Ripper (video game)

For the cancelled video game, see The Ripper (video game).

1996 video game

1996 video game

Ripper

Developer(s)| Take-Two Interactive
Publisher(s)| Take-Two Interactive
Director(s)| Phil Parmet
Producer(s)| Mark E. Seremet
Chris Short
Programmer(s)| Greg Brown
Artist(s)|

* James H. Dargie

Writer(s)| F.J. Lennon
John Antinori
Dennis Johnson
Composer(s)| Michael Bross
Platform(s)| MS-DOS, Macintosh
Release|

* NA: March 4, 1996[1]
* EU: 1996

Genre(s)| Interactive movie, point-and-click adventure
Mode(s)| Single-player

Ripper is a 1996 interactive movie point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Take-Two Interactive for MS-DOS and Macintosh. The cast includes Scott Cohen, Christopher Walken, Paul Giamatti, Karen Allen, Burgess Meredith,[a] David Patrick Kelly, Ossie Davis, and John Rhys-Davies. It also uses the Blue Öyster Cult song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". The villain of the game is chosen at random from the four main characters. A limited number of the clues and puzzles, plus a single line of dialogue in the ending, change according to the villain's identity.

In 1996, home ports for the Saturn and PlayStation were announced,[2] but these did not ship. Ripper is the second of the three Take-Two developed full-motion video-based adventure games, the other two being Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller and Black Dahlia.

## Plot

[edit]

Ripper takes place in New York City in the year 2040. It opens with the investigation of the recent murder of Renee Stein,[b] the third victim of a serial killer known as "The Ripper", named for their similar modus operandi to Jack the Ripper's. The player assumes the role of Jake Quinlan (Scott Cohen), a reporter for the Virtual Herald, to whom The Ripper sends messages detailing his murders.[3][c] Along with the police, whose investigation is headed by Detective Vincent Magnotta (Christopher Walken), Quinlan is seeking The Ripper's true identity.

After investigating Stein's murder, Quinlan receives a message from The Ripper, who warns Quinlan that his girlfriend, Catherine Powell (Tahnee Welch), will be the next victim, as she has gotten too close to discovering his identity. Quinlan finds Powell still alive but in a deep coma. Cybersurgeon Clare Burton (Karen Allen) of the Tribeca Center Hospital manages to retrieve a distorted image of Powell's attacker, but she requires additional information from Quinlan to make it clearer.[d] He studies Powell's investigation and hones in on three possible suspects for the murders. To transmit this information into Powell's brain directly, he enlists the help of Joey Falconetti (David Patrick Kelly), a hacker who specializes in interfacing directly with the human brain.

Quinlan discovers that all of The Ripper's victims and all of those associated with the investigation of The Ripper (except Quinlan himself) were involved with an old gaming group known as the Web Runners, who played a game based on the Jack the Ripper mystery. The last session of this game somehow caused one of the players – Catherine Powell's mother – to die in real life. Assistance from a pathologist named Vic Farley (Peter Boyden) reveals that The Ripper's murders were done by placing a code into a victim's brain while in cyberspace that caused their internal body pressure to rise to a point of explosion, which Farley experiences immediately after providing his explanation. Quinlan also finds a cyberspace weapon developed by a murdered cyber-architect named Hamilton Wofford (Burgess Meredith), designed specifically to kill The Ripper inside a virtual recreation of the historic Whitechapel district of London, where the Jack the Ripper murders took place. After assembling the weapon and gathering protection from The Ripper's weapon, Quinlan enters cyberspace, kills The Ripper, and leaves the virtual Whitechapel in time to escape its destruction.

The Ripper can be one of four possible suspects: Joey Falconetti, Clare Burton, Vincent Magnotta, or Catherine Powell. With each playthrough, certain clues and the actual identity of The Ripper vary, though the bulk of the story is unchanged, and clues indicating the guilt of all four suspects will appear regardless of who the killer is. For instance, Catherine Powell experiences mysterious surges in brain wave activity that coincide with all the Ripper's murders regardless of whether or not she actually is the Ripper, and no alternative explanation for these surges is provided. However, the changes in the game's story and puzzles are limited to the game's third act – after Farley's death.

## Cast

[edit]

* Christopher Walken as Detective Vincent Magnotta – A violent police officer with a romantic interest in Clare Burton and a vendetta against Falconetti.
* Burgess Meredith as brothers Hamilton Wofford & Covington Wofford – Hamilton was a cyber-architect who was hired by The Ripper to build a replica of Whitechapel before being murdered, and Covington is a recluse who has gradually lost his sanity.
* Karen Allen as Dr. Clare Lynn Burton – A brilliant but cold and distant doctor who specializes in the human brain and treats Catherine Powell while she's comatose.
* David Patrick Kelly as Joey Falconetti – A brilliant but violent and disturbed computer hacker who previously divorced from Clare Burton after being arrested by Magnotta.
* Scott Cohen as Jake Quinlan – An investigative reporter for the Virtual Herald who writes about the Ripper murders and regularly receives messages from The Ripper.
* Ossie Davis as Ben Dodds – the editor of the Virtual Herald.
* John Rhys-Davies as Vigo Haman – A mobster with information regarding Clare Burton.
* Tahnee Welch as Catherine Powell – Quinlan's co-worker and lover who began investigating The Ripper behind Quinlan's back, hoping to take the story and launch her own career as a reporter.
* Jimmie Walker as Soap Beatty – A computer hacker and one of Catherine Powell's primary sources in her investigation.
* Steven Randazzo as Sgt. Lou Brannon – A rare non-corrupt cop who gives Quinlan information about Magnotta's suspicious activities.
* Peter Boyden as Vic Farley – A friendly pathologist who is trying to figure out how the Ripper commits his murders.
* Paul Giamatti as Dr. Bud Cable – A doctor tending to Catherine Powell.
* MacIntyre Dixon as Gambit Nelson – A cyberspace entrepreneur who gives Quinlan information about Falconetti.
* Liani Pai as Kashi Yamamoto – A current Web Runner who gives Quinlan information about the Runners' history.
* David Thornton as Twig – An assistant who maintains Falconetti's computer hacking equipment.
* Kira Arne as Vivien Santiago – The receptionist at the hospital who flirts with Quinlan and informs him of suspicious activities at the hospital.
* William Seymour as Bob Eppels – A pathologist who replaces Farley after Farley is fired.
* Richard Bright as Dr. Karl Stasiak – A forensic photographer and a trusted source of Quinlan's.
* Phyllis Bash as Prof. Lillian Bech – A professor with information regarding Clare Burton's past.
* Lisa Summerour as an attendant at the gym Clare Burton frequents.
* Dan Moran as a bartender at the Cafe Duchamp.
* Richard Spore as George Rhodes – A loan officer at the Pan Financial Bank and a source of Catherine Powell's.
* John Ventimiglia as Warren Spankowski – A police officer who guards the evidence room.
* Anna Thomson as a prostitute who is violently interrogated by Magnotta.
* Brian Tarantino as a drug addict and dealer who is violently interrogated by Magnotta.
* Mary Ann Urbano as Dr. Pezzi.
* Deborah Lee Johnson as Stephanie Jordan – A former Web Runner who is murdered by The Ripper.
* Alexa as a Renee Stein – A book publisher and former Web Runner who is murdered by The Ripper.
* Buster Maxwell as Maximum Cain.
* Natalie Baker as the Web Runners' WELL and Josey Dorsett, the latter of whom was a former Web Runner before being murdered.
* Phyllis Goodis as the voice of a librarian at the virtual public library.

## Development

[edit]

Ripper had a budget of US$4 million (equivalent to $8,000,000 in 2024) and was in development for two years.[4][5] Considerable effort was focused on the game's full-motion video (FMV) sequences. Paying the game's slew of big-name actors cost nearly 25% of the game's entire budget, and cinematographer Phil Parmet was brought on to direct the video segments.[6] Writer and lead designer F. J. Lennon commented: "The whole industry wants to crucify FMV, people claim FMV doesn't belong in game, but if it's done professionally, I think it can work."[6] The game engine was created from scratch. It can change resolution between 640x480 and 320x200 on the fly.[6] Ripper was launched on March 4, 1996.[1] In 1996, home ports for the Saturn and PlayStation were announced,[2] but these did not ship.

