom of Gallowmere and centers around the charlatan protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque, as he makes an attempt to stop antagonist Zarok's invasion of the kingdom whilst simultaneously redeeming himself.

The Story Behind MediEvil

Sorrell stated that a spline camera view was the first attempt, but he disliked it due to the lack of freedom for the player to feel as if he was exploring. The takeover was also "quite intimidating" to Sorrell and Wilson, who had not held conferences. MediEvil was first released in North America and Europe in October 1998.

The game was later released with C-12: Final Resistance in a two-disc pack on 9 May 2003. Impressed by the progress, Sony signed MediEvil to be an exclusive PlayStation game. These usually went without incident, but on one occasion a vicar asked them why they were filming on church property.

How MediEvil Plays

Certain enemies have no soul and therefore do not count while the levels "The Sleeping Village" and "The Haunted Ruins" include NPCs with "good souls" that will reduce the Chalice percentage if killed. In each level, there is a hidden Chalice of Souls which can be collected if the player has dispatched enough enemies (some Chalices are awarded via other means). The game takes place across a variety of levels, many of which require certain objectives to be performed to progress.

Dan's health is determined by a health bar, which reduces when Dan is hit. If Dan runs out of health, the game will end. Throughout the game, Dan can visit gargoyle heads of two varieties: green ones offer Dan information while blue ones allow Dan to buy services or ammunition by using the treasures he finds.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Joysticks reviewer thought that MediEvil would be a new whim for players. Randy Nelson of IGN considered the game to be a homage to Capcom's Ghosts & Goblins, stating that the game took too many inspirations from others and not enough innovation was put into it to make it "unique". MediEvil was named as a finalist by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for "Console Adventure Game of the Year" and "Console Game of the Year" during the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

The Android version was described as "rather expensive" by Damien McFerran of Know Your Mobile, but he praised the humour and the amount of content, which he said made the game stand out from other 3D action games on Android. Edges reviewer believed the game is "well crafted in some respects, underdeveloped in others": the "ingenious" feel was praised, but many levels were felt to be simple cases of maze navigation. The conclusion was that MediEvil merely repeated what had already been done.

MediEvil — Frequently Asked Questions