Akuji the Heartless

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Akuji the Heartless is a 1999 action-adventure game from Crystal Dynamics, published by Eidos Interactive for PlayStation. You play as Akuji, a voodoo warrior whose heart was ripped out on his wedding day, leaving him to wander the Underworld.

Kesho, his would-be bride, finds him in hell and explains that his brother Orad killed him. Orad plans to unleash war on the mortal world and sacrifice Kesho to the gods. To escape the Underworld and stop Orad, Akuji must collect the souls of his ancestors, a task the loa Baron Samedi assigns him but also hates. He must also defeat the wardens at the entrances to hell to move forward.

After Akuji retrieves the Seal of Sadiki, the Baron steals it and reveals his betrayal: he had manipulated Akuji into purging the souls of his ancestors to free himself from imprisonment and take revenge on the mortal world, using Kesho as his servant. Akuji then battles the Baron in a final fight, rescuing Kesho, who restores Akuji’s heart and sends them both back to the mortal world.

The game runs on the Gex: Enter the Gecko engine and features the voice of Richard Roundtree as Akuji. Next Generation gave the PlayStation version 3 out of 5, calling it a solid action title with some macabre imagination but noting rough controls and animations. The game received mixed reviews overall. Release dates were January 22, 1999 in North America and February 26, 1999 in Europe.