Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus

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Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus
Single-player

Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus is the second game in the Elvira series of

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Plot

The main character is Elvira's boyfriend, whose mission is to save Elvira, captured by the demon Cerberus who wants to use her magical power for his own aims. The player seeks Elvira in a horror movie studio where the props and movie sets have turned into actual monstrosities, apparently as a result of building the studio on haunted grounds.

Gameplay

. The player can move forward and backward, or turn right, left or back by clicking on one of the arrows in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Rather than being truly 3D, the game simulates the player's view by using a large amount of 2D images which depict the rooms and corridors from various spots and angles; due to this, the player's freedom is somewhat limited - in many rooms, it's impossible to look to the side, for example.

Out of the four areas in the game (the main studio building and the three movie sets), two of them (main building and Studio 2 - the haunted house) have more adventure elements, focusing mainly on collecting useful items and problem-solving, while the others (Studio 1 and 3 - set in insect-filled caverns and a dungeon, respectively) are similar to a classic dungeon crawl.

The magic system was unique at the time as the player could cast magic spells using the items found around the studio (which meant that the game was very much a loot and explore type game). The recipe for the spell indicated what sort of item would be required in order to cast it (a glass item, or an inflammable liquid for example) and the player would have to come up with an item matching that description. In the examples given the glass object could be anything from a glass bottle to a glass ashtray, whilst the inflammable liquid would be a spray or a bottle of alcohol.

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1992 in

The One gave the Amiga version of Elvira II an overall score of 77%, calling the gory graphics "excellent" and the UI "reasonably intuitive to use". The One criticises exploration in Elvira II, expressing their annoyance in regard to sideways movement, stating "for example, if you want to go to the right, you have to spin though 90 degrees and move forward - two actions where one would have been more user-friendly."^[2] The One also criticises the number of disks and amount of disk swapping, noting that Elvira II spans seven disks, and calls it "a decent RPG, marred by excessive disk loading and swapping - there are occasions when the loading takes up more time than the action" and furthermore calls Elvira II "A large role playing game with small, but significant design faults".^[2] The One concludes their review by stating that Elvira II has "plenty of monsters, good combat and magic systems, and a large landscape to explore, there's plenty to keep you entertained."^[2]

Reviews

• Zzap! (Sep, 1992)^[5]
• ST Format (Nov, 1992)^[6]
• Amiga Computing (Jun, 1992)^[7]
• ST Action (Mar, 1993)^[8]
• 64'er (Nov, 1992)[9]
• Games-X (Jan 23, 1992)^[10]
• Commodore Format (Sep, 1992)^[11]
• Amiga Joker (Feb, 1992)^[12]
• Amiga Action (May, 1992)^[13]
• Zero (Mar, 1992)^[14]
• Amiga Format (May, 1992)^[15]
• ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) (Feb, 1992)^[16]
• Power Play (Mar, 1992)[17]
• Power Play (Jun, 1992)^[18]
• CU Amiga (Mar, 1992)^[19]
• Amiga Power (May, 1992)^[20]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (April 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (180): 57–61.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Houghton, Gordon (April 1992). "Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus Review". The One. No. 43. emap Images. p. 50-51.
3. ^ Scorpia (March 1992). "Scorpion's Tale". Computer Gaming World. p. 36. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
4. ^ Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
5. ^ "Impossible to Display Scan".
6. ^ "ST Format (Issue 40) - November - 1992: Atari magazine scans, pdf". www.atarimania.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
7. ^ "Amiga Reviews: Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus".
8. ^ ST Action 59 atarimania.com
9. ^ "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
10. ^ "Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus review from Games-X 39 (Jan 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". amr.abime.net. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
11. ^ Commodore Format Issue 24 1992 archive.org ^{[dead link]}
12. ^ "Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus review from Amiga Joker (Mar 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". amr.abime.net. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
13. ^ "Elvira 2 review from Amiga Action 32 (May 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". amr.abime.net. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
14. ^ "Zero Magazine Issue 29". March 1992.
15. ^ "Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus review from Amiga Format 34 (May 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
16. ^ "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
17. ^ "Kultpower.de - Die Powerplay und ASM Fan Site". www.kultpower.de. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
18. ^ "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
19. ^ "CU Amiga Magazine Issue 025". March 1992.
20. ^ Amiga Power Issue 13 archive.org ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Official website
• Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus at MobyGames
• Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus at the Hall of Light
• Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus at Giant Bomb
• Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive