GLA I am an absolute fan of the graphical adventure game genre, thinly populated as it is of late. I have now completed the demo of this game, and I have to say it seems to be the best I have seen in a long time. The sound and graphics are as good as can be, with well-lit outdoors combined with sharp details, and believable real-time effects, all immersed in non-annoying sounds and gentle background music. Pretty darn good. As for playability, there is a lot to like. Moving around works like in later Myst titles, where you move between preset locations, wherin you are free to look around 360°. You can pick up and manipulate certain objects. Unlike the Myst series, you have an inventory system in a separate screen, and here you can also comine certain objects to make new objects or modify one you have already. This then works as mini puzzles: figuring out which obejcts can be combined can sometimes be tricky. The environment is frictionless to interact with. The invenory a bit less so, but with a little practice this also works well. My biggest gripe? Unlike in the Myst series, you take on a specific character, called Thomas, apprentice to Akkod, Cleopatra's astrologist. This really hampers the immersive experience so crucial in such a game, IMHO, and is one of the main reasons Myst succeeded: This total immersion you get by playing as yourself and without any distractions on the screen is key in such a game, much more than it is in a shooter type game, for instance. It would really have helped the game if a 'simple' backstory had been made where you, as yourself, for instance timewarp to the time and location where this game takes place. The in-game vocal hints provided by Thomas, assumingly idiotically talking to himself (yourself? After all, you are supposed to be Thomas), would have to be dropped, and you'd just have to figure out how things worked by, well, by figuring out by yourself, just as if you had really been there. This would have had to force a slight redesign of some of the puzzles so that they would have been more logical within the context of the situation given in that point of the game. All in all, it would have helped the internal logic of the game, which would have helped the immersive experience further. As it is and works, it is still a valiant effort, and deserving of success, from what I have seen in the demo. It is to be hoped that a good story is to be found in playing the rest of the game, as that is another crucial aspect of making such a game work. The demo is too short to provide a good feel for the story, but the setting certainly provide story potential in abundance. Who wouldn't want to roam around Egypt in the time of Cleopatra? Here's to hoping the rest of the game fullfills the promises of the glimpses provided by the demo!
(Version 1.0) | 