## Reception

[edit]

Reception

Aggregate scoreAggregator| Score

|

GameRankings| 71.50%[7]
Review scoresPublication| Score

|

Next Generation| 3/5[3]
PC Gamer (US)| 72%[8]
PC PowerPlay| 7/10[9]
Computer Games Strategy Plus| 3.5/5[10]
Computer Game Review| 92/90/93[11]
PC Entertainment| 4/5[12]

Take 2 announced shipments of 160,000 copies to retailers during the game's debut week and called it "our biggest game to date".[1] According to Take 2, the game sold over 150,000 units by the end of October 1997 and earned 28.7% of all company revenue during that fiscal year,[13] suggesting that as of October 31, 1997 (eight months after its release), Ripper had achieved sales of approximately $3,587,500.[14] Arinn Dembo of CNET Gamecenter wrote: "[S]low sales, unfortunately, quickly knocked [Ripper] off retail shelves."[15]

The game received an average score of 71.50% at GameRankings, based on an aggregate of 4 reviews.[7] A reviewer for Next Generation commented: "One minute the game believes it's a graphic adventure, the next it's a movie, and the next it's a puzzle game. If any one of these aspects would be perfected, it could be a gamer's delight. As it stands, the game is mediocre in each category." He specifically criticized that the characters "are so overdone it's just plain funny" and the first-person sequences can't be bypassed, forcing the player to watch the same graphics every time they backtrack.[3]

Jeff Sengstack of NewMedia magazine wrote that Ripper "meets, even exceeds, its pre-release hype", and summarized it as "an engaging horror mystery with immense depth." However, he found fault with the video compression and difficulty.[16]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ In his final performance before his death the following year.
2. ^ Renee Stein's actress is credited only as "Alexa".
3. ^ An act attributed to Jack the Ripper, although no letters have been proven to come from him.
4. ^ A reference to Jack the Ripper, as the police hypothesized that they might be able to get an image of the killer from the retinas of the victims.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Take Two Rolls Out Ripper". March 4, 1996. Archived from the original on June 6, 1997. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
2. ^ a b "It's a Ripper". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 7\. Emap International Limited. May 1996. p. 8 - via the Internet Archive.
3. ^ a b c "Jack's Back". Next Generation. No. 18\. Imagine Media. June 1996. p. 122.
4. ^ Jebens, Harley (May 23, 1996). "Complex 'Ripper' proves maddening". Austin American-Statesman. p. 125. Retrieved September 12, 2021 - via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ Kramer, Farrell (November 28, 1995). "Lights! Action! Program! Big-Name Performers Moving to CD-ROM". Associated Press. Retrieved September 12, 2021.[dead link]
6. ^ a b c "Ripper". Next Generation. 1 (10). Imagine Media: 83–84\. October 1995 - via the Internet Archive.
7. ^ a b "Ripper". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
8. ^ Wolf, Michael (May 1996). "Reviews; Ripper". PC Gamer US. 3 (5): 109, 110.
9. ^ Dawson, Ed (May 1996). "Ripper". PC PowerPlay (1): 64.
10. ^ Yans, Cindy (April 13, 1996). "Ripper". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on February 8, 2005.
11. ^ Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Gehrs, Scott (April 1996). "Ripping Good Stuff". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on December 21, 1996.
12. ^ Meyer, Bill (May 1996). "Ripper". PC Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 13, 1996.
13. ^ Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Form 10-KSB (Report). Delaware: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. October 31, 1997. p. 5\. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018.
14. ^ Jebens, Harley (February 9, 1998). "Take 2's Mother Lode". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2000.
15. ^ "Ripper". GameCenter.com. October 31, 1997. Archived from the original on July 20, 1997. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
16. ^ Sengstack, Jeff (October 28, 1996). "Real World". NewMedia. Archived from the original on April 16, 1997.

