Silverload

SilverLoad is the title of a graphic adventure video game developed by Millennium Interactive and published by Psygnosis in Europe and Vic Tokai in North America. The game was released in 1995. The player controls, via a first person perspective, a Wild West cowboy as he ventures into a haunted town in order to save a child that was taken from his parents. The U.S. based Entertainment Software Rating Board gave the game a "M" rating for its graphic violence, blood and gore, and bits of profanity. The game was released for the personal computer in Europe, and the original PlayStation edition was given an international release.

Plot

The game begins just after a wagon caravan has been attacked by werewolves, who ended up stealing a man's only son. The player character, an anti-hero cowboy, agrees to go to the town, find the child and return him to his father. As the cowboy ventures into the town picking up various objects, interacting with the locals, and finding a safe place before the werewolves begin to prowl, he realizes that this once God-fearing and prosperous silvermining town has become a cursed den of vice, ghouls, vampires and werewolves after the original town's residents slaughtered an American Indian tribe. The tribesmen, as it just so happens, were the cowboy's long-lost ancestors.

Gameplay

As is the case with other graphic adventure games, progress in SilverLoad involves finding and interacting with various "hot spots" in order to pick up objects, solve puzzles and interact with (or kill) the various characters in the town. Picking up certain objects will cause the game's (and town's) clock to move forward, and thus, the trick to success is to pick up the right items in the precise order. Otherwise, the player must restart the game from the beginning, or from the last save point.

Reception

The initial European PC release was universally panned by critics. Just Adventure gave it an F grade, and listed it as one of the five worst adventure games of all-time in their Dungeon of Shame feature. The review stated that the "few minor details" of "jerky animation, incoherent puzzles, bad interface and horrendous lip-synching ... separate Silverload from the gaming classics," but attested the one redeeming factor was its plot. These downfalls were echoed across the PC release's reception.

The Playstation release however was not a direct port, but an entire reworking of the title that actually received positive acclaim upon release. GamePro Magazine gave the game 4.5 stars of out 5, claiming "SilverLoad's fun factor definitely competes with other games." GameFan Magazine, Game Players, and Absolute Playstation gave the game positive remarks, praising the atmosphere, story, graphics, puzzles, and the new game mechanics and shooting segments. IGN was also positive claiming "Great graphics and a compelling horror story set in the Old West make for a truly remarkable game" and that "the game's only real flaw is the interface."

In recent years, the Playstation version of SilverLoad has garnered recognition, perhaps initiated from Hardcore Gaming 101's 2012 feature, who claimed the "PSOne update, has a number of clever ideas to separate itself from the adventure game pack" and praised its "good ideas, fantastic setting, great script and suitable voice acting", also stating "the 3D shooting sections are very slick and extremely awesome." The game is also occasionally listed for being one of the weirdest western works ever created and the Playstation version is also considered a collectable for being one of only a handful of titles released in the bumpy-cased longbox packaging.