Anyone who lived through the CD-ROM era will remember: in 1994 almost every 3D game was made of polygons, and then Ecstatica showed up with characters and sets built from ellipsoids, oval shapes that gave everything an organic, slightly strange look. Now SNEG, in partnership with Andrew Spencer Studios, is re-releasing the game and its sequel digitally for the first time: Ecstatica and Ecstatica II arrive on Steam and GOG on October 26, just in time for Halloween. Demos for both are already in Steam Next Fest.

Ecstatica (1994)

Made by British developer Andrew Spencer Studios and published by Psygnosis, the first game is a survival horror adventure set in Tirich, a medieval village cursed by demons. The hero stops for a drink of water and is soon stalked by an unkillable werewolf. There is no interface, no prompts and no quest log: just fixed cinematic cameras, puzzles over combat and encounters that change with every run. You will die a lot, and you might get turned into a frog.

A detail for history buffs: the genre had not even been codified yet; Resident Evil would only arrive in 1996. SNEG says the re-release runs on the original 1994 engine.

Ecstatica II (1997)

The sequel followed three years later, with a far larger world and more than 1,100 hand-picked camera angles, all in the ellipsoid style. The hero returns home to find his kingdom ravaged by an archmage; to rescue the sorceress Ecstatica and reclaim the throne he uses potions, spells and a lot more swordplay, in a darker, gorier tone.

Price

Each game costs US$14.99, or US$19.99 for a bundle with both.

Back in the rental-store days, PC games like this changed hands on burned CDs. It is good to see this odd chapter of 3D history back within everyone’s reach, the right way.

See also this month’s game release calendar.

Source: SNEG / Andrew Spencer Studios.