Developer: Kemco Publisher: Kemco Release: 1991 Genre: Adventure
The NES had a surprisingly decently library of point and click adventure games. But even with that in mind Uninvited is rarely mentioned. That could be due to its late release. The NES was still popular in 1991 but the Genesis and SNES would soon dominate. Many cool titles began to fall by the wayside, with this being one of many victims. With its more accessible setting and gameplay as well as improvements over the original Uninvited is a great introduction to the genre.
The last thing you remember is a shadowy running in front of your car. As you swerve to avoid hitting it you instead crash into a tree. You have no idea how long you were unconscious but your sister is missing. With no transportation the only option left is to enter the nearby haunted house to find help and hopefully your sister. It has just dawned on me that Silent Hill is eerily similar to Uninvited. While I will not claim Konami took inspiration from Uninvited the comparison is there.
Uninvited uses an identical interface to Kemco’s other Macventure ports. What that means is those already familiar can jump right in. Novices will find a functional if cumbersome interface that works with an NES controller. The house may call to mind the mansion in Shadowgate however it isn’t as large. There are at most a little over a dozen rooms along with the laboratory, greenhouse and chapel. This leads to plenty of annoying backtracking which mucks with game’s pacing. It is clearly padding and doesn’t work in my opinion.
While it uses the same interface as its predecessors Uninvited has refinements in terms of its “mechanics”. Both Shadowgate and Déjà vu could be obtuse when it came to solving their puzzles. They also were not very forthcoming with hints if you were stuck in a pinch. Here it is easier to reason your way to a solution thanks to its more grounded setting. Hints are very straightforward as well. There are less items clogging up your inventory which also helps considerably. I don’t know if these choices were deliberate or came together by happenstance but it makes this a faster paced game. There are only a few areas I can see stumping anyone, mainly the hedge maze. But that is only one outlier.
Part of the fun in these Macvenure titles is seeing the numerous ways you can die. While I am sure it is frustrating at least it is entertaining. Death comes less frequently in Uninvited but is no less hilarious. With no strict time limit you are free to explore and eventually do something stupid. Chances are you will be killed by ravenous animals, dissolved by slime or eaten by a zombie. Nintendo’s censors tone down the violence but the descriptions are still very detailed and leave little to the imagination. The most infamous death comes from the Scarlet O’Hara lookalike who tears you to pieces. That is not even the earliest death; try messing around in your car at the start!
There are two plots running simultaneously in Uninvited. Initially your journey into the house is merely to find your sister. But through reading diary entries and notes you’ll learn of a war between a long dead sorcerer and his apprentice. The second plot is almost completely inconsequential until the end and feels tacked on. You have to go out of your way to even learn of what I’ve just described. I suppose it explains the weird phenomena in the house but the integration could be better. I would have preferred a stronger focus on saving the sister and the Silent Hill vibes it gives off.
Although their setting is completely different Uninvited still manages the same level of dread as Shadowgate. Despite its locale there are still demons, magic, and the undead with no explanation given to their existence. There is a constant feeling as if anything could happen at any moment. Truthfully it actually does. The creepy music helps build atmosphere but does not sell it as well as its predecessor. That might be because the house is largely empty; it is hard to be on edge when there is no one around.
In Closing
While I prefer Shadowgate overall Uninvited is the most accessible of the Macventure series. The puzzles and clues are more reasonable, allowing most the ability to reason their way to the end without a guide. This is a solid adventure game and a good way to kill an afternoon.
