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Mewilo | |
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Developer(s) | Coktel Vision |
Publisher(s) | Coktel Vision |
Designer(s) | |
Platform(s) | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, DOS, Thomson TO7 |
Release | November 28, 1987 [1] |
Genre(s) | Adventure |
Méwilo is a 1987 French adventure video game by Coktel Vision.
It was the first game by Muriel Tramis who was designer and producer at Coktel Vision. [2] [3] It saw a new direction for the developer, which had previously released strategy games. [4] [5] Tramis "proposed to program a game that [she] thought totally original", which became Mewilo. [2] The head of the Coktel Vision, Roland Oskian, allowed her to develop her own story, and she began work in 1986. [6] Collaborating with Martiniquan créolité writer Patrick Chamoiseau the game was inspired by the Caribbean legend of jars of gold. [7] It was graphic designed by Philippe Truca. [8] The software was accompanied by a short story by Chamoiseau. [9]
Set in the town of Saint-Pierre, Martinique on May 7, 1902, the game takes place a day before Mount Pelée is set to erupt, causing catastrophic damage. The player is a parapsychologist called into town to investigate zombie sightings. [2]
Tramis suggests that while the game was a failure in France, Mewilo performed better in Germany due to the country being "tinged with colonialism". [10]
For the 30th anniversary, Tramis created a crowdfunding campaign to create a remake. [11] [12]
Atari Magazine praised the "excellent graphics, which can hardly be surpassed in terms of color and richness of detail"; it also highlighted the German localisation. [13] Joystick deemed it an "exciting and instructive adventure", [14] highlighting themes of slavery and the social ills of the tropical plantations. [15] Aktueller Software Markt felt it was "very complex and extensive", [16] and praised the "thought-out story' which "included the cultural and social background of [Tramis'] home country". [17] Additionally, the magazine wrote "Tramis understood how to create a captivating atmosphere through the interesting and realistic background of the story". [18] Amstar Magazine thought the game was original in its subject and execution, far from the traditional adventures games containing monsters and dungeons. [19] [20]
Am Magazine praised its "cultural dimension" which it felt was "rarely found among its colleagues in adventure games". [21] Generation 4 described it an "educational adventure game" and wished more games in this sub-genre would be released. [22] Amiga News felt the software "leaves something to be desired", commenting that the "animation (for the rare times when there is some...) is sloppy and jerky". [23] Tilt wrote it offered a "real dive into the Caribbean soul, all at the same time complex, passionate, violent and irremediably marked by the claws of its history (slavery)". [24]
Tramis asserts that the city of Paris gave her a silver medal for the work. [26]