I played and finished this, when it was new (the Amiga version of it, which is almost identical to the pc version), and I liked it.
It's not a roguelike, it's almost identical to Horrorsofts earlier games (Elvira 1 and 2).
It's an adventure-game, where you have to find objects and use them in the right places, and sometimes you have to combine them first.
And you have to fight a lot, in realtime.
All waxworks (there are 4) consists of big labyrints, and drawing a map on paper is helpful (I had to do it). I thought the Jack the ripper waxwork was the most interesting part of the game, because it had great atmosphere, and focused on puzzle-solving instead of combat.
All 4 waxworks are very distinct, the horror was a bit cheesy sometimes, but I think that was intentional. This is probably the goriest game I have ever played, and I guess that could be both good and bad, depending on your preferences.
It's also very very difficult, something that I personally like a lot.
But it's got some huge flaws, that you should be aware of:
The combat is awful, one of the worst ever is not an exaggeration. And a lot of the game consists of it.
You can sqrew the game up without knowing it, making it impossible to finish. I will tell you about 2 places where this can happen. If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read the next paragraph:
Pick up the dead womans bag in the very first screen in the Jack the Ripper Waxwork, if you don't, the game will be unsolveable. I found this out after several months of playing, and had to restart. Also, in the mines, if you make the mining cart stop at the wrong place, the game will be unsolveable. You have to make it stop in the middle of its track, so you can get around it later. You will know what I mean when you see it.
Also, some of the environments can be a bit repetitive, you will see the same tunnel-walls a lot.
Story isn't very interesting, but it's ok. You have to travel to different time-periods, to kill your evil ancestors to stop a curse, or something like that. Ancient egypt, London to kill Jack the Ripper, a mine where the workers have transformed into mutants, and a haunted graveyard. The game isn't very story-driven, and the story feels more like an excuse to put you into these different settings.
I still like this game, and would recommend it (if you love horror) because of the low price here at GOG, if you think you can accept the flaws mentioned.
EDIT: Another thing: at least some of the screenshots here on GOG are actually from the Amiga-version. I know because I'm the one who added them to Mobygames.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/amiga/waxworks/screenshots/gameShotId,280591/
But Amiga and PC versions are almost identical anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.
