The Forgotten: It Begins

The concept of serialisation was decided early on in the development of The Forgotten storyline in 1995 - a franchise that runs over seven games ("modules").[1] The genre of game was due to the response from customers regarding Dreamcatcher's earlier titles Beyond Time and Jewels of the Oracle, which expressed a desire for "non-violent, adventure/puzzle style games".[2]

The website went live on October 19, 1999.[3] The unreleased game Thibedeaux: Escape from Hell, announced on October 21, 1999, was to be based on a character from The Forgotten; a multi-level demo was planned for E3 in the spring of 2000, but did not materialize.[4] The game shipped on November 15, 1999 to EBX, Babbages, Microcenter and other stores, and could also be purchased online off Dreamcatcher Games Online Store.[3]

The Forgotten II: The Collection picked up where the original left off plot-wise. The narrative was originally supposed to be covered in 7 games; by April 2000, complete storyline for all seven modules had been fully developed, and the story arcs and puzzles for Episodes 2 and 3 were completed.[5] At this time, the modeling and artwork has begun, and the game interface had been reworked to allow for larger panoramas and puzzles. A new gaming engine was also being developed for better flexibility and performance in Forgotten II and future games.[5] The first two titles were to be released on single CDs, while the 3rd-7th were to be targeted for DVD.[6]

The objective of the game is to find Richard Haliburton, who has gone missing in the city of New Orleans.

While critics appreciated the game's atmosphere and approachability,[7][8][9][10] as well as its intriguing premise,[11] the game was also criticized for its short length[12] and poorly-developed story.[13][14][15][16] Others criticized the game's lack of urgency or danger.

It received a score of 1.5 out of 5 from Computer Games Magazine.[17]

• Official website (archived)