## External links

[edit]

* Official site (archived)
* Ripper at MobyGames
* Ripper at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Jack the Ripper in fiction and other media

Seminal works|

* The Lodger
* Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution

Letters|

* "Dear Boss" letter
* "From Hell" letter
* "Saucy Jacky" postcard

Film|

* Waxworks (1924)
* The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
* Pandora's Box (1929)
* The Lodger (1932)
* The Lodger (1944)
* Room to Let (1950)
* Man in the Attic (1953)
* Jack the Ripper (1959)
* Lulu (1962)
* A Study in Terror (1965)
* Hands of the Ripper (1971)
* Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
* The Ruling Class (1972)
* What the Swedish Butler Saw (1975)
* Jack the Ripper (1976)
* Murder by Decree (1979)
* Time After Time (1979)
* Jack's Back (1988)
* Edge of Sanity (1989)
* Deadly Advice (1994)
* Ripper (2001)
* From Hell (2001)
* Bad Karma (2002)
* Case Closed: The Phantom of Baker Street (2002)
* Shanghai Knights (2003)
* Ripper 2: Letter from Within (2004)
* The Lodger (2009)
* Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days (2012)
* Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)

Parody|

* Bizarre, Bizarre (1937)
* The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town (1976)
* Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)

Music|

* "Jack the Ripper" (1963)
* "The Ripper" (1976)
* "Killer on the Loose" (1980)
* The Somatic Defilement (2007)
* Jack the Ripper vs. Hannibal Lecter (2014)

Stage|

* Earth Spirit (1895 play)
* Pandora's Box (1904 play)
* Lulu (1937 opera)
* The Lodger (1960 opera)
* The Ruling Class (1968 play)

Comics|

* Blood of the Innocent (1985)
* Gotham by Gaslight (1989)
* From Hell (1989-98)
* Wonder Woman: Amazonia (1997)
* The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century (2009)

Literature|

| Sherlock Holmes|

* The Last Sherlock Holmes Story (1978)
* The Whitechapel Horrors (1992)
* Sherlock Holmes: The Unauthorized Biography (2005)
* Dust and Shadow (2009)
* The Ripper Legacy (2016)

|

Short stories|

* "A Toy for Juliette" (1967)
* "The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World" (1967)

Other|

* A Feast Unknown (1969)
* Time After Time (1979)
* Night of the Ripper (1984)
* Phantom Blood (1987)
* Naomi's Room (1991)
* Anno Dracula (1992)
* A Night in the Lonesome October (1993)
* Jack the Ripper, Light-Hearted Friend (1996)
* Matrix (1998)
* Lost (2001)
* Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed (2002)
* Blood and Fog (2003)
* The Witches of Chiswick (2003)
* Broken (2006)
* Darkside (2007)
* Lifeblood (2007)
* Dracula the Un-dead (2009)
* I, Ripper (2015)
* The Cutthroat (2017)

Television|

| Series|

* Jack the Ripper (1973)
* Jack the Ripper (1988)
* Sanctuary (2007-11)
* Whitechapel (2009-13)
* Ripper Street (2012-17)
* Time After Time (2017)
* Case File nº221: Kabukicho (2019-20)
* Sherlock in Russia (2020)
* Beforeigners (2019-present)

|

Episodes|

* "Wolf in the Fold" (1967)
* "Comes the Inquisitor" (1995)
* "Ripper" (1999)
* "Sanctuary for All" (2008)
* "The Great British Fake Off" (2020)

Other|

* Bridge Across Time (1985 TV film)

Video games|

* Jack the Ripper (1987)
* The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes (1992)
* Ripper (1996)
* Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (1999)
* Shadow Man (1999)
* MediEvil 2 (2000)
* Jack the Ripper (2004)
* Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper (2009)
* The Ripper (canceled)
* The Order: 1886 (2015)
* Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Jack the Ripper (2015)
* Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (2019)

Other|

* Casebook: Jack the Ripper
* Blood!: The Life and Future Times of Jack the Ripper

* Category

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